For knowledge managers and teams dealing with content sprawl in SharePoint
Reading Time: 3 minutesThe Challenge
Texterity was hired to optimize a critical SharePoint-based documentation library for the Global Project Management Office (GPMO) of a professional services company. The deadline was tight—just eight weeks before go-live. The content wasn’t enormous (several hundred documents, including templates and project planning resources), but user acceptance testing (UAT) revealed a major problem: users found it difficult to navigate and locate the documents they needed.
At first glance, the library looked fine—nicely formatted, using standard SharePoint settings. However, the consultant who had built it had meticulously divided the documents into a large set of sub-folders. While this seemed organized, it resulted in fragmented search results, deeply nested folder paths, and cumbersome SharePoint URLs. The entire purpose of the library—quick and easy access—was being undermined. This had come about because the consultant had naturally chosen folders as the primary organisational method for the library, as many people do. But while folders are perfectly logical in the server-client world, they’re not the best option for SharePoint.
What could Texterity do?
The Insight
With years of SharePoint experience, one solution immediately came to mind: metadata navigation. Instead of burying documents in sub-folders, we could tag them based on key attributes like title, purpose, file type, and function. These tags would then serve as SharePoint columns, making documents easier to find and sort—no more deep folder hierarchies.
Even better, enterprise metadata would allow for a centralized ‘tag store’ at the SharePoint site level, ensuring consistency across the organization. To enforce this, mandatory tagging rules were enforced for document upload or creation, ensuring that every new document uploaded was classified appropriately. This effectively made the library self-organising.
The Implementation
Convincing the project manager—a senior PMO officer—was a challenge. Her main concern? Time! Would restructuring the entire site with only six weeks left put the project at risk? As she put it:
“The perfect is the enemy of the good.”
To make the case, we built a working demo over a (very) long weekend, manually duplicating and tagging documents while setting up views and filters. Seeing it in action on the next Tuesday made all the difference, and she gave the green light.
The best part? We could implement metadata without disrupting the existing site, thanks to SharePoint’s underated “no folder view” option. We tagged all of the contents of the PMO library, and then created views, using the no folder view option, which meant that the previous folder-type views didn’t suddenly dissappear. Then we made the new list views available.
After introducing UAT users to the new system, we received overwhelmingly positive feedback:
“This is so much better!”
“I can actually find what I need!”
By go-live, the metadata-driven architecture was fully in place, and was introduced in a series of global Zoom meetings. Teams across the globe started using it seamlessly (most of them blithly unaware of how much worse it might have turned out!)
The Impact
The launch was a success. The global PMO teams adopted the new system without friction, and engagement increased. The improvement was so well received that Texterity was brought back for Phase 2—to implement Microsoft InfoPath Forms, automating documentation and project reporting workflows.
Key Takeaways
🚨 Beware SharePoint folders! While folders seem intuitive, they often create deep, hard-to-navigate structures that impede usability.
🔖 Use metadata instead. Tagging documents enables better search, filtering, and usability—without long, unreadable URLs.
📌 Enterprise metadata is a game-changer. A centralized tag store improves consistency across teams.
⚡ Show, don’t tell. A working demo can be the key to overcoming resistance and proving the value of metadata.