How housing associations are discovering the art of the possible with Office 365

Office 365 is a topic we’ve blogged about frequently at TSG. That’s because there’s always something to say about it; whether it’s a new feature or app, a new way of working or to talk about how TSG is using it.

For many businesses, Office 365 is simply an up-to-date version of the applications, such as Word and Excel, that they use every day. But, as we’ve said for years, it’s so much more than that.

We’ve had great success in deploying Office 365 as a solution to a number of common business problems, from clunky, paper-based processes to better approval workflows and removing silos within an organisation. One of the best things about the suite is its application can be as broad or specific as you like.

One sector that is reaping the benefits of Office 365 is social housing. Many housing associations have already implemented Office 365, meaning they’ve got a wealth of tools at their disposal that can increase efficiency and productivity, streamline processes and communication methods and ultimately allow them to focus on the most important thing: their tenants’ experience.

SharePoint has a long-standing reputation as an outstanding piece of software, but once upon a time, licensing and implementation costs would have reached tens of thousands at the very least. Thanks to its free inclusion in a number of Office 365 packages and Microsoft’s shift towards low to no code applications, it’s now available to organisations of all sizes.

The application we’ve found most effective in the social housing space is utilising SharePoint as a document management system. With stringent government regulations to comply with, your organisation needs a document management solution with security, governance and approvals at its heart, and SharePoint ticks all those boxes.

What’s great about SharePoint, and the Office 365 productivity suite as a whole, is its versatility. SharePoint can also function as a communication site, a fully-fledged intranet platform, a knowledgebase and so much more.

Our Office 365 and SharePoint expert, Tony Hughes, will be delivering a webinar on what we like to call the ‘hidden treasures’ within Office 365, tailored specifically for housing associations. If you want to learn more about unlocking the hidden value in the Office 365 suite, you can sign up to this webinar, on 18^th June between 2-3pm, on our event page – or if you’re unable to attend, sign up and we’ll be happy to send you the recording!

Can’t wait until 18^th June for more insights? Check out our CMO Stephen Green’s article in the latest issue of Housing Technology magazine, where he discusses what productivity actually means and how social housing providers like yours can achieve this using a tool that’s very likely already at your disposal.