34 Ideas for Promoting Your Intranet

The promotion of an intranet is never-ending. From the day it's launched, through to its eventual retirement, an intranet must be constantly advertised to staff. Without this, many staff will remain unaware that the intranet even exists. Others won't recognise the full value of the intranet, or use anything but a tiny corner of the site. This article outlines 34 ideas for promoting an intranet, ranging from the obvious through to the very unusual. Somewhere in this list should be a few approaches that you can apply to your own intranet.

Robertson, James. Step Two (2003). Design>Web Design>Intranets

Avoid Long-Term Strategies

When it comes to information management or content management strategies, particularly at the enterprise level, there is a strong tendency (and desire) to create long-term plans. This briefing will explore some of the issues encountered when creating and executing long-term plans, and will argue for an approach that delivers benefits on a much more frequent basis.

Robertson, James. Step Two (2007). Articles>Content Management>Planning

A Better Approach: Requirements-Focused CMS Selection

Your organisation is unique, and as such, has a unique set of content management system (CMS) requirements. There is also no single 'perfect for everyone' content management system. Each product has its own set of strengths and weaknesses, and distinctive design principles. Unfortunately, the selection process followed by many organisations doesn't recognise this, leading to the purchase of a CMS which does not match business needs. Selecting a CMS does not have to be a lottery. By following a requirements-focused methodology, instead of a features-driven approach, the right CMS can be identified, and the business risks minimised.

Robertson, James. Step Two (2003). Design>Content Management>Software

Choosing an Intranet Project Sponsor

Numerous surveys across a diverse range of IT projects have identified that the lack of support from senior management (project sponsorship) is one of the biggest causes of project failure. This briefing explores the need for a project sponsor, the role they need to play, and how to choose one.

Robertson, James. Step Two (2004). Design>Web Design>Intranets>Collaboration

Choosing the Right CMS Authoring Tools

There is no single best authoring environment provided by a content management system. Instead, the authoring tools must be matched to the job at hand to ensure they are easy and efficient to use.

Robertson, James. Step Two (2003). Articles>Content Management>Single Sourcing

A Consumer Survey of CMS Vendor Websites

In March 2003, an online survey was conducted of consumer opinion about CMS vendor websites. This was extensively promoted through the CMS mailing lists, and on key CMS websites such as CMS Watch, the Intranet Focus and Step Two Designs sites. In total, 168 responses were made to this survey, representing consumers from across the globe, and in every type of organisation. This briefing provides a high-level summary of the results of the survey.

Robertson, James. Step Two (2003). Design>Content Management>Web Design

A Content Management Project Presents Unique Challenges

At a basic level, implementing a content management system (CMS) is like deploying any other large software package. Fundamental project management principles must be followed, along with best practice technical guidelines. Beyond this, however, a CMS project presents a number of unique challenges. These must be recognised and addressed for the project to be successful.

Robertson, James. Step Two (2003). Design>Content Management>Information Design

Definition of Information Management Terms

There is considerable confusion in the marketplace regarding the definition of various information management terms. The scope and role of specific information systems is particularly blurry, in part caused by the lack of consensus between vendors. With the aim of lessening this confusion, this briefing provides an at-a-glance definition of terms for a range of information systems.

Robertson, James. Step Two. Articles>Content Management>Single Sourcing>Glossary

The Difference Between Usable and Useful

In the past, many sites were redesigned solely on the basis of the vision of a designer. Some of these sites worked well for users, most did not.

Robertson, James. Step Two (2004). Articles>Usability

Do Staff Make Use of Personalisation Features?

Organisations around the world have already made their first forays into personalisation, however many more organisations are questioning what to personalise and how to go about it. So who is using personalisation and how effective is it?

Grenfell, Catherine. Step Two (2007). Articles>Content Management>Adaptive>Usability

Does Your CMS Vendor Have Product Expertise?

Choosing a content management system (CMS) is not just about finding the product with the right functionality. It's also about dealing with a vendor who can support your needs for the lifetime of the solution. This briefing explores the way most CMS vendors have evolved, what this means for the way they work, and what you should be looking for when purchasing a solution.

Robertson, James. Step Two (2007). Articles>Content Management>Assessment

Drawing Clear Lines Between Information Systems

In many organisations, the intranet competes with e-mail, file shares, the document management system and records management. Information is scattered between these systems, making it difficult for users to know where to look. What is needed is a clear policy about when these information systems should be used, and what they are for.

