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SOP: Create a Committee SharePoint Site

Audience: SHHA office staff and IT administrators. This is not a committee-member task.

Goal: connect the existing Microsoft 365 group to its group-owned SharePoint document library, keep site-page administration with office staff, and give committee members read/write access to documents.

PNM Special Task Force Setup Summary

CommitteePNM Special Task Force
Existing Microsoft 365 groupPNMSTG
Mailing listPNMSTG@sandiahomeowners.org
Expected SharePoint URLhttps://shha.sharepoint.com/sites/PNMSTG
Site privacyPrivate
Office staffOwners / Full Control; may edit the home page and permissions
Committee membersContribute; may create, edit, move, and delete documents but should not edit the site page

Important: Check Before Creating Anything

A Microsoft 365 group normally provisions a connected SharePoint team site. Because PNMSTG already exists and its members are already using the mailing list, do not begin by clicking Create site. First look for the site that belongs to the existing group.

  1. Try https://shha.sharepoint.com/sites/PNMSTG.
  2. If that does not open, go to admin.microsoft.com → Show all → Admin centers → SharePoint.
  3. Open Sites → Active sites.
  4. Search for PNMSTG and PNM Special Task Force.
  5. In the Microsoft 365 admin center, also open Teams & groups → Active teams & groups → PNMSTG and confirm the group type is Microsoft 365.

If the group is a Microsoft 365 group and the site appears in Active sites, open that existing site and continue below.

If the group exists but no connected site can be found, stop and contact IT. Do not create a second group or a similarly named standalone SharePoint site. A duplicate would separate the mailing-list membership from document access and create a very convincing mess.

Step 1: Confirm Office Staff Are Owners

  1. In the SharePoint admin center, open Sites → Active sites.
  2. Select the PNM Special Task Force site.
  3. Select Membership.
  4. Confirm the appropriate office staff accounts are listed as owners/site admins.
  5. Add a backup office/admin owner if one is missing.
  6. Do not make the committee chair or ordinary committee members Owners.

Owners can edit the home page, navigation, permissions, and site settings. Keep that role with office staff.

Step 2: Give Committee Members Document Access Without Page Editing

Microsoft gives group-connected team-site members the broad Edit permission by default. For SHHA committee sites, use Contribute instead. Contribute allows members to view, add, update, and delete documents without giving them the broader ability to manage lists or edit the site page.

  1. Open the PNM SharePoint site.
  2. Select Settings (gear icon) → Site permissions.
  3. Select Advanced permissions settings.
  4. Select the SharePoint group whose name ends in Members. Do not select Owners or Visitors.
  5. On the permissions ribbon, select Edit User Permissions.
  6. Clear Edit.
  7. Select Contribute.
  8. Select OK.

Do not remove the PNMSTG Microsoft 365 group from the site. Membership in that group is what keeps the mailing list and document access synchronized.

Step 3: Keep The Site Simple

A team site already includes a default Documents library. Do not create another library named Documents.

  1. Open the site and select Documents.
  2. Confirm committee members can see the library.
  3. Create a folder named Documents Shared with Board.
  4. If the folder-color option is available, apply the same color used for the standing-committee folders.
  5. Edit the left navigation and remove unused links. Keep the useful experience limited to Home and Documents.
  6. Do not delete the system Site Pages library. It supports the home page even though committee members do not need to work in it.

Step 4: Make The Home Page Useful But Minimal

Only office staff should edit the home page.

  1. From the site home page, select Edit.
  2. Use the title PNM Special Task Force.
  3. Add one short sentence: “Use the Documents library for task-force files and enduring reference materials.”
  4. Add or keep an obvious link to Documents.
  5. Remove unnecessary news, activity, or decorative web parts if they make the page harder to scan.
  6. Republish the page.

Step 5: Add The Documents Library To Office OneDrive

This step is for internal SHHA accounts only. Microsoft does not support adding SharePoint shortcuts to OneDrive for external users.

  1. Sign in as the office user who needs the shortcut.
  2. Open the PNM SharePoint site.
  3. Open Documents.
  4. Select Add shortcut to OneDrive or Add shortcut to My files.
  5. Open that user's OneDrive and confirm the PNM folder appears under My files.
  6. If the OneDrive desktop app is running, confirm the shortcut appears on the office computer.
  7. Repeat while signed in as each internal office user who needs the shortcut. One person cannot add the shortcut on behalf of another account.

The shortcut points to the group-owned SharePoint library. It does not copy the files into the user's personal OneDrive.

Step 6: Test With A Real External Committee Member

  1. Ask one existing external PNMSTG member to open the PNM SharePoint site using the same personal email address that received the Microsoft invitation.
  2. Confirm the member can open Documents.
  3. Have the member create or upload a temporary file named TEST - delete me.
  4. Confirm the member can edit, rename, move, and delete that test file.
  5. Confirm the member cannot edit the home page, navigation, site permissions, or membership.
  6. Confirm a person who is not in PNMSTG cannot open the private site.

Step 7: Publish The Member Instructions

  1. Send committee members the PNM Special Task Force SharePoint Guide.
  2. Add the PNM mailing list and SharePoint site to Quick Links & Directory.
  3. Tell external members to bookmark the SharePoint site. Do not tell them to add a OneDrive shortcut.

Final Checklist

  • Existing PNMSTG group-connected site found; no duplicate created
  • Site is Private
  • Office staff are Owners / Full Control
  • Committee members use Contribute permissions
  • Documents library works
  • Documents Shared with Board folder created
  • Home page and navigation simplified
  • Office-user OneDrive shortcuts added separately
  • External member document test passed
  • External member cannot edit the site page
  • Quick Links directory updated
  • Member guide sent to the committee

Microsoft References

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