Business Cloud Integration Ltd writes:
Teaching users to maintain just one version of a document where version control is baked in, and access is done via a link, is considered transformative when first used, but has evolved into common practice in SharePoint today.
One Location
We are advocates of the mantra: "Content lives where it is owned and is surfaced where it is needed", which means that we are heavy users of the search web parts in SharePoint. We still however frequently see poor SharePoint adoption in the form of users thinking that the same document should be kept in different locations for different users. This leads to the same old problem of having multiple versions of the same document, and completely removes the benefits of having a single source of the truth. When used properly, Search is able to return shared sites without them being shared locations, which means that you only ever need one version of each document.
Check it out
It's been a long time since we have enforced check out on anything in a standard team site. This is simply because doing so breaks the collaboration experience, and unless there is a completely valid reason to enforce it, it just causes confusion and delay. If your organisation is still operating a check out procedure for working on documents, then I'd urge you to review your needs, and consider splitting down your libraries to move those documents that really do require checkout/in into a separate location from those that don't.
Lists of Links
We are still seeing SharePoint sites where users are manually keeping lists of links to key documents. These break the moment a document is moved or renamed, and despite all good intentions, this happens far more often than not. Instead, it is much better practice to use a dynamic search query to surface the data you need based on content type, location or target audience. If you have a hard coded a list, then you really need to reconsider why.
Document Sets
One of the most overlooked features of SharePoint is the humble document set: in simple terms, a kind of fancy folder that lets you auto tag documents inside it with the Document set properties, which is extremely useful for surfacing the data in search, and prevents frustrated users from having to tag every document.
Share me
The share tool (which can be widely overused and cause a permissions nightmare) allows you to send an email to a colleague that directs them to your document individually. This is really useful, and can even be used to send a link to a colleague who already has permissions to a file, rather than granting permissions to it.
Get a Link
The addition of the "Get a link" option - which allows you to easily copy a link to the location - is just like "Share me", except that you have the ability to write your own email. This option does not mess with permissions, and so is much more "best practice" friendly.
In conclusion, while the tools are evolving, the single source of the truth concept has remained the same: one version to rule them all.
Business Cloud Integration Ltd offer Cloud, SharePoint and Office 365 consultancy in Cambridge, delivering solutions that increase company productivity, streamline and automate business processes, and simplify and enhance collaborative working.
Visit our website to find out more.
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