Collaborative Cloud Strategy & Training for Microsoft 365

One of the things I’m doing a ton of lately is helping organizations clean up and rethink how they’re using Microsoft Teams, SharePoint, and OneDrive. Most companies rolled these tools out quickly—or piecemeal—and now things feel scattered, inconsistent, and a little overwhelming for users.

That’s where cloud strategy comes in.

I help bridge the gap between IT and everyday users by creating a clear, simple structure for where files should live, how Teams should be organized, and how permissions should work behind the scenes. When people understand why something should be a Team versus a channel versus a folder, things suddenly get easier… and a lot less messy.

I’m also putting the finishing touches on a course that walks through these same principles step-by-step, so everyone can feel confident navigating Microsoft 365.

Here are a few of the best practices I always teach:

⭐ Have fewer Teams.

More Teams ≠ more organized.
Wh...

You've been there… you're trying to find that Teams meeting recording and it’s just gone. UGH! You checked OneDrive, your calendar, the meeting chat, even random places in Teams—and still nothing. So frustrating! And honestly, half the battle is just knowing where they should show up. Even worse? You finally track it down… and you don’t have permission to watch it. HELP!

Here’s a quick, easy guide to finally make sense of it all:

Channel Meetings (inside a Team):

• The recording is automatically saved in SharePoint, in the Files tab of that channel.

• File path: Team > Channel > Files > Recordings folder

• Everyone who’s a member of that Team/Channel automatically has access.

Non-Channel Meetings (private, ad-hoc, or calendar meetings):

• The recording is saved to OneDrive—specifically in the OneDrive of the person who clicked Record.

• File path: Recorder’s OneDrive > Recordings folder

• A sharing l

  ...

✨Custom Tabs in Teams 📁➕ and Why They're a Game Changer!

Teams is so much more than chats and meetings—it’s your ultimate work dashboard! Many of my clients tell me they’re missing out on its full potential. Today’s Kari’s Tips & Tricks #111 shows you how to create 💥 Custom Tabs ➕ for files, 📑 sites, and more in Teams. Let’s pin your go-to resources for one-click access!

🎥 Video Is Back! 

You asked - I listened - videos can be suer helpful! 

💥Create Custom Tabs ➕  -  think Spreadsheets,📊SharePoint sites📑,  and more - in Teams...AND WHY?

Time to Read: ~2 min

Got a million links and files scattered across Teams? Have sites and libraries you need to always reference but it's so much clicking to get to it? Or - even remember where it is?  Add a custom tab to pin your go-to resources instantly! Here’s how to Create a Custom Tab in Teams in a snap: 

Why Custom Tabs in Teams? 

Before we know how - this one is important to know WHY?

Teams is your all-in-one hub for collaboration, w...

Confused by Copilot? You're not alone!

I'm sure you've noticed that copilot is everywhere in Microsoft right now. If you're like me - you know it's AI but not exactly sure how it's different than the other tools and how can it help you? We're not going to do a deep dive here yet, but one of the first things you need to know is that there is a FREE and a LICENSED(paid) version.

Free vs. Licensed

First off, if you haven't looked too much into it yet, you may not even know this but there is a free and licensed version of Copilot.  

FREE VERSION - The free version of Copilot is a chat.  It's similar to other AI chat apps you've likely used like Chat GPT or GROK. Copilot is considered the most robust free access to AI, but it does have a Microsoft lens. It can also be accessed at https://copilot.microsoft.com/ 

PAID VERSION - The paid version of Copilot is fully integrated into your M365 apps. There are multiple types of subscriptions available which I won't get into. 

Which Version D...

How to Retire a Team

Teams are meant to be fluid and not necessarily all permanent. Although you will likely have the long-standing teams like your department teams, you will likely have some teams that run their course.  What do you do when you have a team you no longer need anymore? Maybe it's a project, maybe it's a conference that's over or something that's no longer relevant. You have some choices when you want to retire a team.

You have 3 choices.

