7 SharePoint best practices

1. Don’t create too many sites

You should only create new SharePoint sites in these four scenarios:

• You are starting a new project
• You need to delegate different permissions
• You need to isolate a list or library
• You need to use unique features (e.g., a blog)

Adding too many sites can make your SharePoint messy and confusing. By sticking to this strategy, you can ensure your site is easy to navigate.

2. Use content types when you need to reuse a group of columns

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Now when you create a new document library, you can add the invoice content type and not have to worry about adding four separate columns every time.

Content types can save you a lot of time when designing SharePoint sites.

3. Create documents directly in SharePoint

Instead of writing a document in Word and then copying/pasting it into SharePoint, you should create the document directly in SharePoint.

The copy/paste method is inefficient. SharePoint doesn’t carry over the formatting, so you end up spending more time reformatting the document once it’s inside SharePoint.

SharePoint lets you create documents directly inside a document library. Click New Document and you’ll be taken directly to Word Online, Excel Online or PowerPoint Online.

4. Avoid complex approval workflows

Businesses often run into trouble when they try to replicate offline business processes inside SharePoint.

SharePoint isn’t a technology that you want to use to try to mirror your existing business process. It offers a smarter way to manage your processes.

For example, your marketing team might create a document that needs approval from the legal team. In the past, marketing might write it up and then send it to the legal team. Legal team makes the changes and then sends it back to marketing.

In SharePoint, you might be tempted to replicate this process: ask marketing to upload the document to SharePoint, then get legal to download it, then re-upload the revised version.

This isn’t practical inside SharePoint. Instead, you should ask marketing to create the document inside SharePoint. Once the document is saved, SharePoint can trigger a notification to legal. Legal can then collaborate on the same document inside SharePoint. SharePoint can automatically track the version history and can notify marketing when the final copy is ready.

As a result, you reduce the number duplicate files, remove the need for internal email and get rid of complicated approval processes. SharePoint - when setup correctly - can enable faster team collaboration.

5. Edit and work on documents directly in SharePoint

Stop downloading your documents from SharePoint and then re-uploading the new versions. This defeats the purpose of SharePoint.

Instead, you should work on the documents directly inside SharePoint. This will ensure your documents keep all their version history. Plus, it will help you understand what changes have been made.

6. Use pages when you need to present your data

Lists and document libraries are a great way to organise data, but they don’t offer the best experience for your users when they want to find information quickly.

That’s where pages come in handy. You should be using pages to present your important data in an easy-to-digest format.

For example, you can create a page that pulls in all the important information for a client. Imagine one page with all of a client’s upcoming and past project details, invoices and contact information. Instead of crawling through three different document libraries, your users can quickly see the information on one page.

7. Use the three-click rule to ensure your users can quickly find the information they need

Adding on to the last point, you should adopt a three-click policy. Every user should be able to find the information they are looking for in three clicks or less.

Don’t make your users click deep down into SharePoint to find information that they need and use on a regular basis. This wastes their time and kills productivity.

Instead, work with your users to identify the information they are using regularly. Create new pages and smart navigation menus to help users access their information more efficiently.

Boost team productivity by following SharePoint best practices

A messy SharePoint site can frustrate your users and affect productivity. By following these best practices, you can increase your SharePoint IT efficiency and improve team productivity.

Do you have a messy SharePoint site? We can help you clean it up and make it run more efficiently. Call us on 1300 562 886 to discuss your SharePoint needs.

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