SharePoint and Teams

I’ve just been hired to review a non-profit’s organizational workflow. Right now they house all their documents in SharePoint, but that is the only feature of SharePoint that they use. They also rely on email a great deal for interoffice communication. I think Teams will help consolidate these conversations and projects into more logical processes. Any one have an idea of how to make the transition as smooth as possible?

Conversation 5 comments

  • TheJoeFin

    Premium Member
    25 April, 2018 - 3:25 pm

    <p>Do your best to organize them into groups of users. Then organize the documents per those groups and make a 'Team' for each group. Also look into PowerApps and Flow for automating their processes. Finally make sure everyone is running the latest Desktop Office programs so they can collaborate on documents in real-time.</p>

  • jchampeau

    Premium Member
    25 April, 2018 - 11:39 pm

    <p>I have an idea for you: provide the user base with tequila. That'll help with the transition for sure.</p>

  • AnOldAmigaUser

    Premium Member
    26 April, 2018 - 9:31 am

    <p>Just saying, but I would actually look at what their carbon based workflow is before I try and recommend changing things.</p><p>Teams sort of dumbs down SharePoint, which is not necessarily a bad thing if they are using SharePoint as a network share, but if they have spent some time organizing it, then you are messing around with something familiar to them. Usually, that ends badly.</p><p>How do they handle documents? Is SharePoint just a place to archive them or are they using it to allow multiple people to access and/or edit the documents. How is their SharePoint tenant set up…multiple site collections, multiple sites, a single collection with one root site?</p><p>How open is the organization to change? How sophisticated is the user base?</p><p>What are their needs regarding data security and retention? Can you implement that in Teams, considering the Team members can have fairly broad permissions?</p><p>Teams is a good product, and if they have Office365 subscriptions, then it is there. You might want to propose a trial run on an upcoming project, so they are starting with a clean slate, and can compare it to current processes. That may be all you need to do to sell it. </p><p>As "TheJoeFin" suggested, PowerApps and Flow are good tools. They work with SharePoint and Teams, so whichever way you go, they are likely part of the future.</p><p>…and tequila is always a good idea.</p>

    • brisonharvey

      Premium Member
      26 April, 2018 - 11:05 am

      <blockquote><a href="#266194"><em>In reply to AnOldAmigaUser:</em></a></blockquote><p>Right now (in our office staff of 8), they are using SharePoint for a place to store, edit and work on documents together. Their SharePoint has multiple site collections, with one root site. Each site collection is a glorified folder. Every staff member has access to all parts of the site. Occasionally, outside contractors are brought in for a specific project, so we may need to share a channel with another group. It is just set up project by project. The organization has a relatively technology challenged staff that struggle to use SharePoint effectively. They have learned how to make it work for them, but it is a barrier (and time suck) at getting work done. I like the idea of a trial run + tequila. That should work at getting everyone to try it. The other issue is making sure that they have the most updated version of Office on their computers.</p><p><br></p><p>Any other tips or advice is welcome. 🙂 </p>

      • AnOldAmigaUser

        Premium Member
        26 April, 2018 - 12:55 pm

        <blockquote><a href="#266209"><em>In reply to brisonharvey:</em></a></blockquote><p>They are using Office365 right? They would not be running their own SharePoint and email?</p><p>If so (using O365), that should keep them updated. The last time I looked, a 501(c) can register to get Office365 with software (I think E3 equivalent) for $2.00/month/user…free for the basic online apps, which may be all they need.</p><p>With a staff of just 8, would they all be on every team? If so, that might make Teams as confusing as SharePoint, though it would capture the communication better. </p><p>If they are tied to email, you could look into adding site mailboxes, to capture email in SharePoint. There is an Outlook add-in, HarmonIE (http://harmon.ie), which can be linked to SharePoint, and allows users to use links instead of attachments, and to save attachments directly to libraries. It could be used free, for up to 15 licenses, last time I checked. They may also have something for 501(c) organizations, if it is no longer free.</p>

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