Jennifer Ann Mason

In the past few weeks, I got the news that I have been accepted as a Microsoft Regional Director. This is a huge honor and something that I am very excited and proud of. I have spent many years in the SharePoint community and I know in the past few years a few people have wondered where I have been and how come there weren’t seeing me as much at various conferences and community events. The reality was – I wasn’t really missing from any events – I was just spreading out a bit and covering a lot more topics, technologies and events.

I have so much respect and admiration for the existing group of Microsoft RD’s and I am looking forward to joining them and helping to contribute more to the community. I am looking forward to many more years of working with users to help them see the value of technology and the impact it can bring to everyday problems and scenarios.

The areas that interest me the most have remained the same, but my viewpoint is extending to the entire Microsoft Technologies stack. I am looking forward to really digging in and creating dynamic user experiences by solving tough business problems for organizations, government agencies and education institutes.

Watch this blog for more updates from me on my journey as an RD, as well as insights into new technologies, strategies and tools from Microsoft.

I spend a lot of time posting about data and how you are supposed to use that to drive your adoption activities – but what does that look like in the real world?

Here is a real world scenario – this is a large migration where we are seeing users that are using OneDrive, but they are viewing documents mostly and not fully taking advantage of the sync and share features. We have identified this as an area that we really want to improve usage and gain efficiencies. We know that if we can show users how to easily share content using OneDrive that we can save them multiple clicks and make transitions much smoother for them. We know in the long run – learning to do it differently will actually save them time and be easier.

Looking at the data, I know where we have an issue – we can easily identify the features we want to use more. But that isn’t the end of the story. When it comes to user adoption there are so many ways that we can address it, here are just a few ideas:

• Training Webinars
• Learning Email Campaigns
• Classroom Training
• On-Demand Training

With so many options, how do you know the best options before you even select one? One secret is to look at the past history of your users patterns. If you are tracking the learning activities that people are completing and if you are identifying trends you are actually gathering very useful data that is going to help guide your choices in the future. In our case, when we look into the trends of our users we know a few things for certain.

1. Users Open Links in Learning Campaign Emails
2. Users are most active during their lunch hour.

Based on this data – we have decided that we are going to approach this by creating a series of learning paths that highlight the value and benefits of advanced OneDrive features. The learning paths will be around 15-25 minutes each and will be full of real world examples and scenarios. We will tell users about the training through learning campaign emails sent to users around lunch over a two to three week period. This allows us to target the times that they are most likely to be completing training already and simply become part of their natural daily activities vs being another thing they need to complete.

The only reason we are able to make these decisions is because we are taking care to monitor the analytics of not only our technical usage, but also our users behavior. Remember! If you don’t take the time to look at user adoption completely – the IT side and the human behavior side, your missing key data that could be the missing piece to your own digital transformation!

Here is this weeks episode of the Office 365 Pulse.  Tom, Adam and I talk all about the latest updates to the Office 365 Roadmap – which include a few more highlights for GCC and DoD (Planner and My Analytics – YEAH!).

Office 365 Roadmap Updates – Aug 22 2019

 

Keeping up with Office 365 changes can be a pretty daunting task.  Microsoft regularly updates their Office 365 Roadmap, but keeping track of all of the changes takes effort and time.  We created the Office 365 Pulse show to help make things easier on you.  The Pulse has been created by Tom Duff, Adam Ochs and myself to help provide a weekly update on all of the changes to the roadmap.  Together we review all of the weekly updates and create a 30-min or less summary.  Check out our last couple of episodes below and subscribe to our channel to be notified of new updates.

April 11, 2019

April 4, 2019

March 28, 2019

You can find the rest of our videos here on our YouTube Channel.  We make updates weekly, so be sure to subscribe for an easy way to keep up to date with the Office 365 Roadmap.

I was able to catch the recording today of the presentation Jeff Teper and team did on Monday afternoon at Ignite – BRK2451 – Content Collaboration in the Modern Workplace

Below is my quick 5 Min or Less summary – believe me when I say this one was hard to keep under 5 min!  Lots of great announcements and some amazing demos!

