Building Our Internal Portal with SharePoint: Introducing THT SALON
- Oct 21, 2022
- 4 min read
Updated: Feb 17
— Fostering Company Culture Through Microsoft 365 —
Business Promotion Office (H) / Cloud SI Department (T)
Please tell us about the background and history of the corporate portal implementation.
(H) At THT, we support clients in their digital transformation efforts by proposing and building cloud-based remote work environments and dispatching engineers as needed.
With the rapid shift to remote work brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, we found that employee communication wasn't happening as naturally as it did when everyone was in the office. While a variety of communication tools, including social media platforms, proved to be effective alternatives to email, we began to see challenges in other areas, such as accessing general administrative information and fostering casual, cross-department communication.
For example, in a physical office, employees could ask the general affairs team a quick question or engage in casual conversations. We wondered if it would be possible to recreate those interactions in a secure digital environment. This idea became the starting point. Before making recommendations to our clients, we decided to try building and operating such a system ourselves. That's how the project was launched internally, as part of our in-house innovation lab.
How did you come to use Microsoft SharePoint?
(H) In fact, choosing SharePoint was a long journey. Several companies had already released internal portal services for corporate communications, many with advanced and attractive features. At first, we considered implementing one of these services. However, we were concerned about the additional operational and management burden that would arise before the system could become fully integrated into daily workflows.
For example, requiring new login credentials or switching between multiple services depending on the task can be quite cumbersome. These seemingly small inconveniences were enough to risk turning the project into nothing more than a theoretical exercise.
It's pointless if the means overshadow the purpose.
Our goal was to create a space where employees could casually interact, share personal updates, or submit requests to the general affairs team. To achieve that, we chose to build the communicate space within Microsoft 365, a platform we already used daily without even thinking about it. SharePoint turned out to be the perfect tool for this purpose. Since we were already subscribed to Microsoft 365, there were no additional costs, which was also a major factor in moving the project forward.
With the idea of creating a digital salon for conversations beyond daily work, we named it "THT-SALON."
How did you design it?
(H) We began by focusing on new employees, designing the portal from the perspective of "what we want them to see first." We positioned it as a core infrastructure that streamlines general affairs operations, providing access to company policies, labor-related documents, company-wide announcements, and more. It also allows them to view contact information and profiles of their colleagues.
In addition, employees can check the company's business plans and related information at any time, helping them better understand how their individual roles contribute to the organization as a whole.
We also consolidated educational content, including videos and materials, so that employees can make effective use of their downtime.
Next, we focused on implementing infrastructure tools that would improve administrative communication, interdepartmental collaboration, and the speed to proficiency, whether at headquarters, on-site with clients, on business trips, or working remotely.
In terms of layout, we prioritized frequently accessed content and items with high levels of updates or interaction by placing them at the top, while more static information was positioned lower down.
Above all, mobile accessibility was our top priority.
Did you have difficulties building it?
(T) It took me some time to fully understand the quirks and limitations of SharePoint's user interface and feature set. I was surprised to find that there was very little information available online. Because of the limitations in design and layout customization, I spent a significant amount of time exploring workarounds. However, we eventually came to realize that limited flexibility isn't a drawback. On the contrary, we came to understand Microsoft's strategy: by narrowing down choices, they enable users to navigate and master the tool quickly and simply.
Even after implementing the features, we had to carefully design the user interface to make it genuinely user-friendly. This required not only an engineer's perspective, but also a designer's mindset. As we built the portal, we simultaneously documented the tips and procedures into a manual. This allowed us to successfully accumulate institutional knowledge within the company.
How is it going after the implementation?
(H) Although it's a simple feature, the staff self-introduction page has been very well-received. It allows us to share aspects of our employees' personalities that we didn't know much about before.
These little discoveries spark casual conversations, which in turn make work-related communication smoother and even more enjoyable. By centralizing scattered work documents, posting announcements or updates that were not shared before, and providing a company-wide contact directory, I feel that interdepartmental communication has become noticeably more seamless than before.
Please tell us about your future prospects and challenges.
(H) To further boost engagement, our next step is to make using the portal a daily habit. We're also considering fun initiatives like a certification information and a relay-style blog. Since this is a LAB PROJECT, nothing would make us happier than seeing our users become as passionate about the platform as the administrators are. Our goal is to establish it as part of the company's new culture.
One point to keep in mind is maintaining a sense of lightness and informality, so that the content doesn't become only focused on work-related topics.
(T) Looking ahead, we envision packaging this as a startup-style plan that could serve as an optional component for our company's cloud solutions, and eventually extend to virtual offices in the metaverse.
To achieve this, we'll continue gaining operational experience while pushing the limits of SharePoint. For instance, SharePoint on its own primarily functions as a pull-based system. But by integrating it with tools like Power Automate and PowerApps, we can transform it into a push-based system. This approach allows us to deliver real value while keeping costs minimal.
Please share a message for those reading this.
(H & T) We approach UI (User Interface) from the perspective of UX (User Experience), and run the PDCA cycle on a minimal system to continuously improve.
THT is also actively engaged in joint research and co-development, so if your company is interested in collaborating on a new project, we would be delighted to hear from you.
