Many local authorities are using Teams but chances are that few have looked at the information management requirements. With the current situation the use of Teams has increased, and so knowing the IM requirements is even more crucial.

Teams is a great collaboration tool and great for chats. One of the positives is that the use of teams could reduce the number of internal emails. However all councils should consider the following:

• Teams should be used for chat, provision of meetings etc rather than a document store and an information source.
• The creation of collaboration spaces needs to be a controlled process; the ability to do this should be relegated to the appropriate people.
• Monitor and keep track of the use of teams.
• Have a consistent approach to the naming of Groups and Teams.

Teams can be a great tool if the use is monitored and staff are not allowed to “do their own thing”. If processes are not put in place when Teams is implemented then Teams can become another nightmare like shared drives are for information managers.