Summary
The Mission
Our client is a leading national railway infrastructure maintenance company with 40,000 + employees. They needed a solution to transform their cumbersome internal event registration and improve visibility of training on regional and departmental level. Goal was to leverage their existing SharePoint environment and introduce a smooth and user-friendly self-enrollment process
The Outcome
Using the Event Management app, the client successfully established a well-structured and efficient booking system on SharePoint. The new system streamlined event registration and publication, resulting in a substantial increase in proactive employee engagement.
The Impact
The implementation of the “Enrollment platform” within 4 weeks led to a dramatic improvement in user engagement. It multiplies fourfold within six months to over 2000 users and reduced frustration to none. This transformation turned the registration process into a more pleasant experience. Nowadays, 50 events on average are being scheduled monthly across various SharePoint sites.
How it all started
Our client, a major national railway infrastructure company, faced a daunting task due to an inflexible registration process that resulted in employee frustration, excessive email exchanges, and long waiting periods for users. They needed to deliver a unified, user-friendly training registration process to their vast workforce. Employees were dispersed across multiple departments, each with unique training & event needs. These shortcomings triggered the search for an effective and efficient solution.
Finding SharePoint|sapiens app
To alleviate their pain points and improve user experience, they decided to innovate within their existing Microsoft 365 ecosystem. They looked for a solution that could seamlessly integrate with their SharePoint intranet. Main goals were to providing an intuitive, user-friendly interface and the possibility for self-enrollment.
After reviewing various solutions, the project manager in charge found the SharePoint|sapiens app to be the one that truly checked all the boxes. The choice was clear.
“We were looking for a solution within SharePoint and there was so much more that we could do with the SharePoint|sapiens App. Especially the possibility to offer Self-enrollment was a big win.”
Its promise of seamless integration with Microsoft 365, robust data security, and an intuitive interface made it the ideal solution. The integration would mean familiar navigation for the employees, leading to higher adoption rates.
The Gamble that paid off: testing, implementing, and launching within 4 weeks
The company decided to take a calculated risk by implementing the SharePoint|sapiens app initially on a local level. With a single contact leading the testing and implementation and minimal IT support, they began with an initial user base of just 20 employees.
The implementation process was swift and efficient. With the help of our support team, the project manager in charge progressed rapidly from testing to launch. Within 4 weeks, the first invitations for a Leadership program with 100 participants went out.
“Support was brilliant! I would record the sessions and I could watch the videos afterward“
A relief for both organizers and users
“The app was immediately very well received from end users because they could finally look at all the dates available and book the appointments that suit them. We gave them the freedom to pick and choose”
The Event management app transformed the company’s training registration process. By integrating it within the Microsoft 365 environment, employees found it easier to navigate and register for relevant training sessions. The solution led to a significant reduction in email exchanges and waiting periods. Due to its success, more events were shared and user adoption rose significantly. Within the first 6 months, up to 450 users were actively using the platform on regular basis.
“The app offers a structured journey to users. I am sure that nearly all people that booked spots so far do not even realize it is an external app as it seamlessly integrates into our SharePoint.”
The New Normal
Employees are now able to manage their own event and training registration. They can self-enroll for sessions and have immediate access to content, aligning with their schedules and needs. Furthermore, each booking is promptly followed by an Outlook calendar notification. This simplifies the process, and minimizes time spent on administrative tasks.
“All we need to do is setup the event and SharePoint|sapiens takes care of the rest”
From the event organizer’s perspective, using the Event Management app brought following key benefits:
- Efficiency: The app integrates seamlessly with the company’s existing internal communication channels. As a result, It reduces the time and effort needed to set up and publicize events and training sessions.
- Synchronization with Outlook Calendar: Thanks to the automated Outlook calendar notifications, organizers are freed from the manual task of sending reminders to attendees.
- Self-Enrollment: THE key feature for our client. This not only simplifies the registration process for users. It also minimizes the administrative responsibilities of organizers, as they no longer need to manually manage attendee registrations.
- Reduced Administrative Load: By allowing end-users to self-enroll and manage their own event registrations. The app significantly reduces the administrative burden on organizers.
- Scalability: The app can efficiently handle the scheduling needs of large numbers of users.
- Insights: Organizers can easily track registration and attendance metrics, helping them plan and adjust their training programs more effectively.
- Consistency: The app ensures a uniform registration experience across the company, regardless of the department or scale of the event.
- Flexibility: The app can be used on different SharePoint sites. Therefore, adapting easily to the different needs of various departments.
“We work on so many different areas with different teams having different training opportunities, we can show specific events on different sites and target our audience displaying the right events to the right people”
Top features for the Organizers
Teams Meeting link integration: The automatic addition of a Teams meeting link when an event is posted. All attendees receive the Teams meeting link directly in their calendar invitation.
Effortless Multi-day Enrollment: The capability to enroll users on multi-session training in just one link.
Interest driven scheduling: The functionality of scheduling events and training sessions according to demand. Users express their interest first, allowing then organizers to tailor-make the offer. Thus offering training that users need when they need it.
Enrollment Management and Reporting: The ability to manage enrollment lists and view participants lists per event. As a result, organizers and trainers always have a clear overview of the attendance.
The road ahead
The new normal for our client is a streamlined, efficient event management process within their familiar Microsoft 365 ecosystem. The SharePoint|sapiens app has become integral to their training and event management, with an impressive 2000 users enrolled and an average of 50 events scheduled per month.
The future looks promising, with plans to extend the app’s usage across more departments and use the app to schedule complex multiday training sessions and retreats.