Teamwork is a key part of business success. But there is only so much that can be done with a strong team spirit.
Increasingly, technology can assist in tightening the bonds of teamwork. Here we look at SharePoint as our trump card and some of the benefits of an intranet for teamwork and improving your team's productivity.
Features of an intranet for teamwork
Collaboration Software
When wide-scale work is taking place, it's not feasible to discuss constant progress face-to-face and not always practical to rely on email. SharePoint can offer several tools to aid in real-time collaboration, such as shared discussion forums, surveys and task lists. Documents can also be added, with all relevant parties able to add to and edit simultaneously, but with overall control of versioning retained by an administrator should anything go wrong.
Scheduling
Everyone needs to take a break every now and then. The problem is finding a way to schedule leave so that the workload doesn't stall when certain people are absent. The benefit of an intranet is that it can alleviate this with shared calendars, allowing everyone to plan their trips and their workload well in advance before it has a chance to hinder productivity. Project Gantt charts can also be built into a SharePoint intranet to visualise when resources will and won’t be available.
Remote working
Some companies require their staff to be based off-site. Unfortunately, that can cause all manner of issues in the communication department. Some team members can feel disconnected from the business. By the time new information has been sent their way, it has all become common knowledge, and remote workers can't act on that new information with the same level of proactiveness. By maintaining a company intranet, all updates can be shared in real-time and progress can be made across multiple sites keeping remote workers engaged.
Integration
Some employers may want to improve their collaborative process, but they won't want to change it altogether. And your employees will certainly find it difficult to get to grips with a completely unfamiliar system. Luckily, one of the key intranet uses available is its ability to integrate with existing tools such as Microsoft Word and Excel, thus allowing you to keep the fluency (many Office 365 licences provide access to both). And in more complex setups, SharePoint can even be linked to Dynamics 365 and Teams or advanced workflow functionality to create a unified working experience - just another benefit of an intranet.
Building Community
Many teams thrive because they have a strong company ethos motivating them. But sometimes, it can be difficult to find ways to be reminded of that ethos in the day-to-day tasks.
Another key SharePoint intranet benefit is it's capability to put an entire culture online, what it stands for, and how other people have benefited from it. It gives employees a greater sense of control over the culture they live by. And it can also provide new options for engagement beyond soulless emails - video, blogs, updates and more are all possible.
The right intranet can transform not only how your organisation works but also the culture within your workplace.
Wider benefits of an intranet for teamwork
Technology plays a vital role in strengthening teamwork, and SharePoint offers numerous benefits for team productivity.
A well-equipped intranet streamlines task and project management, fosters knowledge sharing, and enables virtual meetings and collaboration spaces. Meanwhile, team-building and social features promote a positive work culture, while mobile accessibility ensures access on the go. And intranets also facilitate feedback collection, offer training resources, and provide analytics for data-driven decision-making.
Ultimately, an intranet enhances teamwork by streamlining collaboration, communication, and knowledge exchange, leading to improved productivity and team dynamics.
For more information on the benefits of an intranet for teamwork, or to discuss a SharePoint solution, please get in touch:
