Always remember why you are developing your governance framework. With this framework, your strategy has clear direction, relevance, and resources needed to continue the momentum created. The framework is essential for a well-managed intranet from which your organisation benefits and which provide a consistently good experience. This is what people love to find and will encourage them to use it more to help them more with their work.
The purpose of a governance framework is to ensure you balance business needs with the user experience. Every intranet is different depending on the size, type, and culture
of the organisation it supports. However, there are some key governance principles that are common to their success. These principles are:
- Know your organisation
- Define the scope
- Put people first
- Achieve the maximum
- Compare and benchmark
- Do what you say you will do
- Keep it legal
You can find a detailed explanation of each principle in this post with .
While these principles will vary in importance to you when you develop your approach to good governance, they are all important. In particular, you ignore the first at your peril. It is critical that you know your organisation well so you can plan and prioritise as you develop your governance framework.
Once you are clear on the first principle, you can follow through the other six and apply them appropriately depending on what you require for good governance. Keeping to these principles will help you to set the right direction you need to take and adapt to any changes that affect your organisation.
It may take more time and effort to follow these principles when creating the governance framework. However, when you set this against time saved in future if your framework is awed, it will feel a wise investment. Having a firm foundation in place at the outset will give you the confidence to move forward in the right direction and with the right approach.
My next post will cover how to develop a governance framework. If you can’t wait for this, you can find out now about how to develop the right governance framework. For practical best-practice examples try ‘Digital success or digital disaster?‘. Read the introductory chapter to find out more.