Intranet: Maximizing Your Technology

I’m going to go in a different direction than you might think here. Think of maximizing as “making the best use of.” Sure, more and more intranet delivery systems are capable of supporting a plethora of shiny, sparkly tools and features—and there’s nothing wrong with using any (or all) of them, provided you have a business case or need to support their use. However, technology is not always the silver bullet.

Many of your intranet users might be what I’ve heard termed “digital immigrants”—users who are being either pushed or pulled, oftentimes reluctantly, into the online world. If your users can’t easily figure out how to use the fancy tools you’ve provide them with, they’ll revert back to their familiar hammer and nail. Making the best use of your technology means starting with a business goal and then presenting the right tool to your users in such a way that they clearly see the benefit of embracing it. It’s shiny. It’s new. And people use it.

Intranet: Plan for Usefulness

The intranet must be useful in order to bring value to employees. If you know why people go to your site and what they are looking for, the next logical step is to ensure that they can accomplish this as quickly as possible. Ideally, you should perform usability studies BEFORE you launch your intranet. Okay, so most of you already have an intranet up and running. It is not too late to test what you have. Observe users, measure how long it takes for users to complete common tasks, count clicks. Establish metrics; measure where people are going, how long it takes to download or access information, etc.

Intranet: Target Your Audience

Yes, the intranet has an obvious audience of internal employees. However, in order to provide maximum usability, efficiency, and effectiveness, you need to target your site to various groups within your company. Talk to the various departments and divisions; customize their areas to meet their needs. Why do they go to the intranet? What information do they need? How can this site help them do their jobs better? Find out what is going to make your intranet valuable to employees so that they will use it regularly.

Making Your Intranet Successful

We all want quick hits on our intranet to show return on investment and usability. How do we balance content and functionality in order to increase efficiency and the bottom line?

My next several posts will look at revolutionizing your intranet to meet your company’s needs including: targeting your audience, planning for usefulness, maximizing your technology, and measuring value.

Disconnect between Give and Take

I was at a knowledge fair recently and it struck me how attendees viewed getting information versus giving back information--mutually exclusive. Most people at the fair were there to get information. They wanted to learn more about the various internal workings and offerings the company had available. The thought of contributing to the intellectual property of the company was foreign. As promoters and facilitators of knowledge management, it is important to always preach the sharing of best practices, collaborating across teams, and transferring wisdom to those around you. Yes, there are intentional knowledge hoarders...but there are also plenty of other people that simply don't think to post their plan, schedule, checklist, or template where others may benefit. So, go, show, and tell.

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