With every intranet I have helped to create, encouraging people to be more effective and improve their productivity, two things have been at the forefront of my mind. You need to:
- Be clear who is responsible for the content, design and structure of it.
- Have a governance framework that supports stakeholders, partners and publishers.
While it is vital you have a big impact when you launch a new intranet, it is not just about creating a great design on day 1. It is the ongoing need to appeal to people to continue using it. Content and applications that people need are, of course, helpful but having good governance is the only way to make sure the benefits of day 1 continue consistently through to day 100 and onwards during the lifetime of your intranet.
After nearly 20 years working with intranets, I appreciate how important it is to have a governance framework that:
- Keeps your strategy moving in the right direction
- Sets out who is responsible for managing it
- Matches publishing standards with business requirements
- Supports content owners and editors
These can be the crucial factors that help your new intranet. Quicker adoption, increased usage and higher satisfaction are all achieveable if you take the right approach with governance.
I find these factors encourage people using your intranet to be more effective and improve their productivity, bringing greater benefits to your organisation. It helps your stakeholders to see how your intranet can be a critical business tool that supports their key priorities!