I was talking to a Network Administrator this week when she mentioned how she often copies and pastes our news articles into an email and then sends it on to all he colleagues. I was shocked to think that, rather than being helpful, we were actually adding to her work load.
My first thought was to add all their staff to our mailing list. That would work and if anyone would like us to add some names, just let us know. But it's not such a good answer when you have 50+ staff. My next thought was to add our news site to her Outlook or her Vista desktop. We can do that, its called a RSS feed. If anyone would like to do that feel free to do so, the feed link is:
http://www.kinetics.co.nz/_layouts/feed.aspx?xsl=1&web=%2F&page=638e23d5-ae38-4a84-83ad-44a189046eb0&wp=2f6c8e88-68ad-462c-b833-60115092e496
or one of our engineers could do it for you. (Productivity tip, when the 
indicator in yor internet browser highlights in orange, it means there is an RSS feed present that you can subscribe to)
But that only makes it easier for her to get access. She would still have to copy and paste, then email everyone. Ideally what we want to do is add value to the business. It did not take long to figure out that we can do so by using a free productivity tool from Microsoft called Sharepoint.
We help her create a 'news and information' site for sharing all sorts of relevant information - the things she repeats over and over to the many different people she helps each day. With her own 'Tips and Tricks' site, the training of new staff will be easier and sharing information with existing staff will be easier.
Then, we embed an RSS feed from our Kinetics News making them available to all staff. Setting up this intranet as the default home page for all users means that they have all started on a new productivity path.
Those who have attended Kinetics Group's latest Sharepoint demonstration will be aware that the power of Sharepoint goes well beyond just these examples. Our latest demonstration takes Sharepoint to new levels. Soon we will be releasing preconfigured sites which can add value to a business quickly.
If you were unable to attend the demonstration or would like to attend the next one, let us know. Alternatively we can give a one-on-one demonstration of the power hidden in this free product.