June 15, 2025 • 17 mins
Let’s face it—most SharePoint sites end up messy. Files are scattered, no one knows what’s current, and people start saying, “I hate SharePoint.” But it’s not SharePoint’s fault—it’s how it’s been set up.
In this first episode of the Simply SharePoint Podcast, I break down why things go wrong, how SharePoint actually works (spoiler: it’s just a big container), and what you need to get organised. I’ll walk you through the key components of information architecture—sites, libraries, metadata, permissions, and more—and explain how each piece fits together to make SharePoint usable.
You'll also learn:
- Why search doesn’t work when your structure’s broken
- What Copilot will (and won’t) fix for you
- The six things every SharePoint site needs to avoid chaos
- Real-world scenarios and my go-to clean-up method
Whether you’re a total beginner or stuck in the middle of a digital disaster, this episode is for you.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:03):
Welcome to Episode 1 of the Simply SharePoint
Podcast.
Why SharePoint feels like a messand how to fix it.
I'm Liza Tinker, consultant,trainer and all-round SharePoint
fixer.
I've been working withSharePoint for 18 years and in
that time I've helped hundredsof teams clean up chaotic sites
(00:24):
and turn them into somethingthat actually works in the real
world.
This podcast is all about givingyou practical, no-nonsense
advice.
Whether you're brand new toSharePoint or right in the
middle of a digital mess, you'rein the right place.
Firstly, we're going to startwith something simple to explain
(00:45):
what SharePoint is, and that isthat SharePoint is just a
container, but you have toorganize it.
You will hear me refer to this alot if you take any of my
training courses, And I use itto explain simple concepts in my
YouTube videos as well as on myblog.
SharePoint is like a bigcontainer.
(01:06):
Think of it as your team'sdigital storage unit or filing
cabinet.
Inside you can keep all of yourdocuments, spreadsheets, project
lists, videos and more.
But here's the thing, acontainer is only helpful if
what's inside is sorted andlabeled.
Otherwise it just becomes adumping ground.
(01:27):
That's what happens to mostSharePoint sites.
Things start out tidy, but overtime it turns into a digital
junk drawer.
Nobody can find anything, peoplestop using it, and then everyone
says, I hate SharePoint.
But it doesn't have to be thatway.
The key to a clean, usefulSharePoint site is something
(01:50):
called information architecture.
And that's what today's episodeis all about.
So what is informationarchitecture?
Information architecture is justa fancy term for how you set
things up so that people canfind and use what they need.
It's about structure, labels,permissions and relationships.
(02:12):
If SharePoint is a container,information architecture is the
shelving, the dividers, thelabels and the layout that makes
it usable.
You don't need to be an ITperson to understand that.
You just need to know what thepieces are and how they all work
together.
So let me walk you through thosepieces in plain language.
(02:33):
Once you understand what eachpiece does, you'll start to see
how they all work together tokeep your SharePoint site clean,
organized, and easy to use.
It's not about learning everydetail either.
It's about understanding therole that each part plays inside
the container so that it allfits together.
(02:54):
Once that clicks, you'll be ableto spot what's missing or out of
place.
So what are the components ofinformation architecture?
Firstly, sites.
This is your main container.
In modern SharePoint, we don'tbuild big structures with
sub-sites anymore.
Instead, you create separate,focused sites for different
(03:16):
things.
A site for HR, one for projects,and another for your intranet
homepage.
So if SharePoint is your storageunit, a site is one shelf
dedicated to a specific topic.
Another component is libraries.
(03:36):
A document library is where allyour files live.
You can have multiple librarieson one site.
For example, you might have onefor policies, one for templates,
one for marketing assets.
So think of a library like abinder on the shelf.
So each binder, library, holdsrelated files.
(04:00):
Then we have lists.
Lists are like spreadsheetsinside SharePoint, but they're
much smarter.
They help you track things likeissues, tasks, events, or
anything else that can becaptured in rows and columns.
So think of a list like atracker stuck to the wall next
(04:22):
to your shelf, keeping tabs onwhat's going on.
We then have views and views letyou filter and sort what's in a
library or list.
You can set up a view to showonly say approved documents or
only tasks that are due thisweek.
And so think of views likesetting up a window in the
(04:44):
binder that only shows bluefiles or only things tagged
urgent.
We then have workflows forautomation.
And so these workflows automatetasks.
So maybe when someone uploads adocument, it gets sent for
approval.
Or when a list is updated,someone gets notified.
(05:06):
So a workflow, think of it like,say, a conveyor belt attached to
your container.