1. Hide the team.You can keep the team if you think you may want to refer back to it or it may be relevant again, in that case you can Hide it.
2. Archive the team. In the case where you don't need it anymore, you can archive it. You can still get it back if you need, but it's not just hidden, it would need to be restored. 
3. Delete the team. If you don't ever need access to it again, you should delete it. If you delete it, it's gone once it's out of the deleted items folder.  

1. Hide a Team

When you hide a team, it's only for you...

The New Teams Calendar

The NEW Teams calendar rolled out in January, 2025. The new calendar integrates the feature of the Outlook calendar into Teams, for more consistentency across the apps. 

Enable the New Calendar View

Go to your calendar in Teams and toggle on the New Calendar. 

A Couple of Key Features 

Updated Views 

• Month View - especially useful for users with sparse calendars.
• Split View - when more than one calendar is selected, you can now split the calendar into two independent views.
• Time Scale - specify time scales or intervals for the calendar surface.
• Saved Views - save your current view for easy access later
• Weather Display: See your current location's weather in the calendar

Filtering

• Filter by type of events
  

View Shared Calendars 

View colleague calendars available in Outlook. Click on People's calendar to view other's calendars available in Outlook.

Improved Meeting Details

When viewing prior meetings, you will see recaps and additi...

Renaming the General Channel in Teams

In every team, there was always one default channel, named General.  This was intended to be the main place where conversations and activity took place. As Teams evolved, Microsoft realized that people used Teams so differently that General didn't always apply.  So now you can rename the General channel and give your main channel a more meaningful name making it more intuitive to organize and navigate in Teams. 

How to Rename the General Channel

1. Go to your Team and click on the General channel and hover next to it and click on the ... and select Edit channel.

2. In the window, type in a new name for the channel.

New Teams and First Channel

When you create a new team, you will be prompted to give the first channel a name, it won't automatically name it General anymore.

Teams: The Chat Details Pane

Since I'm in the business of learning - there are 2 ways you can learn this tip #1 - Read the step by steps with screenshots or #2 - watch the video (or #3 - both 😊)

Same Chat, More Deets

The Chat Details Pane is new as of October 2024. It's one of the more useful new features, honestly.  If you've been using Teams a while, some of your chats, like mine are REALLY REALLY long. Also, the nature of a chat is there are lots of short replies.  When you need to find something, it can be frustrating...and take a LOOONNNGGG time to scroll and find files or pinned messages. 

Enter...the Chat Details Pane

The Chat Details Pane is a small little icon in the upper right hand corner of your chat window.

Click on it...and ta-da...the Chat Details Pane shows up on the right side of your screen. It's a toggle so you can toggle it on and off as needed.

What's in the Chat Details Pane

• Files sent in the chat.
• Pinned messages.
• A place to search for content.
...

Using the New Whiteboard in Teams

Here's a great 1 minute video that shows you all the cool things you can do with the NEW Whiteboard. 

I case you have a problem playing it - you can also use this link.

There's a brand new interface for the Whiteboard in Teams. In my video you can see how to easily add a tab within your channel for the Whiteboard.

The whiteboard is also available in chats.

Add a Whiteboard to your Channel

1. Click in the channel, click the + across the top.
   
   
2. In the App window, select Whiteboard.
   
   
3. Name the Whiteboard with a unique name or use the default name of Whiteboard.
   
   
4. Add contents like notes, images or use one of the cool new templates to structure your content.

Microsoft has a great post about some of the other highlights.

Check it out here

Some of the things I love in the New Whiteboard

• 40+ New Templates
• Sticky Notes
• Insert Images
• New Drawing T

Using Teams to Take Meeting Notes

One of the awesome things about Teams is that it automatically saves you time by having everything all in one place.  Meeting Notes is another one these features that makes taking meeting notes, updating them, distributing and finding them later SO much easier.

How to Use Team's Meeting Notes 

1. Select a meeting in your Team's calendar and click on Chat with Participants.
   
   
   
2. In the Chat window, click Meeting Notes.