Creating an Upwards Spiral for Your Intranet

Many intranets are trapped in a 'downwards spiral': process and resources issues lead to poor-quality content, which reduces trust, which leads to more problems, and so on. This briefing explores the nature of the problem, and outlines some approaches to reshaping the intranet into something that grows and prospers.

Robertson, James. Step Two (2005). Articles>Web Design>Intranets

Five Intranet Reviews, Five Different Results

This case study presents the findings from five different intranet reviews, with the aim of exposing some of the issues being confronted across different organisations. These reviews also show that even within seemingly-similar organisations, the intranet issues can be quite different. This highlights that there is no 'one size fits all' intranet solution, and emphasises the value of conducting meaningful 'needs analysis' activities, such as those outlined in this article.

Robertson, James. Step Two (2005). Articles>Web Design>Intranets>Case Studies

Five Key Intranet Policies

Most intranets have some form of policies and procedures, typically focusing on authoring guidelines and standards. The question is: are these the right policies to have? In many cases, intranet teams have established policies that they find difficult to enforce, while missing the opportunity to develop policies that will be much more beneficial for both the intranet team and the site itself. This briefing takes a different look at the role of intranet policies, and outlines five policies that all intranet teams should develop.

Robertson, James. Step Two (2006). Articles>Web Design>Intranets>Policies and Procedures

Full Site Redesign? Start by Addressing the Home Page

When an intranet isn’t working effectively, many organisations attempt to tackle the problem with a full-scale redesign of the site or the implementation of a content management system. But these major projects can create as many issues as they resolve.

Barker, Iain. Step Two (2006). Articles>Web Design>Redesign>Intranets

How to Scope an Intranet Release

When developing intranet releases, intranet teams often find themselves very constrained by both time and resources. The challenge then becomes delivering sufficient content and capabilities to meet business and user expectations, within the project constraints. This briefing introduces a simple approach to scoping a release that takes all of these factors into account.

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

Improving your Intranet, Task by Task

When faced with an out-dated and ineffective intranet, a common response is to launch a redesign project. This can involve spending the next three to six months researching staff needs, creating a new information architecture, and authoring new content. If redesign efforts are based on a solid analysis of business and user needs, this can be an effective way to improve an intranet. However, it takes considerable time and resources, and does not result in a measurable payoff for several months. For some organisations, a full redesign is therefore out of the question. One method that is certain to provide immediate business benefit is to improve the way the intranet supports key tasks. In fact, by selecting only one task at a time, improvements can be made in a manageable and cost-effective manner.

Calabria, Tina. Step Two (2004). Articles>Web Design>Intranets

Intranet Authoring: a Hobby?

Much is expected of intranet authors, and they are vital to delivering an intranet that is useful (and used). Yet, in many cases, intranet authoring is treated as a hobby within organisations. This briefing looks at the role of intranet authors, and challenges organisations to either take intranet authoring seriously, or to let go of unrealistic expectations regarding content quality and timeliness.

Robertson, James. Step Two (2006). Articles>Web Design>Intranets

Intranet Change: Evolution or Big Bang?

When planning improvements to an intranet, two main approaches can be taken: the ‘big bang’ and evolutionary approaches. The big bang approach involves making a single, site-wide change to the design and structure of the intranet as the old site is replaced by a new one. In contrast, the ‘evolutionary’ approach makes gradual changes over time, evolving the capabilities and design of the current intranet. This article discusses the differences between the big bang and evolutionary approaches to intranet development. Guidelines are provided on when to use each approach, along with a range of practical tips and suggestions.

Goldstein, Sarah. Step Two (2005). Articles>Web Design>Intranets

Intranet Managers Must Be Managers

While intranets often have someone appointed as the intranet ‘manager’, do they spend their time actually managing the site, or publishing pages? Observing many organisations and intranets, one of the critical success factors is to have an intranet manager who is free to focus solely on the management of the site. The intranet manager should not be writing HTML or publishing pages.

Robertson, James. Step Two (2006). Articles>Management>Intranets>Web Design

Intranets and Knowledge Sharing

This article challenges the vision of the corporate intranet as a publishing tool, or a static repository for web pages or documents. Instead, it looks at a number of ways in which the intranet can become a dynamic and living environment for knowledge-based activities.

Robertson, James. Step Two (2004). Articles>Web Design>Intranets>Knowledge Management

Intranets as a News Channel

Improving the effectiveness of internal communications is often one of the key goals underpinning corporate intranets. In practice, this is often reflected in ‘latest news’ section on the home page of most intranets. While news on the home page is certainly widespread, the question needs to be asked: how effective is it? This article explores the role of the intranet as a news channel, revisiting some of the assumptions about how best to deliver online news within an organisation.

Robertson, James. Step Two (2006). Articles>Web Design>Intranets

Intranets as the First Source of Information

All too often, intranets become a dumping ground for “second-hand documents”. Information is sent out via email, or other mechanisms, and then stored on the intranet as an afterthought. Where this is the case, intranets deliver few real benefits, while still shouldering the full cost of maintaining an increasingly large collection of pages and documents. This briefing explores the nature of the problem, and proposes what may be considered a radical solution.

