Marsh & McLennan Companies Connect (eroom) Site Design Guide

Transcription

1 Marsh & McLennan Companies A Guide for Connect (eroom) Site Owners and Site Coordinators Client Name: Site Name: Site Owner: Page 1 of 3 (1 February 2011)

2 Using This Workbook This workbook has been designed to assist you in considering and recording the possible content and layout of your Connect site. # SECTION DESCRIPTION / NOTES 1 Current Service Delivery How are current services delivered? If you are currently providing on-going service delivery or one-off projects, identify how these services are currently delivered. Specifically, consider the tools or programs being used to support the delivery (e.g., correspondence via , conference calls, Microsoft Project Planner, Microsoft Office, etc.). What worked, and what did not work, and why? If the service delivery is new, identify what will be required, and how you will define its success. 2 Considerations for Using Connect How are you planning to use Connect? Who will be meeting the costs? How will the charges be levied? In what capacity will Connect be used to manage/share information? 3 Site Requirements What critical information is needed to build your Connect site? Summarize the site s purpose, such as managing a particular project, supporting an ongoing relationship or service delivery etc. Detail the processes to be used in this section to capture more in-depth information. If you have flowcharts or other information already developed you may be able to also use those documents as a guideline for developing the structure of your site. Who will have access to this site, and what will be their level of access control? 4 Available Tools and Features Consider the various tools and features available that will help your team organize and manage your ongoing service delivery, projects, etc. 5 Site Layout and Design In this section record specific thoughts or ideas regarding the site design or layout - refer to Appendix A as an example. You may require a top-level folder for each country or region, and sub-folders for each country or region-specific project below the country or region folder; or separate folders for each project etc. These ideas should assist you in determining the next steps of the site s design when either building a new Connect site or reviewing an existing site. 6 Site Membership Who owns the site (usually the person responsible for paying the bill)? Who will coordinate the site (the person(s) responsible for site maintenance, training, and membership management)? What member groups, if any, will be needed? What custom roles, if any, will be needed? 7 File Naming Conventions Recommendations for trouble-free file and folder names. Page 2 of 3 (1 February 2011)

3 1. Current Service Delivery What are the current services being provided and how are they currently being delivered? (Summarize specific tools used to support service delivery e.g., collaboration tools, , sharing documents, etc.) Are the following currently supported by the tools identified above? Scheduling/calendaring Peer reviewing documents Delivery of final documents Repository for ongoing service delivery and project documents Archiving of documents Collaborating on work in progress Managing projects Facilitating discussions Facilitating decision making and stakeholder management Others (specify) Page 3 of 3 (1 February 2011)

4 2. Considerations for Using Connect Why is your team planning to use Connect? What are the objectives/goals of the project(s), service delivery, etc.? Are you using Connect to develop a new process or improve an existing one? If Connect was selected to improve an existing process, why was it selected? What were your frustrations during your last encounter with the process? What is desired or needed from a new process? What would make the process successful? How would you define success? How would you measure the success of the process? Are there any other considerations? Page 4 of 3 (1 February 2011)

5 Which of the common business needs listed below are you trying to resolve? Activity Reporting Approval Process Data Management Document Library Meeting Management Project Management Other common requirements? User-friendliness for a non-technical or other audience Private work areas Team access in all or some parts of the Connect site Links to other sites Site Requirement Notes: Who will use this Connect site? Your MMC Team Members Other MMC Team Members Other MMC Office Team Members Other MMC Companies Team Members Client Team Members Outside Suppliers/Third Party Team Members How will members access control (permissions) be defined? (See Appendix D) Read/Write or Read Only Your MMC Team Members: Yes or Yes Other MMC Team Members: Yes or Yes Other MMC Office Team Members: Yes or Yes Other MMC Companies Team Members: Yes or Yes Client Team Members: Yes or Yes Outside Suppliers/Third Party Members: Yes or Yes Who will be responsible for managing content and keeping it up to date (e.g., one of the Site Coordinators)? Page 5 of 3 (1 February 2011)

6 4. Available Tools and Features Which of the following Connect tools do you plan to use? Project-Specific Folders Team List (Contacts database) Discussions Notes Polls Calendars Databases (templates listed below) o Contacts o Document Library o Issues (customizable) o Meetings o Milestones o Progress Tracker o Recruiting Tracker o Resources Required o Survey Table o Tasks o URL Links Inbox Links Peer Review Project Plans Dashboards o Calendar o Database o Project Plan Which of the following standard Connect features do you plan to use? Access Controls Announcements Database Instructions Folder Descriptions Hidden Items Member Groups Notifications Project Plans Project Status Indicator Version Tracking Welcome Message Which of the following additional Connect features, using the eroom plug-in, do you plan to use? Double-click Editing Drag and Drop Outlook Synchronization Rich text editor Page 6 of 3 (1 February 2011)

7 5. Site Layout and Design Top-Level Folders for: Access Controls: Sub-level Folders for: Top-level Folder: Access Controls: Design Tips and Tricks and Best Practices Limit the number of items at the top level of your Connect site to 10 to 12 items or less Limit the number of sub-folders to four levels Use item description areas to give your team instructions and directions Utilize the Project Status indicator to keep your team updated on the status of the project Place only one copy of a document in a Connect site and link to it from other areas in the site Ensure the site can be accessed by all team members Have an introductory statement (e.g., objective or mission statement) at the top of the Connect site in the Welcome Message area. Reorder items in the left navigation pane by putting blank spaces in front of the item name Drag and drop items in the center map pane to move them to a desired position Page 7 of 3 (1 February 2011)

8 6. Site Membership Site Owner: Site Coordinator(s) Site Members and their Roles _ Site Groups and their Roles Custom Roles and their Access Levels Page 8 of 3 (1 February 2011)

9 7. File Naming Conventions If you put spaces or other illegal characters in file or folder names, your pages may seem fine if you preview the pages in a browser from files stored on your local computer, but then, when you upload them to the server and look at them over the internet things may go wrong. Recommendations for trouble-free file and folder names: Use only alphanumeric characters, dashes, and underscores. Characters you must avoid include: # $ } { % ^ & * ( ) +., : Use all lowercase characters to prevent naming errors. If you mis-type the case in an HTML reference, the Web server will not find the file Use the proper file type extension (the three characters that come after the document name) for the file type. (If you save an image in the JPG file format, but the file name is image.gif, visitors will see a broken image icon.) Keep file names as short as possible, but they must make sense. Files names that are excessively long may cause problems, 8 characters (plus three for the extension) is ideal but not required Sensible file names make URL's easy to communicate. Avoid arcane acronyms or abbreviations. Sensible is more important than short! Can you read the URL over the phone? Page 9 of 3 (1 February 2011)