When something happens, ittriggers the next action
automatically.
We then have permissions, andpermissions control who can
access what.
Not everyone needs to seeeverything.
In fact, oversharing is one ofthe biggest issues in
(05:28):
SharePoint.
So think of permissions as lockson those cabinet doors.
Some people get the keys, othersdon't.
We then have content types,which define what kind of
content you have, such as apolicy content type, which might
include some metadata like anapproval date or owner.
(05:50):
It makes documents more usefuland easy to manage.
So think of content types likethe colored folders inside your
binder, and each color meanssomething different.
It comes with its own label.
Then we have what we calldocument sets.
And these are like folders.
I'd say like folders withsuperpowers because a document
(06:13):
set lets you group relateddocuments together and apply
metadata to that whole group.
And so think about a documentset as a project folder that
travels with the label stuck onthe front, identifying what it
is.
Now, when you put all of thesepieces together, sites,
(06:35):
libraries, lists, views,workflows, permissions, content
types and document sets, you geta structured, labelled, secure
container that actually works.
It's like a perfectly organisedstorage unit where every shelf,
(06:56):
binder, folder and label has apurpose.
You know where things go, how tofind them again and who's
allowed to open what.
That's the magic of goodinformation architecture.
So why is everyone struggling tofind things?
Here's what I hear a lot.
We can't find anything.
SharePoint is too hard to use.
(07:18):
Why is this document showing upin search?
It's not SharePoint's fault.
It's how it's been set up.
In the past, we built thingslike old school filing cabinets.
Lots of folders inside foldersinside folders.
It looked really neat at first.
but totally broke down oncepeople started actually using
it.
Now, modern SharePoint worksdifferently.
(07:40):
Instead of one big site withtons of subsites, you use a lot
of smaller sites, one per team,topic or function, and you
connect them.
Think of it as having differentcontainers on different shelves,
but they all talk to each other.
This is called the flatstructure, and it's way more
flexible.
So what actually makes aSharePoint site work?
(08:01):
Now, for your SharePointcontainer to actually work, And
for Copilot to be useful insteadof chaotic, there are six key
things that need to be in place.
First up is navigation, bothglobal and local.
Think of it like labels onshelves and drawers.
People need to know where to go.
Without a clear map, they'rejust guessing.
(08:23):
Second, we've got hubs.
These are what tie your shelvestogether.
So if you've got a people andculture site, a finance site and
a marketing site, they allconnect back to a central
intranet hub.
That means things like news andupdates can roll up to the
homepage and everything feelsmore connected.
(08:43):
Next is metadata.
This is the labeling systeminside each container.
Metadata tells you whatsomething is.
Is it a policy, a form?
Which team does it belong to?
It's how SharePoint and Copilotfigures out what's what.
Then there's search.
Now, search is powerful, butonly if your stuff is labeled
(09:04):
properly.
If not, SharePoint's justguessing, and let's be honest,
it usually guesses badly.
Number five is permissions.
Who has access to what?
Not everyone should have thekeys to everything, just in
case.
That's how private informationends up in the wrong hands.
Permissions keep the rightcontent in the right hands.
And finally, we havepersonalized views.
(09:26):
Imagine opening the containerand only seeing what's relevant
to you.
That's the goal, and it onlyworks if all the other pieces
are in place.
When all six of these elementswork together, your SharePoint
environment becomes usable,secure, and scalable.
It builds trust, keeps thingstidy, and sets the stage for
(09:47):
Copilot to actually help.
But without this foundation,you're just giving AI a jump
draw and hoping for the best.
So here's the thing about AI.
It doesn't magically organizeyour content.
It just reads what's alreadythere.
So if your SharePoint is tidy,labeled, and well-structured,
Copilot becomes super helpful.
(10:09):
It can pull up the rightdocuments, answer questions, and
save people loads of time.
But if your SharePoint is amess, Copilot will show the
wrong things to the wrong peopleor worse, confidential stuff
could appear in search results.
So Some people try to tweaksearch settings to help when the
(10:30):
rest of the SharePointenvironment is a mess.
It's not the answer.
You end up adding signs to amessy cupboard instead of
cleaning it out.
Sure, it helps a little, butyou're just covering up a bigger
issue.
It also creates a bunch ofbehind the scenes rules that are
(10:50):
hard to manage and break whenupdates happen.
And when the person who set upall those rules leaves, good
luck fixing it.
So if your documents arescattered everywhere in random
folders or labeled weirdly, noamount of search tweaking is
going to help.
