What is a M365 group?

A Microsoft 365 group is a tool that allows a team or group to communicate and collaborate. The group provides a shared email address and calendar, and is particularly useful for communication between multiple people.

What functions does the group provide?

• Shared mailbox (Outlook)
• Shared calendar
• Mailing list that can be used to send emails with group's address

Use cases

M365 groups are intended for internal or external communication within the university, especially when communication is also made to external people who are involved in university activities but do not have their own JYU user accounts.

Common use cases:

• Project teams, including both JYU users and external users.
• Communication from external organisations to internal JYU user groups (e.g. Certia's communications to different management groups).
• Subject and hobby organisations within JYY where the majority of members are JYU users.

Admin and membership requirements

• The group/list must have at least two administrators.
• Administrators must have valid University of Jyväskylä user account.
• Administrators manage the group members and permissions and are responsible for ensuring that the group name and usage meet the requirements of the guidelines.

Address format and naming of the mailing list

The email domain used at the University of Jyväskylä is groups.jyu.fi.

The format of the address is:
name-of-the-group@groups.jyu.fi

Naming conventions (recommendation):

• The name should describe the organisation, project or event.
• Use a hyphen (-) between words.
• All letters should be in lower case.
• Examples of clear and recommended names:
  • jyy-government
  • jyy-asterix-government
  • dip-refreshment
  • event-something
  • conference-2025
  • event-2024

Basic use

1. Joining to the group
→ You will receive an invitation by email or be automatically added to the group.
2. Using group mail and calendar (Outlook)
→ In Outlook you will see the groups in the left menu under "Groups". You can read group emails and view the calendar.
3. Sending a message to the group
→ Type a message in Outlook and send it to the group's email address (e.g. jyy-government@groups.jyu.fi). All members of the group will receive the message.

External members in the JYU environment

M365 groups can also include external members, such as partners or guests.

• Outsiders receive emails sent through the group.
• They do not have access to other M365 services (e.g. SharePoint, Teams) unless explicitly granted access.
• Outsiders do not need JYU credentials to receive messages.

Good to know:

• The content of the group is only visible to its members.
• Group owners can add and delete members and manage permissions.
• Communication through the group is centralised and makes it easier to reach large or diverse groups.