Role Guides

Staff

This page is for office staff and operations support volunteers.

Primary Responsibilities

Monthly Staff Checklist

Add a New Volunteer

  1. Send Microsoft external-user invitation.
  2. Confirm volunteer accepted invitation.
  3. Add volunteer to committee mailing list.
  4. Provide direct committee SharePoint link.
See also: SOP: Add a person to a committee mailing list

Shared Role Mailbox Transition

  1. Remove prior role holder's access.
  2. Grant new role holder access.
  3. Confirm mailbox appears in new holder's Outlook.
See also: SOP: Leadership transition for role inbox

Staff Reminders

Volunteer with SHHA Email

This page is for volunteers who already have an SHHA mailbox and may also have role-based inbox access.

What You Should Use

Shared Role Inbox Basics

If you hold an officer or chair role, you may be assigned a shared role inbox.

See FAQ — Reply from role mailbox for full instructions, and FAQ — Can't see shared inbox if the mailbox doesn't appear.

Why The President Has Two Email Addresses

Short version: robin.otten@sandiahomeowners.org is Robin's personal SHHA account. president@sandiahomeowners.org is the President mailbox. One belongs to the person; one belongs to the office.

AddressWhat it isUse it for
robin.otten@sandiahomeowners.org Robin's own SHHA sign-in and personal work account Signing in to Microsoft, opening Outlook/SharePoint, and messages meant specifically for Robin as a person
president@sandiahomeowners.org The shared President inbox Official President business that future Presidents may need to see later

Yes, two inboxes is annoying. Think of it as a key and a filing cabinet: Robin's account is the key that lets her into Microsoft; the President inbox is the filing cabinet that stays with the office when the next President takes over.

This is why SHHA keeps both addresses:

Simple rule: if it is official President business, use president@sandiahomeowners.org. If it is about Robin personally, use robin.otten@sandiahomeowners.org. If you are not sure, the President inbox is usually the safer mailbox for SHHA business.

File Sharing Rule

For committee documents:

  1. Upload to SharePoint.
  2. Copy link.
  3. Send link to committee list.

Avoid one-off attachments for files that should remain in committee records.

If You Are Not Seeing Something

Office Onboarding Email Templates

Purpose: Copy-and-send welcome emails from SHHA Office or IT Help to the newly onboarded employee, volunteer, or committee members.

Choose the matching scenario, replace every item in square brackets, delete lines that do not apply, and send the completed message to the new users. These are not internal setup notifications; they tell the recipients that setup is complete and explain what they should do next.

Placeholder Key

PlaceholderReplace with
[FIRST NAME]Recipient's first name
[SHHA EMAIL]New internal @sandiahomeowners.org address
[COMMITTEE NAME]Full committee or task-force name
[MAILING LIST]Committee mailing-list address
[SHAREPOINT LINK]Direct committee SharePoint site URL
[WIKI LINK]The most relevant wiki page listed below the template
[OFFICE CONTACT]Office staff contact name or email

Before Sending Any Template

Template 1: New Internal Staff User

Use for: a staff member receiving a licensed @sandiahomeowners.org account.

Suggested wiki link: Volunteer with SHHA Email or Quick Reference.

Subject: Your SHHA Microsoft account

Hi [FIRST NAME],

Your SHHA Microsoft account is ready.

Username: [SHHA EMAIL]
Sign in: https://outlook.com

Your temporary password will be provided separately. Microsoft will ask you to change it when you first sign in.

After signing in, please confirm that you can open Outlook and any SharePoint sites needed for your role.

Getting-started instructions are here:
[WIKI LINK]

If anything does not work, please contact ITHelp@sandiahomeowners.org and include a screenshot of the error.

Thank you,
[OFFICE CONTACT]

Template 2: New External Volunteer

Use for: a volunteer using Gmail, Yahoo, iCloud, Outlook.com, or another personal address.

Suggested wiki link: Volunteer without SHHA Email.

Subject: Welcome to SHHA - Microsoft invitation and committee access

Hi [FIRST NAME],

Welcome, and thank you for volunteering with SHHA.

Microsoft will send an organization invitation to this email address. Please open that message and select Accept invitation. Sign in using the same email address that received the invitation. Microsoft may send you a one-time passcode.

After accepting the invitation, you will receive committee email through:
[MAILING LIST]

Your committee documents are available here:
[SHAREPOINT LINK]

Please bookmark the SharePoint link. External volunteers use SharePoint in a web browser and should not add committee files to OneDrive.

Step-by-step instructions are here:
[WIKI LINK]

If you have trouble, please contact ITHelp@sandiahomeowners.org and include the email address you used, the link you opened, and a screenshot of the error.

Thank you,
[OFFICE CONTACT]

Template 3: New Committee Or Task Force

Use for: the initial launch email after the mailing list, membership, and SharePoint site have all been tested.

Suggested wiki link: Committee SharePoint Guide.

Subject: [COMMITTEE NAME] email and SharePoint information

Hello everyone,

The [COMMITTEE NAME] Microsoft group is ready.