It's not a search problem.
(11:11):
It's a structure problem.
So how do you fix it?
Here's the method that I usewith every client to clean
things up.
First thing I do is I have alook around.
I do an audit.
I take stock.
What sites do you have?
What's being used?
What is just sitting there?
I then get you to talk to yourteams.
(11:32):
Ask them how they work.
What do they need?
What's frustrating?
What are all their pain points?
This part always uncovers hiddenmesses and things you didn't
think about.
Then we rebuild with purpose.
So each container or site shouldhave a clear job.
If you can't say what it's for,it probably doesn't need to
(11:53):
exist.
We then organize with metadata.
Don't just rely on folders.
Folders are okay, but just nottoo many.
Use labels so people can sortand find things across sites.
Tidy up the permissions.
Stop giving everyone access toeverything.
Set clear rules so people onlysee what they should, but also
(12:16):
train them to copy link insteadof share.
And then plan for growth.
Think about SharePoint in thisway.
It's not just a one-time setup.
It's not just this one-timecleanup either.
Set up a plan to review yourstructure regularly.
Now I'm going to go through afew real-world examples that are
(12:40):
very common scenarios that I'vecome across in organizations of
all sizes.
These aren't theoreticalproblems.
These are the kinds of issuesthat come up when SharePoint
grows without a plan.
and what we did to turn themaround.
The first one is I'm going tocall the unofficial archive
site.
This team had been usingSharePoint for years, but nobody
(13:01):
had ever cleaned anything up.
So old documents lived alongsidenew ones.
There were three versions ofevery template and no one could
confidently say what was stillcurrent.
Even worse, search results werea mess because everything was
still technically active.
I'm sure that is a scenario manyof you will have in your current
(13:21):
environment.
So the fix was that we tackledit by identifying the content
owners and setting up retentiontags using metadata.
So we created a review processfor outdated content.
We set up views to show onlyactive documents and moved
anything older than two yearsinto an archive library.
(13:44):
Now users can find what theyneed, but they can also trust
what they're finding.
So that was one.
Another one is a project sitethat just became everyone's
dumping ground.
So it started as a space forone's one team's project, but
over time it became the dumpingground for multiple teams with
everyone adding their ownfolders and naming things
(14:06):
however they liked.
Before long, there were over 50document libraries and no one
could tell where anythingbelonged.
So I worked with the teams tobreak it out into separate
containers that made sense.
So one site per actual project.
Then we introduced content typesto apply consistent labels and
(14:27):
we set up hub navigation so thatwe can link all the projects
together.
So this one wasn't aboutdeleting everything.
It was just about giving spacefor everything and having it in
its right place.
So the next one is, I'll call itthe let's just upload it
culture.
In this case, everyone wassaving their own version of
(14:52):
files in whatever folder feltright at the time.
So the same report might be seenin four different libraries.
There was no version control andteam members wasted hours
looking for the most recentversion or worse, working off
the wrong one.
The fix was I introduceddocument sets to group those
related files and we turned onversioning in those key
(15:14):
libraries.
Look, a lot of people don't turnon version control, but I, as a
default, always have we'll sayyou must always have version
control on.
You never know what can happen.
We then train the staff on howto check out and update shared
documents.
And we created a simple workingfinal status column so people
instantly knew what they werelooking at.
(15:36):
And, you know, I say check out.
This particular organizationdidn't want people working on
the same documents at a time.
They wanted them to check themout.
So that was that one.
So as you can see, even if youshare, You have a mess.
You can fix it.
You don't need to start fromscratch.
I will say one thing, though.
If your SharePoint setup ismessy, no amount of AI is going
(15:59):
to save you.
Copilot can only serve as usefulcontent if the structure behind
it makes sense.
So it relies on metadata,naming, permissions, and
relationships.
So if you've just throwneverything into one big library
with random names, Copilot'sgoing to struggle.
So it's like asking an assistantto find your receipts in a box
(16:20):
full of unlabeled papers.
They'll give it a crack, butit's not going to be pretty.
Sorry about that one.
On the other hand, if you've gotyour IA in place, AI becomes
brilliant.
You can ask, show me all thepolicies approved this quarter,
and you'll actually get what youneed.
(16:42):
Okay, so wrapping up thisepisode, first episode for
Simply SharePoint, here's thegood news.
You don't have to start fromscratch.
You can begin by reviewing whatyou already have, talking to
your teams and making smallchanges that bring clarity.
