Last week the people of Scotland took part in an historic vote to decide on the level of democratic governance they felt best met their requirements. Did they want to have a full devolved level of governance where they made all their own decisions? Or did they want to have a framework balancing the right level of central direction or strategic governance while meeting local requirements?
I thought it sounded familiar and I realised how our intranets have a similar approach. If your intranet is out of touch with what your organisation, users, and publishers need to help them then you haven’t got the balance of governance right.
So, what are the lessons we can draw from this to help how we manage our intranets – whether they are based in Scotland or global?
- Keep in touch with everyone involved in how your intranet is managed and used.
- Find out what they require and plan how to meet their needs. No last minute pledges that are not fully thought through!
- Have a framework with roles, responsibilities for all levels that can be flexible to meet new priorities.
- Make sure your approach to governance is in tune with the culture of your organisation and mood of people using your intranet.
- Don’t be afraid to ask people what their view is and hold the equivalent to a referendum to find out.