So one thing I get asked about probably more than any other question is:
“how do I share files with the other staff or volunteers at my church?” 🤔
I get asked plenty of other questions that really point back to this base question, but the answer is almost always the same:
The easiest and most pain-free way to share files in a church is via Microsoft Teams! 😎
So how does it work?
Well, every team you create within Microsoft Teams is backed by a SharePoint document library. This shows up in the team as a tab called “Files.”
Why not use SharePoint directly?
SharePoint is confusing and not nearly as user friendly as using Teams. 😵💫 Similarly, it helps to just keep as much as we can inside a single collaboration hub like Teams.
Who can access files?
Anyone you invite into the team can access or even sync that library to their file explorer for easy access. It gets even better when you start to add more tools like Planner to assign tasks… but I’ll save Planner for another day. 😉
Create some “standard” teams for churches
So here’s the steps to take today: first, create a few teams for your regular ministries or functional groups, here’s some base ones to start with:
- 🔥 Youth Ministry
- 👯 Small Groups
- 👶 Kids Church
- 🧑💼 Admin
- 🤦 HR
- 🤑 Finance
- 🤓 IT
Invite staff and volunteers
Now, invite the staff and volunteers by using “Add member” and show them the “Files” tab. From there they can access the files in Teams or click “Sync” to have OneDrive make them accessible via File Explorer within Windows. 👍
What next?
Teams goes way beyond file sharing. Teams has calling, web conferencing, chat, staff scheduling, project management, and a whole host of no-code application and process automation tools. The benefit is that you are putting your files and data onto a platform that can later start doing repetitive tasks for you. 🤖
Need help with technology in your church or ministry? Book a meeting with me.
