In at least 3 orgs I have worked at SharePoint has been massively slow to take hold. IT installed it on the request of senior mgmt, but not involved staff. Come go live day staff think what the hell!
what ways can you recommend to better prepare and train and involve staff so they embrace SP ?
I think one of the most neglected aspects of a SharePoint implementation is end user usability trials or testing.
Whether you are building an intranet, a document management system or using SharePoint as building blocks for a full line of business system it is very rare to see companies engaging the end users as to what will work for them. Trying out ideas and ensuring they get early buy in.
If you were building a new fancy external website then it would be fairly common for the digital agencies to engage users to understand whether what they are building “works” for them.
Much less common in enterprises with SharePoint. What usually happens is that a product owner or business visionary drives the design but often that person already has a lot of experience with SharePoint. Same with the developers obviously. Aspects that seem “obvious” to these guys are far from obvious to an end user who has never used a SharePoint site before.
