Guest Author: Richard Young
Lightning Tools

So what’s up with Discussions? I know SharePoint has a lot to offer and it can take companies time to make use of all it has to offer but 9 times out of 10, small, medium and large companies that I talk to don’t make any use of discussions.

Obviously, opinions are subjective, so I only want to pass on some of the common thoughts of various SP administrators with these companies.

The most common view is that the functionality is limited and the UI is not that attractive. This leads to the biggest problem. The end users. They are used to using nicely developed forums. Over the last few years, common functions have occurred across these Forums. They have evolved into easy to use and easy to manage environments.

So our end user is used to this. The feeling amongst SP managers is if they are confronted with Discussions within SP, they will be turned off, not only with the Discussions but possibly with using SP.

There are other reasons given for not utilising Discussions; Don’t need it, Can’t be bothered to set it up and manage it and my favourite, ‘We already publish a monthly newsletter’!

So, what about the 1 in 10 companies using it? Well, they have enhanced the Discussions offering by installing 3rd party forum web parts. ‘That’s cheating’ I hear you say. Well, no. If you buy an off the peg expensive suit, no one minds if you get it tailored to suit you! This is often a lot cheaper than purchasing the fully bespoke suit.

So back to the 10 percenters, they have the 3rd party forum web parts. Some have purchased source code to create something bespoke but others have stuck with the off the peg version. They have had pleasing results.

Communication

Originally, one of the companies (a large multi national) wanted to have a communications tool that allowed them to pass information from senior management through to grass roots workers. This was quite straightforward. In fact, its use was not that dissimilar from a news letter – ‘This is where we are going and this is why’.

The major difference was the fact that grass root workers could now communicate back up the chain. This started the two way dialogue and, in turn, led to some really good questions coming from Mr and Mrs Grass Root. For instance, they asked a simple question about logistics. This led to a significant saving.

A different company was going through a takeover. This brought in the ‘Change Manager’. Well, they exist because change scares people. The best way to alleviate fear is to keep people informed. The problem was, senior management could only guess what the main fears were. So, by utilising the forums with key topics they could quickly understand what the key areas were. Not only that but many simple fears were answered by other employees.

End User Adoption

Initially, I wasn’t really sure that utilising forums software would assist in end user adoption. That was until I came across a forward thinking project manager. Very simply, the senior management had identified SharePoint as the solution for their company. They had installed SharePoint but had come across a common issue of getting end users comfortable with using the new software. This project manager decided that he wanted to install a forums solution. The concept being, that most of the end users were not overly computer literate but most had experienced blogs and Forums on the internet. By making the discussions part of SharePoint have the look, feel and functionality of an internet forum, the employees would not find this part of SP a barrier. The net result was the end users quickly started using the forums. This led to ‘how do you use this bit of SharePoint’ type questions. As a result, group learning occurred. It was far more relevant than sitting in a classroom as they could actively do what they learned in a live environment.

Collaboration

The other major benefit that has arisen is, in fact, a spin off. The forums board was being used to communicate and share experiences within a company which had various research projects occurring in many different locations. This is how they hoped it would be used. And it was. The spin off was a feeling of team spirit. Rather than team X finding the solution and team Y sneering at them, team Y felt as much part of the success and applauded team X. This led to social meet ups and when Team X had to meet team Y, they felt like they already knew each other. Very powerful.

So, have another look at the discussions. You have paid for it and with a forums web part you can create something that can bond employees, keep them informed and you never know, one of their ideas may make the company a fortune!

Guest Author: Richard Young
Lightning Tools

Richard Young has worked in the Technologies and Financial sectors for 15 years. He currently manages the customer service and worldwide sales for Lightning Tools where his responsibilities include interviewing customers and companies to see how they are using and plan to use SharePoint.

www.lightningtools.com/blog/
Twitter: @lightningtools