There are three types of meetings in Microsoft Teams:
- Channel Meetings (scheduled)
- Private Meetings (scheduled)
- Meet Now Meetings (non-scheduled)
Once the meeting has ended, everything that was shared can still be accessed. At any time, you can click the button to see the meeting contents.
Channel Meetings:
If you want to schedule a meeting with your entire department, schedule a Channel meeting. This meeting occurs within a Channel in Microsoft Teams and is visible and open for anyone that is a member of the channel to join. Channel meetings are scheduled using the Teams application or website.
To schedule the meeting, click on the meetings button in Teams and select the Schedule a Meeting button.
Give the meeting a title, a description, and specify the channel you want to meet in, Avoid inviting specific people as this will no longer make the meeting a Channel meeting. Select Schedule a Meeting. The meeting will appear in the conversation feed in the channel for anyone to join.
Private Meeting:
If you want to make a one-on-one meeting or a small group of people within a meeting, schedule a Private meeting. Private meetings are meetings that are closed to only individuals that were invited to the meeting and are not visible to anyone on the team unless they received an email invitation or they are invited through the Teams client. Private meetings can be scheduled, or they can be within a private group chat.
You can schedule a private meeting using the Microsoft Teams Outlook Add-In by selecting the Home tab in Outlook, choosing “New Items,” then choosing Teams Meeting.
The Teams Meeting scheduling window will now show in Outlook.
Another option is to use the built-in scheduler in the Teams client. To schedule the meeting, click on the meetings button in Teams. Then select then Schedule a Meeting button. Give the meeting a title, a description (agenda), and specify the people you want to invite to the meeting. You can view the free/busy availability of the by clicking on Scheduling Assistant.
A private meeting can also occur within a chat by selecting the video icon for a video meeting or the phone icon for a voice meeting.
The private group chat can be escalated to a voice meeting by clicking the icon.
Meet Now Meeting:
If you want to have an impromptu meeting with your department, use a Meet Now meeting. A Meet Now meeting is a meeting that is not scheduled, and occurs in a channel. To start a Meet Now meeting, click the icon.
Add a subject and click Meet now to start the meeting.
In the channel, other team members can see there is a meeting happening and can join if they are interested and it will show in the thread of the meeting.