Discussion Groups on Sharepoint – some lessons learnt Janet White e-Communications Team Metropolitan Police Service, New Scotland Yard janet.white@met.police.uk

Summary Aim of the Project Skills and Resources Problems encountered Some solutions Lessons learnt Next Steps

To move MPS Special Interest discussion groups (SIGs) to Sharepoint: Project Aim To move MPS Special Interest discussion groups (SIGs) to Sharepoint: SIG messages posted in Outlook Public folders, viewed via the Intranet browser

Sharepoint To improve management of electronic information Operating alongside MPS Intranet ‘Discussion Boards’ for SIGs (Special Interest Groups)

Skills and Resources Sharepoint Team – Technical support/advice e-Communications (Intranet) Team – SIG Site Collection rights Training Financial constraints

Basic creation of Discussion Board Site Actions > Create > Discussion Board Option to add to ‘Quick Launch’ (navigation menu)

Issues Management control (SIG ‘Owners’) Default Discussion Board – ‘Open’ to all ‘Closed’ and Moderated SIGs Discussion board information Default welcome message User feedback

Solutions Permission levels Permission Groups Versioning control for ‘Moderated’ SIGs ‘Web part’ on Discussion Board

e.g. CARERS SIG MANAGER GROUP members = SIG Manager and Deputies Permission Group: e.g. CARERS SIG MANAGER GROUP members = SIG Manager and Deputies Permission Level: SIG Mngr – rights = add, delete, approve, manage permissions

Permission Group: Permission Level: CLOSED SIG NAME SIG MEMBERS GROUP members = users being given access Group Owner = NAME SIG Manager Group Permission Level: rights = contribute

SIG Member Permissions People and Groups > New Group e.g. ‘Name SIG Members’ SIG Members Group Owner - ‘Name SIG Managers’ ‘Contribute’ rights – View, add, update and delete

Applying Permissions Create Permissions Groups Create Discussion Board Default – all permissions inherited ‘Disinherit’ other Permission Groups Discussion Board settings > Permissions for this Discussion Board

Select all; de-select those that apply Remove permissions Relevant SIG Manager and SIG Member Groups remain

Moderated SIG Versioning Settings option SIG Mngr Permissions include ‘approve items’ Message ‘pending’ until approved Option for Approver comments

‘Web part’ Static information - edited separately Include links to Intranet site and e-mail Accessed from ‘Site Actions’ menu ‘Content Editor’ web part Rich Text Editor (Word formatting)

Lessons Learnt communicating business/user requirement to technical support team Understanding technical skills available Sharepoint permission levels Managing management expectations Identifying risks – funding commitment

Next steps ‘Proof of concept’ testing User Feedback ‘Help’ pages for SIG Managers/Users Workflow for SIG application forms Setting up SIGs . . . go live?

Summary Teams working together Learning Curve Problems resolved

janet.white@met.police.uk