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What is Microsoft SharePoint and Why Should I Use It?

A focused professional works on a computer in a modern office, illustrating efficient collaboration and data management akin to Microsoft SharePoint's benefits.

Do you want to find out more about Microsoft SharePoint Online?

If you’re like many of the folks I speak to during my training courses, you might find the whole SharePoint thing a bit scary, confusing, or just plain frustrating. Often this is because SharePoint, along with Microsoft Office, has been set up at your workplace without any training for the people who actually need to use it, in which case it can be about as popular as Nickelback!

No worries, in this article I’ll cover some of the key features to help you get a better understanding of what this whole SharePoint thing is all about.

What is Microsoft SharePoint Online?

Unlike Microsoft Excel or Word, Microsoft SharePoint is not an application, it’s a platform. Generally, you’ll have access to SharePoint as a part of your Office 365 license, (now called Microsoft 365) depending on the specific license your business is using. It has a huge range of features, and it integrates with Microsoft products like Power BI and Planner, but at the very core, it’s used for content management, collaboration, and sharing.  Hey kids, it’s right there in the name!

Basically, you get to SharePoint in your browser and use it to create websites. In a typical business environment, this would usually be done for you, but you forgot to take a step backwards when they asked for volunteers, you might be responsible for doing this yourself. Congratulations, you’re now the proud owner of a beautiful baby SharePoint site! Once a site is created, the fun begins.

How to use SharePoint Sites

The image shows a Microsoft SharePoint Teams Training site interface featuring options for news updates, documents, and quick links for collaboration and information management.

 

There are various kinds of SharePoint sites, but the most common one you’ll encounter is a Team Site. These sites act as a gathering place for your team communications, documents, announcements and much more. If you work in a team, SharePoint can be fantastic. By the way, when you’re using SharePoint, you’ll typically be working in what’s called Modern SharePoint. For most users, this provides a bit more of a friendly interface, but if you want to get your propeller hat on and dive deep into the belly of the beast, you can usually switch to Classic View.

Right out of the box, a basic SharePoint Team site starts with a homepage, a newsfeed, a document library where files can be uploaded and shared, a simple navigation pane, and plenty of options for adding more features as needed.

Another kind of site is a Communication site. These are mainly used as a means to broadcast information within a business environment. Communication sites often have “Hero Images”, at the top, to draw attention to what’s happening in the business, along with event calendars and links to other sites and content. This type of site is frequently used as the basis for your company intranet.

By the way, if you use Microsoft Teams, there’s almost certainly a SharePoint site sitting behind the scenes to store all your Teams content and documents.

SharePoint Pages and Web Parts

A site always starts with a homepage, but more pages can be added as required. Once added, a page can be populated with Web Parts. These are elements that you can add without needing to use any code, and they can include items like Event Calendars, Count Down Timers, Lists, Additional Libraries, and more. 

About SharePoint Permissions!

The image displays SharePoint's permissions interface, highlighting roles such as site owners, members, and visitors, and options for sharing and guest access management.

One of the great strengths of SharePoint is the use of Permissions. These allow a site owner to determine who has access to their site, and what they can do when they get there. To make things easier to maintain, permissions are granted to groups rather than individuals. The standard permissions are:

  • Site Owners – this is “I have all the power” mode. The people in this group are the gatekeepers of the site, choosing who gets in and who doesn’t. They also maintain the site, adding and adjusting features as needed.
  • Site Members – in this group, you can add your content to a site and collaborate with your team on documents, pages and more.
  • Site Visitors – you have limited access to the site content, allowing you to view documents and maybe download. This group is often used for external contractors.

These are just the default settings, but groups and the specific options they have can be configured to meet your business needs.

Navigating in Modern SharePoint

Landing in your SharePoint homepage for the first time feels a bit like walking into an Ikea store. There are loads of options, and you’re not quite sure where to start. Unfortunately, there are no meatballs at the end when you finally find your way out!

Team sites start with a single page, (the Home page), but there may be more, each with a specific purpose and look. For example, there may be a page dedicated to reporting, another for team events and updates, and one for resources.

Let’s start with some of the key elements of a Team site:

The image shows a Microsoft SharePoint Teams site, featuring options like Conversations, Documents, and Analytics for efficient collaboration.

The Quick Launch Bar – located on the left side of the screen, this is a bit like speed dial for your SharePoint site, giving you and your team quick access to frequently used pages, lists, and libraries.

The Search Bar – if you can’t find what you’re looking for, then the search bar is your new best friend. Just type in what you’re looking for, and voila! SharePoint will do its best to find it. And unlike your keys or TV remote, if it exists in SharePoint, (and it’s something you have permissions to access) the search will find it.

Home – looking at the top left of your site, you’ll usually see the home button parked right next to the site name. It may have a logo or an image, or it might just have the initials of your site. Either way, click on this little guy to get back to the home page of your site.

