Had a client that was using Office 365 Directory Synchronization (DirSync) to manage their users / groups in Office 365 via the local Active Directory which meant that there was not end-user manageability of those groups. A user asked to have a new email distribution list created that they could manage, so performed the following to make that happen:

Create an Office 365 Email Distribution Group

1. Open Active Directory Users and Computers.
2. Navigate to where in the hierarchy that the Distribution Group will be created.
3. Right click on the Organizational Unit where it is to be created and choose New then Group.
4. Give the Group a name and leave the default Group scope of Global and change Group type to Distribution then click OK button.
5. Double click on the new group to open it. Type in the email address to use then click on the Attribute Editor tab.
6. Scroll down and double click on the proxyAddresses item. Add the email in the format SMTP:[username@domain.com] then click on the Add button and OK button.
7. Click on the Managed By tab and click on the Change button to search for the user who will be the group administrator.
8. Click OK button then run a manual DirSync to send the changes to the cloud.
9. Open the group administrators Outlook.
10. Click on the Address Book button.
11. In the Address Book drop down list choose the Global Address Book (this may take some time to download the update).
12. Find the newly created Distribution Group and double click to open then click on the Modify Members button to add users.
If your company is using Office 365 and needs end users to manage their Office 365 Email Distribution Group, then contact us for assistance.