Rethinking the Role of the Intranet
Intranets have five purposes: Content, communication, collaboration, culture, and activity. At their worst, they’re cluttered “employee bulletin boards.” At their best, they’re well-organized compendia of information — tools that boost connection and collaboration, linking people, insights, and experience.
Intranet teams should focus on delivering business value. Organizations are made of people who work with other people. So maybe content isn't king -- maybe people are king. Don’t just give your people a static repository of news, forms, policies, and procedures. Make your intranet an essential part of their day-to-day work life. Make it integral to getting the job done.
Your intranet has to serve your business. Defining that core business is your first step. Then, sit down with stakeholders and ask, “What does our intranet need to be? What key activities does it have to support? How can we help the people who do the actual work to work together?”
adapted from “Bringing Order to Your Intranet,” a Virtual Seminar by James Robertson