SharePoint University

One of the missing pieces when most people start thinking about using SharePoint is how to get started. I have just posted a set of worksheets that are consolidated into one Excel book that will give beginning Site Administrators worksheets and check sheets for starting a new site. This is Version 1 of the worksheets, so I would appreciate feedback and comments.

Regards,
Mark

www.EndUserSharePoint.com
Look for the post labeled: Site Planning Worksheets - Now Available

Looks pretty good. However, on your content analysis page you might want to include content types as well. This way you could add one more worksheet for defining content-types. This has been one of the most challenging areas within my organization because we want to manage content types and provide some company specific content-types that we can deploy quickly to various sites. Plus, we want to allow our users to extend these base content types with their own content-types.

I went back and forth with content types before deciding not to include them in the first pass. I'm still open to argument.

I think most people when they get started with site creation are overwhelmed with the task of setting up the structure of the site and defining basic content areas, so I left out content types. I am planning on including them in the second phase of the site development process. The same goes for columns in libraries and lists. The worksheet does not include columns/fields or views in the initial pass, but this will definitely be handled in subsequent workbooks.

Thanks for the input. I'd be interested in knowing if your site admins are novices or experienced users who understand the implications of content types.

Regards,
Mark

Hi Mark,

 This is a great!  Do you plan on incorporating any portal based functionality?  This starts at the WSS site level, but what about 1 step above that?

SharePoint is very new in my user community, so they have much to learn. Right now, the only site admins directly report to me so I can oversee changes and advise on practices. As we move forward, we are developing in-house training for those that will be administering sites in the organization. I expect to have between 100 and 200 sites over the next 12 months.

I think one of the components that also needs to be discussed during deployment is end-user training. There are two things we've experienced in our organization -- 1) very few people understand how to use Sharepoint due to myths and lack of understanding about the purpose of SharePoint and 2) lack of training and support personnel in our organization. We have a help desk, but these individuals have very little experience and exposure to SharePoint so most support calls are routed to my desk. With this in mind, do you think it would be good to introduce this with a tool similar to this during the first stages?

Jay,

Yes, there are definitely workbooks on the way for the steps above this. My main concern with developing this first set of worksheets was to make sure novices were aware that there is a process to go through before touching a site. Last week I was working with a client to clarify why they would need to go through this process, and I figured why not formalize it through a set of worksheets. I built the sheets over the weekend and they seem to have had an immediate effect on the people I have sent them to.

I would be interested in your definition of 'portal based functionality'. What types of worksheets do you envision would be needed as part of the user analysis and content analysis process.

Regards,
Mark

> I think one of the components that also needs to be discussed during deployment is end-user training.

You will hear no argument from me on that one. I think there is a definite void on that level. In most cases, the end user has not been consulted during the 'buy-in' process. They have just had this technology thrown at them and told to use it. Anything we can do to help the end user at this point is just as important as training the site admins.

> We have a help desk, but these individuals have very little experience and exposure to SharePoint so most support calls are routed to my desk.

One of the approaches I have taken is to clarify to the site admins that they are the first line of support for the system. That means the site admin should be 'eating their own dogfood', in Microsoft parlance. By having the site admin working on the FAQs, context sensitive information about their sites, building support libraries and having do deal with daily issues in the platform, they will be much better suited to helping the end user. In the short run, it's more work for you, personally, but only experience will give your site admins the depth of knowledge and confidence they need to pull this thing off.

> With this in mind, do you think it would be good to introduce this with a tool similar to this during the first stages?

Absolutely. As with any project management (and that's what this is, isn't it?), there has to be a basic needs analysis before anything of substance can get done. Using the worksheets has already made a difference in how users are percieving the usefulness of SharePoint. I used this concept with a group last week. They had been struggling for a month, trying to get a grip on how to get started. With an hour and a half online session, they were able to clarify their goals, layout a basic game plan and start the process. So yes, by all means, use the sheets to help people get started in their thinking process.

By filling out the worksheets, the lightbulb seems to go off a lot faster when it comes to comprehending what SharePoint can do for the end user.

Regards,
Mark

Mark i have been looking for this workbook in the forum but can't find it.
Do you have it attached somewhere?

Hope i'm asking the right question

It's on my site at www.EndUserSharePoint.com Here's a direct link to the post with the file download: http://www.endusersharepoint.com/?p=8

Let me know if you find them useful.

Mark

Mark,

Do you have any transcripts that you've used to help your user community in completing these items? We are looking at using this tool to aid some of our stakeholders in understanding SharePoint and organizing their departmental/workgroup sites.

Thanks!

westdccs:

Do you have any transcripts that you've used to help your user community in completing these items?

Nope, no transcripts. Here's the process flow I use.

1. Someone on the team is appointed as 'Chief Information Gatherer'
2. I work with them for a week, an hour a day, to help them get a conceptual handle on what, why, where, when kind of stuff. Each meeting ends with an assignment for gathering info for a specific sheet. This step is critical. The rep for the team needs to be an evangelist for the process, as well as being the head gatherer of information. They don't have to completely fill out the sheets. If fact, they shouldn't. They need to understand conceptually what is being done, fill in enough information on the sheets to give context to the sheets and then get help from the rest of the team to fill out the worksheets.
3. At the end of the week, there is a team meeting which the CIG and I co-host. I engage in the conceptual overview while the CIG puts everything is context of the team. This gives the entire team a chance to approach the project together, give assignments for information collection, and in general get buy-in for the conceptual structure of the site.

That's the 30,000 foot view for you. Let me know if you need more detail.

Regards,
Mark
EndUserSharePoint.com

Good on you Mark.

Thanks for the link