MOVE SEAMLESSLY BETWEEN SHAREPOINT AND DESKTOP
- a few seconds ago
- 7 min read
Author: Jonathan Stuckey
Audience: Information manager, Change and Adoption roles and Business users
In this article we discuss the realities of user-adoption in a project when moving users from Desktop file / document experience to a blended web (SharePoint) and desktop (Office | OneDrive). The emphasis in support, training and setting expectations can offset any technology and system configuration by helping users do the basics well - and accepting it is a change programme, not a technology programme that will make the difference.
Contents:
...the tips on learning are towards the end.
Introduction:
with a lot of our work focusing on migration and adoption I wanted to outline the impact in the change of behaviours for users. We work on technology and systems options for projects that transition between experiences and its important to recognise that the griping from the user's post-migration, is largely to do with people behaviours and less what's actually possible with the tools.
As the adage goes: you can't make an omelette, without breaking a few eggs... equally you can't unmake the omelette and reconstitute the parts in the original form when you now want the swap the omelette for a Quiche.
Problem statement:
Challenges with moving people from one platform to another is that they establish behaviours and ways of working that often don't translate - and people, unlike AI, don't take (re)direction well. Changing behaviours for people using a file-share, or folder-hierarchy style navigation to a (mostly) web-oriented is extremely difficult because of a couple of things:
people like patterns - our brains have developed over millennia to work with patterns
people don't like to change, once they have a pattern that (sort of) works
Unfortunately, the biggest hinderances when starting to use the SharePoint and Microsoft 365 Office model of working with documents are there are too many choices on how to work. None of them look like (enough) like a file-explorer to be useful for our monkey-brains to easily adopt.
So, what to do?
Issues:
Being aware of the issues you will encounter is a start because your adoption planning and change management approach will need to mitigate the usual mixed-bag of responses:
Unrealistic expectations from users - high return for little input or change in behaviour
New issues unaddressed - new tools impact a user's environment and practices significantly
Poor / no support - limits change in user behaviours with too little, or poor quality, support services
Poor / no active sponsorship - no visible investment in the outcome means no incentive for the users
...and the list goes on.
The biggest issue is misunderstanding that change from legacy "file explorer" click-to-edit experience for a user doesn't need to be supported because you can just "Connect to OneDrive" on your desktop.. No.
Underestimating the impact and change-in-behaviours required by users to become effective with basic Office document management, is one of the most common mistakes.
Solutions:
...well not really solutions, but mitigations and options which could resolve the issues.
The only real ways to fix the issues above are to adopt one of the following strategies:
change your whole process and approach (with associated change activities for wholesale adoption)
force everyone involved to undertake change and training plans with
recurring monitoring and (re)enforcement activities, and
user-support groups and check-ins, and
no one exempt - including Executive and management teams.
change the people who use the old system for people who are only trained in the new system
remove the people (where appropriate) and streamline/automate the process where possible
If you are not willing to do the above, and most organisations haven't been until the rise of Generative AI, then you are stuck with how-much of the change management options you are willing to fund. Change activities range across all areas of People, Process and Technology to support the outcomes:
update policies, procedures and support guidance
changes to role job-descriptions to embedded expected behaviours*
embed training in project and regular (recurring) role activities e.g. annual (re)training
mandated management objectives and KPIs linked to payments and recognition
introduction of champions and peer groups for sharing and support
project support and coaching from delivery team to business users
project communication materials
posters, campaign content, flyers, drop-in clinics, training 1:M, community lunch-learn,
configure your systems (technical) to apply rigorous process steps and activities e.g. workflows
*only works when you are willing to monitor, review and penalise/reward for compliance with new expectations.
Now with document management in particular and transitioning from file-server or equivalently loosely managed content stores, then (8.) becomes somewhat challenging for engendering wholesale behavioural change.
Practical adoption options
Ultimately, we have to address the Monkey-in-the-room, by telling everyone the "What's in it for me" - i.e. the carrot, as well as "what (horrible thing) do I avoid by complying" - the stick.
Looking at the systems, processes and procedures then we have to work towards embedding changes in:
what users access - the types of information
where it needs to be stored - what goes where for me, or for 'us'
how they should access it - best ways, that do not reinforce old behaviours
where I find help - either people, guides, faqs or workflow
Ultimately clear guidance with the new tools, with statements that start with: "You will...", "It works like this", and "No banana for you if..."