So start by tidying one site,label things properly, add
(17:03):
metadata where it matters, lockthings down with the right
permissions, create some viewsthat show people what they need.
Over time, your SharePoint siteturns from a dumping ground into
a digital workspace thatactually supports your team.
And that's what SimplySharePoint is all about.
Thanks for listening to Episode1.
(17:24):
I'll be back next week with adeeper dive into site planning
and how to map out a newSharePoint site before you even
touch a mouse.
Until then, keep it simple.
Welcome to Episode 1 of the Simply SharePoint
Podcast.
Why SharePoint feels like a messand how to fix it.
I'm Liza Tinker, consultant,trainer and all-round SharePoint
fixer.
I've been working withSharePoint for 18 years and in
that time I've helped hundredsof teams clean up chaotic sites
(00:24):
and turn them into somethingthat actually works in the real
world.
This podcast is all about givingyou practical, no-nonsense
advice.
Whether you're brand new toSharePoint or right in the
middle of a digital mess, you'rein the right place.
Firstly, we're going to startwith something simple to explain
(00:45):
what SharePoint is, and that isthat SharePoint is just a
container, but you have toorganize it.
You will hear me refer to this alot if you take any of my
training courses, And I use itto explain simple concepts in my
YouTube videos as well as on myblog.
SharePoint is like a bigcontainer.
(01:06):
Think of it as your team'sdigital storage unit or filing
cabinet.
Inside you can keep all of yourdocuments, spreadsheets, project
lists, videos and more.
But here's the thing, acontainer is only helpful if
what's inside is sorted andlabeled.
Otherwise it just becomes adumping ground.
(01:27):
That's what happens to mostSharePoint sites.
Things start out tidy, but overtime it turns into a digital
junk drawer.
Nobody can find anything, peoplestop using it, and then everyone
says, I hate SharePoint.
But it doesn't have to be thatway.
The key to a clean, usefulSharePoint site is something
(01:50):
called information architecture.
And that's what today's episodeis all about.
So what is informationarchitecture?
Information architecture is justa fancy term for how you set
things up so that people canfind and use what they need.
It's about structure, labels,permissions and relationships.
(02:12):
If SharePoint is a container,information architecture is the
shelving, the dividers, thelabels and the layout that makes
it usable.
You don't need to be an ITperson to understand that.
You just need to know what thepieces are and how they all work
together.
So let me walk you through thosepieces in plain language.
(02:33):
Once you understand what eachpiece does, you'll start to see
how they all work together tokeep your SharePoint site clean,
organized, and easy to use.
It's not about learning everydetail either.
It's about understanding therole that each part plays inside
the container so that it allfits together.
(02:54):
Once that clicks, you'll be ableto spot what's missing or out of
place.
So what are the components ofinformation architecture?
Firstly, sites.
This is your main container.
In modern SharePoint, we don'tbuild big structures with
sub-sites anymore.
Instead, you create separate,focused sites for different
(03:16):
things.
A site for HR, one for projects,and another for your intranet
homepage.
So if SharePoint is your storageunit, a site is one shelf
dedicated to a specific topic.
Another component is libraries.
(03:36):
A document library is where allyour files live.
You can have multiple librarieson one site.
For example, you might have onefor policies, one for templates,
one for marketing assets.
So think of a library like abinder on the shelf.
So each binder, library, holdsrelated files.
(04:00):
Then we have lists.
Lists are like spreadsheetsinside SharePoint, but they're
much smarter.
They help you track things likeissues, tasks, events, or
anything else that can becaptured in rows and columns.
So think of a list like atracker stuck to the wall next
(04:22):
to your shelf, keeping tabs onwhat's going on.
We then have views and views letyou filter and sort what's in a
library or list.
You can set up a view to showonly say approved documents or
only tasks that are due thisweek.
And so think of views likesetting up a window in the
(04:44):
binder that only shows bluefiles or only things tagged
urgent.
We then have workflows forautomation.
And so these workflows automatetasks.
So maybe when someone uploads adocument, it gets sent for
approval.
Or when a list is updated,someone gets notified.
(05:06):
So a workflow, think of it like,say, a conveyor belt attached to
your container.
When something happens, ittriggers the next action
automatically.
We then have permissions, andpermissions control who can
access what.
Not everyone needs to seeeverything.
In fact, oversharing is one ofthe biggest issues in
(05:28):
SharePoint.
So think of permissions as lockson those cabinet doors.
Some people get the keys, othersdon't.
We then have content types,which define what kind of
content you have, such as apolicy content type, which might
include some metadata like anapproval date or owner.
