Like any IT project or other, the successful use of SharePoint requires, among other things, a governance process. SharePoint alone can not work miracles. You need a guide, precise landmarks to get there. And that’s exactly what the SharePoint governance strategy is for.

Much like the rules you have at home and at work, SharePoint governance clearly sets the rules for SharePoint users in your business. Concretely, this is to indicate the roles, rules and regulations of everyone, regardless of title, role or level of permissions. This is the most efficient way to ensure proper use of SharePoint, as well as structured and cordial interactions between different users.

It gets more complex when establishing and implementing SharePoint governance. The reason is simple: each company has its own way of doing things. What is very important in one organization is not necessarily important for another. It’s exactly like the rules from one family to the next: it varies a lot. And you also have to take into account the size and level of maturity of the business, two factors that inevitably influence the governance plan.

The good news is that you can adapt SharePoint governance to your values and your business philosophy. There are several SharePoint governance models that can help you avoid clutter and communication problems in your organization. Let’s see together how to implement your SharePoint governance strategy.

Your SharePoint governance strategy is based on the balance between these three pillars: the governance plan, the governance committee and internal communication.

The governance plan is a written document that serves as a reference, indicating in black and white the official directives and the procedures to be followed. It guides the actions to do or avoid for any SharePoint user.

Who writes it? Usually, this task falls to the IT department, given its technical knowledge of SharePoint.

Obviously, the governance plan must be easily accessible to everyone, including new employees. It is also very relevant to present it to all users during a SharePoint training or other official meeting to get off on the right foot.

You will understand that the governance plan is not set in stone. In other words, it must evolve over time to adapt to new features and the reality of users. Otherwise, it will quickly become obsolete. The role of the governance committee is therefore to meet on a regular basis to discuss the difficulties encountered and the possible solutions to be considered. And if all goes well, we meet anyway so as not to lose the rhythm!

My advice: form your SharePoint governance committee with motivated, unifying users who reflect your business. Of course, executives and champions of technology have a crucial role to play, but so do ordinary users. They represent “sir-madam-everyone-in-the-world” in your organization. The idea is to have a representative committee that can make decisions and update your company’s SharePoint governance plan

Next, make sure that the members of the SharePoint governance committee listen to other users to get their impressions, comments and suggestions. If necessary, put in place a well-framed feedback process to get there.

And above all, do not neglect the continuing education of your governance committee! SharePoint is constantly evolving, which is why it is important to familiarize it with the recent SharePoint improvements and innovations that could prove very interesting for your organization

All additions to the SharePoint governance plan must inevitably be communicated to other SharePoint users. Otherwise they will not be informed of decision-making and news. Also, they will wonder what happened to their comments and suggestions. In short, internal communication is always the key to keeping your work team motivated.

Now, how do you communicate the new features of the SharePoint governance plan to your team? All means are good, you just have to choose what suits your organizational culture. Here are some interesting ideas:

• Group training

• Team meeting

• Conference luncheon

• Information email (with tips and tricks)

• Video tutorials

Whichever you choose, make sure everyone has access to this information and that it is communicated clearly tomaximize SharePoint adoption in your organization..

Like a business plan or marketing plan, your SharePoint governance plan must include key elements. Here are a few.

It is essential to set the permissions of owners of SharePoint sites, libraries and lists, also called administrators. For example, you can indicate that the administrators are authorized to generate sites, insofar as these respect in all points the template in the colors of your company. Thus, the sales manager can, for example, create SharePoint sites according to the needs of his team without however being able to change their appearance (colors, logo, arrangement of elements).

Also think of SharePoint groups, which are closely linked to SharePoint permission levels: do you want administrators to use only those already created, or do you prefer to leave them free to create new ones? These are exactly the kinds of permissions that you need to think about when writing your SharePoint governance plan.

Do not become owner (administrator) of SharePoint sites who wants to! Better to put in place a formal process that requires, among other things, that the person in question has completed SharePoint training and that they have been informed of the responsibilities that flow from it. This is one way to make sure that anyone with some power is fully aware of the procedures in place in the business.

Even if SharePoint simplifies quick data search thanks to metadata, it’s important to establish a convention for prioritizing SharePoint sites, libraries, and lists. Otherwise, you will quickly find yourself with several levels and sub-levels… To avoid such a situation, it is recommended to define a site hierarchy model to which the owners (administrators) can refer in the SharePoint governance plan. This will also facilitate the creation of a navigation agreement between the different levels and sites.

Another aspect to include in your SharePoint governance plan is certainly the guidelines aroundmétadonnées as well as their administration. You don’t want everyone to be able to edit them. Imagine the confusion it could cause! It is wiser to determine who can do it and what the rules are for consistency.

The same goes for your brand image. Your governance plan aims precisely to guarantee a certain harmony between your different SharePoint sites with a typography, colors and a logo, for example. Consider including it in your plan from the start.

In an era where data privacy and security are paramount, it’s best to have a formal procedure for external sharing in your SharePoint governance plan. This is to oversee the process of sharing SharePoint sites, libraries and lists with external collaborators such as consultants, freelancers or partners. One way to do this is to create a completely separate site collection for external sharing, thereby preventing sensitive information from ending up in the hands of third parties.

In this section of your governance plan, you will need to decide how users will be able to solve any problem encountered on a daily basis. For example, how do you get access to a site, library, or list that they need to see but don’t currently have access to? Or how to modify a document accessible in read-only? Your SharePoint governance plan should outline the procedures for requesting additional permissions. Otherwise, everyone will do their own thing – causing enormous time and efficiency loss!

Phew! Lots of information at once, right? Take a deep breath and just remember this: It is essential to design a SharePoint governance plan, but it does not have to be very complex to be effective. Make sure to include the key elements and balance the three pillars. You can then develop your SharePoint governance strategy with the precious help of your governance committee.

Need help creating and implementing your SharePoint governance strategy? We supported several companies from various business sectors in the implementation of their SharePoint governance plan.Contact our IT expertsto see how we can help you become more efficient with a SharePoint governance strategy adapted to your reality