Video Resource: SharePoint Overview

Hello!

Many of you have inquired as to what SharePoint is and how to access it. As it is that this is an incredibly useful tool, I thought I would communicate with you about how it can serve you.

A quick synopsis: SharePoint essentially allows organizations to create websites as a secure place to store, organize, share, and access information from any device. What’s great about SharePoint is its streamlined design. It is organized to increase productivity and visibility and create easy pathways to access information. Furthermore, as the features of SharePoint exist within this intranet experience, it makes cross-collaboration all the easier.

You might be saying to yourself, okay, that’s nice, but what does all this mean for me?

Well, SharePoint provides a web-based space where users can upload a document that can be immediately shared with other people who may need to see it. In a way, SharePoint is a kind of safety deposit box we all have a key to.

In fact, you can even download the SharePoint app to easily access these documents from any mobile device!

Now, many of you have asked how does this differ from items shared in Teams or stored in OneDrive?

I’m going to borrow a fantastic analogy shared with me by Daniel Witcher. OneDrive is our office where we store all of our personal items. It's the file cabinet in your room with all those important documents you must never lose. Teams would be the conference room where we’re all collaborating as a team on a project. Maybe it's a departmental or committee project, but all parties involved are focused as a team to complete the goal as needed. SharePoint would be the auditorium where everyone around campus is present. There’s HR and Academic Affairs and IT and all those important groups in our organization. We’re all mingling and interacting as needed.

This kind of system makes it so efficient to access the people and information needed - especially concerning company-wide information. And for those inputting content, SharePoint makes it easier to share, protect and maintain this content too.

Okay, but how do I access it?

That’s super easy! You simply go to www.crowder.edu/sharepoint. I recommend bookmarking this after your initial visit.

Here, on the Communication site, you can see a series of cross-collaboration links and resources: Faculty & Staff Directory, MyCrowder, Campus Weather, and even our Crowder Twitter feed.

But let’s say I’m needing something specific. As a new Crowder employee, I have been accessing SharePoint for a number of resources lately. For example, I recently wanted to sign up for a Y membership. Knowing that document would be on the HR SharePoint site, I accessed it here.

Listed on this page are all those documents pertaining to important policies and procedures as well as fillable forms. If I don’t see the document needed, I could either click ‘See All Forms’ or search for my needed document in the search engine. Aha! Here’s the form I needed and was able to access it all on my own.

Here’s another example: I wanted to find a branded logo for my new email signature. Again, with SharePoint, this is super easy! First, I need to access the Crowder College Brand Materials SharePoint site. Here I can scroll the folders to find the one I need or select ‘See All’. Here I can find the Email Signature folder and access the logo of my choosing. Our team has not only already designed this for my usage, but placed it in SharePoint for easy access!

Needless to say, SharePoint makes it incredibly easy to collaborate as a team. I would recommend taking some time to tour this space and discover all the ways it can serve you. Don’t be afraid to click on links or access documents - you can’t break anything! And, hopefully, with more practice, your navigation will only get easier and easier.