Building Our Internal Portal with SharePoint: Introducing THT SALON
- 広報
- Oct 21, 2022
- 5 min read
Updated: Jul 29
— Fostering Company Culture Through Microsoft 365 —
Business Promotion Office (H) / Cloud SI Department (T)
Please tell us about the background and development process behind implementing your internal portal.
(H) At our company, 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) It was actually a long journey before we arrived at the decision to use SharePoint. Several companies had already released internal portal services for corporate communications, and many of them offered 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 having to switch 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.
There is no point if the means and end up replacing the original purpose.
What we really wanted was a space where employees could casually interact, share personal updates, or submit requests to the general affairs team. To make that happen, we chose to build a space to communicate within Microsoft 365, a platform we already used daily without even thinking about it. SharePoint turned out to be the perfect tool for the job. Since we were already subscribed to Microsoft 365, no additional costs were involved, which was also a significant advantage for moving forward.
With that, we launched a space on our internal portal where people could connect beyond work-related topics, and we named it "THT-SALON." That's how it all began.
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." The platform is positioned as a core infrastructure that streamlines general affairs operations by giving employees easy access to company policies, labor-related documents, internal announcements, and more. It also allows them to view contact information and profiles of their colleagues.
Additionally, 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 compiled video content and learning materials to create an educational section that employees can use to make productive use of their downtime.
Next, we turned our attention to infrastructure tools that support operational efficiency, interdepartmental communication, and human resource development, regardless of whether someone is working at headquarters, assigned to a permanent site, traveling on business, or working remotely.
The layout was designed to prioritize visibility and usability: frequently accessed, updated, and interactive content is placed at the top, while more static content appears below.
Mobile accessibility was also a top priority, ensuring the portal could be easily used from smartphones.
Did you have difficulties building it?
(T) It took me some time to fully grasp the nuances of SharePoint's user interface and feature set. To my surprise, there was very little detailed guidance available online. Because of the limited options for design and layout customization, I spent a significant amount of time exploring workarounds. But over time, I came to appreciate Microsoft's strategic approach, the lack of flexibility isn't a flaw, but rather a design choice that allows users to quickly become proficient through a simplified, standardized interface.
Even after implementing certain functions, we had to carefully design the user interface to make it truly user-friendly. This required not only an engineer's perspective but also a designer's mindset. As the project progressed, we compiled a manual with practical tips and step-by-step procedures. This became a valuable internal resource, helping us accumulate and share knowledge across the company.
How is it going after the implementation?
(H) It may seem like a small thing, but the staff's self-introduction pages have been very well received. They allow us to discover personal aspects of our colleagues that we might not have known otherwise.
These little discoveries spark casual conversations, adding humor and warmth to our workplace interactions. Communication between departments has become noticeably smoother. By centralizing scattered work documents, sharing work-related announcements and updates that previously went unspoken, and maintaining a contact directory, we've created a more open and collaborative environment.
Please tell us about your future prospects and challenges?
(H) To further encourage employee engagement with the platform, we're aiming to make its use part of everyone's daily routine. We're considering fun initiatives like staff credential features and a relay-style diary. Since this is a LAB Project, we'd love to see users enjoy it as much as we, the administrators, do. Our goal is to establish it as part of a new company culture.
One thing we need to watch out for is not letting the content become too focused solely on work, we want to keep it light and engaging!
(T) Looking ahead, we'd like to offer this as an optional package for cloud-based system implementations, or even as a starter kit for virtual offices in the metaverse.
To achieve that, we'll continue to gain operational experience while pushing the limits of what's possible with SharePoint. On its own, SharePoint functions primarily 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 kind of approach allows us to deliver real value while keeping costs minimal.
Please share a message for those reading this.
(H & T) We always approach UI (User Interface) with UX (User Experience) in mind, and we implement the PDCA cycle on a small scale to continuously improve usability.
THT is also active in joint research and co-development, so if your company is interested in collaborating on a new project, we'd love to hear from you.
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