Why Group-Based Access Is Critical for SharePoint Governance

Introduction

In almost every Microsoft 365 tenant, SharePoint permissions start with good intentions and end with confusion.

A site owner grants access to “just one person.” A project runs long, people move on, and permissions never get revisited. Over time, SharePoint sites accumulate direct user permissions, broken inheritance, and exceptions that no one remembers authorizing.

This is how permission sprawl begins — and why group-based access is one of the most critical (and often ignored) foundations of SharePoint governance.

The Core Problem: Direct Permissions Don’t Scale

SharePoint allows permissions to be granted in many ways:

• Microsoft 365 groups
• SharePoint groups
• Direct user assignments
• Item-level permissions

While all of these have valid use cases, direct user permissions are where governance usually breaks down.

Why Direct Permissions Cause Problems

Direct permissions:

• Are hard to audit
• Are easy to forget
• Bypass standard access models
• Rarely get reviewed or removed
• Create single-user exceptions that outlive their purpose

In production tenants, direct permissions often exist because:

• Someone needed access “quickly”
• Group membership felt too heavy-handed
• Ownership or approval processes were unclear

None of these reasons are malicious — but the outcome is still risky.

Groups Create Structure, Accountability, and Clarity

Group-based access introduces something direct permissions never can: structure.

When access is granted via groups:

• Membership is visible and reviewable
• Owners are accountable
• Changes are deliberate, not ad hoc
• Permissions can be understood at a glance

From an operational perspective, groups provide:

Groups turn SharePoint access from a collection of exceptions into a repeatable model.

Real-World Impact: Where Things Go Wrong

Most security or audit findings around SharePoint access are not due to:

• Platform limitations
• Lack of features
• Advanced attacks

They are due to poor permission hygiene.

Common findings include:

• Former employees retaining access
• External users with elevated permissions
• Sensitive sites with no clear ownership
• Inconsistent access across similar sites

In nearly every case, the root cause is the same: Permissions were granted directly instead of through groups.

Governance Maturity: This Is a Level-Up Moment

Moving from direct permissions to group-based access is not just a technical change — it’s a governance maturity milestone.

Low Maturity

• Ad-hoc permissions
• Individual exceptions
• Manual cleanup
• Reactive audits

Higher Maturity

• Group-based access
• Clear ownership
• Regular reviews
• Proactive controls

Organizations that reach higher maturity levels:

• Spend less time troubleshooting access
• Pass audits more easily
• Reduce security risk
• Scale collaboration safely

Addressing the Objection: “Groups Are Too Much Overhead”

This is a common pushback — and it’s understandable.

But the overhead of groups is upfront, while the cost of direct permissions is ongoing.

Direct permissions trade short-term convenience for long-term complexity. Groups do the opposite.

Once groups are established:

• Access requests become predictable
• Reviews become easier
• Exceptions become visible

That trade-off almost always pays off.

Practical Next Steps

If you’re looking to improve SharePoint governance without boiling the ocean:

• Audit direct permissions across sites
• Identify patterns (same users added repeatedly)
• Replace direct access with groups
• Educate site owners on when groups should be used
• Review regularly, not just during audits

Governance improves fastest when visibility comes first.

Conclusion

Group-based access is not just a best practice — it is a prerequisite for scalable SharePoint governance.

Direct permissions will always exist, but they should be:

• Rare
• Justified
• Visible
• Reviewed

When groups become the default, SharePoint becomes:

• Easier to manage
• Safer to collaborate in
• Simpler to audit
• More resilient over time

Additional Resources

• Governing access in Microsoft 365 groups, Teams, and SharePoint