Learning Management
Targeting Learning Using Microsoft 365 Groups
For many L&D teams, audience targeting is already handled through HR or learning platforms – grouping employees by role, department, or location. But as organisations deepen their use of Microsoft 365, the same system that manage who can access files, Teams, and sites are also starting to shape how learning can be delivered to different groups of people.
Within Microsoft, this system is called Entra ID (formerly Azure Active Directory). It already determines what users can see and do across Teams, SharePoint, and other Microsoft 365 apps – and those same Entra ID Groups can also be used to target learning content. This means learning access can follow the same patterns as collaboration: when someone joins a team, moves department, or changes role, the learning available to them can update automatically too.
For L&D and HR professionals, that doesn’t mean giving up control of audience management to IT – it means understanding how identity data can help deliver learning more accurately, keep enrolments up to date, and reduce the manual effort behind assigning training.
A Practical Example: Using Teams Group Membership to Drive Learning
Microsoft Teams isn’t just a place for meetings and collaboration – it can also serve as a natural space for sharing and managing learning.
Also line managers – as Team owners – have the flexibility to decide who’s part of their Team, and by extension, who should have access to related learning and resources.
That means learning can be targeted automatically to the people already working together. For example, you might share onboarding materials with new project teams, safety updates with a site-based Team, or leadership resources within a management community.
Find out more about using Teams membership to drive learning in Learn365
And, as Team in Microsoft 365 is connected to an underlying Microsoft 365 Group in Entra ID, which defines its members and permissions, any changes made by IT – such as someone joining a new project or moving to a different department – are automatically reflected in the relevant Teams.
You may even offer training to external contractors, partners, volunteers and other ‘guests’ that are part of a team. This is something which HR systems may not list, but which tying into Entra ID Groups will let you support securely.
Why Use IT’s ‘List of People’ When HR Is the Source of Truth?
This, however brings us onto the question of ‘Why use IT’s ‘list of people’ when the HR department is arguably is the ‘single source of truth’ for employment and role information?’
That’s a good question — and it’s not an either/or decision.
While HR systems remain the official source of truth for job roles and employment status, Entra ID often provides the most up-to-date view of who’s actually active in the organisation and which teams they belong to.
And, as we said above, the ability to target external users with relevant training may also be important to you.
What if your EntraID Groups aren’t ‘Up to Snuff’?
To get the best of both worlds, many organisations are now connecting their HR systems (HRIS) with Entra ID. This ensures that the official employee information managed by HR – such as job titles, departments, and employment status – is automatically reflected in the Microsoft 365 environment where collaboration and learning take place.
By keeping these systems in sync, learning access can reflect both the formal structure of the organisation and the real-world dynamics of how people work together in Teams and projects every day.
Together, they help ensure learning access stays both compliant and current.
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