Avoiding SharePoint Sprawl Without Killing Collaboration
SharePoint has become the backbone of collaboration for many organizations. Its flexibility is a blessing—teams can create sites, share documents, and manage projects with ease. But without governance, that same flexibility can quickly turn into SharePoint sprawl: a maze of redundant sites, duplicated files, and forgotten content that frustrates users and undermines productivity. The challenge is clear: how do you prevent sprawl without choking the collaboration SharePoint was designed to enable? Let’s break it down. https://dellenny.com/avoiding-sharepoint-sprawl-without-killing-collaboration/
Standard Operating Procedures in OneNote - Best Method?
Hi, I've been in business for over 18 years, with 6 employees. We have over 300 policies and procedures that have been written and rewritten. They have always been stored on our Sharepoint server in a regular file folder structure that syncs to our computers. Because of it, nobody uses them for they are difficult to find. Sometimes you don't know the name of what you're looking for, other times its an SOP that could be under production or finance. The system has just never worked. I'm currently implementing a system in OneNote. I have it set up where our 9 primary areas are all tabs. There then exists sections for checklists, specific procedures, and then one large 20-30 page manual for that department that discusses in detail everything that needs to be known. An example is in the 23-page Marketing Manual, there are five paragraphs explaining what brand colors are, why they are important, and why we can't stray from them. It then has a few links to reference other documents, one of them is our Branding Sheet that is a Word document, stored inside OneNote. OneNote is also great because it's desktop software that each of our computers has, every single document can be searched at once, you can utilize links to any part that you'd like, you can utilize tags, and you can store the referenced document inside OneNote (so I don't have to deal with somebody changing the file name or somehow breaking the link to the server. I haven't released it yet, but my employees say they would use it if it were easy. As I'm slowly going through and entering the SOPs into OneNote, I'm finding minor issues with my system in OneNote The formatting is VERY limited. So making a great SOP is not as easy as it is in Word Once I have everything in there, I dont think I can get it back out in an editable fashion. I can print the .pdf but it's not like it's a Word document that can be moved around You can't really set permissions on it. I can lock pages, which would work, but I'd prefer permission on different areas Getting everything in there is going to be challenging enough, then I have to go back and link everything. Before I spend too much time organizing these SOPs and copy/pasting them into OneNote, I was hoping that somebody has gone down this road before and can either advise me away from OneNote to another product or offer advice as to why I should keep going down my path. Thanks in advance. AaronWhat to Do When SharePoint Search Doesn’t Return the Right Results
SharePoint search is one of the platform’s most powerful features—when it works as expected. But many organizations face a common frustration: search results that don’t seem accurate, complete, or relevant. If your users are struggling to find what they need, it can quickly undermine adoption and productivity. The good news? Most search issues can be diagnosed and fixed with the right approach. Here’s a practical guide to troubleshooting when SharePoint search isn’t returning the right results. https://dellenny.com/what-to-do-when-sharepoint-search-doesnt-return-the-right-results/Introduction to SharePoint Agents AI-Powered Automation for Smarter Workflows
Microsoft continues to innovate in the world of enterprise collaboration, and the latest addition to the SharePoint ecosystem—SharePoint Agents—is set to revolutionize the way organizations manage content, automate tasks, and enhance productivity. With AI-driven capabilities, SharePoint Agents bring a new level of intelligence and automation to SharePoint environments, helping businesses work smarter and faster. https://dellenny.com/introduction-to-sharepoint-agents-ai-powered-automation-for-smarter-workflows/Configure Tenant-Level Sharing Settings for SharePoint and OneDrive
Properly configuring tenant-level sharing settings in Microsoft 365 ensures a secure and seamless collaboration experience in SharePoint and OneDrive. This guide walks you through the steps to configure these settings while maintaining security and compliance. https://dellenny.com/configure-tenant-level-sharing-settings-for-sharepoint-and-onedrive/Branding Your SharePoint Site for Your Organization
Your SharePoint site isn’t just a place to store documents or collaborate—it’s often the digital front door of your organization. When done right, branding helps reinforce your company’s identity, build trust, and create a seamless experience for employees. Whether you’re setting up a communication site, a team site, or your entire intranet, a well-branded SharePoint environment will look professional, encourage adoption, and reflect your company culture. In this blog, we’ll cover why branding matters and then walk through step-by-step instructions for customizing your SharePoint site to fit your organization. https://dellenny.com/branding-your-sharepoint-site-for-your-organization/Building a Culture of Knowledge Sharing with SharePoint & Viva
In today’s fast-paced workplace, knowledge is one of the most valuable assets an organization can cultivate. Yet too often, that knowledge lives in silos—locked away in personal files, project-specific teams, or tucked into someone’s memory. Building a culture of knowledge sharing isn’t just about implementing tools; it’s about creating an environment where information flows freely, collaboration thrives, and people feel empowered to contribute. Microsoft SharePoint and Viva provide a powerful foundation to make this vision a reality. When paired together, they help organizations unlock institutional knowledge, improve productivity, and strengthen employee engagement. https://dellenny.com/building-a-culture-of-knowledge-sharing-with-sharepoint-viva/How to Co-Author Documents in Real Time in Microsoft 365
Collaboration is at the heart of modern work. With distributed teams, hybrid workplaces, and the need to move fast, working together on documents efficiently is critical. Microsoft 365 (M365) makes this seamless with real-time co-authoring, allowing multiple people to edit the same document, spreadsheet, or presentation simultaneously. Whether you’re drafting a proposal in Word, analyzing data in Excel, or building a presentation in PowerPoint, co-authoring helps reduce version chaos, eliminates the back-and-forth of email attachments, and keeps everyone aligned. Here’s how to get started: https://dellenny.com/how-to-co-author-documents-in-real-time-in-microsoft-365/SharePoint vs Loop vs Other Microsoft 365 Productivity Tools When to Use Each
Microsoft 365 offers a wide range of productivity tools, each designed to meet different collaboration and business needs. Among them, SharePoint, Microsoft Loop, and various other Microsoft 365 apps like OneNote, Teams, and Planner play unique roles in enhancing workplace productivity. Understanding their differences is key to choosing the right tool for the right scenario. https://dellenny.com/sharepoint-vs-loop-vs-other-microsoft-365-productivity-tools-when-to-use-each/Sensitivity Labels with User-Defined Permissions Gain SharePoint Support
Finally, Microsoft solved the technical issues that blocked SharePoint Online support for sensitivity labels with user-defined permissions (UDP). The feature is now generally available and it’s very welcome because support opens access for Office files and PDFs with UDP labels for search and Purview solutions like DLP and eDiscovery. Files with UDP labels applied prior to GA are not processed until they are edited, but that’s reasonable. https://office365itpros.com/2025/08/14/user-defined-permissions-spo/