(05:50):
It makes documents more usefuland easy to manage.
So think of content types likethe colored folders inside your
binder, and each color meanssomething different.
It comes with its own label.
Then we have what we calldocument sets.
And these are like folders.
I'd say like folders withsuperpowers because a document
(06:13):
set lets you group relateddocuments together and apply
metadata to that whole group.
And so think about a documentset as a project folder that
travels with the label stuck onthe front, identifying what it
is.
Now, when you put all of thesepieces together, sites,
(06:35):
libraries, lists, views,workflows, permissions, content
types and document sets, you geta structured, labelled, secure
container that actually works.
It's like a perfectly organisedstorage unit where every shelf,
(06:56):
binder, folder and label has apurpose.
You know where things go, how tofind them again and who's
allowed to open what.
That's the magic of goodinformation architecture.
So why is everyone struggling tofind things?
Here's what I hear a lot.
We can't find anything.
SharePoint is too hard to use.
(07:18):
Why is this document showing upin search?
It's not SharePoint's fault.
It's how it's been set up.
In the past, we built thingslike old school filing cabinets.
Lots of folders inside foldersinside folders.
It looked really neat at first.
but totally broke down oncepeople started actually using
it.
Now, modern SharePoint worksdifferently.
(07:40):
Instead of one big site withtons of subsites, you use a lot
of smaller sites, one per team,topic or function, and you
connect them.
Think of it as having differentcontainers on different shelves,
but they all talk to each other.
This is called the flatstructure, and it's way more
flexible.
So what actually makes aSharePoint site work?
(08:01):
Now, for your SharePointcontainer to actually work, And
for Copilot to be useful insteadof chaotic, there are six key
things that need to be in place.
First up is navigation, bothglobal and local.
Think of it like labels onshelves and drawers.
People need to know where to go.
Without a clear map, they'rejust guessing.
(08:23):
Second, we've got hubs.
These are what tie your shelvestogether.
So if you've got a people andculture site, a finance site and
a marketing site, they allconnect back to a central
intranet hub.
That means things like news andupdates can roll up to the
homepage and everything feelsmore connected.
(08:43):
Next is metadata.
This is the labeling systeminside each container.
Metadata tells you whatsomething is.
Is it a policy, a form?
Which team does it belong to?
It's how SharePoint and Copilotfigures out what's what.
Then there's search.
Now, search is powerful, butonly if your stuff is labeled
(09:04):
properly.
If not, SharePoint's justguessing, and let's be honest,
it usually guesses badly.
Number five is permissions.
Who has access to what?
Not everyone should have thekeys to everything, just in
case.
That's how private informationends up in the wrong hands.
Permissions keep the rightcontent in the right hands.
And finally, we havepersonalized views.
(09:26):
Imagine opening the containerand only seeing what's relevant
to you.
That's the goal, and it onlyworks if all the other pieces
are in place.
When all six of these elementswork together, your SharePoint
environment becomes usable,secure, and scalable.
It builds trust, keeps thingstidy, and sets the stage for
(09:47):
Copilot to actually help.
But without this foundation,you're just giving AI a jump
draw and hoping for the best.
So here's the thing about AI.
It doesn't magically organizeyour content.
It just reads what's alreadythere.
So if your SharePoint is tidy,labeled, and well-structured,
Copilot becomes super helpful.
(10:09):
It can pull up the rightdocuments, answer questions, and
save people loads of time.
But if your SharePoint is amess, Copilot will show the
wrong things to the wrong peopleor worse, confidential stuff
could appear in search results.
So Some people try to tweaksearch settings to help when the
(10:30):
rest of the SharePointenvironment is a mess.
It's not the answer.
You end up adding signs to amessy cupboard instead of
cleaning it out.
Sure, it helps a little, butyou're just covering up a bigger
issue.
It also creates a bunch ofbehind the scenes rules that are
(10:50):
hard to manage and break whenupdates happen.
And when the person who set upall those rules leaves, good
luck fixing it.
So if your documents arescattered everywhere in random
folders or labeled weirdly, noamount of search tweaking is
going to help.
It's not a search problem.
(11:11):
It's a structure problem.
So how do you fix it?
Here's the method that I usewith every client to clean
things up.
First thing I do is I have alook around.
I do an audit.
I take stock.
What sites do you have?
What's being used?
What is just sitting there?
I then get you to talk to yourteams.
(11:32):
Ask them how they work.
What do they need?
What's frustrating?
What are all their pain points?
