The New Channel Creation Experience in Microsoft Teams: What You Need to Know

By João Ferreira Feb 3, 2024 Channels 2 Comments

One of the reasons why users create more teams than necessary is that the team creation option is more prominent and accessible than the channel creation option.

To address this issue, Microsoft just made an improvement to the channel creation flow that will help with the teams governance and will likely reduce the number of teams in the organization moving forward.

What are teams and channels?

Teams are groups of people who work together on a common goal or project. Each team has its own name, settings, members, and apps.

Channels are the conversations you have with your teammates within a team. Each channel is dedicated to a specific topic, department, or project. A standard channel is open for all members, and anything posted is searchable by others.

If you need a smaller audience for a specific project, you can create a private channel for your team. Only owners or members of the private channel can access it.

If you need to collaborate with people outside of your organization, you can create a shared channel in your team. Only team owners can create shared channels, and only shared channel owners can add or remove members.

How to create a new channel in Teams?

With the recent update that Microsoft released, creating a new channel in Teams is easier and faster than ever. The Create a channel option is now moved to the creation menu next to the Create a team. Instead of going to different places to create new teams or channels, now you can see both options side by side and compare their features and benefits before choosing one.

To create a new channel, follow these steps:

1. Click the + icon located at the top of the Teams app within Microsoft Teams
2. Select Create channel
   

   

3. Select the Team where you want to create the new channel
4. Fill in some quick details about your channel by choosing a name, entering an optional description, and a channel type. This is where you’ll choose to make your channel standard, private, or shared.
5. Click Create, the channel appears immediately in your team’s channel list
   

   

You can also create a new channel from a team name, or from the Manage team option as before.

Conclusion

Creating a new channel in Teams is now simpler and more convenient than ever. By making the channel creation option more visible and accessible, Microsoft hopes to encourage users to create channels instead of teams when appropriate. This will help reduce the team sprawl and improve the teams governance and management. It will also help users collaborate more effectively within channels, as they can access all the features and integrations of Teams.