As a follow up I highly recommend that you watch the playback of the session and dig into these announcement blogs to learn more:

• New innovations in SharePoint & Microsoft 365 deliver power and simplicity for content collaboration
• What’s new in security, compliance, & administration for SharePoint & OneDrive from Microsoft Ignite
• Reinventing SharePoint business process at Ignite 2018
• Elevate organizational knowledge with Microsoft Content Services at Ignite 2018
• SharePoint powers teamwork in Office 365 – Ignite 2018 announcements
• Build your modern intranet with SharePoint in Office 365 – Ignite 2018 announcements

So many announcements!  I am behind thrilled that some of the things shown have already been released in my tenant and I eagerly await the rest!

Today in the Modern teamwork: Transform collaboration and communications with Microsoft 365 session we got to see a lot of great new features from Microsoft Teams.  Check out my quick 5 min or less video to learn more!

In addition to my summary, they covered a lot of details on new meeting features, making it easier for you to have meetings on the go and with limited distractions.  They spent a good deal covering those features, but they weren’t the true stand outs to me.  It may be information overload from the days sessions, but until I looked back at my notes, I forgot about them.  They were cool features, but things I viewed more as definitely needed, where the other announcements had way more impact (security, healthcare, front line workers).

All in all, they have been making incredible process in releasing new features and the future roadmap looks amazing!

 

In today’s session keynote for Ignite 2018 I attended the session on the Microsoft Power Platform.   Check out the quick video below to get my take on the session!

You can click here to watch the full session, and you can use the links below to dig into things more:

• October PowerApps updates are rolling out. Say hello to many new features!
• Microsoft Power Platform

This morning I virtually attended the Ignite 2018 Vision Keynote.  Overall I felt that it set the right tone for the rest of the event.  Satya Nadella set the stage by focusing on our Tech Intensity and how it can drive real change in this world.  At Microsoft their vision continues to be empowering our ability to do more.  Many of the things he talked about, especially  around the humanitarian programs are the things that Microsoft does that I love.  I love their passion to make this world a better place for everyone.  I love that they are using technology to make the world better for everyone.  My hope is that others will mimic their efforts and join into the process – changing the way that enterprises can impact the world overall.

Here is my quick 5 min or less summary of the keynote.  It doesn’t go into the technical elements or get too deep in the details, but will give you the super quick cliff notes!

For those that want to dig in deeper, check out the full keynote here and refer to the following links for more details on the programs mentioned here:

• Creating a more secure, intelligent and connected enterprise at Ignite 2018
• From humanitarian programs to new business tools: AI news from Microsoft’s Ignite conference
• Microsoft Ignite 2018: Build and secure next-generation IoT and edge solutions at scale
• Delivering security innovation that puts Microsoft’s experience to work for you
• https://news.microsoft.com/2018/09/24/adobe-microsoft-and-sap-announce-the-open-data-initiative-to-empower-a-new-generation-of-customer-experiences/

 

Have you heard about the SharePoint North American Conference that is happening in Vegas on May 21-23?  What?!  You HAVEN’T?  Well now is the time to check it out and get yourself registered!  This conference isn’t your typical technical conference – there are many reasons for that and in this blog post I am going to cover just 5 reasons that I think everyone should BE THERE!

---

---

 

Reason 1: Content for YOU

One of the best things about SPCNA is that there is content for everyone!  No matter what role you play in your team – there will be specific content just for you. No matter if you are running servers on-prem, developing custom solutions, managing search or simply building out commuinication and collaboration sites – there is content just for you!  Even if you have no hands on responsibilities and instead manage things from a  strategic business level – there is still content specific to you and your role!  And because of the breadth of conent provided, even those that wear multiple hats will be able to find a perfect conference schedule that speaks to thier role within the team.  This is truly something that makes this conference different than any other conference this year.

