SharePoint integrates seamlessly with Microsoft 365, offering a customizable and scalable environment that supports enhanced content management, real-time collaboration, and remote access capabilities. Plus, it’s backed by Microsoft’s continuous investment in the platform.
With SharePoint’s recent innovations, along with exciting upcoming features like AI, custom fonts and backgrounds, motion and animation effects, and design ideas for page sections, it’s never been easier to create, schedule, publish, and manage content. SharePoint makes for an easy-to-use, out-of-the-box intranet platform for HR and communications, with minimal deployment effort for IT.
But before you get started, you’ll need to tackle the “G” word: Governance.
The Pitfalls of Poor Intranet Governance
Failure to put effective governance in place can lead to all sorts of headaches down the line including:
Content Sprawl
Without proper governance, SharePoint can become cluttered with unused sites and documents, making it difficult for end users to find the information they need.
Security Risks
Inadequate and inconsistent permission settings can lead to unauthorized access and potential data breaches.
Non-compliance
Non-compliance with legal and regulatory requirements can lead to legal penalties and harm to organizational reputation.
Poor User Adoption
It’s not simply a case of “build it and they will come”. If your intranet isn’t intuitive or users lack basic training, the platform will go unused.
Data Loss
Without a robust backup and recovery plan, there’s a risk of losing data, resulting in serious consequences for business operations.
Performance Issues
Excessive customizations and insufficient monitoring can cause performance issues, such as slow load times, affecting productivity and intranet usage.
Content Quality
Outdated or poor-quality content can lead to incorrect or irrelevant information spreading within the organization. This can also result in poor usage due to a lack of trust among employees.
So how can you mitigate these risks and avoid the pitfalls of a poorly governed intranet?
6 Steps to Effective SharePoint Intranet Governance
Here are our six steps to help you govern your intranet effectively.
1. Define Your Governance Plan
Begin by establishing a clear governance plan from the start. This plan should outline your objectives, roles and responsibilities, policies, and procedures. Engaging all relevant stakeholders early in the process ensures that everyone is aligned and committed to the plan.
2. Establish Roles and Responsibilities
Identify who will be responsible for what within your SharePoint intranet by establishing clear roles and responsibilities. Roles could include site owners, content creators, administrators, and end users. Clearly defined roles can help ensure content quality, reduce the chances of content sprawl, and minimize security breaches.
3. Implement Policies and Procedures
Creating policies and procedures that guide how your SharePoint intranet should be used is vital to effective intranet governance. Guidelines should include content creation, document management, and site creation. Policies should be easy to understand and accessible for all intranet users.
4. Provide User Training
Make sure users are trained in how to use the SharePoint intranet effectively, including creating and managing content, using collaboration tools, and adhering to policies and procedures.
5. Monitor and Review
It’s important to regularly monitor and review your SharePoint intranet to make sure it’s being used effectively and adhering to your governance plan. This should be a collaboration with other stakeholders, reviewing intranet performance, usage, content quality, and user feedback.
6. Continuous improvements
A successful intranet will continually evolve. Use the insights gained from your monitoring and review process to make updates and improvements, then update your governance plan accordingly.
How SharePoint Premium Enhances Intranet Governance
You can elevate your SharePoint intranet governance with SharePoint Premium, which offers a range of features to simplify the process. Here are some of the features we recommend:
Security and Compliance Tools
SharePoint Premium provides advanced security and compliance tools such as data loss prevention (DLP), information rights management (IRM), and eDiscovery. These tools help control and protect sensitive information, ensuring compliance standards are met.
Permissions and Administrative Controls
SharePoint Premium includes detailed administrative controls with permissions settings, site and user auditing, and reporting via SharePoint Advanced Management (SAM). These features help maintain oversight and ensure that policies are consistently followed.
Content Management Assistance
Features like autofill columns, content types, and content assembly help organize and manage content effectively. This supports policy adherence and prevents content sprawl.
Automation
Integration with Power Automate allows for the automation of repetitive tasks and processes. This automation ensures consistency and compliance with governance policies.
Hub Sites
SharePoint Hub Sites streamline governance by centralizing policy enforcement and branding across sites. They offer flexible architecture and shared resources for a cohesive and adaptable intranet experience.
Customizable Templates
Customizable templates for sites and libraries ensure that new sites comply with governance policies from the start, making it easier to maintain standards across your intranet.
How Cloudwell Can Help
At Cloudwell, we have extensive experience working with clients to configure their SharePoint intranets.
We’ve developed a suite of productivity apps to address some of SharePoint’s functionality gaps. These apps are easy to deploy, flexible, and seamlessly integrate within your Microsoft 365 environment.
Discover more about Calendar Overlay, Staff Directory, Team Members, and Viva Announcements, as well as using SharePoint as an intranet.
If you need assistance with SharePoint intranet configuration, governance, or implementing SharePoint Premium, reach out to our team. We’re here to help.