2572 intranet end users from 9 organizations have responded to the worldwide intranet challenge (WIC) so far. While the WIC is still in it's early stages (launched in April 2009), some interesting observations can be made already based on these responses:
- It seems that the average intranet user is spending about 38 minutes each day on the intranet
- There appears to be a correlation between how long people are spending on the intranet and how valuable they think it is (ie. the longer they use it, the more valuable they think it is)
- In answer to the question, 'To what extent does the intranet need improvement in:', 'Ease of finding information' was identified by all participating organisations as the area that needs most improvement. Other options for consideration included:
- Enabling staff to contribute & interact
- Look and feel
- Help completing work tasks
- Quantity & quality of content provided
- Change management & maintenance
- Performance & availability
- In answer to the question, 'How important are the following in contributing to a valuable intranet?', 'Ease of finding information' was again considered the most important (the other options were the same as those above)
- 'Performance & availability' was rated as the second most important quality
- 'Enabling staff to contribute & interact' is rated as the least important quality of a valuable intranet by the end users
- 'Look and feel' was rated as the second least important characteristic
- The conclusion at this early stage of the WIC is that end users consider 'finding information' to be the most important characteristic of a good intranet and also the area that needs the most work.
- Using the intranet to complete work tasks, complete online forms, publish content, discuss work topics, collaborate with other staff, or provide feedback does not appear to be that widespread. When asked how often these activities were done, most responses were either 'infrequently' or 'never'.
- Intranets appear to be most effective in providing staff details (eg. phone, title, etc) with news about the organization/industry coming a close second
- Intranets are not as effective providing access to a repository of re-usable documents, providing information for new starters, or providing reports.
- The majority of intranet end users rate their intranet as 'very useful' with an average rating to-date of 3.75 on a scale of 5 to 1 ( where 5 is 'Business Critical' and 1 is 'Not at all useful')
If you are interested in benchmarking your intranet end user feedback against the above data, then why not register for the worldwide intranet challenge. There is no cost to participate and you will obtain valuable information about how your end users are using your intranet and how it can be improved.
Take a look at the CIBA Solutions web site for more information about the WIC. Or feel free to contact me directly if you have questions or comments.
regards
Andrew
awright@cibasolutions.com.au
+61 3 9005 7407
Twitter: roojwright
Skype: awright.ciba.solutions
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewjwright01
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