Latest Intranet & Employee Experience topics

Audience targeting in SharePoint is a powerful way to tailor what users see, making intranets and sites more relevant to different groups. While it doesn’t replace permissions, it helps streamline navigation, highlight important content, and improve the overall user experience. In this episode of Ask Sympraxis, the team talks about how audience targeting works, where it can be applied, and what to keep in mind when using it.

In this 30-minute Ask Sympraxis session, we break down the discovery phase - what it is, why it matters, and how to do it right. From defining the problem to creating user personas and building a roadmap, we’ll walk you through the key steps that set the stage for a successful intranet transformation. If you’re planning an upgrade, don’t skip this essential first step!

Managing documents effectively in Microsoft 365 SharePoint is a common challenge for organizations. To address challenges that arise, organizations must implement a structured approach to document management that evolves based on their needs. Join as we explore different levels of document management maturity, from default document libraries to advanced extensibility solutions. Document Management Problem Statement Common document management issues include difficulties in locating files, poor search functionality, duplicate documents with different names, and permission mismanagement. A particularly frustrating issue is the accidental reorganization of files-such as unintentionally moving a folder-leading to confusion and lost productivity. Addressing these challenges requires a thoughtful strategy for structuring and managing documents in SharePoint.

What’s Happening with Delve? Microsoft recently announced the retirement of Delve, a move that has been on the horizon for some time. Delve provided a central hub for users within the Microsoft 365 suite, offering access to profile details, connections, recent documents, and activities of colleagues based on permissions. A Brief History of Delve Delve debuted in 2015 with a bold blue logo, introducing users to an innovative way of showcasing collaboration through the Office Graph. Initially, it caused some unease among users, as it revealed activity based on permissions, leading some organizations to disable the Office Graph. Over time, much of Delve’s functionality migrated to other parts of the M365 ecosystem. Today, its departure is less disruptive as its core capabilities have been dispersed across the platform.

Permissions in Microsoft 365 can be complex, but a clear approach can help simplify management, protect data, and enhance collaboration. Below, we break down the highlights from our recent Ask Sympraxis session, The Many Faces of Permissions in Microsoft 365, which explores our philosophy on permissions, the many sharing settings, and best practices for permissions in Microsoft 365.

As we mark the milestone of our 100th episode of Ask Sympraxis, it’s incredible to reflect on the journey we’ve embarked on since our first episode on April 20, 2020. Back then, the world was quite different, and in many ways, so was the landscape of technology. Over the years, Ask Sympraxis has grown, evolved, and adapted, much like the tech ecosystem we seek to demystify.

Microsoft has introduced SharePoint Premium, a comprehensive suite of tools designed to enhance content experiences, processes, governance, and backup/archive functionalities. SharePoint Premium aims to elevate content management to a higher maturity level, integrating various advanced tools and capabilities. SharePoint Advanced Management (SAM) Located in the SharePoint Admin Center, SharePoint Advanced Management (SAM) offers a range of capabilities, including sophisticated reporting tools and data governance reports. SAM features change history reports that allow administrators to track changes at both site and organizational levels. These reports are downloadable, providing insights into who made specific changes and when.

Back in the day, SharePoint developers reveled in the ability to craft pixel-perfect intranets and websites, wielding full control over branding assets. However, this era of limitless customization came at a cost - considerable technical debt. If you built an intranet with custom branding, you had to account for every web part, how it was used, and how it was branded, often at the expense of performance. The good news is all that changes in the new modern brand center as it is slowly giving us back customization options.

In the latest Ask Sympraxis session, we delved into the world of templates for Microsoft Teams, unraveling the nuances that play a crucial role in ensuring consistency and efficiency. The session began with an overview of templates in general. If you’d like to dive deeper into the various types of templates available in Microsoft 365, please check out the other posts in this series.

At its core, a template serves as a blueprint, allowing repeatability, consistency, and encapsulating institutional knowledge. For more detailed information and an overview of templates in general, please visit our prior Ask Sympraxis session. Maturity Model approach As we love to often reference, templates can also be viewed in relation to the Maturity Model. Starting at level 100, templates are completely absent, and everything is configured manually on the fly. The Microsoft provided templates occupy the 200 level. Templates can go all the way to the 500 level, where an automated custom approach to template management is applied.