8 Steps to Intranet Optimization

Presentation by:

Aciron Consulting, LLC

Introduction

An intranet serves as an internal communication tool for employees by allowing them to have varying degrees of access

to critical company resources.

• The problem that many companies run into is that, although they have implemented an intranet for their organizations, their system is poorly designed, poorly maintained, and/or highly disorganized.

• This leads to the system having a low adoption rate and becoming largely ineffective as a collaboration tool.

• Here are 8 steps to intranet optimization that will help you to make your intranet more effective in your organization.

1. Give your intranet a fresh new name

• Intranets should be designed to reflect corporate culture.

• Through the power of brand marketing, you can develop a system that represents your company’s core values and unique culture.

• Renaming your intranet will allow you to build a strong relationship with users and even change their attitudes towards the technology.

1. Give your intranet a fresh new name

• For example:o Your organization’s intranet has a low adoption rate

and is considered ineffective and frustrating by its users

o Your company decides to completely redesign the system by reorganizing the content and adding functionality improvements

o By renaming your intranet, you will be able to rebrand it and combat the negative reputation of the former system

2. Make it visually appealing

• When it comes to attracting users to an intranet, user experience (UX) is the name of the game!

• One crucial element of UX is visual design.

• Visual design can enhance communication and increase user adoption by making the intranet content more compelling and even make the system easier to use.

2. Make it visually appealing

• Additionally, an intranet’s visual design should enhance the intranet’s content and purpose.

• If an intranet’s design is dry and boring, users may be more hesitant to use it because they will not be engaged by the system.

• One way to engage users would be by adding charts and graphs to statistical data stored on the intranet.

o Users will be able to recognize trends more efficiently than if they had been just looking at flat numbers.

o The graphs not only serve as a visual representation of the data but also as a tool to attract the user’s eye to the visual interface.

3. Make it fun• Much like making your intranet visually appealing,

making your intranet fun will help you to convince your employees to use the system.o Include humorous cartoons, memes, jokes, etc. that

allow users to interact with the site on a more personal level.

• A recent study from the University of Warwick found that happiness in the workplace makes people 12% more productive¹ and what better way to make people happy then to make them laugh.

• If humor really isn’t your company’s thing, try engaging users with fun contests or surveys.

• These interactive mediums will allow for your users to engage with the system in a more personal way.

1. http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/newsandevents/pressreleases/new_study_shows/

4. Make it clean

• A major complaint that intranet users have is that it is difficult to find the information that they are looking for.

• This problem often occurs because the site has become disorganized or cluttered with old and outdated information.

• To prevent this frustration, make sure to regularly clean up your intranet and archive old, outdated, and irrelevant documents.

• Depending on the platform that your intranet is built on, utilize versioning to ensure that documents are kept up-to-date while maintaining a record of past information.

5. Inspire your staff

• One of the best ways to motivate your staff is to inspire them.

• An intranet gives your company a unique platform for inspiration.

• Include a section on your intranet for success stories and employee spotlights to let your employees know all the great work that the company is doing as well as how individuals are contributing to the company’s success.

– By recognizing your employees’ accomplishments and making them feel special with an employee spotlight, you will add a social element to the intranet which will likely increase user adoption.

5. Inspire your staff

• Another way to inspire your staff is a section with announcements from the CEO.

• These announcements serve as a means of increasing interaction with upper management which will help you to build a strong team atmosphere and subsequently increase usage.

6. Make it informational

• An intranet’s primary purpose is to provide users with information.

• That being said, the type of information that is stored on the intranet is completely dependent on the company’s goals for the system.

• For instance, if the goal of your intranet is to be an HR tool for employees, some information that would be helpful to list would be a company policy guide and resources for self-help.

• Job postings posted on an intranet provide employees with opportunities for advancement and professional growth.

6. Make it informational

• Other information that is often helpful to add to an intranet includes company announcements.

– Company announcements can include company news articles and updates on company-wide initiatives.

• A company events calendar can be listed to tell users about important dates like training classes, meetings, company holidays, and even employee birthdays.

• Finally, tutorials and how-to guides allow a company to provide better knowledge management and allow users to find critical information and complete tasks independently.

7. Optimize navigation and include robust search functionality

• Similar to keeping your intranet clean, providing users with optimized site navigation will help them to find the information that they are looking for when and where they need it.

• One way to do this is by providing users with a site map that will allow them to have an index for the content on your intranet site.– This will give them a go-to location to begin

searching for information.

7. Optimize navigation and include robust search functionality

• Including robust search functionality using folders and/or tagging and meta data will allow users to find what they are looking for based on a keyword search.

• When implementing search functionality on your intranet, test the system to make sure that the search results are coming back accurately and quickly. – If users have to wait a long time or receive results

that are not related to their keywords, then they will become even more frustrated with the intranet.

8. Make it personal

• To ensure that you know what the needs of your organization are, engage key stakeholders from the user base during the development process.

• Allow these users to provide input and beta test the system prior to its implementation. Including key stakeholders will serve a dual purpose:1. It will allow you to build the system

to incorporate the functionality and features that the users will need. This will eliminate rework later by incorporating necessary functionality from the beginning.

2. It will ensure that you have a group of system champions who will promote the intranet to the rest of the user base.

8. Make it personal

• Once the system has been implemented, keep the dialogue with users open.– Create a discussion forum or suggestion system that

allows for users to discuss potential improvements for the system.

• This level of personal involvement with the creation of the intranet will give users the voice that they crave and ensure that your system is meeting the needs of the users that it serves.

Any Questions?Contact Aciron at:

• Twitter: @askaciron

• Email: info@Aciron.com

• Phone: (617) 245-0497