It's now possible to rename the General channel that is included in every team in Microsoft Teams. This change removes a problem for teams who want all channels defined in order to avoid confusion about where messages should be posted.  

The ability to rename the channel also addresses an issue that occurs when using shared teams. General can't be seen by anyone outside the organization hosting the team. Team members who can see the General channel often post there out of habit, unaware that their colleagues in the organization the Team is shared with can't see that post. 

For example, if a Team for both Cornell Ithaca and Weill Cornell Medicine is originated in Ithaca, Weill members will not be able to see that team's General channel. In this example, to help make Ithaca team members aware of the situation, it would be a good idea to rename the General channel something like "Ithaca Only."

To see how to rename the General channel, visit Microsoft's Give a custom name to the General channel in Microsoft Teams. 

To learn more about setting up shared teams, see Create Shared Teams Channels Between Ithaca and Cornell Tech, Weill Cornell Medicine (WCM), and WCM-Qatar.