Teams and discussions

An implemented working group uses a private Microsoft Team as its discussion hub. The aim is a durable, understandable record: choose the right surface, keep related replies together and separate discussion from formal authority.

Use each surface for its intended job

Surface	Use it for	Do not use it for
Teams	Group discussion, questions, evidence requests and candidate review.	Restricted source files or silent decision-making.
SharePoint intake	Authorised source material in a private organisation folder.	General discussion or files intended for the whole Team.
Website comments	Signed-in, page-specific feedback on a published candidate or explanation.	A vote, approval or standalone decision record.
Email	Invitations, colleague requests, access support and a screened attachment fallback.	A mailing list or parallel discussion channel.

The common channel pattern

General provides orientation, the channel directory and, where appropriate, official notices.
Common Topics and Coordination holds questions that span the group or several contexts.
Discussion channels hold subjects within a stable area of the group's scope.
Announcements may be retained as an owner-led notice channel where it adds value.

Channel names vary with the group's scope. Use the most specific suitable channel; use Common Topics and Coordination when a subject crosses boundaries.

Use a thread-first discussion pattern

Search or scan the channel for an existing thread about the subject.
Reply beneath the original post when it covers the same question.
Start a new post only for a distinct ambiguity, conflict, evidence gap, correction or model issue.
Give the post a clear subject and keep one clear issue per thread.
Link to the relevant candidate page, question or evidence record when one exists.

Do not create a Teams post merely to announce an upload. Put interpretation and provenance in the source folder's README; start a discussion only when the material raises a question for the group.

Website comments are contextual feedback

Signed-in authorised OPDA accounts can comment on pages that expose the comment component. Website comments make feedback easy to find beside the material under review. A website comment is not a decision record, consensus call or authority grant. Material feedback must be connected to the maintained question, candidate or disposition record before it changes the model.

Keep discussions safe and useful

Explain the business situation, rule, example or counterexample behind a view.
Distinguish fact, organisational practice, proposal and personal judgement.
Do not paste personal, customer, live transaction, secret or restricted source material into a channel.
Do not discuss prohibited competitive information such as pricing, customer strategy or market allocation.
Declare affiliation or a material interest when it affects the issue being discussed.