10 Real Steps to Better SharePoint Adoption

Why is SharePoint adoption still a challenge for many organizations? Although there may be hurdles that are common, the answer is unique to each enterprise. Now with the impending release of SharePoint 2016, it's a good idea to look at some of the key ways you can impact the success of SharePoint adoption in your organization. Eric Riz (@RIZinsights), SharePoint MVP and founder of EmptyCubicle.com, led a webinar on ten steps to put your organization on solid footing to adopt SharePoint enterprise-wide. Here are some of the bullet points:

1. Create a strategy. This might seem like a no-brainer on the surface, but you've got to define the opportunities SharePoint provides, outline the need for the platform, and align both with corporate goals and objectives.
2. Get C-level support. Adoption of any solution goes nowhere without executive endorsement. Not only do you need to know who'll make the final decision, but you've also got to determine who is leading the charge for adoption. Get behind that person or group and show leadership that full adoption will be meaningful.
3. Know your audience. Who's going to be developing, managing, and using SharePoint? What are the needs and wants for various groups? For instance, consider that many employees may be millenials, who favor a vibrant social network for communication. Explain how SharePoint serves the needs and wants of end users and developers alike.
4. Define and create value. Communicate the principles and goals that provide value to your organization, while also developing an employee education strategy and classifying business information such as taxonomy and processes.
5. Set expectations. Define the capabilities to solve business problems, while also accounting for constraints on the system, processes, etc. You should also provide decision-makers with documented standards and written statements from every team that will be using SharePoint.
6. Set metrics. Employee productivity is what matters, so adoption becomes a balance between resources given to the system versus stifled productivity as a result of remaining on legacy systems. Use the right lens by highlighting the capability, benefits, outcomes, and strategic goals that would be enhanced with full SharePoint adoption.
7. Automation. Again, this is where value is important. Explain why and how SharePoint adoption fits within an automation profile that enables efficient processes and lowered redundancies.
8. Use what you have. After identifying the needs and wants for teams within your organization, look at the legacy systems you have in place. Certainly, there was significant investment in these systems. It's your job to define and describe how SharePoint improves/replaces any relevant investments already made.
9. SMART governance. This step is extremely important! For adoption to be successful, governance of the SharePoint implementation has to be Sensible, Meaningful, Articulate, Real, and Tactical. Policies should be shaped to not only fit the technology but fit organizational culture as well.
10. Prototype and pilot. You have to have a path to success, so testing out implementation is critical. It's all about creating a working prototype or wireframe that users, developers, and executives can all get behind. Once the prototype is in place, then you can launch a pilot program, which will eventually lead to a full organizational implementation.

Riz believes organizations should have two out of 10 SharePoint "advocates" focused on spurring adoption among employees. Even with all these steps in place, it can take 18-36 months for a change in enterprise culture to stick, so patience and persistence will be essential to success.