SearchDo you ask yourself; How did our SharePoint get to be _______? You fill in the blank, out of control (wild west), boring, not used, a security access mess… Governance, whether poorly written, or not enforce can be a big culprit in this problem. Many of us don’t like the word “governance,” and maybe created a governance document, then didn’t enforce it. Governance is kind of like parenthood. You must give your children guidance, have rules, and share your wisdom of experiences with your children and apply it, otherwise it leads to chaos. And face it, whether your children admit it at the time or not, or even ever tell you, at some point they thank you for it!
Microsoft’s Definition of SharePoint Governance:
Governance is the set of policies, roles, responsibilities, and processes that control how an organization’s business divisions and IT teams work together to achieve its goals. (https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint/governance/what-is-governance-in-sharepoint )
Key components of governance are:
- Governance Plan
- Establishing the Information Architecture – administration and support
- Rules for usage
- Roles and responsibilities – where ownership lies between the lines of business and technical team
- Communication and training
- Governance Committee
A governance plan can be simple, and most likely is easier to enforce if it is kept simple. Once a simple, solid governance plan is established, it needs to be shared with staff and training offered for the people who are responsible for SharePoint and its content. After all, the governance plan is useless if no one knows what it is and how to refer to it! A SharePoint Governance Committee, number of members would vary based on the size of an organization, needs to be established and meet at periodic intervals to evaluate and monitor the state of the environment. Without periodically taking the time to evaluate the status of the environment, SharePoint can become the chaos that is trying to be avoided.
Recently, we have been getting a lot of questions around how SharePoint can be used most effectively- and that of course lies in the way it was designed and built in the first place. If you or your company are struggling in this department, get in touch!
