The SharePoint in Practice Philosophy

The SharePoint in Practice philosophy, our way of thinking,
underpins all that we do and prints the patterns for how we do it.

• TEMPLATES: We use and reuse standard templates. By reusing prewritten documents and tested processes we can save time and, even more importantly, improve the quality of our results.
• INVOLVEMENT: We engage and involve end-users and decision makers throughout the project. By engaging a broad spectrum of people, we get better buy-in to your new portal, and better results.
• KEEP IT SIMPLE SHAREPOINT (KISS): We use basic, out-of-the-box SharePoint as much as possible. We believe and promote that the simplest solution is usually the best.
• ITERATE: We approach our work iteratively: we start rough and refine and improve through collaboration. Stakeholders see results faster and, being more involved, they are more invested.

Use your SharePoint in Practice TIKI torch to shine a light on a better portal! (Yes, bad jokes are also part of the tool set.) If you use this philosophy and repeat the TIKI mantra while designing, building, and managing your portal projects you will increase clarity, reduce risk, and greatly increase the value delivered. And everyone will enjoy the process much more.

Templates: The Portal Build Toolkit

Throughout the book, and downloadable from the SharePoint in Practice Office 365 site, you will see over 30 templates ranging from training materials to project plans. These support the “T” in TIKI. By filling in blanks rather than starting with a blank page, you’re miles ahead. Premade templates are a strong starting point, ready for editing and adapting to your specific situation. A listing of  SharePoint in Practice templates can be found here.

SharePoint in Practice is a way of thinking coupled with a toolset that leverages that thinking to produce great results.

Thank you for joining me on this journey.

Gerry Brimacombe

P.S. Please read and comment. Do these concepts make sense to you? What are we missing?