Microsoft announced the release of communities in Microsoft Teams which is a new social space for teams to connect, share, and collaborate together. 

“Whether your group is a recreational sports team, event planning committee, parent-teacher association, or even a small business, this new experience gives groups of all kinds a digital space to stay connected before, during, and after gatherings,” Manik Gupta, corporate vice president of Microsoft Teams Product, wrote in a blog post. 

Users can now easily post messages to everyone in a group, organize events and add them to the group calendar, share and store documents dedicated to group activity, and filter content to quickly access photos, videos, events, and more. 

Community owners can set up a community by choosing suggested community types on the home screen. Then, they can add branding elements, manage settings, and add or remove participants as well as posts. Hybrid and virtual guests can join events from any device through audio or video.

Communities is currently rolling out in the free version of Microsoft Teams. Next year, people can access SignUpGenius with Teams to recruit volunteers, coordinate events, and manage a variety of sign ups, according to the company. 

Communities in Teams is also well-suited for small businesses in addition to enterprises.

“With communities in Teams, your small business can move seamlessly from customer calls to team events and everything in between. You can create a virtual community group with diehard customers to announce a new sale, or just as easily create a Carpool Community for coworkers who want to share a ride to the office,” Gupta wrote.