Top 3 Advantages of SharePoint Documentation

The following are the top three advantages of SharePoint Online documentation:

1. Efficient Onboarding and Training

• Smooth Transition for New Employees: Well-documented SharePoint sites, libraries, and lists ensure that new team members can understand the structure, purpose, and content.
• Training Resources: Documenting best practices, guidelines, and usage instructions within SharePoint helps users navigate the platform.

2. Enhanced Governance and Compliance

• Documenting Policies and Procedures: SharePoint documentation plays a key role in governance. Clearly defined policies - such as retention schedules, access controls, and versioning, help to maintain data integrity and security.
• Auditing and Compliance: Detailed documentation assists in compliance audits. Organizations can track changes, monitor user activity, and demonstrate adherence to regulatory requirements. Additionally from a permissions standpoint documentation helps with company access policies and best practices.

3. Effective Communication and Collaboration

• Content Types and Metadata: Documenting content types and metadata structures allows users to classify and organize information consistently.
• Document IDs: Enabling and documenting unique Document IDs ensures files can be tracked even when moved across sites or libraries.
• Custom Workflows and Automation: Documenting custom workflows, approval processes, and automation scripts ensures continuity.

Top 3 SharePoint Uses

The following are the top three SharePoint uses:

1. Intranet and Collaboration:
• SharePoint serves as an excellent solution for organizations. It allows one to create team sites for collaborate,
• One can customize a SharePoint site to reflect a brand, add company news, and create a central hub for communication.
• Document management is another crucial aspect. One can store files, manage versions, and collaborate on documents.
2. Content Management:
• SharePoint enables content management. One can organize and categorize documents, images, and other content.
• Workflow automation helps to streamline processes, such as document approval, feedback collection, and task tracking.
3. Business Intelligence (BI):
• SharePoint integrates with other Microsoft tools such as Power BI and Excel to provide robust business intelligence capabilities.
• One can create dashboards, reports, and visualizations to analyze data for informed decision making.
• SharePoint lists allow one to manage structured data, track issues, and monitor project progress.

4 Resources for SharePoint Documentation

The following are four resources for SharePoint documentation:

1) Microsoft Learn: This site offers comprehensive SharePoint documentation for IT professionals and administrators.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint/

2) Guidelines for Site Usage: Utilizing consistent practices and effective communication is essential for successful SharePoint adoption.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint/sites-usage-guidelines

3) SharePoint Development How-Tos: For developers, Microsoft Learn has articles and related code examples for basic development tasks in SharePoint.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint/dev/general-development/how-tos-for-sharepoint

4) Plan SharePoint Project: One can create, sites, use, search, and track project documents efficiently using SharePoint or integrated solutions such as Power Apps with SharePoint Online.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/plan-the-content-for-your-sharepoint-site-6cfc059e-2c45-46d5-8d7d-507d3dace301

Top 7 Benefits of Having Clear and Effective SharePoint Requirements

The following are seven top benefit’s in regard to clear and effective SharePoint requirements: 

1. Enhanced Collaboration and Communication:
• Effective collaboration and communication are essential in regard to success.
• SharePoint provides a robust platform which fosters collaboration among team members and facilitates seamless communication.
2. Streamlined Document Management:
• SharePoint simplifies document management via offering features such as centralized storage, version history, and metadata.
3. Increased Productivity and Efficiency:
• Clear requirements guide the development of customized workflows, automation, and task management.
4. Improved Access and Mobility:
• SharePoint’s cloud-based nature allows end users to access documents and collaborate from anywhere via any device.
5. Enhanced Security and Compliance:
• Properly defined requirements account for security aspects, including permissions, authentication, and data encryption.
6. Customization and Extensibility:
• Well-written requirements allow for customization of SharePoint sites, lists, integrations and forms to meet specific business needs.
7. Integration with Microsoft 365:
• SharePoint seamlessly integrates with other Microsoft tools such as Teams, OneDrive, Outlook and the Power Platform.

Top Benefits of Well Written SharePoint Requirements

The following are some of the top benefits of having well written SharePoint requirements:

1) Establish the basis for agreement between the stakeholders and the developers on what the product is to do

2) Reduce the development effort because less rework is required to address poorly written, missing, and misunderstood requirements

3) Provide a basis for estimating costs and schedules

4) Provide a baseline for verification and validation

5) Facilitate transfer between applicable teams whom will be completing work segments

6) Serve as a basis for future enhancements 

5 Aspects to Know about SharePoint Online

The following are five aspects about SharePoint Online to know about:

• Convenience and Affordability: SharePoint Online is accessible via  desktop, phone and within other M365 based applications. It also offers a fair cost based on its technology base.
• Add ons: SharePoint Online has several items one can utilize: https://appsource.microsoft.com/en-us/marketplace/apps?product=office%3bsharepoint&page=1&src=office&corrid=337f9e8f-054b-fb8f-9b50-84e43a74445a&omexanonuid=&referralurl= Additionally, one can build there own add ons if applicable.
• SharePoint Online Help:A lot of people don’t realize that in SharePoint Online the ? in the upper right hand corner of any page provides an extensive help. Also this help and learning site goes un-noticed and is very useful: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint
• Features: SharePoint Online has so many features that are available - especially many webparts and templates: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/using-web-parts-on-sharepoint-pages-336e8e92-3e2d-4298-ae01-d404bbe751e0 and https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/apply-and-customize-sharepoint-site-templates-39382463-0e45-4d1b-be27-0e96aeec8398#bkmk_apply-a-sharepoint-site-template. Also several list templates are available as well: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/list-templates-in-microsoft-365-62f0e4cf-d55d-4f89-906f-4a34e036ded1
• Community and Learning: SharePoint Online has a large community to utilize if needed as well as a lot of good starting documentation: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/microsoft-sharepoint-blog/bg-p/SPBlog and https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/get-started-with-sharepoint-909ec2f0-05c8-4e92-8ad3-3f8b0b6cf261

7 Aspects Part of Closing Out a SharePoint Project

The following are seven aspects in regard to closing out a SharePoint project:

1) The system per the project specifications is functioning as desired

2) Document lessons learned

3) Create if applicable a final report of the project

4) Archive any data if applicable

5) Capture and discuss lessons learned

6) Perform technical review for those whom will be maintaining project outputs   

7) Formally close out project by satisfying success criteria