Don’t belive me?  I bet you in less than 5 minutes you can search through the current session list and find no less than 5 sessions that are on your MUST SEE list!  Below is just a quick list of my MUST SEE sessions:

• 5 Simple ways to improve business productivity with SharePoint, OneDrive, and Microsoft Flow
• Make the Change From SharePoint Designer Workflows to Microsoft Flow
• Microsoft | Geek out on SharePoint Lists & Libraries
• Microsoft | How to collaborate and communicate with Microsoft Teams – an introduction
• Microsoft | Learn what’s new and coming with Office 365 Business Apps (SharePoint, PowerApps, Flow, Forms)

Those are just a few of the many sessions I will be attending at the conference.  I challenge you to take a few minutes and map out your conference schedule. You can even share it with your manager and use that as a way to help show the value of the conference!

Reason 2: Product Team Interaction

Being able to directly talk to and influence the team that creates SharePoint is by far something that sets this conference apart.  Did you know that at this conference if you have an issue with SharePoint that you could meet with and talk with the teams that build specific SharePoint features?  You can directly share your input and requests.  Not only will they listen, but they will ask you questions and really try to understand how it impacts your team and how you work.

Many different members of the Product Team will be attending the conference and even speaking in sessions.  This is really the best opportunity to hear directly from them and to give feedback directly to them.  They want to know how we are using SharePoint and they want to understand what new features we need.  They are all about connecting with community and they are using this event as a platform to do just that.

Reason 3: Community Involvement

I couldn’t have a top 5 list without mentioning community!  The SharePoint Community is certainly something that will set this conference apart.  From sessions delivered by MVPS, happy hours hosted by Vendors and general conversations in passing – this a conference that is full of community.  Everywhere you go, it will be about networking, learning from others and sharing your experiences.  Because Microsoft has such a strong sense of community, the relationships built at this conference will keep going beyond the conference through tools like Twitter, User Groups and the Tech Community.

Reason 4: Learning Beyond My Team

One of the best experiences I have had a conference is being able to get a good understanding of what others on my team are doing.  Because of the depth of sessions, this conference allows me to step in the shoes of others and experience some of the things that are important to them.  While my primary focus is on business aspects of SharePoint – it is good for me to understand how development and administration can impact the business aspect.  This conference gives me a great opportunity to do that – to attend sessions that provide overviews and map out roadmaps.  Knowing this information strengthens my team and allows us to work together easily.  Even better is when my entire team can attend and spread out across all the sessions and then come together to review what we learned.  Some of the best strategies and plans have been made by teams attending a conference like this and putting what they learn into immediate action.

Reason 5: Support, Empowerment & Personal Growth

The final in my list of top 5 reasons is very personal to me.  Attending conferences like this in the past have empowered me to be a better person.  I have no doubt that this conference will be any different.  From attending and leading Women in Tech sessions to joining together in Social causes or simply being inspired to try to new things in my career – I always seem to be empowered to grow from these events.  The SharePoint community is a strong group of folks, that care about each other, the community and the world – they are constantly looking to leave things better than they found them and looking to build people up. Anytime a large group of them meets, there is sure to be an impact.

---

Well there you have it – my top 5 reasons that this conference is one of the must attend events of the year.  I will BE THERE….will YOU?

 

 

I always leave the Ignite Keynotes inspired and thinking about the Microsoft mission:

Our mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.

I always loves the great things we get to see and I love the passion that Satya Nadella has for the world.  I truly believe that he is driving technology to make the world a better place.  Yes…Microsoft is a software company, but the software they create and build is meant to empower those that are on the front lines.  The more they can build and change, the more people can creatively solve problems that have never been addressed before.

While much the keynote went over my head (hello quantum computing), much of the other things discussed highlighted some of the big things that I think we will see in the future.  Technology for things like Ford making design decisions using the hololens and farmers using big data to plan for crops and harvest are the future of things.

But those are the big things – the things that will frame the future, and I live my day to day in the small things.  And while much wasn’t said about the day to day we all experience, Satya said one thing that really hit home.  The idea of changing the culture in order to work differently.  The idea that we cant let the way we have always done things inhibit our creative ability to solve problems.  But this doesn’t happen overnight, and it takes a true culture change.  A change from doing what we have always done….to doing things differently and being creative with the tools we have.  Working differently and thinking differently.  The tools available to us are new and empowering us to work differently and now is the time to help change the cultures around us and embrace these new ideas.  Helping people to step out of the routine and rethink how they work is my encouragement from the keynote today.