Robertson, James. Step Two (2003). Design>Web Design>Intranets

Dynamic or Batch Publishing?

There are two main publishing models used by content management systems: dynamic and batch publishing, and each has its strengths and weaknesses.

Robertson, James. Step Two (2003). Articles>Content Management>Methods

Eleven Usability Principles for CMS Products

The functionality of the content management system (CMS) is obviously a key deciding factor when purchasing a new product. Equally important is the usability of the CMS.

Robertson, James. Step Two (2007). Articles>Content Management>Usability

Escaping the Organisation Chart on Your Intranet

At the core of the structure of many intranets is the organisation chart. This is not surprising as many intranets grow organically with little central control. Business teams create their own areas on the intranet, include information about what they do, and disseminate it to their internal clients. This article outlines practical ways to move from an intranet based on the organisation chart to one that is more intuitive and allows people to complete their tasks more easily.

Maurer, Donna. Step Two (2003). Design>Web Design>Intranets

Five Minute Intranet Self-Evaluation

How well is your intranet working, and is it meeting business needs? These are the fundamental questions facing many intranets. Having grown organically for years, most intranets are now suffering from major structural and content issues. This briefing presents a simple checklist that will allow you to judge just how much work will be required to bring your intranet back to top performance. Work through this checklist, and tick all those statements that apply to your intranet.

Robertson, James. Step Two (2003). Design>Web Design>Intranets

Five Ways to Identify Intranet Usability Issues

Many intranets are under-used. Intranet managers lament the low use and discuss how to get staff to 'use the intranet more', resulting in marketing and promotions activities to increase use.

Maurer, Donna. Step Two (2004). Design>Web Design>Intranets>Usability

How To Evaluate a Content Management System

Selecting and implementing a content management system (CMS) will be one of the largest IT projects tackled by many organisations. With costs running into the millions of dollars, it is vital that the right CMS package be selected. This article outlines some of the lessons that we have learnt when assisting clients to chose a CMS. It offers ideas and tips, and provides an approach for identifying your business' actual requirements for a CMS.

Robertson, James. Step Two (2002). Articles>Content Management>TC

How to Revive a Zombie Content Management System

Without care and attention, a CMS can slide into a state of living death. Such systems can be revived by implementing a number of practical (and non-technical) activities.

Robertson, James. Step Two (2002). Articles>Content Management>Collaboration

The Importance of Content Management System Usability

The rollout of a content management system (CMS) has the potential to impact on more users than any other system since e-mail. More crucially, the success of a CMS depends entirely on how much it is used, whether it is authors creating content, or users accessing the published site. It is these two challenges that place usability as a central issue to be raised and addressed.

Robertson, James. Step Two (2003). Design>Content Management>Usability

The Importance of Staff Induction

Staff induction activities are designed to provide new-starters with the information they need, as well as getting them up to speed on how the organisation works. Induction processes are vital to ensuring that new staff are productive as quickly as possible, and should play a key role in knowledge management initiatives.

Robertson, James. Step Two (2004). Articles>Education>Tutorials

Information Design Using Card Sorting

At the beginning of any information design exercise, it is normal to be confronted by a very long list of potential subjects to include. The challenge is to organise this information in a way that is useful and meaningful for the users of the system. A card sorting session can go a long way towards resolving this problem.

Robertson, James. Step Two (2001). Articles>Usability>Methods>Card Sorting

Intranet Search Reports

A range of statistics are typically gathered on intranet usage, but of these, search engine reports are by far the most useful. This briefing explores two key search engine reports that should be implemented on all intranets, and looks at how they can be used to improve the effectiveness of the site.

Robertson, James. Step Two (2004). Design>Web Design>Intranets>Search

Intranet Teams: a Leadership and Coaching Role

The intranet team often becomes viewed as a gatekeeper or bottleneck that does little more than say 'no' to business units. The business then reacts by rebelling against this centralised control, or simply working around the intranet team. There is a better way. Intranet teams should instead look to playing a leadership and coaching role in the organisation. These two approaches provide a range of techniques for encouraging organisational change and supporting staff activities.

Robertson, James. Step Two (2004). Design>Web Design>Collaboration>Project Management

An Introduction to Personas and How to Create Them

Before embarking on any intranet or website design project, it is important to understand the needs of your users. It is then possible to identify the features and functionality that will make the intranet or website a success, and how the design can support users with different goals and levels of skill.

Calabria, Tina. Step Two (2004). Design>Web Design>User Centered Design>Personas