Dealing with the statistical outliers
Let's be honest now, we're dealing with 'People'. Change management programmes deal with "People" (generic), in a project we deal with Stakeholders ("Personalities"), and Teams (generic groups). After the project, the support teams deal with individuals.
To convey the best-outcomes we need to be declarative about "You do it this way" but have exposition in the back-pocket for when we need it.
What do we do? What are 'Best-practice' options
Urgh, don't get me started on the misuse of the term "Best-practice", but good guidance and common practice can be just as vicious a trap for projects. For better adoption, teach the basics well and ensuring you have appropriate (human) support in place.
Ensuring best outcomes
Provide decent way-posts for users, with simple expectations and how to achieve them.
This means:
Keep guidance simple, keep it visual.
Be specific, and include lots of examples that your users relate to
Provide clear lines of access for support (people) - make them easily contactable
Set a good timeline for engagement - and stick to it
Because we deal with technology, and other organisations do a much better job of explaining change management frameworks, we are going to focus on fundamentals features and activities in learning to get more from you M365 and SharePoint adoption.
Using SharePoint, Office and OneDrive - Foundations
With using SharePoint for document management, Office (desktop) applications for content creation and editing, and OneDrive for Business for 'offline access', then you want to make use of:
a. Site membership and following content - to simplify access to your content:
follow sites, libraries, folders and documents
right-click to Preview (view) documents
click-to-edit in place
b. Office app 'File-open' - pinned libraries, and recently accessed views:
quickly find recent work
navigate libraries (structure) in followed sites
jump between documents and access historical versions etc
c. Search for finding, filtering and access
integrated in browser in Library, Site, Hub
integrated in Office application (document)
integrated in desktop
d. Sharing links of documents and lists
don't distribute the document via email (internally).
its been 18 years since this was introduced - please learn it.
e. Add Short-cut to OneDrive for quicker offline access
use files on demand to avoid downloading everything
unlink from library when no longer 'active' in a site - minimise sync issues
CAUTION: DO NOT sync for all your libraries in the sites you frequent
You will get horrible performance and document access issues (see my other articles)
g. New: Microsoft 365 Copilot for "combing" and ingesting content
intelligent summaries of your content, libraries and specific items
information extraction as tasks
CAUTION: make sure you have done your privacy and access due diligence on sensitive content before unleashing Copilot for broad adoption
There are tons of situational specific tips and actions which improve life all around for the user, but human brains aren't good at absorbing a lot in one go.
Close
Moving from desktop experience to SharePoint seamlessly actually takes work. Don't do your users a disservice by pretending that "you can work just as you did" - because to avoid new issues, complaints and to improve their working lives they need to learn and grow into it.
Key lessons:
Start with the fundamentals and do them well.
Use your migration project to establish internal learning and support capability.
Don't rely on a one-off comms activity and users being proactive - they are all too busy.
Take everyone through the basics and have a ongoing re-enforcement of behaviours.
Understanding your support issues before they turn-up as tickets. Most are behaviours.
Keep an eye open for the next article on migration support: "The most common support questions in migration"
Resources
Good resources, but then need a lot of tuning to fit normal people:
Microsoft 365 Quick Starts - Microsoft Support - old but still relevant
Still some of the best guidance and practice tips for Office and SharePoint
Disclaimer
Napkin.AI and Micrsoft 365 Copilot were utilised for image generation to minimise effort in QA review. Topic ideation for content and practical evaluation of the content presented was entirely the author's output.
Article text: 2.5-hours work (I write a lot, its easy)
Image generation: 1 hour with Microsoft Design, and selecting colour-choices and image prompts
Summary quality and accuracy review: 1 experienced person, 1/2 hour.
Result: Validated, real-world content based on personal knowledge and experiences captured quickly
Errors: Accountability for errors in content, presentation etc are entirely with the author.
Want to know what we know? Give us a call!
Looking for guidance in adopting Microsoft 365 and SharePoint for document management and collaboration? Or even just to learn some of the tricks-of-the-trade? Email us at hi@timewespoke.com
About the author: Jonathan Stuckey
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