50 ways to a better intranet

by Andrew Wright

Based on feedback from leading intranets, the following is a list of tasks that can improve your intranet. They are grouped into the following topics.

• Finding information
• Completing work tasks
• Interactivity (staff contributions)
• Performance
• Look and feel
• Content
• Maintenance (governance)
• Other

Finding Information

Task	Description/Benefit
1. Remove redundant content	Improve the chances of finding information by removing all unnecessary content. This may involve conducting a content audit and examining user statistics to identify content that is no longer relevant. Benefits of a Intranet Content Inventory Intranet redesign, Phase 2: information architecture and content audit Content audit guide and template Intranets are not information dumps The Death of Fluff Content: Content Strategy for Businesses
2. Implement a contextual view of information	Provide multiple access paths to information making it easier for people to find information. This can include viewing content by task, category or type. Contextual integration: how it can transform your intranet
3. Identify key tasks and content	Identify information that is most important to staff and make sure this is easily accessible (preferably from the home page).
4. Implement meta data	Ensure content is “tagged” with descriptive information. This enables different “views” to be automatically created and improves search tool results.
5. Implement a new information architecture	A new user-driven taxonomy may improve the way staff navigate to information: Intranet redesign, Phase 2: information architecture and content audit Information Architecture 101: Techniques and Best Practices A Practical Guide to Information Architecture
6. Identify popular search terms	Identify popular search terms and ensure that the most frequently searched information is easily accessible — either from the home page or from a logical menu structure.
7. Implement “best bets”	Identify commonly searched terms and manually create synonyms to ensure that the best matches appear at the top of the search match list.

Completing Work Tasks

The following table lists tasks that will improve how the intranet supports day-to-day tasks performed within an organization.

Task	Description/Benefit
8. Identify tasks and roles	Identify key tasks that are performed by role within an organization. Ensure the information component of these tasks is properly supported by the intranet. Web manager: Top tasks versus tiny tasks
9. Provide instructions for completing work tasks	Create web pages that provide short cuts to all the information, forms and applications staff need to complete work tasks. This could include access to policies, procedures, web apps and forms. See: Building a task based intranet using SharePoint (AGL case study)
10. Automate processes/ online forms	Provide online forms and workflows to allow processes to be completed from start to finish. Begin with the most important processes first.

Interactivity

The following table lists tasks ways to get staff more involved with the intranet, including publishing content, online discussions, collaboration spaces and providing feedback about intranet content.

Task	Description/Benefit
11. Enable all staff to publish content	Make it easier for staff to publish content. Consider what quality controls you will implement to ensure the quality of content is maintained. How to empower authors Migrating to a new intranet – how do you support the content owners? Intranet content manifesto Content Strategy and the User-Generated Content Conundrum
12. Enable online collaboration spaces	Facilitate collaboration spaces that allow staff to save and access documents and share information with other group members. Three Keys to Make Your Intranet a Collaborative Success in 2011
13. Enable discussion forums	Create online discussion spaces that allow staff to post questions and receive responses to the questions.
14. Allow staff to comment on content	Allow comments to be added to news stories, ratings of content items, and a continuous improvement process that allows intranet improvement suggestions to be submitted. Intranet Lessons from Fortune’s #1 Company to Work For
15. Provide real time status updates	Allow staff to post Twitter like status updates and questions.Yammer is a free tool that can facilitate this.
16. Provide the ability for staff to write blogs	Allow staff to write blogs internally. Provide ways to recognize popular employee contributions. Merit Badges For The Corporate Intranet To Incentivize Adoption Feed The Monster - Part I: Turning Employees Into Journalists Senior manager blogs: reality check

Performance

The following table lists tasks that will improve intranet performance.

Task	Description/Benefit
17. Increase the speed of the intranet	Work with the IT infrastructure support team to improve the speed of the intranet. This could include upgrading the hardware, ensuring the servers are physically located closer to the intranet end users, reducing the amount of processing required by the intranet (e.g., limit customizations), ensuring intranet page sizes are not too large and virus checking software doesn’t affect response time too significantly.
18. Make the intranet more reliable	Work with the IT infrastructure team to make the intranet platform more reliable by upgrading the hardware, implementing a redundant back-up system that automatically switches on in the event of a failure, and upgrading the service level agreements (SLAs) status to “critical.”
19. Provide off-site access	Organize VPN or internet access to your intranet. This will allow staff to access the intranet using their home computer or the internet. Rolling out intranet access from home
20. Provide mobile access	Organize access to the intranet via a mobile device such as an iPhone or Blackberry. Delivering a mobile enterprise Mobile Content Strategy: Creating User Scenarios Focus on Enterprise Information Mobility 10 Excellent Tools for Testing Your Site on Mobile Devices

Content

The following table lists tasks that can improve the way your intranet delivers content.

