A SharePoint folder structure people actually use
Nobody in the office is quite sure which copy of a file is the real one, so everyone keeps their own. Most small firms have this problem without ever naming it.
Where it hurts
Files live in three places at once. Some on the old server, some in someone's personal OneDrive, some emailed back and forth with names like quote_final_v2_USE_THIS. Finding the current version means asking around.
When someone's off, the document you need is on their machine and you can't get to it. When someone leaves, half the company's paperwork walks out with their login.
You're paying for Microsoft 365 already. Most of what would fix this is sitting there switched on and unused, just never set up so people trust it.
What I'd build
I'd set up SharePoint and Teams properly inside the Microsoft 365 you already pay for: a folder structure that matches how you actually work, permissions so the right people see the right things, and version history so the current file is always obvious. Everything syncs to phones and laptops, so documents come to site with you. The migration is where most tidy-ups die, so that's where I'd add an AI step: it reads each file scattered across desktops, old drives and inboxes, works out what it is, suggests where it belongs and what to call it, and flags duplicates and dead versions. You approve in batches instead of dragging four thousand files one by one, and when someone leaves, the files stay with the company.
What changes
- One place for company files that people trust and use
- Years of scattered files read, sorted and filed, approved in batches
- The current version always obvious, no more v2_FINAL
- Paperwork stays with the company when someone leaves
Related fixes
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