Training Needs Analysis — SharePoint News & Newsletter Micro‑Training

Problem Statement

Right now, communication across teams is kind of all over the place. People send announcements through email, Teams chats, random documents, or not at all. SharePoint News exists — and it’s a great tool — but most users either don’t know it’s there or don’t understand how it fits into their day‑to‑day communication.

We’re also heading into the 11/5 SharePoint upgrade, and this is the perfect moment to tighten up how we communicate and give people a simple, repeatable way to share updates. The goal is to reduce noise, centralize information, and help teams feel more connected.

Audience Analysis

The audience is a mix of:

• People who are comfortable in Teams but barely touch SharePoint

• People who use SharePoint but only for file storage

• People who want to communicate but don’t know the “right” place to do it

• Leaders who want visibility but don’t have a simple tool to publish updates

• Users who prefer quick, visual content over long documentation

They don’t need a full SharePoint course. They need one small, high‑impact skill: How to create and share a News post (and turn it into a newsletter).

Task Analysis

Here are the exact tasks users need to learn — nothing more, nothing less:

• Create a News post

• Choose a template

• Add a title, header image, and sections

• Publish the post

• Send a newsletter digest

• Share the post in Teams

• Understand where News rolls up (homepages, hubs, Teams)

• Follow basic governance (naming, frequency, purpose)

This is the backbone of the micro‑training.

Success Criteria

We’ll know this micro‑training worked if we see:

• More News posts being created

• Fewer “announcement” emails

• Higher engagement on comms sites

• More teams using newsletters for weekly/monthly updates

• Fewer “Where do I find updates?” questions

• More consistent communication across departments

• Better visibility for leadership messages

If we hit even half of these, the training is doing its job.

Risks & Constraints

• Users may still default to email out of habit

• Some teams may not have clear communication owners

• People may not know where their SharePoint site is

• Governance may need reinforcement

• Templates may need to be standardized

These are manageable — and the micro‑training helps address most of them.

Recommendation

A short, visual micro‑training focused on:

• Why News matters

• How to create it

• How to share it

• How to send a newsletter

• Where to get help