Mailing list: [MAILING LIST]
Use this address when a message should go to everyone in the committee.

SharePoint documents: [SHAREPOINT LINK]
Use the Documents library for committee files, working documents, and enduring reference materials.

All committee members have read/write access to the Documents library. Office staff manage membership, permissions, and changes to the SharePoint home page.

Members using personal email addresses should bookmark the SharePoint site and use it in a web browser. External members should not use OneDrive for committee documents.

Instructions for uploading, editing, moving, and deleting files are here:
[WIKI LINK]

Please contact [OFFICE CONTACT] for membership or site changes, or ITHelp@sandiahomeowners.org for access problems.

Thank you,
[OFFICE CONTACT]

Template 4: New SharePoint Site For An Existing Committee

Use for: a committee whose mailing list already works but whose SharePoint document site was created later or was never introduced properly.

Suggested wiki link: Committee SharePoint Guide.

Subject: New SharePoint document site for [COMMITTEE NAME]

Hello everyone,

The [COMMITTEE NAME] mailing list is not changing. You can continue using:
[MAILING LIST]

We have now set up the committee SharePoint site for shared documents:
[SHAREPOINT LINK]

Please use the SharePoint Documents library for committee files instead of personal OneDrive folders, email attachments, or individual Share links. All committee members have read/write access to the Documents library.

Members using personal email addresses should bookmark the SharePoint site and access documents there in a web browser. External members should not use OneDrive for committee documents.

Office staff will manage membership, permissions, and the SharePoint home page. Committee members can create, upload, edit, move, and delete files in Documents.

Instructions are here:
[WIKI LINK]

Please contact [OFFICE CONTACT] with membership or organization questions, or ITHelp@sandiahomeowners.org if the site will not open.

Thank you,
[OFFICE CONTACT]

Volunteer without SHHA Email

This page is for volunteers who participate using a personal email address. You usually do not need a paid Microsoft license.

First-Time Setup

  1. Look for the two Microsoft emails described below.
  2. Open the organization invitation email and click Accept invitation.
  3. Use that same email address when prompted to sign in.
  4. Open your committee SharePoint link from the Quick Reference page.
  5. Confirm you receive committee mailing list messages.

The 2 Emails You Should Expect

1) Organization invitation email (expected but confusing)

The subject is usually similar to "Anna, SHHA invited you to collaborate with SHHA".

The email usually includes:

This is the important one. Click Accept invitation to activate your access.

After you click Accept invitation, Microsoft may bring you to a page that does not make much sense. This is normal and is just a Microsoft quirk. Use the direct links on the Quick Reference page for useful pages and mailing lists.

2) Group/team invitation email (expected but confusing)

You may also get an email with a subject like "You have been added to a team in Microsoft Teams".

This is a default Microsoft message and cannot be customized by SHHA.

For external volunteers, we do not recommend using Teams for SHHA work. Instead, follow the SharePoint links on the Quick Reference page for the groups you are part of.

What You Can Expect

Most Common Mistakes

Correct File Sharing Pattern

  1. Upload to SharePoint.
  2. Copy link.
  3. Email link to committee list.

See FAQ for step-by-step sharing instructions.

Need Help?

Contact ITHelp@sandiahomeowners.org if you cannot access files or receive committee messages.

New Board Member Guide

Welcome to the Board. The good news: there is no secret handshake. The mildly annoying news: Microsoft may still ask you to sign in like there is one.

Short Version

  1. Use the Board SharePoint site for meeting packets, pre-reads, and Board working files.
  2. Read the meeting pre-reads before Board meetings.
  3. You can upload files to the Board SharePoint when you need to share material with the Board.
  4. When Trish asks for agenda items, email her anything you want added about a week before the meeting.
  5. If you cannot open something, contact ITHelp@sandiahomeowners.org and include the link that failed.

Board SharePoint: Where The Board Files Live

The Board SharePoint site is the Board's file cabinet. It is where meeting pre-reads, packets, drafts, and reference files should live.

Direct link: https://shha.sharepoint.com/sites/BOARD/

If Microsoft drops you into a confusing page, do not take it personally. Use the direct link above. It is the front door.

Meeting Pre-Reads

Before a Board meeting, check the Board SharePoint for the meeting materials. These are the pre-reads: the things everyone is expected to look at before the meeting so the meeting can be a meeting, not a dramatic public reading of PDFs.

If a document seems missing, ask Trish or office staff. If the link opens for others but not for you, contact ITHelp.

Uploading Files For The Board

Board members can upload files to the Board SharePoint.

  1. Open the Board SharePoint site.
  2. Open the document library or the folder Trish or the Board is using for that meeting/topic.
  3. Click Upload, then choose your file.
  4. After uploading, send the Board or Trish a SharePoint link instead of attaching a separate copy.

When in doubt, use a clear file name with the topic and date. Future-you and future-neighbors will appreciate it.

Agenda Items

Trish will usually prompt Board members for agenda items before a meeting. When she does, send her any agenda item you want considered about a week in advance.

A helpful agenda request includes:

Board Email Basics

Quick Help