Is the intranet still relevant in these days of information and application overload?

Most people I know struggle with information overload in some form or another. I certainly find it a daily challenge. Despite our best intentions to keep on top of all the things we need to do every day, let alone the things we’d like to do, the daily avalanche of notifications, updates, messages, reminders, emails, calls, and to do’s presents a constant barrier to efficiency, productivity, and focus. Interruptions, distractions, and pressure can be the impact. If you’re the kind of person who wants to keep on top of their inbox, then good luck!

Meet application overload – information overload’s disruptive cousin

Most workplaces also have a related problem with application overload. There are simply too many different applications to go into, too many passwords to remember and too many windows or tabs open at any one time. There are too many different interfaces to remember. Yes, an integrated product suite like Office 365 is an exciting step forward but the truth is most employees find it more of a cause of overload rather than a solution, although some of the integrations available within Microsoft Teams may start to offer some respite with updates from multiple applications available to view in one place.

We cannot ignore workplace stress

Information and application overload can be a real cause of stress. I’m often talking to Wizdom clients, friends and colleagues and workplace stress is a real concern for many. It’s a theme we also constantly encounter at conferences and it gets mentioned in meetings.

At the same time, it’s good that most organizations are taking health and well-being much more seriously now, but I’m not sure we’re making as much progress as we should do.

Does the classic intranet still deliver on its promise?

Information and application overload provide important context for us to consider whether intranets really deliver value for employees, teams and organizations. Fundamentally, intranets are about helping employees to get things done and be more efficient. Of course, they also support employee engagement and internal communications, but fundamentally if an intranet doesn’t help an employee complete tasks and find what they need, it’s not really doing its job properly.

Does an intranet in its current form really help with information and application overload? Modern intranets are certainly trying. The ability to access a library of central apps for example, as well as personalized links, is a popular feature in Wizdom and also in some other products. Being able to access “How Do I” information that gives relevant no-nonsense information on how to complete tasks is also very useful. 

Employees spend the day in applications not intranets

But the problem then comes when we start to look at how many employees actually do their work. Most employees do the majority of their work within applications. I see employees spending most and even all of their day in Word, Excel, Outlook, Teams, Slack or Salesforce. Nobody is going to spend all their day in the intranet, and intranets are not really designed for that anyway.

However, currently we are still designing an intranet experience based around a homepage that assumes that an employee is going to want to go into an intranet four or five times a day to get things done. In turn we also create busy interfaces packed full of useful information and updates that we hope they will digest.

The danger of the intranet homepage as we know it is that it is actually contributing to information and application overload or at least a user’s perception that they are experiencing overload. When an employee feels that visiting the intranet homepage is another application to open and another set of messages to take in, then no wonder we have problems with adoption and demonstrating ROI.

Is it time to rethink the intranet and its role?

Before some of you leap in to defend the intranet, I want to make it clear that I still believe in intranets and the value they deliver. Intranets have been good to me – they’ve been at the core of what we’ve achieved at Wizdom over nearly two decades – and I believe they’re going to continue to deliver successful outcomes for organizations of all sizes.

But I do think we need to rethink how we deliver intranets and how employees access them. In many ways we’ve been rethinking intranets since the mid-nineties when they first emerged. Their ability to evolve and change has been one of the reasons intranets are still around today, moving through different phases that have successfully added new capabilities such as personalization, social collaboration, mobile access and the ability to be the front door to the wider digital workplace. 

What’s the best way forward?

In my view we need to fundamentally rethink the intranet so it:

·      Helps employees combat information and application overload

·      Is not perceived as adding to overload

·      Is much more in the daily flow of where work actually happens

·      Is no longer regarded as a “place to go”

·      Deemphasizes the role of the homepage

·      But still delivers the value it already provides, for example in driving great employee communications and useful content.

Next time

In my next post, I’m going to explore how we’re rethinking the intranet by experimenting and innovating at Wizdom, and I’ll then give some broader thoughts on what this means for the future of intranets and digital workplaces.