In case you weren’t able to make it to our webinar last week on SharePoint Adoption with Asif Rehmani, we wanted to recap some important points made to help you improve SharePoint Adoption and further your SharePoint education.
Asif is a SharePoint Trainer and Consultant. He is a SharePoint Server MVP and a Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT). He is the author of the publications “SharePoint 2013 First Look for Power Users“, “Beginning SharePoint Designer 2010”, “Real World SharePoint 2010” and “Professional SharePoint Designer 2007.”
The webinar provided SharePoint Adoption strategies straight from the field. Asif began by pointing out the essential question that both end users and support personnel are constantly asking.
What’s in it for me?
He also made the case that SharePoint Adoption is no easy feat.
So why is adoption for technology so important, anyways? Essentially, you don’t want to build a huge airplane (or SharePoint deployment) with lots of beautiful amenities, and then have empty seats!
So what are some quick wins organizations can do to improve SharePoint adoption?
- Getting an executive sponsor (a.k.a “Follow the Leader”) – We all look up to mentors and leaders who inspire us. Often times, we even mimic the behavior of those people. Essentially, top-down support is a must. Executives can show support by public proclamation of support and vision for SharePoint based initiatives in public forums, newsletters, etc. Other executives have created internal active blogs on SharePoint, which has driven users to the portal. Additionally, executives can make efforts to refuse to accept emails with too many attachments, large attachments, or messages to too many people. They can also proclaim “No large attachment Tuesdays”. Essentially, using the portal must become a CULTURE change.
- End User Training and Support- Empathy for end users is the key to success! What’s in it for them? Why should they care? Understand these questions before trying to be understood. Organizations can provide kick off training, as well as frequent awareness sessions in the forms of lunch and learns- not only coming from the SharePoint group but also from peers. Providing end users with quick, on demand tips sheets, video tutorials, and reference documents when they need them is also essential.
- Empower the help desk- First, provide help to the help desk! Formal training for the help desk at the power user level can be immensely beneficial, as well as remote consultation with SharePoint experts.
- Build no code solutions and no code developers in house- Going “no code” can be beneficial because the possibilities are enormous. There’s a fairly quick learning curve, with easier ongoing management of the solution. Delegation of responsibilities can also be done much easier.
- Keep things fresh- SharePoint doesn’t drive culture change, people do. Empower them! Place owner info on every page and provide accountability to the users. Implement helpful widgets on the homepage with weather, traffic, and thoughts of the day. Create themed events surrounding SharePoint, such as “SharePointgiving” near Thanksgiving and SharePointOberfest for October.
To view the webinar recording, click below:
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