10 Microsoft 365 Governance Best Practices Every Organization Needs

Microsoft 365 provides incredible collaboration capabilities, but without governance, it can quickly become unmanageable. Here are ten essential practices every organization should implement.

1. Establish a Naming Convention

Create clear naming standards for Teams, SharePoint sites, and Groups. Include prefixes for departments, projects, or classifications. This makes content discoverable and helps with lifecycle management.

2. Define Team and Site Creation Policies

Decide who can create Teams and SharePoint sites. Unrestricted creation leads to sprawl; overly restrictive policies frustrate users. Find the balance that works for your organization.

3. Implement Guest Access Policies

External collaboration is powerful but risky. Define clear policies for guest access, including approval workflows, expiration dates, and access reviews.

4. Configure Data Loss Prevention (DLP)

Protect sensitive information with DLP policies. Start with detecting and warning, then move to blocking as users become familiar with the policies.

5. Set Up Retention Policies

Determine how long content should be kept and when it should be deleted. Consider regulatory requirements, legal holds, and business needs.

6. Enable Sensitivity Labels

Use sensitivity labels to classify and protect content. Labels can control sharing, encryption, and access based on content sensitivity.

7. Establish Lifecycle Management

Teams and sites accumulate over time. Implement policies for archiving or deleting inactive resources. Consider using expiration policies for Teams.

8. Monitor and Report

Use the Microsoft 365 admin center, Compliance center, and third-party tools to monitor usage, security, and compliance. Regular reporting helps identify issues early.

9. Provide User Training

Governance only works when users understand and follow the policies. Invest in training and make governance documentation easily accessible.

10. Review and Iterate

Governance isn't set-and-forget. Review policies regularly, gather user feedback, and adjust as your organization's needs evolve.

Getting Started

Implementing governance can feel overwhelming. Start with the highest-risk areas and expand from there. Remember, some governance is better than no governance.