An employee shares a spreadsheet from their OneDrive. It becomes the document the whole department relies on. Months later, they change roles and the business discovers that an important team process still revolves around that individual account.
OneDrive and SharePoint both support file collaboration. The useful question is who should own the work and how it needs to be used over time.
Use individual space for individual work
OneDrive for work or school is suited to a person’s own files and work in progress. An employee can prepare a draft there and share it with selected colleagues when needed. It is connected to that person’s work account and the organisation’s policies.
For example, a manager might develop notes for an internal presentation before deciding whether they belong in a shared project space. The initial draft has an individual owner and a small intended audience.
Give shared business records a team home
SharePoint is designed for information and files managed across teams or an organisation. Consider it for department records, shared procedures and project documents that need continuing ownership beyond one employee.
The structure should follow the work. A finance team may need a controlled area for its own records and a separate place to publish approved forms to the wider business. A project group may need internal collaboration and a carefully managed route for external sharing.
Agree the decision before moving files
Ask these questions for each important set of documents:
- Who is accountable for maintaining the information?
- Which people need to read it and which need to edit it?
- Will it remain important if its current author leaves?
- Does an external party need access, and for how long?
- What retention, recovery or confidentiality requirements apply?
Write down the answers before migrating a folder simply because it is large or untidy. Moving files without agreeing ownership can reproduce the same uncertainty in a different location.
Make sharing understandable
Staff should know which sharing choices are approved and what recipients will be able to do. Your administrator can explain how organisation settings affect links, guest access and permissions. Test the intended recipient’s experience with non-sensitive sample information.
A link is useful only when it points to the right version and grants suitable access. Encourage people to check the destination before sending it and provide a straightforward route for reporting unexpected access.
Plan for handovers and recovery
Include important file locations in your joiner and leaver process. A manager should know which team owns the record and how another authorised person takes over responsibility. Agree recovery arrangements rather than assuming every mistake can always be reversed.
You do not need to reorganise the whole business in one exercise. Start with one department whose files regularly cause delays, define a sensible structure and give staff a short demonstration using their own work patterns.
39Support can help map your file locations, permissions and ownership across Microsoft 365. Book a free 60-minute IT review and bring one example of information that currently depends on the wrong person or is difficult to share safely.