This is the second in a good intentioned series of blogs detailing my experiences and uses of the tool. The first blog, SharePoint 101, provided some context and a ‘fictional use-case’ which the following blog is based on.
Continue readingI like SharePoint, it is not a love-level relationship but it has matured definitely to the like stage. Through this and future good-intention blogs, I want to put down what I think are some pretty cool ways to use SharePoint and just as important, some good ways to use the tool.
If you are reading this and have never used or heard of SharePoint, go onto some of my other postings on this website. Unfortunately SharePoint is kinda hard to explain and so therefore I will assume that you know about the following things:
If any of the above is makes you go huh?, sorry I can’t help you but I can point you in the right direction:
… but before you start using SharePoint, here is something to recognize about how not to use SharePoint. Don’t use SharePoint as a glorified Network File System. It can do so much more, so why do so many people do so little with it? Hopefully the next few blogs will give you just some examples.
In my ongoing effort to remember what the heck I have done, I have the good intention of writing a series of blogs about some cool uses of SharePoint (and associated technologies). Check back to read about cool stuff or to see a post of shame of good intentions gone bad.
I have used SharePoint for a variety of uses including:
For the purposes of this and other blogs, I will use a fictional example of a budget site in which internal clients need to submit content and documents. This example will centre around a government organization and specifically one that primarily manages projects but also manages contractors, contracts and staff.
On February 26, 2015, the FMI-Edmonton Chapter is hosting a professional development session, ‘Procurement-Who Does it Well?’. The pre-event program notes are available (including speaker biographies) for those wanting a bit more detail or context.
Louis Moeller,
The purpose of this session is to explore:
Canadian governments (federal, provincial, municipal and agencies) collectively procure billions of dollars each year. Efficient and effective procurement is critical to the proper functioning of government operations and central to a modern economy. This professional training session will consider the public sector procurement challenges from many perspectives including procurement professionals, public servants who need to purchase goods/services, the financial manager, system providers and of course the taxpayer who ultimately pays for the purchase. This is a joint presentation by FMI and PwC Canada – a global leader in supply chain and procurement.
With any good session, a set of questions helps to explore the issues. Available to speak to (if not answer the questions) are experts from PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC) as well as Federal/Provincial/Municipal government finance and procurement professionals. In addition, we will also use the ‘wisdom of crowds’ for this session in which individuals attending can text/email in responses to questions which they think better answer or contribute to the question.
Questions fall into one of the following themes:
(Questions relating to changes in People, Process and the Products of the procurement process? This includes the use of technologies, legislation, training, etc.).
(Questions relating to how to ensure compliance with existing organizational and legislative rules and procedures. This includes reducing the burden compliance while selecting the best vendor during a procurement event).
(Questions related to how a procurement professional can support public servants in selecting vendors of goods and services).
(Questions related to what a financial manager must consider when supporting public servants or procurement professionals).
(Questions specific to operating a contract review committee within a public sector organization with a specific focus on the province of Alberta’s implementation of a review committee).
Alberta Context: A Government of Alberta Treasury Board directive requires that all departments have in place a contract review committee ‘to support the procurement accountability framework’. This framework in turn will: ‘support consistent goods and services procurement practices, including those in respect of Construction, across all departments, that reflect best practices and foster accountability, fairness, effectiveness, and efficiency ‘.
Dr. William Maples passed away nearly 30 years ago (February 1997) at the young age of 59. Never heard of him you say? How about these names: Quincy, CSI (Vegas, New York, Portage la Prairie) or Bones – have you heard of them?
Maples was the inspiration or at least haunts these popular television shows. In his book, Dead Men Do Tell Tales, he provides a glimpse into the life of what was then a unique animal – a forensic anthropologist.
Working in Florida, he pioneered or studied under the first scientist who combined these disciplines. I recall seeing this book when it first came out in the early 1990’s and wanted to read it – now 30 years later I can check it off the list. Its age is both a detraction and an appeal for reading the book now. On the detraction side, Maples is describing state of the art that has long since been made obsolete. On the appeal side, he shines a light into his science just before it went mainstream with television shows such as CSI or Bones.
This book is more than a historical curiosity though, it is also a good read. Maples had the opportunity to examine some world-famous bones include the elephant man, Spanish conquistadors, US president Taylor and the remains of the family of the last Russian Czar. He tells of these exploits in a direct and slightly casual way, sort of how you would imagine him delivering a lecture on the subject to interested laymen.
The book includes photos and some descriptions that I passed over in places. Nevertheless, if you like CSI, science or history – keep a look out for Dead Men Who Still Tell Good Tales.
Leo Tolstoy Grave – 1910. Scherzo di Follia; Accession Number: 2010.423.5 (detail) metmuseum.org
Organizational Biology 