If you are a business owner, you should be aware of the importance of easy access and communication in an organization. To improve the workflow and overall productivity of the employees, easily accessible information can play a critical role. Especially if you have divided your workers into teams, to boost their efficiency and morale, having a common platform is important. There are several options available in the market. This article focuses on Microsoft SharePoint and details on why it can have several benefits for your business.
What is Microsoft SharePoint?
Microsoft SharePoint is an online platform designed for efficient collaboration amongst office employees. It has a range of features that can help organizations grow. Generally, people use SharePoint building websites. They also use it as a medium for storing, sharing, organizing and accessing information from anywhere, anytime.
SharePoint can significantly improve your team’s performance, especially due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic where companies have become remote first. SharePoint can help employees work together in a more efficient and productive way.
Also read: Impact of IoT on the Future of Web App Design & Development
Benefits of SharePoint for Your Business
As stated earlier, SharePoint has several benefits and can be a great integration with your company’s infrastructure. It is easy to use and hence, does not require any prior skills. To delve into some of the benefits, it has to offer:
Accessing information from Anywhere
Firstly, one of the greatest advantages of using SharePoint is easy to access information from anywhere. It makes file sharing extremely simple. You do not have to be in a specific location to access certain files. Instead, whether you are on your phone or laptop, you can get access to the company’s database anywhere in the world. This feature can especially be helpful if you are working from home. Further, SharePoint is extremely secure, so it makes sure all your information remains confidential and is only accessible by authorized employees.
SharePoint is supported by both Windows and macOS, along with all smartphones. Therefore, all you need is a stable internet connection and you are good to go.
Creating a Blog
If you are a part of a large organization, it is important to keep your employees updated with the working of your company. To make this simpler, the platform offers an option to create a blog – similar to a Wikipedia page. However, this is only restricted to your company’s employees.
Any change in the policies or new features etc. can easily be added to the blog. This information then becomes openly accessible to all employees. Hence, making sure your whole team is on board with every progress. Further, you can also write about particular topics. For example, someone with authority on a certain topic can write about it so everyone can benefit from the information.
Creating Team Sites
If your workforce is divided into teams, the SharePoint Team Sites feature can come in extremely handy. This feature allows you to build efficient and effective communication lines between employees. Team Sites can improve inter-team and inter-departmental collaboration. Therefore, resulting in higher productivity.
Moreover, you can also share important files and documents through the portal. So, you do not have to worry about manually sending documents through email.
Enterprise Social Networking
SharePoint’s My Site can serve as a social media platform, except for your company only. You can post updates, express your thoughts and build your network with other employees. It works similar to Facebook. This helps build a personal relationship with your colleagues and also promotes a more friendly work environment.
Work Automation
Lastly, you can also use SharePoint for automating workflows. Task automation can take away the hassle of manual labor. It also saves time and cost and is relatively more accurate. Hence, resulting in fewer errors. There are several ways of improving your workflows with SharePoint through automation. These include:
- Alerts to notify stakeholders
- Content approval feature to get feedback on your work
- Built-in workflows to improve efficiency and optimization
- Building workflows from scratch using SharePoint designer
- Visual studio, Nintex, and Power Automate integration that can be used to design workflows
Apart from the above mentioned features, SharePoint is also capable of external sharing, content management, mobile applications, and intranets. Further, the platform is extremely affordable and offers a range of plans to choose from according to your requirements. These plans generally start from $5 per month or come with Microsoft 365 Business subscriptions.
Conclusion
If you are a business owner, integrating Microsoft SharePoint Online with your company is a great option. It offers several great features that can improve the collaboration and productivity of your employees. It can also lead to better results in the long run. From team communication to sharing files and updating everyone. SharePoint provides all your needs. It is also pretty affordable, so even if you are a start-up with limited funds, you can use the service. Therefore, if you are thinking of getting SharePoint, it is definitely worth it.