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M365 Email Groups, Role Inboxes & Responsibilities

Operational reference for office staff, IT admin, and future volunteers — mailing lists, shared mailboxes, licensing, SOPs, and governance.

Quick Overview

SHHA uses two different patterns for email collaboration:

PatternTechnologyExamples
Committee mailing lists Microsoft Groups shha-all@, csc@, acc@
Role-based addresses Shared mailboxes president@, cscchair@, accchair@

Design Principles

  • Role continuity over individual ownership — email addresses stay constant when people rotate in/out.
  • Least cost for volunteers — external volunteers do not require paid M365 licenses.
  • Operational traceability — group membership changes trigger Power Automate notifications.
  • Institutional archive — itadmin@ is included in all groups as a permanent archive recipient.

Microsoft Groups (Mailing Lists)

Each committee has a Microsoft Group that acts as its mailing list.

GroupAddress
All membersshha-all@sandiahomeowners.org
CSCcsc@sandiahomeowners.org
ACCacc@sandiahomeowners.org
OthersOne group per committee

Behavior: Sending to the group distributes to all members. Membership is maintained by staff (primary owner: Anna). External participants can be included.

Shared Mailboxes (Role Inboxes)

Chair and executive role addresses are shared mailboxes tied to positions, not people.

RoleAddress
CSC Chaircscchair@sandiahomeowners.org
ACC Chairaccchair@sandiahomeowners.org
Presidentpresident@sandiahomeowners.org
Vice Presidentvicepresident@sandiahomeowners.org
Secretarysecretary@sandiahomeowners.org
Treasurertreasurer@sandiahomeowners.org

Access model

  • People do not log in directly as the role mailbox.
  • Authorized users open the shared mailbox from their own licensed account.
  • Example: phil.krehbiel@sandiahomeowners.org can open accchair@sandiahomeowners.org.

When leadership changes

  1. Remove predecessor access.
  2. Grant successor access.
  3. Keep the role mailbox address unchanged.

Archive Mailbox (itadmin@)

  • itadmin@ is a member of all groups.
  • Purpose: permanent archive and continuity.
  • itadmin@ is not actively monitored for normal operations.

Power Automate Membership Notifications

A Power Automate flow sends email notifications whenever group membership changes.

  • Provides audit visibility.
  • Alerts staff to unexpected changes.
  • Supports handoffs and troubleshooting.

Licensing and External Volunteers

User typeLicense needed?Capabilities
External volunteersNoGroup email delivery, SharePoint guest access
Licensed staff / adminYes (paid M365)Group administration, shared mailbox access, full portal

Responsibilities Matrix

ResponsibilityPrimaryBackupNotes
Maintain committee group membershipAnna (staff)IT adminAdd/remove members, verify accuracy
Manage shared mailbox permissionsAnna + IT adminIT adminRemove predecessor, add successor
Ensure itadmin@ in all groupsIT adminAnnaRequired for archive continuity
Monitor membership-change notificationsAnnaIT adminPower Automate emails = operational signal
Troubleshoot delivery/access issuesIT adminAnnaIncludes mailbox permissions and group settings

SOP: Add a Person to a Committee Mailing List

  1. Confirm committee and target group address.
  2. Verify whether person is internal staff or external volunteer.
  3. Add to the correct Microsoft Group membership.
  4. Confirm itadmin@ remains a member.
  5. Verify Power Automate sends membership-change notification.
  6. Ask requester to test delivery (or send a test message).

SOP: Remove a Person from a Committee Mailing List

  1. Confirm removal request and effective date.
  2. Remove member from the Microsoft Group.
  3. Verify Power Automate notification is received.
  4. If person held a role, check related shared mailbox permissions.

SOP: Leadership Transition for Role Inbox

  1. Identify affected role mailbox (e.g., accchair@).
  2. Remove outgoing person's mailbox permissions.
  3. Grant incoming person's mailbox permissions.
  4. Validate that incoming person can open the shared mailbox from their own account.
  5. Keep address and historical content in place for continuity.

SOP: New Committee Creation

  1. Create new Microsoft Group for the committee.
  2. Add initial committee members.
  3. Add itadmin@ as member for archiving.
  4. Ensure membership-change notifications are active.
  5. Record the group in the committee/group inventory.

Governance Rules

  • Every committee must have exactly one official mailing-list group.
  • Every committee group must include itadmin@.
  • Shared mailbox addresses represent roles and must not be treated as personal identities.
  • Access to shared role inboxes must be updated promptly on leadership change.
  • Membership changes should be performed by staff owner (Anna) or IT admin only.

Maintain a simple inventory table (in the wiki or internal operations file) with:

  • Committee name
  • Group email address
  • Current chair role mailbox (if applicable)
  • Current permission holders
  • Last membership review date
  • Last updated by
This makes volunteer/staff handoff much easier.

Common Issues and Checks

Person does not receive committee emails

  • Member exists in correct Microsoft Group
  • Email address is correct
  • Sender used the correct group address
  • Recent change triggered notification (confirms update happened)

New chair cannot open role mailbox

  • Shared mailbox permission was granted to the person's licensed account
  • User is opening mailbox from their own account context
  • Predecessor access was removed (to avoid confusion)

Missing archive history

  • itadmin@ is still a member of the affected group
  • Group delivery settings have not been altered

Handoff Checklist (Staff / Volunteer Transition)

  • Review all committee group memberships for accuracy.
  • Verify all active chairs/executive roles have correct shared mailbox access.
  • Remove stale permissions from former role holders.
  • Confirm itadmin@ is in every group.
  • Confirm membership-change notification flow is working.
  • Update inventory table and date-stamp the review.

Key Contacts and Ownership

RoleContact
Group membership ownerAnna (staff)
Technical owner / escalationIT admin
Archive mailboxitadmin@ (not actively monitored)
If ownership changes, update this section immediately.

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