Most Common Process

If you are reading this, you most likely have created a Microsoft Form in M365 and are curious about what you may have forgotten.  Most people go to Microsoft Forms, click create a form, build it out, test it, then send out the link by hitting the share button.  Easy, simple, not an issue, right?  Sure, but what happens to that form if you win the lottery to become a towel boy/girl in Tahiti to take it easy for the rest of your life?  You leave, your account is deactivated then is deleted over a specified period according to your companies off boarding protocols.  Suddenly it is not working.  Your team is in a bad place.  Next thing you know, you are receiving pictures of pitchforks and torches from your once beloved coworkers.

Ask the Right Question

When you are about to create a Microsoft Form, be sure to ask this question.  What is the duration of this form going to be?  If you have a form created to last a week to let people on your team identify what they are going to bring to the potluck next Friday afternoon, then you are fine.  The duration is short.  In this situation, winning the lottery won’t cause too much heartache even if you exit the company the same day.  The form will not be immediately lost to the bits of time.   If your answer is for months or more importantly, indefinitely as the answer, then you need to read the next section and understand what the best practice is.

A secondary question you should ask is, “Who is my audience?”  If it is a project team, your HR department, or a large subset of your organization, you will also want to take into consideration going to the next area and ensuring you follow the best practice recommended.

Recommended Best Practice

When you create a Microsoft Form in M365, be sure to have a Microsoft Team or M365 Group own the form in order to give it sustainability.  When you move a form under a Microsoft Team or M365 Group its life expectancy is now for the length of that group, not based off an individual.  This in turn will allow team members to come and go, but the form will not be deleted without understanding what has happened.  There are two ways to give ownership of a Microsoft Form to a Microsoft Team or M365 Group.  Let’s review.

Create as the Owner then Move

1. Finish creating the form as you normally would by going to Microsoft Forms in M365 and just click New Form.
2. Once finished, go back to the landing page of Microsoft Forms.
3. Point at the Microsoft Form you have created with your cursor. (Note: You will see your name in the bottom left corner signifying you are indeed the one who is the owner of the Form.  See Image 1)
   
   Image 1
4. When you point at the Microsoft Form’s card in the bottom right you will see three dots (ellipses) appear.
5. Click the ellipses to get a fly out menu. (See Image 2)
   
   Image 2
6. Click on Move to a group.
7. Select the Microsoft Group of your choice.

Create as a Tab on the Microsoft Team Channel

1. In Microsoft Teams, go to the Microsoft Team of your choice and select a channel where you would like to build the Microsoft Form.
2. Click on the + next to the other tabs of the channel in the top center of the application.
3. In search type out the word Forms.
4. Select Forms.
5. Ensure the radio button for Create a shared form that your team can edit and see results is selected.  (See Image 3)
   
   Image 3
6. Name your Form.
7. Hit Save.

Either path you take to associating the Microsoft Form to a Microsoft Team or M365 Group will align you with this best practice.  Happy polling!

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