The Recycle Bin – did you just accidentally delete something? Don’t panic! The Recycle Bin is your safety net. It’s where deleted items go to think about what they’ve done before they get permanently deleted. Every site has one of these bad boys.

Navigating SharePoint is a skill that improves with practice. Pretty soon, you’ll be zipping through sites and pages in a flash. And if you ever get lost, just remember, there’s always the Home button.

Understanding SharePoint Document Libraries

An image showing a SharePoint document library with options for creating new documents.

In SharePoint Team Sites, you will see Document Libraries. For many businesses, they can be the primary reason for using Microsoft SharePoint.  Libraries are used to store documents so they can be accessed and shared by your team. SharePoint can help streamline your business processes by providing tools for efficient document management and workflow. For example, a document can be uploaded to a library, which triggers a custom workflow that may include notifications, approvals, archiving and more. This document management system provides you with all that you need to share and manage your content, boosting productivity and reducing headaches! 

Every site starts with a single library, called, you guessed it, “Documents”! Not very imaginative, I know, but these can and should be renamed.

Once a library is open, you can easily upload files using the Upload button on the ribbon, or you can drag and drop from File Explorer. You can also create a document (Word, Excel, PowerPoint etc.) directly in the library by clicking the New button. Personally, I like this method because the document gets created in the right place to start with, instead of clicking “Save as” and having to figure out where it goes later. In fact, this is something that I always discuss with my course participants and most of them have told me they have adopted this method across their businesses.

Key Benefits of Document Libraries

Auto Save

Once a document is in the library, it automatically saves as you go. If you’ve ever lost a document after your laptop crashes, or the power goes off, you’ll appreciate this feature. This happened to me a while ago, and after the power came back on, I was able to continue exactly where I left off, without having lost a single thing.

Version History

I often ask people in my training sessions if they have documents called something like “First Draft”, “Second Draft” etc. There’s always a show of hands. Then I ask, “What about Final Draft”? Sure enough, more hands go up. Then the fun begins. I ask people to keep their hands up if they have a “Final Draft 1”, or “Really Final Draft”. Laughter ensues and lots of hands stay up. I even had one person tell me that when they were sure it was the really really absolutely final draft, they typed the file name all in UPPERCASE!

With version history, this is a thing of the past. Instead, SharePoint automatically saves your document versions as you go. This feature is turned on by default, but it can be configured further by the site owner. That way, you have a “single source of truth”. If you need to go back to an earlier version of the document, you can simply go into the version history and restore it. That’s a fantastic feature when you realise that the penultimate draft was in fact much better than the final draft!

Co-Authoring

For me, this is one of the best features in a library. I can work on a document simultaneously with other people in my team, even though we’re working in different locations. Colour coded flags appear in the document to show where each person is working, and we can add comments as we go. If I close the document, the others can continue working on it in my absence. By the way, this feature also works the same way in OneDrive. The key difference here is that in SharePoint, content is shared as a default. After all, it’s called SharePoint for good reason, whereas in OneDrive, you need to explicitly share the content.

Searching in SharePoint

An image of a SharePoint search pane.

Let’s face it, SharePoint sites and libraries can be big and maybe a bit daunting, especially if your team decided to just dump everything into the library without using any folders. Or maybe they went the opposite way and built too many folders! Trying to find your stuff here might feel like finding needle in a haystack. The good news is that Microsoft SharePoint has excellent search capabilities.

SharePoint searches can look for documents, news items, images, people and more. They can also filter the search for content based on a file type, a date, or within a date range.

The key to searching SharePoint is to understand context. Although you can simply jump into the top level of SharePoint and start a search, this is impractical. SharePoint will find your file, but in a business environment, it’s likely to also show you 5000 other items that match your search term! A much better way is to start small and work up from there. If you think a document is probably in a specific folder or library, start your search there. If you don’t find it there, move up to the site level and try again. Only if you can’t find it there should you consider going to the SharePoint start page to search.

Conclusion

Ok SharePoint explorers, if you’ve made it this far, well done! Let’s do a quick recap on what we’ve covered on our little tour.

Hopefully, I’ve demystified what SharePoint is all about, and we learned a bit about navigating SharePoint without needing a GPS.

We’ve explored the advantages of document libraries, where the use of version history means you can kiss “Final_Final_REALLY_FINAL.docx” goodbye.

And you’ve discovered SharePoint search, turning you into a digital detective who can find a file faster than you can say “Where did I put that?”

Remember, getting comfortable with Microsoft SharePoint is like learning to ride a bike – it might feel wobbly at first, but soon you’ll be cruising along in the breeze.

As you continue your SharePoint journey, don’t be afraid to click around and explore. The beauty of SharePoint is that it’s incredibly flexible. It can be customised to fit your team’s needs like a perfectly tailored suit. And if you ever feel lost, just remember there’s always the search bar, and failing that, there’s probably someone in IT who’d love to show off their SharePoint knowledge.

Thanks for reading.

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