This part always uncovers hiddenmesses and things you didn't
think about.
Then we rebuild with purpose.
So each container or site shouldhave a clear job.
If you can't say what it's for,it probably doesn't need to
(11:53):
exist.
We then organize with metadata.
Don't just rely on folders.
Folders are okay, but just nottoo many.
Use labels so people can sortand find things across sites.
Tidy up the permissions.
Stop giving everyone access toeverything.
Set clear rules so people onlysee what they should, but also
(12:16):
train them to copy link insteadof share.
And then plan for growth.
Think about SharePoint in thisway.
It's not just a one-time setup.
It's not just this one-timecleanup either.
Set up a plan to review yourstructure regularly.
Now I'm going to go through afew real-world examples that are
(12:40):
very common scenarios that I'vecome across in organizations of
all sizes.
These aren't theoreticalproblems.
These are the kinds of issuesthat come up when SharePoint
grows without a plan.
and what we did to turn themaround.
The first one is I'm going tocall the unofficial archive
site.
This team had been usingSharePoint for years, but nobody
(13:01):
had ever cleaned anything up.
So old documents lived alongsidenew ones.
There were three versions ofevery template and no one could
confidently say what was stillcurrent.
Even worse, search results werea mess because everything was
still technically active.
I'm sure that is a scenario manyof you will have in your current
(13:21):
environment.
So the fix was that we tackledit by identifying the content
owners and setting up retentiontags using metadata.
So we created a review processfor outdated content.
We set up views to show onlyactive documents and moved
anything older than two yearsinto an archive library.
(13:44):
Now users can find what theyneed, but they can also trust
what they're finding.
So that was one.
Another one is a project sitethat just became everyone's
dumping ground.
So it started as a space forone's one team's project, but
over time it became the dumpingground for multiple teams with
everyone adding their ownfolders and naming things
(14:06):
however they liked.
Before long, there were over 50document libraries and no one
could tell where anythingbelonged.
So I worked with the teams tobreak it out into separate
containers that made sense.
So one site per actual project.
Then we introduced content typesto apply consistent labels and
(14:27):
we set up hub navigation so thatwe can link all the projects
together.
So this one wasn't aboutdeleting everything.
It was just about giving spacefor everything and having it in
its right place.
So the next one is, I'll call itthe let's just upload it
culture.
In this case, everyone wassaving their own version of
(14:52):
files in whatever folder feltright at the time.
So the same report might be seenin four different libraries.
There was no version control andteam members wasted hours
looking for the most recentversion or worse, working off
the wrong one.
The fix was I introduceddocument sets to group those
related files and we turned onversioning in those key
(15:14):
libraries.
Look, a lot of people don't turnon version control, but I, as a
default, always have we'll sayyou must always have version
control on.
You never know what can happen.
We then train the staff on howto check out and update shared
documents.
And we created a simple workingfinal status column so people
instantly knew what they werelooking at.
(15:36):
And, you know, I say check out.
This particular organizationdidn't want people working on
the same documents at a time.
They wanted them to check themout.
So that was that one.
So as you can see, even if youshare, You have a mess.
You can fix it.
You don't need to start fromscratch.
I will say one thing, though.
If your SharePoint setup ismessy, no amount of AI is going
(15:59):
to save you.
Copilot can only serve as usefulcontent if the structure behind
it makes sense.
So it relies on metadata,naming, permissions, and
relationships.
So if you've just throwneverything into one big library
with random names, Copilot'sgoing to struggle.
So it's like asking an assistantto find your receipts in a box
(16:20):
full of unlabeled papers.
They'll give it a crack, butit's not going to be pretty.
Sorry about that one.
On the other hand, if you've gotyour IA in place, AI becomes
brilliant.
You can ask, show me all thepolicies approved this quarter,
and you'll actually get what youneed.
(16:42):
Okay, so wrapping up thisepisode, first episode for
Simply SharePoint, here's thegood news.
You don't have to start fromscratch.
You can begin by reviewing whatyou already have, talking to
your teams and making smallchanges that bring clarity.
So start by tidying one site,label things properly, add
(17:03):
metadata where it matters, lockthings down with the right
permissions, create some viewsthat show people what they need.
Over time, your SharePoint siteturns from a dumping ground into
a digital workspace thatactually supports your team.
And that's what SimplySharePoint is all about.
Thanks for listening to Episode1.
(17:24):
I'll be back next week with adeeper dive into site planning
and how to map out a newSharePoint site before you even
touch a mouse.
Until then, keep it simple.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!