SharePoint vs Teams - our experience
A Walkthrough of Microsoft's Collaborative Tools: The Winner for NFPs and Small Businesses
This post centres on two of Microsoft 365's most popular collaboration tools: Microsoft Teams and SharePoint. We prepared this comprehensive guide aimed especially at the requirements of Not-for-Profit (NFP) and small businesses. Here, we put our years of experience working with these organisations into direct, practical advice. We will help you decide which tool suits your needs better, with real-life examples pointing out the strengths and weaknesses of each.
Understanding Microsoft Teams and SharePoint
Why occasional users find Microsoft Teams intimidating
How SharePoint can be like a friendly 'website'
Why SharePoint is more effective for NFPs and SMEs
GBA’s exclusive SharePoint model for NFPs and SMEs
Understanding Microsoft Teams and SharePoint
Microsoft Teams and SharePoint form the backbone of Microsoft 365's collaborative solutions. Teams is built on top of SharePoint, which provides a richer user experience that includes enhanced communication, a shared workspace for teams, and diverse integration capabilities. On the other hand, SharePoint is a highly efficient document storage system that can also be used as the launch pad for all your organisation’s most used (third party) software packages and to centralise your most used documents.
Why Occasional Users Find Microsoft Teams Intimidating
While Teams is excellent for big corporations, the reality may differ for smaller organisations and NFPs. Its sophisticated features, although useful, can be overwhelming for occasional or non-desk-based users. It can be too complex to navigate for those who do not use it regularly, especially in cases where resources for training and customisation are restricted.
How SharePoint Can Be Like a Friendly 'Website'
On the other side of the coin, SharePoint, with effective design and features like security trimming and audience targeting, provides a user-friendly 'website-like' experience. When initially presented, SharePoint might not be impressive. However, with proper customisation, it can become a powerful tool that caters perfectly to your needs, reducing the fear factor for occasional users.
Why SharePoint is More Effective for NFPs and Small Businesses
Through working directly with NFPs and SMEs, we've found that although occasional users could be somewhat intimidated by Teams, they found a well-customised SharePoint site more comfortable to use. SharePoint is advantageous for such organisations, mostly if it is suitably tailored to their specific needs and requirements. Therefore, an NFP or SME’s SharePoint site doesn't need to be an out-of-the-box basic site but a site customised to make it efficient and user-friendly.
GBA’s Exclusive SharePoint Model for NFPs and Small Businesses
Our expertise, combined with strong industry experience, led us to develop an effective model for implementing SharePoint for NFPs and small businesses. We focus on making SharePoint easy to use, safe in terms of security, and easy for in-house IT departments with clear and straightforward documentation. This not only ensures usage among team members but also reduces the burden on the IT team, who often face challenges in introducing new tools to an organisation.
We can help you leverage SharePoint's benefits and make your team's collaboration smoother and more efficient. Our experience working with NFPs and SMEs positions us as a reliable partner in managing the technological transition within your organisation, and our bespoke SharePoint model is just the solution you need.
Conclusion
Ultimately, the choice between Teams and SharePoint will depend on your organisation's needs. While Teams offers complex and feature-rich service, its functionality may be too much for occasional users. SharePoint, however, when well-designed, can offer a simplified yet efficient collaboration tool, particularly for NFPs and SMEs where resources can be limited.
At GBA Online, we're ready to match your requirements to the perfect solution, making your transition into the moden workspace smoother. Ready to get the ball rolling on your organisational collaboration?
Book a free chat with GBA Online, and let us guide you right.