Governance (Department)
Overview
- An image banner and short introduction that establish the site as the single source of truth for SharePoint, Teams, and OneDrive policy, including the current policy version and its effective date.
- A countdown timer to the date the new governance policy takes effect, with a plain summary of exactly what is changing.
- A governance news section for policy approvals, external sharing changes, and new request forms, so announcements are dated and easy to find later.
- A Start Here quick links row and a tiled policy and standards library covering provisioning, naming, external sharing, retention, classification, lifecycle, permissions, and Copilot use.
- An editorial block for requesting a new site or team, stating the turnaround time and what a provisioned workspace arrives pre-configured with.
- Site owner responsibilities and naming and structure standards written as short, checkable rules with real naming examples.
- A recertification progress chart, a training and office hours calendar, a named governance committee, a three-minute explainer video, and a call to action for governance questions.
Benefits
- Site owners can see exactly what they are accountable for, so membership reviews and recertification stop slipping.
- Policy changes land with a date and a countdown, so nobody is caught out when anonymous sharing links stop working.
- One tiled library replaces a scattered set of policy documents, so people stop hunting for the current version.
- A request form replaces the governance mailbox, which turns provisioning into a predictable two-business-day process.
- Naming and classification standards are shown with real examples, so new workspaces are consistent from day one.
- The recertification chart makes division-level progress visible, which encourages teams to finish without anyone chasing them.
- The governance committee is named on the page, so questions reach a person instead of a shared inbox.
Common Questions About This Governance Department Site
What is this governance department site built with?
It is built entirely with standard SharePoint web parts – text, countdown timer, news, quick links, image tiles, editorial, quick chart, events, people, video, and call to action – finished with a custom theme and custom fonts. There is no custom code and there are no third-party tools. It is the kind of clean, maintainable department site Greg Zelfond builds for IT and governance teams.
What is included on the governance department site?
The homepage carries a governance introduction with the current policy version, a countdown to the next policy effective date, governance news, a Start Here links row, a tiled policy and standards library, a site and team request block, site owner responsibilities, naming and structure standards, a recertification progress chart, training and office hours, the governance committee, a short video, and a question call to action.
Does this design use any custom code or third-party tools?
No. Everything on this page is native SharePoint, configured rather than coded. That matters because out-of-the-box designs stay stable, secure, and maintainable, keep working when Microsoft ships updates, and can be handed to an internal team without a developer on standby. Out-of-the-box is the only way Greg builds.
Can this design be customized for our organization?
Absolutely. The theme, fonts, hero image, policy tiles, naming examples, request links, chart data, and committee members are all tailored to the organization. Greg adapts the layout to how governance actually runs where you work – your policy set, your classification labels, your provisioning process, and the committee or working group that owns the decisions.
Do we still need a governance site if we already have a governance policy document?
A policy document answers what the rules are, but it does not make them easy to follow. This site turns the same rules into something people act on: the current version in one place, the change date visible, request forms one click away, owner duties written as a short list, and progress by division shown on a chart.
Can Greg build this governance site for our organization?
Yes – this is exactly the kind of work Greg Zelfond does. As an independent SharePoint consultant and Microsoft MVP, he designs and builds out-of-the-box department sites like this one, then sets up the governance model, naming, and site owner training behind them. Reach out through the contact page to talk about your environment.
