SharePoint Governance for the Masses: A Kevin Abel Tip

A comprehensive SharePoint governance plan – samples of which abound on the web – is simply overkill for the vast majority of Phase 1 SharePoint implementations. All too often a company takes one of these samples, edits where appropriate, fills in parameters where needed, and then prints out a tome for the bookshelf. The Governance Plan task is checked off, but woe is the world of the SharePoint platform owner who is questioned about the efficacy of this document.

 

SharePoint governance shouldn’t be all or nothing. It should be relevant. As SharePoint matures and takes hold in an organization, so the governance plan should grow to accommodate these changes. A Phase 1 SharePoint implementation should have a Phase 1 Governance Plan. We call it Governance 50, because time and again, we find that our typical Phase 1 implementations typically generate a Phase 1 Governance Plan with approximately 50 items. What follows is a sampling of the categories and types of items that are often relevant in a Governance 50 plan:

As depicted in the plan above, each governance category has a number of individual governance items. For each item we specify the policy for the specific client along with a frequency of activity, the approach for delivering the governance activity and, where applicable, a reference to a process for the specific governance activity.

Capturing the most important and relevant governance items as an actionable plan in a SharePoint list allows a company to realize SharePoint governance and mitigate the risks of deploying an ungoverned SharePoint platform. As the deployment grows and matures, so too can the governance plan be amended and enhanced as necessary.

Curtsey: Abel Solutions