Robertson, James. Step Two (2005). Articles>Web Design>Intranets

Intranets: Losing the Language of Enforcement

All too often, centralised intranet teams find themselves battling with decentralised authors to enforce consistency and quality standards. Not only is this fighting ultimately fruitless, it can be very damaging for the morale of all participants, and potentially crippling for the future of the intranet itself. In these situations, intranet teams need to find a new approach, and new ways of working with their decentralised authors. The first step is to lose the language of enforcement.

Robertson, James. Step Two (2005). Articles>Web Design>Intranets

Is Your Intranet Trusted by Staff?

It is widely recognised that an intranet must be trusted, if it is to be regularly used by staff across an organisation. While it is easy to make this statement, it is harder to qualify what is meant by trust, how users assess it, and how we can build (or rebuild) trust in the intranet. This briefing looks at the issue of trust, and presents some simple steps that can be taken to further build staff trust in the intranet.

Robertson, James. Step Two (2005). Articles>Web Design>Intranets>Workplace

Is Your Intranet “Under Construction”?

Many intranets contain a large number of sections ‘under construction’. In general, this happens when a new section of the intranet is being created. The template or section for the site is set up (often by another, more techical team) a list of ideas for content is written and some initial content may be loaded. The section is unfinished but the creators are excited and want to release it, so it is marked as ‘coming soon’ or ‘under construction’.

Spencer, Donna. Step Two (2004). Articles>Web Design>Intranets

Keeping Your Intranet Healthy and Effective

An intranet must constantly grow and evolve to match the changing needs of the business, while ensuring a high level of usability and efficiency. This is no easy task, and it will require the constant enthusiasm and efforts of the intranet team.

Robertson, James. Step Two (2002). Articles>Web Design>Intranets

Key Benefits of a Single Intranet or Public Website

A single website is more connected and credible. It is more consistent and cost effective. It is easier to manage and measure. Multiple websites weaken the potential power of the overall organization on the Web.

McGovern, Gerry. Step Two (2005). Articles>Web Design>Intranets

Leadership Tips for Intranet Teams

Intranets require strong leaders if they are to be more than just publishing platforms for occasionally-used information. The intranet team must take on this leadership role, and drive the evolution and enhancement of the site. This is not an easy role for some intranet teams to play, but ultimately it is one that is satisfying for the team, and greatly beneficial for the site itself. This article outlines a range of practical tips that can be applied to help intranet teams operate more effectively in this leadership role. These are all small (but important) steps that can be taken immediately by any intranet team.

Robertson, James. Step Two (2006). Articles>Web Design>Management>Intranets

Meeting Your Intranet Users

You can’t usefully deliver information to users that you haven’t personally met. This article discusses the challenges in delivering information to all staff within an organisation, and outlining practical approaches that ensure efforts spent publishing intranet content are not wasted.

Robertson, James. Step Two (2005). Articles>Web Design>Intranets>User Centered Design

Nine Ways to Fix Intranet Search

Search is often the greatest source of frustration on intranets. Irrelevant results, hard to read results pages and ‘untitled document’ entries plague many intranet searches. With the size and scope of most intranets, search is a key tool used by staff to find information. While the expectation is that it should be quick and easy to find information on the intranet, this is often not the case. Beyond generating staff frustration, these problems can reduce trust and confidence in the search tool.

Robertson, James. Step Two (2006). Articles>Web Design>Intranets>Search

Not All Content Needs to Be of Equal Quality

One of the greatest challenges confronting intranets is ensuring that content is up-to-date, accurate and useful. In many organisations, much thought and effort is put into maintaining (and enhancing) the quality of published content. What must be realised, however, is that not all content on an intranet needs to be of equal quality. Only once this is recognised can successful strategies be put in place to support content authoring and publishing.

Robertson, James. Step Two (2005). Articles>Content Management>Web Design>Intranets

Paradox of Delivering to Isolated Staff

Staff in geographically isolated locations are most reliant on information sources such as intranets. In practical terms, however, these staff are the hardest to reach.This is a central paradox for intranets, and while there are no easy answers, there are some practical steps that can be taken to better meet the needs of these isolated staff.

Robertson, James. Step Two (2005). Articles>Web Design>Intranets>Teleconferencing

Providing Intranet Access to Records

Many organisations are attempting to clarify the relationship between the corporate intranet, and their document/records management system. While this is a broader issue of information management with an organisation, there are some short-term activities that can be taken to create a working relationship between these two platforms. This briefing outlines a simple scenario in which the intranet helps staff find key corporate information, while the documents accessed are stored in the document/records management system.

Robertson, James. Step Two (2005). Articles>Web Design>Intranets>Databases

Quantitatively Test the Effectiveness of Your Home Page

Staff should be able to confidently, quickly and accurately step from the home page of the intranet towards the information they require. If staff can’t achieve this without resorting to search, the home page needs to be redesigned. This article explains a quick and effective technique for assessing whether your home page is an effective gateway to site content.

Barker, Iain. Step Two (2006). Articles>Web Design>Usability>Assessment

Search Should Work Like Magic

Thanks to Google, intranet users expect to be able to type in a word (or two) and find the page they are looking for, preferably in the first few results. This is not an unreasonable expectation. At the most fundamental level, search on an intranet is supposed to make it quick and easy for staff to find things, thereby saving them time and improving their productivity. This can be distilled down to a very simple concept: search should work like magic. As much as is possible, search should always give staff the information they need, somewhere in the first few results.

Robertson, James. Step Two (2006). Articles>Web Design>Intranets>Search