Managing Group Workspaces

Documents being used centrally within a School, Professional Service, or for collaboration will be generally be stored on Microsoft Teams or University Group Workspace.

Group Workspace is a legacy simple file storage service which has been largely superseded by OneDrive and MS Teams that provide modern features for collaboration. Only one version of documents are saved by default in Group Workspace, unlike at least the last 30 versions of documents saved in OneDrive or MS Teams. It is highly recommended that Group Workspace is no longer used for any new document requirements.

Responsibilities of a Group Workspace Manager

Group Workspace managers are the primary point of contact for IT Services if there are any issues with the Workspace, and are also the contacts from whom IT Services will accept instructions regarding changes to the Workspace. There are also several other tasks that Group Workspace managers are required to carry out. 

Managing Workspace membership changes

Group Workspace membership can be updated via Outlook by anyone who is a nominated Manager of the Workspace. Managers can either do this in a browser, or via the Outlook Address Book. Instructions for both options are provided below. IT Services strongly recommend that every Workspace has at least TWO managers, to avoid a situation where the membership needs updating urgently, but there is only one manager, and they are not available. 

  1. Login to O365 Webmail using the Access Office365 link below. 
  2. Click on the Settings icon (cog) at the top right-hand side of the menu bar 
  3. In the first column, under Settings, select General 
  4. In the second column, select Distribution Groups 
  5. You’ll see “To manage distribution groups, visit this portal”. Click on the link to take you to the Groups portal 
  6. Select Groups I own 
  7. Find the relevant group (Managers/ReadOnly/ReadWrite) for the Workspace in question, and click on it 
  8. In the pop-up box on the right, select Members 
  9. Scroll to the bottom of the Members section and select View all and manage members 
  10. To ADD a member, click +Add Members, search for the user in the Search box then press Enter, select their name, then click the Add button at the bottom 
  11. To DELETE a member, select their name, click Delete, then Yes to confirm 
Access Office365

To use this method, you must be using: 

  • a Windows computer 
  • the installed desktop version of Outlook 
  • the ‘original’ version of Outlook (i.e. you haven’t switched to ‘new’ Outlook) 
    1. Open the Address Book (either click on it from the Home menu as shown, or press Ctrl+Shift+B)
    2. Search for your Workspace by typing ws. followed by the name of the Workspace and press Enter
    3. Find the relevant group (Managers/ReadOnly/ReadWrite) and double-click it
    4. Click Modify Members, then click Add
    5. Using the search box at the top, find the person you need in the Address Book, then 
      • click Add at the bottom left so their name appears 
      • then click OK 
      • then click OK again on the next (Contact Group Membership) – your screen may freeze for about 30 seconds here.

      You should now see the person you have added in the list of members on the right-hand side. Click OK, then you’re all done. This person will now have access to the Workspace from tomorrow, following overnight processing. 

Access Office365

Managing utilisation

Managers of a Group Workspace should ensure that:  

  • The Workspace does not grow too large 
  • Appropriate housekeeping is performed on out-of-date files 
  • Information is handled and processed in accordance with the Information Categories and Control Policy 

Requesting deletion

Once a Group Workspace and its files are no longer required, IT Services can delete it, but the contents of the Workspace must be deleted first. Once you have confirmed that the Workspace is empty, you can then email IT Services requesting for it to be deleted. 

Being contacted by IT Services

Group Workspace managers are IT Services’ primary point of contact regarding the Workspace. Managers may be contacted for several reasons: 

  • IT Services maintain reports on Workspace use, including identifying old & unused Workspaces. After 450 days of inactivity, based on the last date that any files in the Workspace were modified, IT Services may contact the managers to confirm whether the Workspace is still required. 
  • A Workspace has been identified as having no current active users. 
  • A Workspace has been identified as having only one current manager, and at least one additional manager must be assigned. 
  • Additionally, if a Workspace has been identified as having no current managers, we may contact the members of the Read/Write group to request that someone volunteers, or that a colleague is nominated, to be a manager for the Workspace. 

Automatic Group Workspace Deletion

In some circumstances IT Services will automatically delete old, unused, Group Workspaces. The current conditions for automatic deletion are listed below. ALL conditions must be met:

  • Unused for at least 450 days
  • No Manager
  • No members of the Read/Write group

Additional resources

Use the link below for information on how to connect to group workspaces 

Connecting to a workspace