Task	Description/Benefit
21. Update staff details	Run a campaign to get staff to update their own details (if your intranet allows this). Otherwise update as many details as possible from your enterprise resource management system. 14 Tips for Intranet Employee Profiles Putting people at the centre: social staff directories
22. Develop a process for publishing news	Develop a process for ensuring news items are published regularly and contain quality content that is interesting to most staff. Does news add any value to an intranet? 5 Tips To Create a Successful Intranet: Part Three — Front Page News
23. Analyze news effectiveness	Analyze the effectiveness of your current new publishing process. Which articles are popular? What headlines get the best response? Which authors are most popular? Modify your publishing process based on this feedback. 6 ways to measure effectiveness of news on your intranet Should there be news on the front page of the intranet?
24. Provide external news feeds	Consider providing external news feeds to news items relevant to the organization. This could include a Twitter feed, news about your company name, key customers or industry.
25. Provide online forms	Identify key tasks (based on discussions with end-users) and convert them into online forms complete with workflow. Intranets should be task-oriented Where to get your task list from
26. Provide templates	Identify templates required by the organization and ensure these are all located in one place. Use meta tagging and a contextual integration approach to enable templates to be accessed from more than one location. This could include common email templates or letters.
27. Create a repository of re-usable documents	A repository of reusable documents could include things like business cases, proposals, project plans and presentations. This will help staff avoid reinventing the wheel when they need to create a similar document. 9 intranet content types that add value to your organisation
28. Create a library of policies and procedures	Create a single location for all organizational policies and procedures.
29. Provide information about your products/ services	Create a list or database containing information about your organization’s products/services. This could include information about who to contact for more information. Discovery Health staff say their intranet is the best
30. Provide information about your customers	Create a list containing information about your organization’s customers. This could include information such as the history of the customer, latest news, key customer contacts and who to contact for more information.
31. Provide reports/ dashboard information	Identify key performance information and determine the most effective way to provide this information. It may be possible to provide real-time online performance data via a dashboard.
32. Provide online training	Identify key training subjects and provide online subject matter. Consider using videos and other inexpensive multimedia types.
33. Provide access to business applications	Provide a list of links to key applications used within the organization. Identify who the relevant audience is for each application. Also consider integrating applications into the intranet so that data can either be viewed or updated using an intranet interface.
34. Provide access to websites	Provide a list of relevant external websites.
35. Provide a calendar	Provide a calendar of enterprise-wide events or a team calendar. Ensure there is a process for keeping events up-to-date.
36. Information for new starters	Create a section that provides all the information needed for a new starter, including forms, tasks and key contacts.

Maintenance (Governance)

The following table lists tasks that will improve intranet maintenance.

Task	Description/Benefit
37. Create an intranet governance committee	Create a committee consisting of representatives of the business that meet on a regular basis to decide and develop intranet strategy. Intranet Governance Survey Report 2010 Good intranet governance is a balancing act 5 Lessons I’ve Learned About How to Create Memorable and Useful SharePoint Governance Plans
38. Establish regular communication with the business	Organize regular meetings with key business leaders to understand their intranet requirements. Ensure you have identified an executive who has a sufficient budget to enable your intranet to fulfill its potential. Educate this sponsor about the benefits of having an effective intranet.
39. Set up a content review process	Create a process for ensuring all intranet content is reviewed regularly and in a timely manner. This will help ensure content is kept up-to-date.
40. Set up an intranet continuous improvement process	Create a process that allows all staff to suggest changes and improvements to the intranet. This process could be implemented using the intranet itself.
41. Set up a change notification process	Create a process that enables relevant staff to be notified of any changes to the intranet. The process may involve the use of alerts, emails or RSS feeds.
42. Develop and provide training on how to use the intranet	Create a training course for how to make the most of your intranet. This could include online or instructor led training. The importance of training staff in the use of the intranet Training intranet editors: What works?
43. Create a community for intranet authors	Develop an online community on the intranet to allow intranet authors to collaborate, and share tips and tricks. Facilitate regular meetings between authors.
44. Develop an intranet action plan	Develop a plan for implementing one or more of the items in this list over the coming 6 to 24 months.

Look & Feel

The following table lists tasks that can improve the look and feel of your intranet.

Task	Description/Benefit
45. Redesign the home page	Redesign the home page so that it provides targeted, relevant information — less news and more task-based content (e.g., access to forms and applications, popular documents, discussion updates). 30+ intranet home page examples Seven roles of the intranet homepage Scrolling and Attention
46. Redesign the entire intranet	Apply usability principles to give the intranet a new look. 10 Usability Tips Based on Research Studies 20 Websites to Help You Master User Interface Design
47. Re-write key content	Rewrite important content so that it uses plain English and is written for the web — not just a Word document converted to HTML. Plain English for corporate intranet content
48. Develop templates for content types	Identify the types of content that comprise your intranet and develop templates for each of these types. For example, processes, tasks and department descriptions may each have a page template. This will help ensure consistency.
49. Provide personalization functions	Allow staff to customize the intranet to list information that is relevant to them. Personalisation vs segmentation Discovery Health staff say their intranet is the best
50. Provide targeted information	Deliver content based on a person’s profile (e.g., role or department). This will make the intranet more relevant. 10 Worst practices for intranets for an example of targeted content Intranet Innovations 2010: key themes from this year’s awards

One Bonus Task

Task	Description/Benefit
51. Benchmark your intranet	Register for the Worldwide Intranet Challenge and benchmark your intranet. This will enable you to identify specific aspects of your intranet that are performing well and those that need improvement. There is no cost to participate.