Sometimes you need to know what’s happening in a SharePoint list or library, and you can’t possibly keep checking to see if a new doc has been added or an existing item has been changed by your colleague. That’s where automated alerts come in. But take note, there are two types of alerts that can help you keep up to date with additions and changes to information on SharePoint.
Category: Processes
Take the easy road: use templates from SharePoint content types
Most of us have used a template in the past to create a presentation or start a document, and many of us are guilty of reusing the last great version of a document as a starting point instead of locating and using a template. This pragmatic approach helps to avoid wheel reinvention and utilises the efforts of the clever person who created the file in the first place – however, the problem with reusing a last good version versus using a template is that your new file takes on any issues that existed in the original doc, and you could very likely be using out of date branding, terminology and styles.
Add videos to your SharePoint Health and Safety site
You can add a video to any site to make your SharePoint intranet more interesting, it helps motivate staff and provides quick learning snippets.
SharePoint vs OneDrive – confused much?
If you’re confused about when to use SharePoint versus OneDrive, you’re not alone.
For starters, Microsoft really didn’t help matters with their naming strategy – OneDrive is actually a personal online storage solution (if you have a Hotmail or Live account, you’ll have access to free storage via OneDrive) and OneDrive for Business is the storage solution for organisations that comes as a part of your Office 365 subscription. Read more
Document Version Control in SharePoint
There are pros and cons to using version control in SharePoint. I see a lot of clients successfully using their own manual versioning methodology, which can be effective if you have a small number of staff editing the doc and a small quantity of documents to control. SharePoint doc libraries come with an in-built version control that take away all the pain of manual methods, even if you only need to control a few files. Read more
SharePoint and Remote Workers
When you’re a remote or mobile worker it can be difficult to keep up with the happenings in the office. You feel excluded from the ins and outs of the day to day stuff that goes on ‘back at the office’ and you miss out on water cooler conversations, finding out who is joining and leaving the company, or seeing first hand how new processes and systems work. It’s no wonder management worries about a demotivated remote workforce and can even perceive them as hard to manage.
One way to overcome many of these problems and keep remote workers motivated and engaged in the day to day running of your business is by using SharePoint.
5 Reasons to use SharePoint as your Health & Safety hub
You didn’t realise you could use SharePoint for more than just storing your documents and folders? Don’t worry – you’re not alone. SharePoint makes the old adage ‘you don’t know what you don’t know’ seem like an understatement.
Despite being under-utilised, SharePoint is really good at providing workspaces where teams and colleagues can work together; sharing documents and knowledge, and collaborating on ideas and issues. Putting all the information, forms and files that staff use together in one place makes it convenient for users to find what they need, and gives them no excuse not to follow procedures.*
Here are 5 great reasons to use SharePoint as a Health & Safety hub or intranet portal to manage, communicate and foster a culture of health and safety in your company.