What Is Microsoft SharePoint?

Many people who use Microsoft 365 and Teams have Microsoft SharePoint, but very few know how to use it (or even what it is). This program was developed in 2001 by Microsoft to enable individuals and organizations to organize important content like images, documents, webpages, links, videos, lists of information, and tasks. Unfortunately, this program remains underutilized because people who have it in their systems don’t know how to use it.

So, what is SharePoint used for? This web-based program can be used in many ways that are valuable to your business. But before you think about using SharePoint for your business, it’s important to start by understanding what it is and how it works.

What Is SharePoint?

SharePoint is a web-based application designed to integrate naturally with Microsoft Office to allow organizations to store and consolidate their content and data. Consider this program as a one-stop shop for all your content. One of the main SharePoint online benefits is the fact that it serves as a secure place to keep and organize your content for easier access and sharing from different devices. In simple terms, it is an online hard drive that can house all of your related files across different file types, similar to OneDrive in a way but allows for more advanced file management.

All you need is a reliable web browser like Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome, Firefox, or Internet Explorer to create your SharePoint platform. SharePoint has several essential products and downloads that you should be aware of to be able to implement the program effectively in your organization.

For instance, you can use SharePoint in Microsoft 365, which is a cloud-based service for all kinds of businesses. This service is hosted by Microsoft, allowing you to use it without setting up a SharePoint Server on your business premises. You can either sign up for a Microsoft 365 plan or the standalone SharePoint online service.

The other common SharePoint product is SharePoint Server, which offers the latest features and capabilities. With this product, you’ll enjoy modern site pages, web parts and authoring, lists and libraries, searches, and integration of PowerApps, among other capabilities. SharePoint also offers OneDrive Synchronization, a desktop program for synchronizing documents from team sites or OneDrive for work and school to computers for offline use.

How to Use SharePoint

Since its official release in 2001, SharePoint has become an essential part of modern business with hundreds of thousands of organizations and hundreds of millions of individuals from around the world using it to connect and team up. Its global acceptance and popularity are mainly attributed to its ability to simplify daily tasks and business operations by enhancing data management and sharing.

SharePoint has offered corporations a simple solution to their compliance needs, ensuring that they remain compliant in their daily operations. That’s why many corporations are taking their staff through SharePoint training courses so that they can become more effective and productive in their roles. If you’ve never used SharePoint before and would like to learn how to utilize it in your daily activities, here are the common ways to use it.

Managing Tasks

SharePoint comes with a task management feature called ‘Tasks Web Part,’ which is used for managing different tasks and synchronizing with Microsoft Projects. With this feature, you can create tasks, assign them to your team members, and monitor their progress from one place.

Conversations

SharePoint is quite ‘social,’ especially since it offers features that allow its users to hold conversations and share information. For instance, it features the Discussion Board and Newsfeed Web Parts you and your team members can use to discuss projects and share information across the organization. Fortunately, these features can integrate with Microsoft Teams seamlessly to help you move your conversations to a more advanced platform.

Improve Workflows

SharePoint allows you to build workflows for increased productivity. When you build and manage your workflows with SharePoint, you get useful feedback from your team members simultaneously on every bit of data you share with them instead of sending documents to single team members. This program also enhances efficiency by restructuring document management and speeding up the business process.

Document Management

This was the initial objective of developing SharePoint, which is why the program has very powerful document management capabilities. So, aside from storing and organizing your files and folders, SharePoint will also help you to manage individual documents using capabilities such as version history, co-authoring, external sharing, and check-in/check-out.

Furthermore, it allows you to build custom metadata to organize, group, and sift through documents and enhance your search experience.

Creating Custom Lists

Aside from organizing and storing documents, you’ll also need to create and store lists of data that you normally keep in Excel sheets. Some common custom lists you can create include lists of projects, lists of issues, trackers, and lists of contacts, among others.

Although some of these functions and capabilities can now be performed with their standalone software from Microsoft, SharePoint is still an effective content and task management program that you should be familiar with.

Sharepoint is a powerful, underutilized tool that can help your business and team in a number of ways. Learning this tool can be an extremely valuable investment in your business’s future. Get familiar with Microsoft Sharepoint today with the help of our training courses and see what the tool can do for your team.