Using Microsoft Teams Chat vs. Teams Channel Posts
Microsoft Teams Chat is intended for only transitory messages that have no public record retention value.
Discussions that convey business decisions or the thinking process behind those decisions often have a public record retention requirement and therefore shouldn’t be messaged through Teams Chat. State retention requirements vary depending on record content, and you should check always check on these requirements if you’re uncertain.
Don’t use Teams Chat for messages that:
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Could increase public records management risks to Ecology. Inappropriate use of Teams Chat may result in both financial (compliance) costs and reputational damage.
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Make disparaging or derogatory comments regarding anyone.
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Include sensitive, privileged, or personal content.
Teams Chat, including one-on-one, one-to-many, or general meetings, all have a seven-day retention period before deletion.
Teams Chat within a Teams Channel Post have no default retention and won’t automatically delete.
Both are subject to public records requests, discovery for litigation, internal investigations, and record retention requirements.
Be thoughtful about what you put into Teams Chat because it is searchable and will be produced for public records requests.
Use Teams Chat responsibly and assume anything you put into Chat, including memes and stickers, may be viewed by the public.
Teams Chat example
 Teams Channel Post example
A Teams Channel is typically created by an Ecology business unit for collaboration on a subject or document.
Teams provides three ways to have instant-messaging conversations:
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One-on-One Chats to connect with people individually
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Group Chats to speak with a group of people at the same time
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Meeting Chats to ask a question without interrupting the speaker
Teams Chats are for non-business, transitory messaging only. No business-related communications should be conducted using this function. For example, don’t use Teams Chat for decision-making processes that have a retention requirement.
Teams Channel Posts can be used for business-related conversations that can be utilized by others for business needs. If you’re conducting business-related communications using Teams, you should be using Teams Channel Posts.
Teams Chats delete after seven days. Teams Channel Posts don’t. More on this below.
Retention period for Chats vs. Posts
For Teams Chat, a seven-day retention period was implemented by WaTech that automatically deletes any conversations after than seven days. Chats are meant to be transitory in nature and serve no business purpose.
For Team Channel Posts, there’s no default retention period, and the chats remain until the Team or Channel is no longer needed for Ecology business.
OF NOTE: Email should be used instead of Teams when your communications have rigorous, complex, or varied retention requirements. Why? Because with email (Outlook) you can apply varied retention periods (from one day to 60 years).
Please review the state’s general or Ecology-specific retention requirements if you’re unsure of your requirements.
Legal risk
Anything Ecology produces can be disclosed. This includes Teams Chats and Team Channel Posts.
Despite a seven-day retention period, there are risks surrounding the content of Teams Chats. Until the messages produced with the Teams Chat are auto deleted, they’re still discoverable and will be produced to meet public disclosure requirements.
The Washington Public Records Act, Chapter 42.56 RCW, requires us to promptly make identifiable public records available for inspection and provide records upon request.
One recent example of legal risks surrounding records management is a public disclosure request from August 2023. A news reporter asked for the last seven days’ worth of all Ecology Teams Chat messages. This single request resulted in tens of thousands of Teams Chat records that needed to be processed and released to the requestor.
Another example of business-related messaging affecting government operations occurred in 2022. The City of Seattle paid $2.3 million for text records from the mayor that were lost or destroyed.
Knowingly deleting or relying on an automatic seven-day retention policy to prevent the release of improperly managed business records/conversations fall within the guidelines of this case.
Agencies often end up paying public records penalties that are six-digits and not insurable.
Discovery violations during litigation can include harsh sanctions and can harm an agency’s underlying case.
In summary
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Don’t use Teams Chat for business-related conversations.
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If you need to have a business-related conversation, use an alternate means that will preserve records as per the Washington State Public Records Act, such as email (Outlook) or Teams Channel Posts.
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Improper use of government systems can have financial and reputational repercussions to both Ecology and Washington state.
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