Department Needs Collaboration Mailbox or Team? Create a Microsoft 365 Group

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When a department needs a shared workspace in Microsoft 365, you should not create individual mailboxes or separate permissions.

Instead, you create a Microsoft 365 Group.

A Microsoft 365 group provides:

  • shared mailbox
  • shared calendar
  • Teams integration, optional
  • shared files via SharePoint

It is the standard collaboration unit in Microsoft 365.

Open Groups in Entra

Go to:

Entra ID > Groups

Then select:

New group

Microsoft Entra Groups overview page showing existing groups and the New group button

Create Microsoft 365 Group

Configure the group:

Group type: Microsoft 365
Group name: Finance Collaboration Team
Group email: finance-collab@dmitriklymenkogmail.onmicrosoft.com
Description: Shared mailbox and collaboration space for Finance department

This creates a unified collaboration object across Microsoft 365 services.

Microsoft 365 group creation form showing group type, name, email address, and description fields

Add Members

Add users or existing Entra identities:

Members: Finance users, managers, or external guests, if allowed

Members automatically gain access to:

  • shared mailbox
  • shared calendar
  • SharePoint site
  • optional Teams workspace

Microsoft 365 group membership screen showing users being added to the group

Result

After creation, the group is immediately usable as a collaboration hub:

  • emails sent to group address go to all members
  • shared calendar becomes available in Outlook
  • files are stored in connected SharePoint site
  • can be upgraded to Microsoft Teams if needed