- A shared email inbox, with its own email address. This is where Group conversations can occur. Members can also choose to get copies of the messages in this shared inbox sent to their personal inboxes. The Group’s email address can also be used as a central receiving point for things like court notices or relevant newsletters.
- A dedicated calendar for events and meetings relating to the Group. Members can access this calendar through their personal Outlook or via a web browser.
- A shared document library where members can store, share and collaborate on all sorts of files relating to this Group.
- A OneNote notebook specifically for the Group. This is a great place to collect notes, gather research and share information.
- A SharePoint team Site for the Group. People have written entire books on using SharePoint for collaboration and communication, but it’s suffice to say that it’s a powerful platform for sharing information with your team, clients, co-counsel, etc. SharePoint lets you create document libraries, lists, workflows and other web apps that you can use both inside and outside your firm.
- A Microsoft Planner plan. This is a web-based task and project management system that lets you create, assign and track tasks related to the Group.
How Would Law Firms Use the Groups?
You might create an Office 365 Group for a large matter and add the people in your firm who are working on that matter—the solicitors, paralegals, assistants, support staff and more.
Those users can use the shared inbox to discuss the matter; add events, meetings and deadlines to the shared calendar; collect resources, notes and research in the OneNote; and upload documents, pictures and other files to share and collaborate on to the shared document library.
If you have outside co-counsel, or experts, you can add them to the Group as well.
If you would like to learn more about Office 365 Groups and other features that could benefit your firm please contact us on 01773 513 513 and we will be happy to discuss the best solution moving forward.