Insight and consistency across all digital workspaces

With Microsoft’s switch from SharePoint to Microsoft 365, all sorts of new collaborative features have been added. Useful new functionalities, and at the same time also obscure. How do you bring coherence and structure to this so that you actually work together more efficiently? In this blog we look at the challenges of digital collaboration and how to maintain insight and cohesion.

In the past, SharePoint was the only digital collaboration platform available. Then came Office 365 Groups (now Microsoft 365) and Microsoft Teams. Over time, traditional SharePoint sites were renamed as classic sites, and now there are also modern team sites for collaboration and communication sites for intranets. The choices for a digital collaboration environment have expanded significantly. While this offers great flexibility, it also presents some challenges. When should you choose a SharePoint site, and when is a Microsoft Team more appropriate? And if you use a mix of SharePoint sites and Teams as project workspaces, how do you maintain an overview?

Preventing Information Overload

As knowledge workers, we rely heavily on information. We work on projects, manage client relationships, maintain external contacts, and exchange knowledge with colleagues. Therefore, it’s crucial for employees to have control over the flow of files, updates, news, and tasks. In SharePoint environments, we’re accustomed to organizing sites into categories: departments, projects, knowledge communities, etc. But how do you approach this when dealing with a mix of SharePoint sites, Groups, and Microsoft Teams? The coherence and structure can quickly get lost, making the workspace very disorganized.

To give users insight into their various workspaces, we created PortalTalk 365. This tool provides each user with a personalized navigation menu tailored to their needs. Only the workspaces relevant to that user are displayed, preventing them from having to sift through unnecessary information and avoid being overwhelmed by an information overload.

The Director of All Workspaces

PortalTalk 365 is a ready-to-use cloud solution that makes all aspects of collaboration intuitive. Every type of workspace can be linked and practically utilized:

Categorization: Whether it’s a SharePoint Site, Microsoft Team, or Outlook Group, PortalTalk 365 organizes them by category (e.g., departments, project teams, or knowledge communities). This way, users have an overview of their digital workspaces categorized accordingly.
Personalized Environment: To make it even easier, PortalTalk 365 offers each user a personalized environment. Here, they can see only the workspaces they own or have been invited to. As an owner, you can choose to make a workspace public or private. Private workspaces are visible only to invitees.
Apps: Applications are treated as a separate entity in PortalTalk 365. Users can directly see the apps they have access to in their “My” environment. They can also add their own apps, such as LinkedIn. If the app is integrated with Azure Active Directory (AAD), Single Sign-On is provided by default.

Easy Knowledge Sharing: A public workspace can be read by everyone, making it ideal for sharing knowledge on a specific area. For instance, all application managers from different departments can easily exchange up-to-date information.
Controlled Collaboration with Externals: Microsoft 365 allows users to collaborate easily with external parties. However, this also brings risks. PortalTalk 365 ensures that the workspace owner can add users via self-service. Additionally, the owner is periodically prompted to check if the invitees still need access.
Self-Service Access Management: If you want to contribute as a specialist to a public workspace, you can request access. The owner receives the request and can grant access directly within the workflow.
Archiving: After active use, owners can close a workspace. Not only are the documents archived, but all communication is as well. Employees with access will only have read rights, and externals will lose their access.
Governance: With PortalTalk 365, governance is managed by the business. Through audits and reporting options, Security Officers, auditors, and governance experts can check who has access to which data and for what reason.

No Matter Which Workspace You Choose

With PortalTalk 365, we simplify the choice of the right digital workspace for the job-to-be-done. We bring coherence and structure, so employees quickly find the right work environment. Whether you work with traditional SharePoint sites or prefer Microsoft Teams, PortalTalk 365 helps you maintain a clear overview. This shifts the focus from choosing a type of digital workspace to determining how you want to collaborate.

Want to learn more? Watch our webinar.