Membership, Roles & Team Settings
Who's in the team, what can they do, and how is the team configured? Learn membership management, owner vs member roles, privacy settings, sensitivity labels, and frontline team experiences.
Managing the people in your teams
A team is like a club with different levels of access.
Owners have the master key — they can add/remove members, change settings, and delete channels. Members can participate but can’t change the locks. Guests have a visitor pass — limited access, clearly marked.
Frontline teams are special — built for shift workers (nurses, retail staff, factory workers) who need a simpler, mobile-first Teams experience with Shifts, Tasks, and Walkie Talkie.
Team roles
| Feature | Owner | Member | Guest |
|---|---|---|---|
| Add/remove members | Yes | No | No |
| Edit team settings | Yes | No | No |
| Create channels | Yes | If allowed in settings | No |
| Delete channels | Yes (any channel except General) | Only channels they created | No |
| Add tabs and apps | Yes | If allowed in settings | No |
| Post messages | Yes | Yes | If allowed in guest settings |
| Delete the team | Yes | No | No |
| Create private channels | Yes | If allowed by policy | No |
Best practice: Every team should have at least two owners — if the sole owner leaves the company, the team becomes ownerless and harder to manage. The exam tests this.
Managing membership at scale
| Method | Best For |
|---|---|
| Teams admin center | Individual team management, troubleshooting |
| Teams client | Owners managing their own teams |
| Dynamic membership (Entra ID) | Auto-add users based on attributes (e.g., department = Finance) |
| PowerShell | Bulk operations across many teams |
Dynamic membership is powerful for large organisations. The team membership automatically updates when users join or leave a department:
- Requires Entra ID Premium P1
- Configured via Entra ID → Groups → Dynamic membership rules
- Example rule:
user.department -eq "Finance"→ all Finance staff are auto-added
Team settings
Team-level settings are managed by owners (or admins in the admin center):
| Setting | What It Controls |
|---|---|
| Team privacy | Public (anyone can join) or Private (invitation only) |
| Member permissions | Can members create/update/delete channels? Add/remove apps? |
| Guest permissions | Can guests create/update/delete channels? |
| @mentions | Allow @team and @channel mentions |
| Fun stuff | GIFs, stickers, memes, custom memes |
| Tags | Who can manage tags (owners only, or owners + members) |
Sensitivity labels for teams
When a sensitivity label is applied to a team, it can enforce:
- Privacy: Force public or private
- Guest access: Allow or block
- External sharing: Control SharePoint sharing level
- Conditional Access: Require specific access conditions
The label is selected when creating or editing the team (if mandatory labelling is configured).
Frontline teams
Frontline workers (retail, healthcare, manufacturing, hospitality) have different needs from knowledge workers:
Frontline-specific features
| Feature | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Shifts | Schedule management — create, publish, and swap shifts |
| Tasks | Assign and track tasks for frontline staff |
| Approvals | Simple approval workflows (time-off, expenses) |
| Walkie Talkie | Push-to-talk communication over Teams (replaces physical radios) |
| Praise | Peer recognition for frontline workers |
Deploying frontline teams
The Teams admin center has a Frontline deployment wizard:
- Choose locations (sites, stores, hospitals)
- Select a team template (Frontline Worker template)
- Assign managers and workers
- Pin frontline apps (Shifts, Tasks, Walkie Talkie)
- Deploy — teams are created with the right structure and apps
Scenario: Kofi deploys frontline teams for campus security
Harbour University’s 500 campus security staff work in shifts across 3 campuses. Kofi deploys frontline teams:
Team structure:
- “Campus Security — North” (150 staff)
- “Campus Security — Central” (200 staff)
- “Campus Security — South” (150 staff)
Configuration:
- Template: Frontline Worker (Shifts + Tasks + Walkie Talkie pinned)
- Policy package: Frontline Worker (simplified messaging, calling enabled)
- Privacy: Private (security-sensitive)
- Dynamic membership: Based on department = “Security” AND location = “North/Central/South”
Result: Security staff open Teams on their mobile, see their shift schedule, receive task assignments (“patrol Building 4 at 10pm”), and use Walkie Talkie for instant voice communication — all without learning complex Teams features.
🎬 Video walkthrough
Flashcards
Knowledge Check
The Finance team at Pinnacle Corp has one owner who is leaving the company next week. What should Tara do BEFORE the owner departs?
Kofi wants campus security staff to automatically join the correct security team based on their location attribute in Entra ID. What does he need?
Next up: Channel Types & Policies — standard, private, and shared channels: when to use each, plus how to manage channel creation and sharing policies.