How to Use SharePoint: A Comprehensive Guide

Introduction

In today’s fast-paced, compliance-driven world, managing various content forms—from traditional documents to web and social media content—can be daunting. That's where SharePoint comes in. Designed to cater to all your content compliance needs, SharePoint enables easy version management, retention schedule application, record declaration, and the placing of legal holds across multiple content types.

SharePoint stands out in the modern workplace by offering a robust solution to streamline compliance processes. With increasing regulations, the necessity for businesses to adhere to these compliance standards is more significant than ever. SharePoint not only simplifies this process but also ensures that your organization can maintain regulatory adherence effortlessly.

Who is SharePoint for

SharePoint is designed for any organization that deals with large volumes of data and needs a streamlined method for managing compliance. Ideal users include:

Compliance Officers: Ensuring that all organizational content complies with industry regulations.
Records Managers: Managing the lifecycle of records from creation to disposal.
IT Managers: Ensuring information security while managing compliance risks.
Legal Teams: Placing legal holds on pertinent documents during litigation or audits.
Operations Managers: Streamlining processes and reducing manual compliance tasks.

Key features

SharePoint offers a comprehensive suite of features designed to meet your compliance management needs seamlessly:

Version Management: Keep track of various versions of your documents to ensure regulatory compliance.
Retention Schedules: Apply customized retention schedules to different types of content.
Record Declaration: Declare and manage records efficiently from creation to disposal.
Legal Holds: Place legal holds on documents to prevent their alteration or destruction during audits or litigation.
Comprehensive Coverage: Manage traditional, web, and social content all in one place.
Automated Workflows: Reduce manual tasks via automated compliance workflows.
User Permissions: Ensure only authorized personnel have access to sensitive information.

Best use cases

SharePoint excels in various scenarios, addressing specific issues and optimizing compliance management across different industries and teams:

For Compliance Teams

Scenario: A healthcare provider needs to ensure all patient records are managed per HIPAA regulations. Benefit: SharePoint offers compliance workflows that can enforce HIPAA retention schedules, ensuring regulatory adherence and minimizing legal risks.

For Legal Departments

Scenario: During a litigation procedure, a law firm needs to place holds on numerous documents. Benefit: Legal teams can use SharePoint to quickly implement legal holds, ensuring no crucial documents are altered or deleted.

For IT Departments

Scenario: An IT department at a financial institution needs to manage compliance for both internal records and social media communications. Benefit: SharePoint provides an integrated platform to manage all content types under one roof, streamlining compliance efforts and reducing risks.

For Records Managers

Scenario: An educational institution needs to manage student records from admission to alumni status. Benefit: Records managers can apply varied retention schedules to different documents, ensuring compliance with educational regulations.

For Operations Teams

Scenario: A manufacturing company aims to automate its compliance procedures to reduce manual workload. Benefit: SharePoint supports automated compliance workflows, significantly reducing manual tasks and enhancing operational efficiency.

Getting started

Sign Up

Visit the SharePoint website and sign up for a free trial or select a suitable subscription plan.

Initial Setup

Follow the setup wizard to configure initial settings, including user roles and permissions.

Customize Retention Schedules

Set up retention schedules tailored to your compliance needs.

Integrate Existing Content

Import your existing content into SharePoint, ensuring it starts managing version control and retention immediately.

Declare Records

Mark necessary documents as records, starting their lifecycle management.

Set Up Automated Workflows

Enable automated compliance workflows to minimize manual intervention.

Deploy Legal Holds

Configure legal hold settings for relevant content to ensure it remains unaltered during audits or litigation.

Tips and best practices

To maximize the benefits of SharePoint, consider the following best practices:

Regular Training: Ensure staff undergo regular training to stay updated with the latest features and compliance practices.
Data Review: Periodically review data and content to ensure compliance with updated regulations.
Automate Wisely: Leverage automation features to handle redundant tasks but keep critical compliance checks manual for better control.
Stay Updated: Regularly update SharePoint to benefit from the latest security patches and features.
Track Changes: Use version management to keep a detailed log of document changes and user actions.

Integration with Guru

SharePoint seamlessly integrates with Guru, enhancing your compliance management with Guru’s AI-powered search capabilities.

By integrating SharePoint with Guru, you can:

Instant Information Access: Leverage Guru’s AI search to quickly find compliance-related information within SharePoint.
Centralized Repository: Maintain a single source of truth for all compliance documents and records, accessible across your organization.
Proactive Answers: Use Guru’s AI search to get proactive answers about compliance requirements based on your queries.

Benefits of using SharePoint with Guru include increased efficiency, reduced search times, and more secure management of compliance documents.

Conclusion

SharePoint is a comprehensive compliance management tool designed to meet the needs of modern organizations. With its robust set of features, SharePoint simplifies compliance management, offering version control, retention schedules, record declaration, and legal holds across traditional, web, and social content. By integrating SharePoint with Guru, you can further enhance your organization’s efficiency and productivity, ensuring that all of your compliance needs are met effortlessly.