- Lack of Governance Plan: Failing to establish a clear governance framework leads to chaotic site structures, inconsistent permissions, and poor user adoption. Without defined roles, policies, and procedures, SharePoint can become unmanageable, with sprawling sites and outdated content.
- Ignoring Permissions Management: Overlooking proper permission settings can result in unauthorized access or overly restrictive access, frustrating users. Assigning permissions at the item level instead of using groups or failing to audit permissions regularly increases security risks.
- Poor Information Architecture: Not planning the site hierarchy, metadata, or navigation leads to a disorganized environment where users struggle to find content. A flat structure or inconsistent taxonomy can make SharePoint inefficient and reduce productivity.
- Neglecting User Training and Adoption: Assuming users will intuitively understand SharePoint without training leads to underutilization. Failing to provide guidance on features like document libraries, workflows, or version control results in low engagement and resistance to adoption.
- Not Enforcing Content Lifecycle Management: Allowing outdated or irrelevant content to accumulate clogs the system, making it harder to find relevant information. Without retention policies, archiving, or deletion schedules, storage costs and clutter increase.
- Over-Customization: Excessive custom code or third-party solutions can destabilize SharePoint, complicate upgrades, and increase maintenance costs. Over-customizing without considering out-of-the-box solutions often leads to performance issues and technical debt.
- Ignoring Performance Optimization: Failing to monitor and optimize site performance, such as large lists, unindexed columns, or excessive web parts, results in slow load times and poor user experience. Not leveraging caching or content delivery networks (CDNs) exacerbates this.
- Inadequate Backup and Recovery Plans: Not implementing robust backup strategies or testing disaster recovery processes risks data loss during outages, corruption, or cyberattacks. SharePoint Owners who rely solely on Microsoft’s default backup may face challenges with granular restores.
- Failing to Engage Stakeholders: Not involving key stakeholders (e.g., IT, business units, or end-users) in planning and decision-making leads to misaligned solutions. Ignoring user feedback or business needs results in a platform that doesn’t meet organizational goals.
- Not Keeping Up with Updates and Features: SharePoint evolves with frequent updates, especially in Microsoft 365. Owners who don’t stay informed about new features, deprecated functionalities, or security patches risk falling behind, leading to compatibility issues or missed opportunities for improvement.
Recommendations:
- Develop a governance plan early, outlining roles, permissions, and content policies.
- Use SharePoint groups for permissions and conduct regular audits.
- Design a logical information architecture with metadata and navigation in mind.
- Invest in user training and change management to boost adoption.
- Implement retention and archiving policies to manage content lifecycle.
- Prioritize out-of-the-box solutions over heavy customizations.
- Monitor performance and optimize lists, views, and site configurations.
- Ensure robust backup and recovery plans, including third-party tools if needed.
- Engage stakeholders to align SharePoint with business objectives.
- Stay updated via Microsoft’s roadmap and community resources to leverage new features.
By avoiding these mistakes, SharePoint Owners can maintain a secure, efficient, and user-friendly environment that supports organizational goals. If you need specific guidance on any of these areas, let me know!
What are the consequences?
Below are the consequences of the 10 worst mistakes a SharePoint Owner can make, tied directly to each mistake outlined previously. These consequences highlight the impact on security, usability, performance, and organizational efficiency.
- Lack of Governance Plan:
- Consequence: Uncontrolled site sprawl, inconsistent user experiences, and increased administrative overhead. Without governance, sites multiply without oversight, leading to redundant content, security gaps, and confusion. Users may abandon SharePoint for other tools, reducing ROI.
- Ignoring Permissions Management:
- Consequence: Security breaches from unauthorized access or frustrated users unable to access needed resources. Mismanaged permissions can expose sensitive data, lead to compliance violations (e.g., GDPR, HIPAA), or require time-consuming cleanup efforts.
- Poor Information Architecture:
- Consequence: Users struggle to find information, leading to reduced productivity and adoption. Poor navigation and lack of metadata increase search times, cause frustration, and may drive users to external systems, creating data silos.
- Neglecting User Training and Adoption:
- Consequence: Low user engagement and underutilization of SharePoint’s capabilities. Employees may revert to inefficient workarounds (e.g., email attachments), undermining collaboration and increasing errors or duplicated efforts.
- Not Enforcing Content Lifecycle Management:
- Consequence: Storage bloat increases costs, and outdated content leads to decision-making based on incorrect information. Cluttered sites degrade performance and user experience, while non-compliance with retention policies risks legal or regulatory penalties.
- Over-Customization:
- Consequence: System instability, slow performance, and costly maintenance. Custom solutions may break during Microsoft updates, delaying upgrades and increasing technical debt. Users face inconsistent or buggy experiences, reducing trust in the platform.
- Ignoring Performance Optimization:
- Consequence: Slow page loads and unresponsive sites frustrate users, lowering adoption. Large, unoptimized lists or excessive web parts can cause timeouts or crashes, disrupting workflows and requiring frequent IT intervention.
- Inadequate Backup and Recovery Plans:
- Consequence: Data loss from outages, ransomware, or accidental deletions, with lengthy recovery times. Relying on Microsoft’s default backups may result in inability to restore specific items or sites, causing business disruptions and potential financial loss.
- Failing to Engage Stakeholders:
- Consequence: Misaligned SharePoint deployments that don’t meet business needs, leading to wasted resources and low adoption. Lack of stakeholder buy-in can result in resistance to change, underfunded projects, or solutions that fail to address real-world problems.
- Not Keeping Up with Updates and Features:
- Consequence: Missed opportunities to improve efficiency with new features, compatibility issues with outdated configurations, and potential security vulnerabilities from unpatched systems. Deprecated features (e.g., classic sites) may disrupt workflows if not addressed.
Mitigation Tips:
- Establish and enforce a governance plan to maintain control and consistency.
- Regularly audit permissions and use groups to streamline access control.
- Design a clear information architecture with user input to ensure usability.
- Invest in ongoing training and communication to drive adoption.
- Set up retention and archiving policies to keep content relevant and compliant.
- Limit customizations and leverage Microsoft’s out-of-the-box tools where possible.
- Monitor performance metrics and optimize lists, views, and configurations.
- Implement and test comprehensive backup and recovery strategies.
- Involve stakeholders early and often to align SharePoint with business goals.
- Subscribe to Microsoft 365 updates and test new features in a sandbox environment.
These consequences can significantly impact an organization’s productivity, security, and costs. Addressing these proactively ensures SharePoint remains a valuable tool. If you’d like a deeper dive into mitigating any specific consequence, let me know!