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Company procedures and policies: documents vs pages?
Hi. I'm about to move all our company's procedures and policies over to SharePoint, but I'm wondering if I should use a Document Library or Pages. All procedures / policies mostly follow the same...
- When we're looking at moving our company's procedures and policies over to SharePoint, we're essentially faced with two paths: Document Libraries or Pages. It's not just a choice between two features; it's about picking the tool that matches how we work and what we need from our documents. So, Document Libraries, that's the traditional route. It's what most people are already used to. You get the benefit of offline access, which is great for anyone who needs to take these documents on the go or share them outside our SharePoint environment. Plus, SharePoint's got this solid setup for tracking changes to documents, which can be a lifesaver. The downside? Well, it's not the easiest to sift through on mobile, and updating documents involves a few extra steps.
Then, there's Pages. This is the modern approach. It's built with today's web and mobile use in mind, making information more accessible and engaging. You can easily add videos, links, or images, which could make our policies more interesting to read. Also, finding stuff is generally easier with Pages. The trade-offs? It might take a bit for everyone to get used to this new way of looking at our policies. And if you need to access these offline, it's not as straightforward. So, what's the best path? It really depends on what's more important for us. Do we need that traditional, familiar format that's easy to take offline and share? Or, are we leaning towards something more modern and accessible, even if it means a bit of a learning curve and figuring out a workaround for offline access?
There's no one-size-fits-all answer here. It's about finding the right fit for our team's needs and how we like to work with our content.
You can do either, but think about how your procedures and policies will be used. Do you need to be able to print them for Front Line Workers? Documents are easier. Do you need to easily share them with a regulatory agency? Documents are easier. Do you need to have unique editor permissions for different collections of policies and procedures? This is easier to do in document libraries than pages. Do you want to store policies and procedures locally rather than in a central Policy Center? Use documents and an enterprise content type so that you can build a search experience to create a “policy center experience” no matter where the policies are stored.
If none of these are issues or desired outcomes, pages can work well. They are easier to maintain and if they are long, you can create anchor links to create a table of contents. They are also easier to create connected inline experiences - for example, dynamically showing the policies and forms related to a procedure in context. If you choose pages, you really have to create a central policy and procedure management experience. But, although I have built solutions using both policies and pages and I wish I could consistently use pages, I find that most often, we need to go with the document route because of the way policies and procedures need to be consumed and permissioned and maintained.
If none of these are issues or desired outcomes, pages can work well. They are easier to maintain and if they are long, you can create anchor links to create a table of contents. They are also easier to create connected inline experiences - for example, dynamically showing the policies and forms related to a procedure in context. If you choose pages, you really have to create a central policy and procedure management experience. But, although I have built solutions using both policies and pages and I wish I could consistently use pages, I find that most often, we need to go with the document route because of the way policies and procedures need to be consumed and permissioned and maintained.