SharePoint 2013
Happy SharePoint User
If you have a SharePoint installation and you’re looking for help with successful adoption and a smooth transition, consider these 3 most common ways to get your people using your SharePoint sites.
- Cold turkey
Get SharePoint up and running. Make sure it does what it is supposed to do. Shut off the old way of doing things. Don’t forget to make certain your site works properly before you expect others to use it.
Pros: Adoption is immediate.
Cons: Requires training. Usually causes some hard feelings. - Mirroring
Set up SharePoint to do what it is supposed to do. Keep it’s content relevant and up-to-date. Get people involved and be a SharePoint advocate to get them using it instead of the old way of doing things. Allow them time for the transition to the new world of SharePoint.
Pros: People who enjoy new things will start using SharePoint right away and become advocates for SharePoint. These will become roll-models for others to follow.
There will be no hard feelings as nothing is being forced on those who are not so open to change.
Cons: Adoption rate/success will most likely be mediocre at best, as most of us don’t like change and continue using what we are familiar with, resulting in a back-peddling to the old way of doing things, possibly leaving SharePoint to whither and die. - Content migration
Setting up SharePoint to take the place of an existing process can be challenging and usually has wrinkles that need ironing out. The only way to discover these wrinkles is to start implementing SharePoint and dive in head first.
Concentrate on making your SharePoint site do one thing at a time, setting it up to be successful in that one area. Then on a specified, publicized date, turn off the old way of doing things in favor of the new SharePoint approach. Train and prepare your people for this change.
Pros: Expectations are reasonably set and user acclimation is smooth due to a steady slow approach. Nobody is surprised when the cutoff date arrives.
Cons: SharePoint adoption is slower than the Cold Turkey approach.
If you or your team need help planning or implementing a SharePoint site or site collection, look me up and I will be happy to guide you to SharePoint success.