Effective document management is crucial for businesses of all sizes, and can help you save time, reduce costs and improve collaboration. In this blog post, we are going to be looking at how SharePoint can transform your business by streamlining workflows and enhancing collaboration between your employees. If you are looking to revolutionise your business, carry on reading!
SharePoint is a web-based document management system developed by Microsoft that provides a centralised location for the storage, organisation, and sharing of documents from any device. It is incredibly versatile, making it suitable for a wide range of purposes including project management. With SharePoint you can create a secure environment where your team can work together, no matter where they are located. One of its main advantages is that SharePoint integrates seamlessly with other Microsoft products including Office 365, Teams and OneDrive, making it a powerful tool for improving productivity within businesses.
Let’s have a look at some of the key benefits of using SharePoint:
One of the main benefits of SharePoint is the ability to centralise where documents are stored. This means that rather than having lots of files scattered across various devices and emails, SharePoint provides a single place where everything can be stored and accessed. This not only makes it easier to find documents, but also reduces the risk of losing important files.
With its workflow automation features, SharePoint can help automate repetitive tasks and reduce the risk of human error. No more time is wasted on basic things such as document approval and data collection.
SharePoint also integrates with Power Automate which enables you to create more complex workflows to connect with Microsoft and third-party services. This means automation can span several platforms, helping to improve efficiency within the business.
SharePoint enables you to work collaboratively with others, with the ability for several users to work on the same document simultaneously, with any changes being tracked in real-time. This ensures that everyone is always working on the most up-to-date version of the document.
As SharePoint integrates with Microsoft Teams and Microsoft 365, this allows for easy communication between staff members. With the ability to set up channels, share files and co-author documents within SharePoint, everyone can stay on the same page with their projects.
With security being at the forefront of every business owner’s mind, SharePoint has you covered. It offers an array of security features including encryption, access control and more to ensure sensitive information is protected. User permissions can be granted at various levels, ensuring only specific individuals can access certain documents.
For added peace of mind, SharePoint can help you stay compliant with industry standards with features like audit logs and retention policies.
There is nothing more frustrating than accidentally amending a document and needing to revert to a previous version. With SharePoint’s version control feature, you can track changes and see the exact history of each document. Every time a document is edited, SharePoint automatically creates a new version which can be restored if needed. This provides a clear audit trail of who made changes and when.
Before you dive straight into getting started with SharePoint, you need to consider how you would like your documents organising – by department, project or document type. Then you can create logical folder structures and set up libraries to categorise everything.
Then you need to set up appropriate permissions and access control at either library, folder or document level (or a combination of these). You can also add tags to help categorise documents, meaning that filters can be easily applied to help locate documents.
Training employees is incredibly important to help you get the most out of SharePoint. Here at Reality Solutions our experts are on hand to help guide you through the process, so don’t struggle alone. Get in touch today to see how we can help improve efficiency within your business with the use of SharePoint.
*This article contains general information in order to assist all of our customers and is meant for guidance only – there are no guarantees that the information we provide will be suitable for your particular needs. If you require specific assistance, we recommend that you seek professional guidance on your individual circumstances. Reality Solutions are in no way responsible for any loss or damage arising from any information contained within our articles.