10 things you can do with SharePoint to boost productivity

10 things you can do with SharePoint to boost productivity in work

We love SharePoint and the whole Microsoft 365 suite in general. Since 2011 when it was released, a massive number of new features have been added, and it’s hard to keep up with everything it does. Microsoft are always looking to expand the tools it has and make improvements with every iteration. Like the recent purchase of Clipchamp to provide video editing capability within the 365 ecosystems.

It’s safe to say that there’s lots you can do with SharePoint, and its functionality is only going to improve.

But too much choice is not always a good thing. When you have all these features, it becomes difficult to use them all, and this means that you’re not always getting your money’s worth out of the tools you have.

Hicks Law says that the more choices you present your users with, the longer it will take them to reach a decision, and with the overwhelming number of tools available in Office 365, we know that some users will not utilise everything, or in most cases, only use the core features they need.

This is also true of SharePoint sites. SharePoint sites are impressive on their own, but with so many add-ins and third-party apps, there’s loads you can do with SharePoint without writing any code at all. And with code, the sky’s the limit.

But SharePoint sites aren’t utilised very often, which is a shame, because when combined with the rest of the 365 suites you can really make working easier.

SharePoint and the Office suite is also a great place to start enabling your business to become more digital, agile, and organised. Most companies have office, so understanding what it can be utilised for and using it for digital transformation can be a cost-effective way to improve your business’s performance.

What can you do with SharePoint?

The question I always hear is, “what should we do with SharePoint?”.

At BaseOne, we use SharePoint for employee portals, an app store, brand centre and learning portal. There are four ideas already!

So, here’s another ten ideas to get you thinking.

1. Document management system: SharePoint sites can be used to store, organize, and manage documents in a central location. This makes it easier for teams to collaborate on and access the latest versions of important documents.
2. Project management tool: SharePoint sites can be used to create and manage project workspaces, where team members can collaborate on tasks, share files, and track progress.
3. Communication and collaboration platform: SharePoint sites can be used to facilitate communication and collaboration within a team or organization. This can include features like newsfeeds, discussion boards, and team calendars.
4. Company intranet: SharePoint sites can be used to create a company-wide intranet, where employees can access important information and resources, such as company policies, employee directories, client portals and forms.
5. Training and development tool: SharePoint sites can be used to create and manage training programs and resources, such as course materials, quizzes, and assessments.
6. Customer relationship management (CRM) system: SharePoint sites can be used to manage customer interactions and information, such as contact details, sales opportunities, and support cases.
7. Business intelligence portal: SharePoint sites can be used to create and manage dashboards, reports, and other data visualization tools to help teams make data-driven decisions.
8. Social networking platform: SharePoint sites can be used to create a social network for employees, where they can connect with each other, share ideas, and collaborate on projects.
9. E-commerce platform: SharePoint sites can be used to create and manage online stores, where customers can browse and purchase products and services.
10. Content management system (CMS): SharePoint sites can be used to create and manage websites, including the ability to add and edit pages, add multimedia content, and control access to different areas of the site.

So, as the saying goes - ''a problem shared; is a problem halved''. We recommend diving into SharePoint next time you need to work smarter and faster!

If none of these are required by your business, then to figure out what your team need, you could set up an office hackathon to see what they would like solved with SharePoint, and if you can start automating your business through the Microsoft 365 platform.