The 5 C s of a Successful Intranet

Transcription

1 of a Successful Intranet whitepaper

2 When discussing the vision of a new intranet during discovery workshops with our clients, a common theme emerges clarity. This is often summed up in statements like I need my company intranet to be clear. But what does this really mean? There are a number of elements at play when we start to deconstruct the theme of clarity in an intranet. As with most journeys we ll start at the beginning - understanding the clear reasons and objectives for users visiting an intranet in the first place. This is usually to complete a task or find tools, resources or information that help us do our jobs better. This whitepaper will explore how intranets help us with our work and working lives. We ll take a closer look at the purpose of an intranet which is wrapped up in our 5 C s proposition, focusing on reaching an end goal - an interactive hub that is not only engaging, but useful and clear. 2

3 Navigating your Intranet We ve established why a user would visit an intranet in the first place they are looking for something specific to help them do their job. The next step in this journey is to actually surface the information or resource they are looking for, quickly and easily. When travelling, we want to get to our intended destination with ease - avoiding bumpy roads, U-turns and getting lost. In intranet terms, this means that navigation paths that support the user journeys need to be unambiguous; the signposts must be specific, concise and familiar to us, clearly pointing us in the right direction. Blended with this theme of clarity and findability, is good design. This is essential if you value things not only working well but looking good too. When we travel, we should travel in style! The very best design finds that perfect sweet-spot that hybridises functionality based on solid user-centred design principles, and packaging them up to look stunning. To assist you on your quest for clarity, we present ClearPeople s 5C s - the essential map to navigate your way to a successful intranet. comprise the fundamental purpose and experience of a good intranet, so being: Communicate; Collaborate; Community; Contribute; and Customise. 3

4 Communicate Communication is about sharing. Not only is it essential in keeping employees in the loop with business news and objectives, but there are several other ways to communicate in an intranet environment that may not be so obvious. Skype for Business, an enterprise social platform for instance, can be integrated into the intranet so you re able to understand whether a colleague is available or not by tracking their status, and if they are, you can converse with them in realtime regardless of location. Discussion boards, blogs and activity streams are all good vehicles for improving communication in our daily working lives and helps people share their ideas, find out information and feel as though they re able to have a say, which all adds value to an organisation. Communication barriers can affect your employee s efficiency which may hinder productivity and growth. Good communication provision in an intranet empowers users to share knowledge more effectively and engage positively with one another. 4

5 Collaborate Collaboration embodies the concept of working with one another more effectively. Enterprise platforms make the ability to collaborate with your peers more accessible. Team areas for instance, allow an audience to share documents, have discussions in forums and access task lists which all improve teamwork and management visibility. Getting collaboration right promotes productivity by enabling information gathering and sharing more easily what we really want to achieve is helping users to get their jobs done faster and better, all the while remaining cohesive and consistent with the work within their team. There are various collaborative enterprise tools available to encourage a more open and collaborative culture to flourish. 5

6 Community Community creates a sense of belonging and establishes an informal space for information sharing and team building. Community areas help to dissolve barriers that may exist between business units and/or office locations. A community is more than an audience engaging with the intranet, it is an area where employees can openly turn to for support from their peers, as well as access information and participate in the more social side of their working lives, such as sports clubs. There is a myriad of functionality that can be created in an intranet that generates a sense of community, from dedicated discussion forums to specialist applications that allow for immediate group engagement. Yammer is such a tool that is being adopted into many organisations. It allows an audience to share information with one another in a more transient, conversational way that reflects our real-life and natural way of communicating with one another. In some respects, it may come to replace a large portion of traditional communication via which normally is a more formal approach to discussion. 6

7 Contribute Allowing an intranet audience to contribute is one of the most important of our 5 C s. As the workspace evolves, it is apparent that employees value the ability to contribute directly to an organisation. This can be in as gentle a form as casting votes in an intranet poll, sharing opinions about what biscuits to serve in meetings, or crucially contacting content owners directly when content may be inaccurate or out of date. What s important is that employees feel their opinions are heard and are listened to, thereby creating an inclusive culture and contributing to staff satisfaction, which obviously benefits the whole organisation. 7

8 Customise The homepage of an intranet is crucial to its overall success. It s your first touchpoint with the organisation and the gateway to knowledge sharing. By customising your homepage and making it relevant to you and your goals, your engagement with it will increase as it allows you access to the areas you visit most frequently, saving you time and effort in finding exactly what you need, fast. Tailoring the intranet to provide key content on the homepage to a specific audience based on factors like location, unit or role helps feed through priority information like staff changes and company news, and fosters a sense of inclusion. 8

9 Breaking down barriers We ve discussed how communicating via an intranet can take many forms, but this communication is only effective if barriers to engage with colleagues are broken down. By putting your employees first and understanding the challenges they face daily, you ll be able to strategise a way to get them working more effectively. Technology alone is not the answer. The success of an intranet also depends on fostering a sense of community and inclusion, identifying advocates or power-users to help drive adoption organisation-wide. Putting together a launch plan and training your employees to use the intranet effectively along with tactical solutions to get employees to use it, like gamification and competitions for example, will all increase its overall success. 9

10 Get in touch To us, the 5 C s are more than just a guide to a successful intranet, they are fundamental pillars that form the foundations of an interactive and inclusive communication and collaboration gateway. We ve been designing communications intranets since 2003 so we know a thing or two about what works and what doesn t. If you d like to know more about our 5C s and how to drive adoption of your intranet, we d be really happy to discuss how ClearPeople can help your business. Talk to one of our experienced Consultagents today for a no-nonsense chat on how to make the best decisions for your future intranet. Call us on +44 (0) Visit us at Like us on Facebook: Follow us on Twitter: Join our LinkedIn Community: Drop us a line at [email protected] Or pop in for a coffee at 20 Canning Place, London W8 5AD 10