Introduction
Information Technology Services (ITS) is piloting the targeted use of a new policy for managing ownerless Microsoft 365 Groups and Teams. This policy is part of our ongoing efforts toward improved data governance and retention practices.
This policy facilitates an automated process that identifies Microsoft 365 Groups or Teams lacking an owner (for example, a Team that was created by someone who has since left Temple University). Active members of these groups are then notified and provided with the opportunity to assume ownership.
Why is ownership important?
Having one or more active owners is important for maintaining full group functionality and security. As such, active group ownership is one of the key data points considered when evaluating older, inactive groups for deletion. Any Microsoft 365 Group or Team that has not had any activity in the past 180 days will enter a 30-day expiration process. (For more details, see the Governance section of the Microsoft Teams Getting Started page.)
What to Expect
If you are a member of a Microsoft 365 Group or Team whose owner no longer has a university account, you might receive an email from Microsoft asking if you would like to become the owner:
- Active Members First: The policy will first ask the 5 most active members of the group to accept ownership. If a member forwards their notification email to a different member, the forward recipient can’t accept or decline the invitation.
- Random Selection: If there’s no group activity, the policy will ask random group members.
- Weekly Notifications: Notifications are sent weekly for 4 weeks, and you can receive separate notifications for each ownerless group you are part of.
What You Need to Do
If you receive an email asking you to become an owner, here’s what you should do:
- Designate Multiple Owners: Ensure all groups have at least 2 owners to streamline Team and group management and avoid “ownerless” groups/Teams. See Microsoft's guidance on designating owners.
- Review the Email: Open the email in a separate window (not in the preview pane) to see the Yes and No buttons. If you do NOT see Yes/No buttons – some users are seeing lines of unintelligible code – please reach out to the TSC for support.
- Accept or Decline: Click Yes if you are willing to become the owner, or No if you are not. If you decline, you will stop receiving notifications.
- No Action: If you do not respond, you will continue to receive weekly notifications until the specified period ends. If no one claims ownership, the group will remain ownerless, which increases the chance that it will be deleted by the Microsoft 365 Groups and Teams Expiration Policy.
How can you avoid the issue of ownerless groups?
To avoid ownerless groups, TTS recommends the following:
- Keep an eye on your Microsoft 365 Groups or Teams.
- Visit the My Groups page and look under “Groups I own” and “Groups I am in”.
- If you own any groups that are no longer useful, delete them.
- Consider having multiple owners on each group. That way, even if one person leaves, there will be other owners remaining.
- Before you leave Temple University, pass off ownership.
- If you notice that any of your groups don’t have an active owner, email help@temple.edu.