What makes a successful Intranet?

In recent years it has become a standard operation for businesses to have Intranets as part of the communications landscape, but the majority of them only provide a disappointing experience due not putting up the correct content staff require, because of this many of the companies expect staff to take minimal interest in their intranet. Generally, in current businesses staff mainly only use intranets for looking up phone numbers of colleague or to find annual leave forms.

It is important for any business that is thinking about implementing an intranet or already has one to encourage and help staff work faster and smarter, help them feel engaged with an employer that listens.

Examples

In order to implement a successful and usable intranet, you must create internal communications that match to the culture of your company. For example, Richard Bransons “Virgin”, if you talk to any of his employees, they tell you working there is fun, young place to work, they refer to Branson as “Richard”, as they see him as an approachable member of the team. This has helped Virgin build a reputation as a company which supports corporate communication and makes staff feel valued and supported. Therefore, it is important for your Intranet to have a mechanism which encourages employees on how to improve your business (if not, why not?)

Another example of successful internal communication on an Intranet, is Jetstar, they nicknamed their intranet. “JEN”, it is accessible via secure intranet access 24/7 anywhere, this is ideal for their well-travelled team. Jetstar’s CEO Bruce Buchanan is open to any questions from staff on the intranet, the forum is called “Ask the CEO”, which allows staff to submit questions to Bruce at any time. Yours should be a “Source of Truth” for staff and encourages them to log in regularly. It needs to be easy to use and has the most up to date information on there.

Generally, people are becoming more and more comfortable in accessing and sharing information online, with networking tools such as Facebook, Twitter, Linkin etc, Intranets are now replied on more than ever as an important tool for internal communication and information, and from an employer’s point of view you can ensure staff communications and sharing of the company’s data stays internal to the company.

The latest software Intranet program tools include software to manage, maintain and govern the intranet and its content including page templates, permission structures and moderation controls.

The key to a good intranet is ensuring that employees have up to date information at their fingertips.

Some simple tips for a successful intranet to remember:

• Create a strategy and action plan, so you can set KPI’s for your intranet, so you can monitor success and keep improving it.
• Try to appoint someone to manage the ongoing development of the intranet.
• Make sure it is the main area for your staff to access information, post all the main documents, transfer all content from server or directory onto the intranet.
• Use the role of a based home pages, this provides each member of staff with a more personalized section.
• The key to the success of it is a usage, make sure it is engaging to staff, use a pleasant design, simple but interesting navigation and layout.
• Get feedback and further ideas – remember a good intranet is one that constantly evolves and changes to suit the needs of its users.
• Make sure Search works – a working search functionality is vital in order to build trust and faith in your intranet.
• Urge staff to add content, try to keep things fun, i.e., latest social event, staff news, football tipping
• Always keep up to date – the information on there should be current and accurate.

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