Top 10 Tips to Help Transform Your Intranet in 2024

Looking for help to transform your intranet to give it a fresh new look in 2024? ?

Are you ready to make your intranet a powerful, well-designed tool for communication and collaboration within your organisation???

Well, if so, you’re in the right place.??

This article will investigate everything from driving engagement through gamification to AI integration and automation, so get excited and get ready to take notes!?

Here are our ten tips to help you revitalise your intranet and make it a go-to resource for your team and organisation.?

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1. Leverage Modern Collaboration Tools

Integrating tools like Microsoft Teams, SharePoint, and Viva Engage can streamline communication and collaboration .??

These platforms provide a centralised space for sharing information, managing projects, and keeping everyone connected.?

This also makes finding documents a lot easier; at Changing Social, for example, we make sure we have vital documents there and are ready to find and share whenever needed. This could be for onboarding/new starters or policies. Intranets are there to be made for you and to collaborate with your wider team, so you feel like one unit rather than passing ships. ?

2. Enhance Accessibility and Inclusion

It’s crucial to make your intranet accessible to all users , including those with disabilities.??

The available features on the intranet help transform the online space to make it an accessible online environment.??

Therefore, you can do live transcriptions, screen readers, and accessible design elements to ensure everyone can benefit from the available content and tools.? In the image below you can see the amount of inclusive design features that there are to create the and customise the best colour combinations for your company.??

Ensure that you take all these features into account and that your SharePoint will start thriving.?

3. Integrate AI and Automation

AI and automation are game-changers in the workplace, handling routine tasks that often take up valuable time and resources.??

Organisations can automate data entry, scheduling, and basic customer inquiries by leveraging tools like Microsoft Copilot. ??

This not only frees up employees to focus on more complex and strategic tasks but also reduces the margin for human error, leading to more efficient and accurate operations.?

Microsoft Copilot, in particular, excels in streamlining workflows by providing real-time data analysis and insights. It can quickly analyse vast amounts of information, helping teams identify trends, track performance metrics, and make data-driven decisions. This capability enhances decision-making processes, allowing leaders to act swiftly and confidently based on solid data.??

Additionally, by automating repetitive tasks and providing insights, Copilot makes daily operations smoother and more efficient, ultimately increasing overall productivity and enabling organisations to focus on growth and innovation.?

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4. Focus on Security and Governance

With data privacy becoming increasingly important, it’s essential to implement strong security measures.??

Security measures includes secure document storage, user authentication, and compliance with relevant regulations to protect sensitive information.?

To explain this further, when documents are on the intranet, you need to make sure that they are all in secure storage. You can use encrypted storage solutions. This means that all documents and files stored on your intranet are encrypted, making them inaccessible to unauthorised users.??

When documents are on your intranet, you need to make sure that they are regularly backed up and implement access controls to restrict who can view or edit specific documents.??

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5. Embrace Digital Champions

A potential plug, but we wouldn’t be giving it as a tip if it wasn’t a great one. Have you ever heard of our Digital Champions programme? ?

If not, Digital Champions are like in-house experts who can help others navigate and use the intranet.??

A team of Digital Champions can boost user adoption and engagement, making it easier for everyone to find the information they need and learn new tools. And who wouldn’t want this???

This person is always there to lend a helping hand, and this tool will be known inside and out by your fellow Digital Champion.?

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6. Promote a Learning Culture?

Keeping up with technological advancements requires continuous learning.??

Our first tip is to make sure that there is a vast amount of training material on your intranet Training material such as video tutorials, e-books, articles and webinars. Curating this library of resources means that all employees can feel comfortable learning at their own pace.?

Additionally, foster a culture that values curiosity, experimentation, and continuous improvement. Encourage employees to take risks and learn from their failures. This will obviously help in all other areas of the business, but you can see the potential in your organisation’s intranet when you do this.??

Offer regular training sessions and provide access to educational resources to help your team stay updated with the latest tools and best practices.??

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7. Customise User Experience

Personalising the intranet experience can significantly enhance user engagement.??

Consider tailoring content and resources to specific job roles or departments, ensuring that everyone finds the intranet relevant and useful, it sounds simple but it often gets forgotten, make everyone feel special, and they will remember it.??

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8. Measure and Analyse Usage

Our next tip is all about using Viva Connections with your SharePoint site. Viva Connections is an invaluable tool for measuring and analysing intranet usage, particularly when it has been integrated with SharePoint.

Viva Connections is your centralised location for information. It brings your intranet to where your employees are already at, Microsoft Teams. This includes Teams mobile app. Allowing your workforce access to relevant news, conversations, and resources no matter where they are.

You can also personalise it based on the employee’s role, department, or even location by utilising audience targeting and permission levels.

Viva Connections really helps employees save time by reducing the use of multiple apps and surfacing information in one place. ?

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9. Create a Strong Brand Identity

Maintaining a consistent brand identity across your intranet helps build trust and recognition.??

Use consistent logos, colours, and messaging that reflect your organisation’s values and mission.?

Remember, this is your space, make it your own.??

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10. Empower Your Team’s Voice

One effective way to enhance your intranet’s engagement is by encouraging user-generated content.??

Allow employees to contribute articles, share updates, or post about their projects and achievements. Furthermore, this not only enriches the intranet with diverse perspectives and fresh ideas but also fosters a sense of ownership and community among the team. ?

Creating dedicated spaces for blogs, discussion forums, or team achievements can make the intranet a more dynamic and interactive platform.??

By giving your employees a voice, you not only keep the content vibrant and current but also strengthen the overall culture of collaboration and inclusion within your organisation.

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Changing Social Home

Right, this part of the article isn’t a top tip, but it is a mention of our great Intranet and how beneficial it is. ?

It’s our main hub, and it is full of everything you would need for work. It’s full to the brim with articles (even this one will go up there). It’s where we can register whether we are in the office or at home. It’s also linked to our Viva Engage, so it also feels extremely social on there. We have resources, templates, and so much more.?

Anything you may ever need is on there. This is the point of SharePoint, it’s about having it all one place and we really do maximise the potential of SharePoint at Changing Social.?

By implementing these strategies, you can transform your intranet into a dynamic and user-friendly platform that supports collaboration, innovation, and productivity throughout 2024 and beyond.?

If you want to learn more, why don’t you sign up for our latest webinar? And if you want any help with your intranet, please can reach out and have a chat with one of our experts.