LENOX INTERNATIONAL HOLDINGS GROUP

STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE

Team Member Setup and Access for Shared Email Accounts

Microsoft 365 / Outlook Shared Mailbox Operating Procedure

1. Purpose

This SOP establishes the official LIHG procedure for creating, configuring, securing, accessing, and managing shared email accounts across the organization. The purpose is to ensure that departmental and brand-level email communication is handled through controlled shared mailboxes rather than individual passwords, uncontrolled forwarding, or personal inbox access.

The procedure supports centralized intake, proper role-based access, auditability, security, continuity during staff changes, and consistent email handling across LIHG and all operating brands.

2. Scope

This SOP applies to all shared email accounts used for business operations, including but not limited to info, sales, support, HR, finance, compliance, media, public relations, partnerships, podcast, events, grants, and executive administration inboxes.

This SOP covers setup by an authorized administrator and access by approved team members. It does not authorize team members to use, request, share, store, or transmit passwords for shared mailboxes.

3. Governing Standards

This SOP follows LIHG governance requirements for executive document structure, version control, secure workflows, professional formatting, and centralized operational oversight. LIHG governance requires SOPs to include purpose, scope, responsibilities, procedural steps, and quality-control sections. It also requires formal naming conventions, version control, and secure storage within approved LIHG directories.

·       Microsoft guidance confirms that shared mailboxes are intended for groups of people to monitor and send from a common email address, such as info@company.com.

·       Microsoft guidance further confirms that shared mailboxes are not intended for direct sign-in and that sign-in should remain blocked for the mailbox account.

·       Access must be assigned through user permissions; the user accesses the shared mailbox by signing into the user’s own licensed mailbox.

4. Key Definitions

5. Roles and Responsibilities

6. Shared Mailbox Naming Standard

All shared mailboxes must use a clear, department-based or brand-based naming format. The display name should make the mailbox easy to identify in Outlook, Power Automate, and administrative screens.

Recommended enterprise examples include: info@, sales@, support@, hr@, finance@, compliance@, legal@, media@, pr@, partnerships@, grants@, podcast@, events@, clientsuccess@, billing@, notices@, vendors@, and executiveadmin@. Sensitive inboxes should have the smallest practical access group.

7. Security Rules Before Setup

·       Do not create shared mailbox passwords for team use. Shared mailbox access must occur through each approved user’s own Microsoft 365 login.

·       Do not allow a VA, contractor, or staff member to access Max Fortune’s personal mailbox unless specifically approved and documented. Use delegated shared mailbox access instead.

·       Do not forward sensitive mail to personal Gmail, Yahoo, or non-LIHG accounts unless executive leadership has approved the workflow in writing.

·       Use least-privilege access. Grant only the permissions required for the person’s actual duties.

·       Separate access by department. A person who handles event inquiries should not automatically receive finance, HR, compliance, or legal mailbox access.

·       Review access at least quarterly and immediately upon termination, role change, vendor change, or suspected compromise.

8. Administrator Procedure: Create a Shared Mailbox in Microsoft 365

Use this procedure when creating a new Microsoft 365 shared mailbox from the Microsoft 365 Admin Center.

1.     Sign in to the Microsoft 365 Admin Center using an account with the Exchange Administrator or Global Administrator role.

2.     In the left navigation menu, select Show all if the full menu is not visible.

3.     Select Teams & groups.

4.     Select Shared mailboxes.

5.     Select Add a shared mailbox.

6.     Enter the display name using the approved naming standard. Example: LIHG - Sales.

7.     Enter or confirm the shared email address. Example: sales@reimagineitinc.org or sales@approvedbranddomain.com.

8.     Select Save changes.

9.     Allow several minutes for Microsoft 365 to provision the mailbox before adding members or testing access.

10.  Open the newly created mailbox record and confirm that sign-in is blocked. Do not enable direct sign-in for normal shared mailbox use.

9. Administrator Procedure: Add Members and Assign Permissions

Membership and permissions must be assigned deliberately. A user may need read/manage access only, send access only in limited cases, or both read/manage and Send As access depending on the role.

11.  Open Microsoft 365 Admin Center.

12.  Go to Teams & groups > Shared mailboxes.

13.  Select the shared mailbox to configure.

14.  Under Members, select Edit or Add members.

15.  Add only the approved users listed by the mailbox owner or executive administrator.

16.  Under Manage mailbox permissions, assign the correct permissions: Read and manage / Full Access, Send As, or Send on Behalf.

17.  For ordinary team inbox handling, assign Read and manage / Full Access. Add Send As only if the user is authorized to reply from the mailbox address.

18.  Save the changes and record the approved access in the mailbox access log.

19.  Allow up to 60 minutes for permissions to propagate before treating failed access as an error.

10. Administrator Procedure: Exchange Admin Center Delegation Review

Use Exchange Admin Center when a more detailed delegation review is needed or when Microsoft 365 Admin Center permission screens do not display the needed options.

20.  Open the Exchange Admin Center.

21.  Go to Recipients > Mailboxes.

22.  Select