SharePoint and Microsoft Teams are like two sides of the same coin. Behind every Teams channel is a SharePoint site – and this interplay is what makes the combination so powerful for enterprise collaboration.

How SharePoint and Teams Work Together

When you create a team in Microsoft Teams, the following happens behind the scenes:

1. 1A Microsoft 365 Group is created
2. 2A SharePoint Team Site is provisioned
3. 3A shared mailbox in Exchange is set up
4. 4A Planner board is linked
5. 5A shared OneNote notebook is created

Every file you share in a Teams channel is automatically stored in the associated SharePoint document library. This means: you have all the benefits of SharePoint (versioning, metadata, search) directly available in Teams.

The 5 Most Important Collaboration Scenarios

1. Real-Time Co-Authoring

Multiple people can work simultaneously on Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents. SharePoint manages:

• Change tracking: Who changed what?
• Autosave: Automatic saving every few seconds
• Version history: Return to any previous version at any time
• Conflict resolution: For simultaneous offline editing

2. Project Documentation

For projects, we recommend the following structure:

• Teams channel: Communication and quick exchange
• SharePoint document library: Structured project documents
• Wiki pages: Project handbook and knowledge base
• SharePoint lists: Task tracking and status overviews

3. Enterprise-Wide Collaboration

SharePoint Hub Sites connect multiple team sites into an overarching structure:

• Department hubs: Marketing, HR, IT as connected sites
• Project hubs: Major client projects with multiple sub-teams
• Topic hubs: Innovation, Sustainability as cross-functional hubs

4. External Collaboration

For working with clients, partners, and suppliers:

• Guest Access in Teams: Invite external people to channels
• SharePoint External Sharing: Share documents securely with externals
• Sensitivity Labels: Automatic classification of shared content
• Conditional Access: Access only from approved devices/locations

5. Knowledge Management

The combination of SharePoint and Teams as a knowledge base:

• SharePoint pages: Create structured knowledge articles
• Viva Topics: Automatic topic identification and linking
• Teams channels: Discussions and informal knowledge sharing
• Search: Enterprise-wide search across all content

Best Practices for Swiss SMEs

Channel Strategy

• Standard channels: General, Projects, Documents
• Private channels: For confidential topics (HR, Finance)
• Shared channels: For collaboration across team boundaries

Governance

• Define clear naming conventions for teams and channels
• Set expiration policies for inactive teams
• Create templates for recurring team structures
• Train employees on Teams-SharePoint integration

File Management

• Use the Files tab in Teams only for active working documents
• Use SharePoint document libraries for structured storage
• Apply metadata in Teams-linked libraries too
• Avoid sharing via chat – use the library instead

Copilot in Teams and SharePoint

Microsoft Copilot understands the relationship between Teams conversations and SharePoint documents:

• Meeting summaries: Copilot summarizes Teams meetings and links discussed documents
• Document context: "Summarize the last discussion about this document"
• Task creation: Copilot creates tasks from meeting notes
• Knowledge search: "What has our team discussed about this topic?"

Conclusion

The integration of SharePoint and Teams isn't a nice-to-have – it's the standard for modern collaboration. Swiss companies that strategically leverage this combination gain a real productivity advantage.