How to get the most out of SharePoint

SharePoint is an incredibly robust platform that enables business organization’s ability to communicate, collaborate, and streamline their workflows process. Many companies have already made significant investment in SharePoint to improve their respective business operations.

Basic implementation of SharePoint is not going to help you realize complete potential of this platform. It is essential to leverage the platform’s best practices and advanced techniques to maximize its return on investment (ROI). This article discusses the various techniques and strategies that can help you get the most out of your SharePoint investment.

How to get the most out of SharePoint

1. Implementing robust governance and content management policies can enhance the return on investment (ROI) of SharePoint
   

   Effective governance is one of the primary aspects of maximizing ROI using SharePoint. Business organizations can ensure the platform is used consistently, securely, and compliant by defining their governance policies, including the best practices. Effective governance includes setting access controls and permissions, defining different roles and responsibilities, establishing content management policies, and auditing and reviewing all SharePoint sites. Organizations can ensure that users can only access the content and features relevant to their respective roles by assigning appropriate access controls and permissions. It helps reduce the risk of data breaches.

   Content management policies can include deletion policies, retention, version rules, metadata standards, etc., to ensure the content is managed consistently. Regular audits and reviews can also help identify and correct potential issues, such as irrelevant or outdated content, inconsistent metadata, or broken links. It ensures that SharePoint remains an effective and reliable platform for all users while improving overall productivity.

2. Effective training and user adoption strategies can significantly impact the success of your SharePoint

   Business organizations can provide comprehensive training to users and foster further adoption to help maximize ROI with SharePoint. However, they must also ensure that the users are proficient with the platform and its advanced features to utilize its capabilities at their best. Training sessions can include educating users on workflow creation, content management, search techniques, and other management best practices. This way organizations can ensure that the platform is utilized to its full potential by empowering users with the skills and knowledge of using SharePoint.

   It helps create a culture of collaboration while encouraging users to use the platform actively for document management, communication, and collaboration. The process involves promoting SharePoint as the primary platform for sharing success stories related to productivity and processes, content creation, and a support system for users. Business organizations can certify that the platform becomes an integral part of daily operations, leading to an improved ROI by fostering the culture of its wider adoption among users.

   
3. Continuous monitoring and optimization of SharePoint to enhance efficiency
   

   Regular optimization and monitoring of SharePoint are necessary to maximize ROI. The platform provides usage reports and analytics to help businesses gain insights into how SharePoint is used, identify areas of improvement, and optimize performance. By regularly reviewing these reports and analyzing usage data, businesses can identify any bottlenecks, performance issues, or areas of low adoption and take corrective measures. It can include optimizing site structures, improving search functionality, addressing permission issues, or providing additional training and support to users.

   Continuously monitoring and optimizing SharePoint, businesses can ensure that the platform remains efficient, effective, and aligned with their evolving business needs, leading to highly performing environment.

4. Leveraging the advanced features of SharePoint to enhance productivity

   SharePoint offers several advanced features that can help enhance productivity and collaboration within organizations. Such features include workflow automation, advanced search capabilities, integration with Microsoft Tools, and customization options using Power Apps and SharePoint Designer. Businesses can automate processes, improve communication, streamline workflows, and collaborate among team members. For example, users can use SharePoint’s search capabilities to locate and retrieve important documents and information, which helps save time and effort.

   Workflow automation can automate routine tasks, such as content publishing, document approvals, and notifications, eliminating potential errors and reducing manual efforts. Moreover, integration with tools like Power Automate and Microsoft Teams can help streamline processes, enhance collaboration, and combine functionalities from several platforms in a unified interface.

   Customization options using Power Apps and SharePoint Designer enables an organization to customize SharePoint to their specific requirements. They can create custom forms, workflows, and applications to cater to unique business processes, enhancing efficiency and productivity.

   
5. Strong security and compliance practices to ensure data protection
   

   SharePoint is a unique platform that handles sensitive business data, compliance, and security, and all are other critical business information. It provides robust security features, such as authorization, authentication, and encryption, to help with the data protection of systems. Businesses must implement best practices by securing SharePoint, such as updating the platform regularly to ensure it is protected against unauthorized access and data breaches. They should configure the platform to comply with industry-specific regulations like HIPAA, GDPR, ISO 27001, etc. It can be done by setting up content retention policies, permissions, and auditing mechanisms.

   Regular vulnerability and security audits can identify and address all security gaps or risks with SharePoint. Business organizations must educate their users about best security practices, such as not sharing accounts, using strong passwords, and remaining cautious about malware and phishing attacks. These steps can protect their intellectual property and sensitive data, prevent data breaches, and mitigate risks by ensuring security and compliance associated with SharePoint.

6. Scalability and performance are critical factors for enabling further growth with SharePoint

   The SharePoint platform allows businesses to create and manage many documents, sites, and users, making it suitable for any kind of industry. However, with an increase in volumes of data and users, every business must ensure that SharePoint remains scalable and performant across the journey.

   The scalability and performance of SharePoint must be assessed regularly and take appropriate measures to optimize the same. It includes database optimization, performance tuning, load balancing, etc. With consistent growth in the user base, all business types must ensure that the infrastructure supporting the platform is scaled adequately to handle the increased workload.

   

To Conclude

SharePoint is a versatile and powerful platform with several features and functionalities that can empower your business with enhanced communication, collaboration, and workflows. To completely reap the benefits of SharePoint’s true potential, it is crucial to provide comprehensive training, implement effective governance, foster user adoption, and leverage advanced features.

Choosing the right SharePoint partner like Congruent Software will ensure the success of your SharePoint implementation. Our SharePoint experts can provide guidance on best practices, tailor the platform to meet your business needs, and seamlessly integrate with other business application. With Congruent Software you eliminate all the risks involved in implementing and only benefit from our in-depth knowledge of SharePoint platform.