The pitch for Microsoft SharePoint is that non-technical users can quickly develop effective intranet site without having to learn code. This is true, kind of. Anyone can put up a site, but making it useful – that’s the real challenge.

As any novice Microsoft SharePoint user will tell you, the program can be very overwhelming when you first take it out of the box. The first question is always “where to begin?” Ironically, the answer is to put away the software, and start with a piece of paper and pencil. Do these 4 things before you add a single webpart.

What are my problems, and is SharePoint the right solution?

SharePoint is a massive program that addresses everything from simple calendaring to complex workflows and document management. Almost every Colorado company would be more effective with a SharePoint site of some sort.

But the first question needs to be “What are my problems?” Building a SharePoint site for the sake of a SharePoint site is an expensive waste of time. If you don’t have any problems that SharePoint can solve, don’t use it. Much of the functionality can be duplicated with Microsoft Exchange, e-mail, and some creative naming conventions.

Sometimes SharePoint isn’t the best solution. Maybe another document management system handles e-mail or scanned images better. Maybe Microsoft Project would be a better fit. Putting the time in on the front end is a lot less expensive and easier than trying to recover from a SharePoint launch that went terribly wrong.

Microsoft SharePoint is a great piece of software that has helped many Colorado companies communicate better internally, with vendors, and with clients. Maybe it is the right solution for you. What’s the next step?

Have a productive SharePoint planning meeting

Talking to your users on the front end is absolutely essential to having good adoption on the back end. It makes them feel like they’re part of the process. It makes them feel involved and curious, but most importantly, it makes the site useful.

Many Colorado companies develop their SharePoint site around non-existent problems and poor assumptions. IT then launches the site expecting thunderous applause, and the end users are silent. The system is circumvented, ignored, ridiculed, bypassed, and ultimately scrapped.

These conversations can be more difficult to have then you think. End users sometimes ask for perfectly unnecessary functionality. They can also aim too low, not know how powerful SharePoint is. Start with department heads and work your way down. Start with general questions that aren’t specific to the software.

“What’s frustrating about your job?” “What double entry does your division do?” “What are your quarterly goals?” These questions will provide better information than simply asking about the intranet. It might also open up more budget and a wider scope.

Organize your SharePoint site before you click.

This is absolutely essential. What information, lists, and documents do all of your users need most frequently? Put this on the front page in a big, bold, obvious place. What information does HR need most frequently? Put this on the main HR page. How about accounting? Put this on the Accounting page.

All of that sounds very simple, but when you click before you plan, common information tends to get buried in the site in a linear way. SharePoint isn’t linear. It’s associative. A plan keeps the site from being organized by how the designer thinks instead of what’s useful to the end user.

Balance your SharePoint Scope

This is the single biggest challenge in using SharePoint effectively. Most Colorado companies aim too low. They think they’ll ease their way into SharePoint with small incremental investments. The truth is that small SharePoint sites make very small contributions to the company. If SharePoint is only mildly better than what the end users were doing before, then end users will stick with what they know.

Quick tip – Make some essential information available only on the SharePoint Site. Whenever your users need to get that information, they’ll get more comfortable with SharePoint. With any luck, they’ll start innovating with the site, and you’ll have it made.

Some companies aim too big. They want to go from zero to six figures in a single project. This can work with a very specific problem and a very specific goal, but you could run into trouble. Six figure trouble is the worst kind.

Mission Critical Systems develops Microsoft SharePoint in Denver Colorado for companies nationwide.

Tags: basics, Microsoft Software, SharePoint

This entry was posted on Monday, August 10th, 2009 at 4:39 pm and is filed under SharePoint. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.