Your corporate intranet is a vital tool for communication, collaboration, and knowledge sharing among your employees. But how can you make sure it is effective, engaging, and user-friendly? Here are some tips to optimize your corporate intranet and boost its value for your organization.
Before you start making changes to your intranet, you need to have a clear vision of what you want to achieve and how you will measure it. Do you want to increase employee satisfaction, productivity, innovation, or retention? Do you want to improve internal communication, culture, or learning? How will you track and evaluate your intranet's performance and impact? Set SMART goals and choose relevant metrics that align with your business objectives and user needs.
The company intranet can be a vital tool to engage employees as well as provide knowledge and enhance collaboration. However, the intranet has to be optimised so that it can be effective. Well defined objectives, goals and a clear site map with easy navigation can be a good place to start. User centric, intuitive design, will go a long way to ensure that employees use it and do not find it daunting. I have seen intranets that look like a maze of links and that can be be a big put off! A clear content strategy that presents curated and relevant content will help engage employees. Also, making sure the site is optimised for mobile use is a given in today’s times. A site that is useful, engaging and employee centric is a winner!
In the world of data analysis, which is increasingly sophisticated, specific, and rich in demographic and psychographic information, it is necessary to define what needs to be measured and for what purpose. I think it is ideal to use this information to know much better who your target audience is and thus be able to serve them better.
> conduct intranet user research through surveys, interviews and usage data analysis to identify pain points & improvement opportunities > set clear KPIs to continuously measure intranet performance on engagement, usage, satisfaction, & business results it drives > streamline navigation, site architecture & search to make accessing information and completing tasks intuitive and seamless > incorporate interactive features like commenting, liking and groups to drive adoption through participatory experiences > develop segmented, dynamic intranet content catered to employee profiles and functions relentless user focus, governance, promotion & measurement evolve intranets into strategic business tools versus just information repositories.
The intranet is a misunderstood tool in the organisation setting. Most staff view it as a dump site for information which is often an overload. We should invest in creating user journeys and experiences as we would when building company websites. This will enable the users navigate easily and explore more when they land on it. Another thing l have found helpful is linking articles or information we send via emails back to the intranet. This creates a learning for the user to initially go to the intranet to get what they need. Finally, the intranet should be a collaborative effort by the key players in the organisation who drive information - HR, Marketing, Communication and the Executive Office - which makes it a one stop shop.
Your intranet should be designed with your users in mind. That means you need to understand who they are, what they do, what they need, and what they expect from your intranet. You can use various methods to gather user data and feedback, such as surveys, interviews, focus groups, usability tests, analytics, or observation. Use this information to create user personas, scenarios, and journeys that will guide your intranet development and improvement.
In addition to what has been mentioned here, I think the advantage today is that we know the audience much better. We can learn about their consumption habits, their tastes, and also what resonates with their interests. This information allows us to be more selective in how we reach them. Today, there are more niche markets than mass markets.
Your intranet content should be relevant, useful, and engaging for your users. It should also be easy to find, access, and consume. To optimize your content and structure, you need to do a content audit and inventory, identify gaps and opportunities, and create a content strategy and governance. You also need to organize your content into logical categories, labels, and navigation, and use search engine optimization (SEO) techniques to enhance its visibility and discoverability.
As in the previous point, I believe that knowing the niche you want to reach is very important. Achieving participation is a goal that allows you to access the interests of the audience. Clarity, compelling stories, call to action.
Your intranet design and functionality should be attractive, intuitive, and responsive. It should also support your users' tasks and goals, and provide them with features and tools that enhance their experience and productivity. To enhance your design and functionality, you need to follow the best practices of web design, user interface (UI), and user experience (UX). You also need to ensure your intranet is compatible with different devices, browsers, and platforms, and test its speed, performance, and security.
Nonverbal elements evoke emotional responses and can influence how people feel and respond. Art, graphics, colors, and other visual components play an important role in triggering emotions and creating connections. Taking care of graphic elements, color, fonts, can generate incredible connections to brands.
Your intranet optimization efforts will be wasted if your users don't know about it or don't use it. You need to promote your intranet and encourage adoption among your employees. You can use various channels and strategies to communicate the benefits, features, and updates of your intranet, such as newsletters, emails, videos, webinars, or training sessions. You can also use gamification, recognition, rewards, or social media to motivate and engage your users and foster a sense of community.
Your intranet should be a two-way communication channel. Similar to the legacy "suggestion box", create channels within your intranet so that employees' voices are heard. Offer an outlet to ask questions or give anonymous feedback to the CEO. Create an inbox that is frequently monitored for employees to suggest intranet or organizational improvements. And of course, make it a networking opportunity so that colleagues can connect with their teammates from different departments.
Make it an interactive, community experience where employees can chat and ask for help in a forum setting. Co-workers can share their expertise and be rewarded for contributions. Strong intranets can be an incredibly valuable tool to both enhance productivity through knowledge sharing and improve team culture.
Your intranet optimization is not a one-time project, but a continuous process. You need to monitor and improve your intranet regularly, based on your goals, metrics, and user feedback. You need to keep your content fresh, relevant, and updated, and your design and functionality aligned with the latest trends and technologies. You also need to identify and fix any issues or problems that may arise, and explore new ways to add value and innovation to your intranet.
Improving an intranet for employees means continually trying to make content more relevant, authoritative, and personalized. That can come partly through smart content governance (e.g., removing "noise"), which needs to be a mix of platform automation and human expertise. A good modern intranet will send expiry notifications and alert you if content is missing important elements (e.g., metadata or page summaries), but you will still need to do periodic content audits and evaluations of who your authors are. People join and leave organizations; new departments or locations open; being a good intranet manager also means being alert to much that is going on within an organization and using that to inform processes as well as content.
On a logistical note, at some companies, not all employees have ready access to computers throughout their daily routines. Computer stations should be made available so all employees can check in as practical. VPN access could also be established so such employees could perhaps access the company intranet at home.