In response to your questions addressed to me:
1. We have used the Project Email functionality. We will soon migrate our CA phase emails to that system so that contractors send all correspondence to that email address. This will allow anyone at the office to access those emails and help out with the project.
2. Here is a screen shot...
A few things to note:
1. The 'Documents' section is syncing to our office server in real time using third party software by Layer 3.
2. The 'Project Summary' and 'Schedule' are two different displays of the same data. We discovered that the data source is a Microsoft Project file that O365 hides away somewhere. We are implementing Microsoft Project Online which gives us the ability to do Project Portfolio Management across our entire practice. This is GREAT for load-balancing our resources. Which all sounds more complicated and impressive than it is. Really, we're just making sure we stagger deadlines and schedule wisely.
3. Our Project Managers update the 'Newsfeed' every week with an executive summary.
4. You have very robust delegating tools so that you can allow different people different levels of authority to make changes. It is so robust that it can be a bit of a learning curve.
5. Nobody here has a shred of Sharepoint programming experience. And we're not doing any programming. We've used it stock and customized settings when necessary. As far as our user experience is concerned, we're using O365, not Sharepoint.
6. There is definitely learning curve. It took us about six months to get to this point. We've been easing into it and not cramming it down everyone's throats. But when people see what it does, they gravitate towards it.
Hope that helps!
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Brian Van Winkle AIA
Principal
Vessel Architecture and Design
Original Message:
Sent: 04-12-2016 22:46
From: Thomas Fallon
Subject: Office 365 Sites in the Arch office
Great information here! Thank you for all the great responses.
Does anyone use a project email (setting up an email specifically for a project in 365)? How has this worked for you?
Brian L. Van Winkle - it sounds like you are using this most extensively out of everyone. I would love to see some screen shots (if that is appropriate) of your setup or be invited to a blank project to see how it is structured. I certainly understand if you cannot do this. What type of staff is doing the setup - do you have it set up such that a PM can do it or does it require IT?
Shermon Aronson - yes they have made it very confusing ith sharepoint vs OneDrive vs OneDrive for Business. It is all somehow connected. I will note here that I have never been able to successfully sync my personal laptop with OneDrive - it always says it's uploading but never moves despite my uninstalling and reinstalling.
Tim Fells - I definitely see where the licensing could be an issue. It's fairly easy to deactivate the licenses on a personal machine (as an employer remotely) but it does get sticky when mixing personal with professional equipment. It also becomes tricky if there is a lawsuit and opposing council wants access to personal laptops because they were used on the project.
Andrew Dwight - Good suggestion on Drive. I do use it for personal stuff and really like it. It is much easier and may be easier to get my staff to use. Trimble is really awesome but may be too advanced for the people I work with. They still complain about the IP phones I installed as if they are the most complex system in the world.
This is all great food for thought thank you!
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Thomas Fallon AIA
Benner Stange Associates Architects, Inc.
Portland OR