Social media in companies with Office 365

Social media in companies with Office 365

Knowledge can be a decisive competitive advantage for companies. The second part of our "Social Media in Companies" series is about Microsoft SharePoint Online and Social Intranet. Be inspired and discover numerous application scenarios of the enterprise content management system based on practical examples.

How we use SharePoint Online at Net at Work

SharePoint Online combines organizational information, documents, and applications in one place and supports internal knowledge management. At Net at Work, we use the web application from Microsoft primarily for file collaboration and as a basis for portals and business applications.

Digital Workplace: Central access to Office 365 applications

The SharePoint Online menu - the so-called "Microsoft 365 app launcher" - enables direct access to preferred Office 365 applications. Create a new Word, Excel, PowerPoint or OneNote document, Forms survey, or Sway page with one click. The overview of the files last used accelerates access to continue editing an existing document quickly and easily.

Social Collaboration: Dynamic and time-saving collaboration on Office 365 documents

Create, store and share content no matter where you are. Files stored in SharePoint Online allow seamless file collaboration, several people can work on an Office 365 document at the same time. Co-authoring allows up to 99 colleagues to work on a document at the same time, saving time and improving team communication. This prevents numerous document copies from being created in different locations by different people and ultimately having to be merged into one document.

If a document is edited at the same time, changes can even be tracked live in the document. A cursor with the name of the team member marks the current editing position.

To communicate feedback, queries, or change requests, we recommend mentioning them with the @Name command via the comment function. The relevant persons will then automatically receive an e-mail notification.

Social intranet: Central provision of company publications with the possibility of interaction

The Net at Work social intranet is based on SharePoint Online and Powell 365. The social news platform bundles publications from internal and external social media channels and websites. Interaction options allow communication in both directions and support employees in sharing knowledge and learning from others. The central provision of company-wide publications ensures dynamic knowledge transfer. The aim of a social intranet is to promote interactive collaboration and thus bring about a change in corporate culture.

Social intranet compared to the classic intranet

The intranet has evolved over time. The social intranet is also aimed at a clearly defined group of people, for example within a company. In contrast to the classic intranet, however, it is available regardless of device and location, so that employees without a stationary PC workstation (eg mobile employees, so-called first-line workers) can also access it. Social media features ensure direct feedback on the content in the social intranet. Communication across departmental and hierarchical boundaries increases motivation and promotes exchange within the company. At Net at Work, departments such as the change management team regularly publish project experiences and thus actively contribute to knowledge transfer within the company.

Differentiation of social media tools in the company: Yammer vs. social intranet

Unlike Yammer, the publishing source is different for SharePoint Social Intranet with Al Rafay SharePoint Consulting. An in-house editorial team consisting of people from different departments provides the information. In addition, the filter options for the social intranet search are far more powerful. In addition, the social intranet presents all information clearly in one place. There are no groups like in Yammer, instead, team and campaign pages ensure that the content is structured.

The social intranet interface at a glance

SharePoint Online is offered as a web application, iOS, and Android app. Comprehensive device- and location-independent access is therefore ensured. The addition of a tab in Microsoft Teams also allows direct integration of SharePoint pages such as that of the social intranet into the teamwork tool.

News bereich & Quick Links

The header area of ​​the Net at Work social intranet shows external publications in the web blog and internal posts on SharePoint team websites in a slide show. This gives employees a quick overview of current publications.

Quick links designed with attractive icons refer to organization-wide content and functions, tailored to the individual needs of a company. Among other things, the Net at Work Quick Links enables access to digital business processes. The creation of a vacation application, a sick note, and the application for overtime compensation can thus be carried out in accordance with the rules and location-independent directly from the social intranet.

Appointment and event overview provides information and breaks down barriers

The most important dates will then follow on the Net at Work social intranet. This includes internal and external events and the birthdays of our employees. An informal congratulation on this occasion promotes the dismantling of social barriers and expands one's own network.

Social media channels encourage direct feedback on the social intranet

The seamless integration of Microsoft-based social media channels makes it possible to discover, like, or comment on company -internal Yammer posts and stream videos directly on the company's social intranet.

Not all employees have accounts on public social media applications such as Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. The embedding of the latest external publications standardizes the level of knowledge and encourages the distribution of social media posts.

The central provision of current documents

A separate area shows the latest changes or uploads of documents released company-wide. For us, this includes the corporate vision and strategy, guidelines, and telephone numbers. The central provision supports the transfer of information.

Social intranet search for dynamic knowledge management and expert identification

Searching the social intranet also offers a wide range of options. For example, after vacation, the * command filters the most recent posts, documents, people, and customers during the absence with a limitation of the publication period.

A people search supports employees in networking. The information stored in the Office profile on a voluntary basis includes the date of birth, skills, projects, and hobbies. Within the company, profile information contributes to open communication and the identification of experts.

Conclusion: advantages through the successful introduction of a social intranet

In summary, the introduction of social intranet results in the creation of an interactive, networked workforce. This promotes knowledge building in the company and leads to an increase in productivity.