10 Microsoft 365 Tips Every Small Business Should Know
Most businesses use only a fraction of what Microsoft 365 offers. These 10 tips will help your team collaborate better, stay secure, and get more from your subscription.
Getting More From Your M365 Investment
Microsoft 365 is one of the most powerful productivity suites available — but most small businesses use only a fraction of its capabilities. Here are 10 tips to help you get more value from your subscription.
1. Enable Multi-Factor Authentication for Everyone
This is non-negotiable. MFA blocks over 99% of account compromise attacks. Go to the Microsoft 365 admin centre and enable it for all users today.
2. Use Microsoft Teams as Your Communication Hub
Stop relying on email for internal communication. Teams channels, chats, and video calls keep conversations organised and searchable — and integrate directly with your files in SharePoint.
3. Set Up Automatic Email Archiving
Use Exchange Online Archiving to automatically archive emails older than a set period. This keeps inboxes manageable and ensures you meet any compliance or legal hold requirements.
4. Leverage SharePoint for Document Management
Stop emailing documents back and forth. SharePoint gives your team a central place to store, share, and collaborate on files — with version history so you can always roll back to a previous version.
5. Use Conditional Access Policies
Conditional Access lets you control who can access your M365 environment and under what conditions — for example, blocking access from unmanaged devices or unfamiliar locations.
6. Enable Microsoft Defender for Business
If you're on Microsoft 365 Business Premium, you have access to Defender for Business — a powerful endpoint security tool. Make sure it's enabled and configured on all devices.
7. Set Up Data Loss Prevention (DLP) Policies
DLP policies prevent sensitive information (like credit card numbers or National Insurance numbers) from being shared outside your organisation accidentally or maliciously.
8. Use Microsoft Planner for Project Management
Planner is a simple, visual task management tool built into M365. It's great for tracking team projects without needing a separate tool.
9. Automate Repetitive Tasks with Power Automate
Power Automate (formerly Flow) lets you build automated workflows without any coding. Common uses include automatically saving email attachments to SharePoint, or sending notifications when a form is submitted.
10. Review Your Licences Regularly
Many businesses pay for licences they don't use. Review your M365 licences quarterly and remove inactive users to keep costs under control.
Need Help with Microsoft 365?
In4ra provides full Microsoft 365 support — from initial setup and migration to ongoing management and training. Get in touch to find out how we can help.
Need help with your IT?
In4ra provides expert IT support for UK businesses. Get in touch for a no-obligation conversation.
Talk to Us