Intranet governance - dull but necessary

Intranet Governence

Jason BuckWeb, Digital and Communications professional

www.TheLongDog.co.uk

Jason Buck

• Started as intranet editor 1998, now designed & managed intranets and websites

• Written for magazines, blogs and forums

• Short listed for CIPR Excellence Award for R-R intranet

Why bother?

• Governance not fun, but cornerstone of intranet management

• Good design, good writing and good content in general will be wasted

• It can affect tech or be supported by tech, but isn’t about tech

People + Process = Governance

Little gems – emergency contacts

Emergency Staff Contact LineThe pink card provided on front of the right hand flap of this folder contains the telephone number of the Emergency Staff Contact Line. This line is a key part of [the company’s] disaster recovery/business continuity plan, and should only be used in the unlikely event of an emergency where access to [this building] is denied.

(example online content from intranet of past client)

This session

• Talk

• Exercises

• Discussion

It depends

• Size IS important

• Funding

• Single or multiple geographies

• Skill levels

• And a whole lot more....

Some common symptoms

• Build up of outdated content• Lack of funding• Inconsistency of design• Duplicated / contradictory content• Lack of recognition for intranet workers• Differing and immiscible technologies• Brand degradation• Absence or derailing of planning• Political difficulties between business units or geographies• Poor employee experience

Little gems – we have no intranet

Tacit knowledge

Notice board

Company website

Staff directory

Shared drives

My Documents

Business

Hobby sites

Actual intranet site map, where client claimed there was no existing intranet

Some common reasons

• Legacy of unmanaged intranet

• Uncertainty of ownership (IT / Comms / HR etc)

• Where does your intranet fit into the business plan?

• Lacking understanding of intranet’s purpose

What’s your intranet for?

• Can’t manage something unless you know what it does

Governance structures

• Central• Devolved• Viral

Central (totalitarian)

Devolved (federation)

Viral (independents & rebels)

Central

Pros:• Absolute authority and influence• Consistency of experience and internal brand• Ability to change and improve systems

Cons:• Requires dedicated, skilled resources• Need for central funding and budgets• Lack of buy-in if business units not engaged• Popularist rebels gang up and destroy your Death Star

Central (small intranet)

Subject Matter Expert








Intranet Manager

Central (large intranet)

Intranet Manager

Director

Content producer /

editor

Content producer /

editor

Graphic & multi media

designer

Developer / technical support

Subject Matter Experts and rest of organisation

Devolved

Pros:• Division of labour and

resources not centrally funded• Subject matter experts

involved in intranet management• Intranet embedded in day-to-day business (not HQ toy)

Cons:• Lack of consistency (brand, quality and experience)• Requirement for quality control and publisher training• Political issues: control, localisation, resources etc

Devolved

Content producer(s) /

Editor(s)

Intranet Manager

Director

Intranet Section Manager




Departmental Subject Matter

Experts


Experts


Experts


Experts

Viral

Pros:• Innovative and unconstrained• Agile and able to implement

best practise and change• All buy-in is won by action

and merit

Cons:• Requires strong leadership• Lack of funding and support• No quality control• Risk of becoming a victim of success

Viral

Intranet supporter




Intranet Champion

Director

Intranet supporter

Intranet supporter


People, skills roles

Requirements, whatever the role:

• Role in job description, not an add on

• Skilled (or ample opportunity to get skilled quickly)


• Positioned to be supported my management


• Be the first point of contact for intranet content for their department

• Have a good understanding of their department’s work and requirements, across geographies

• Have, or be given, the authority to make editorial decisions concerning intranet content for their department

• Need to have time available to publish and delete content from their section of the intranet – it should become one of their objectives to “Maintain a fresh and accurate representation of [the department’s] intranet content”

• Understand that the Communications team has overall editorial control of the intranet

• Adhere to policies on intranet usage

Role / responsibilities for intranet managers / publishers

Core team skills

• Business and people management skills

• Familiarity with online technologies

• Written, visual and online communication skills

• Information architecture and user experience

• Awareness of usability and accessibility

Little gems – zombie hoards

• Total employee population = ~35,000

• Online population = ~22,000

• Intranet publishers = ~1,000

• Ratio of publishers : employees = 1:22

Processes and policies (1 of 2)• Articulating the governance structures

– For policy– For management support– For internal communication

• Publishing processes: – Who should employees approach for publishing requests?– Who is authorised to publish?– What is the approval process?

• Training and accreditation– Training in-house or external?– Skill levels required for processes and policies (e.g. publishing)

Processes and policies (2 of 2)• Use of the intranet

– Similar to use of other channels (e.g. Internet)– Include social media– Refer to other policies (e.g. Publishing)

• Content lifecycle– How long content lasts– What happens when it expires– Archiving ownership and access

Processes and policies (summary)

• Articulating the governance structures

• Publishing processes:

• Training and accreditation

• Use of the intranet

• Content lifecycle

Little gems –value of governanceYear 1 Year2 change

Total number of occurrences the intranet is used (user sessions per annum) 5839554 6991005 20%

Total time spent on intranet (man-years) 551 624 13%

Average cost per employee (per annum) £32,500 £33,638 3.5%Total cost of employee time spent using the intranet (per annum) £17.9m £21.0m 17%

% Effectiveness (ability to complete a task online) 50 78 56%

% Efficiency (right first time) 39 55 41%

Cost of time wasted due to ineffectiveness £8.9m £4.6m -48%

Cost of time wasted due to inefficiency £5.5m £2.1m -62%

Total waste £14.4m £6.7m - £8m

Overall reduction -53%

Example of measuring success with task completion improvement waste reduction

Summary

• Understand the right structure for your intranet

• Get the right people or get people and make them right

• Make sure your people have the time and support they need

• Create workable processes and policies to support the intranet and intranet workers

Thank you

• Jason Buck– Linked In: www.linkedin.com/in/JasonBuck– Email: [email protected]– Twitter: jasonbuck– Skype: jason-buck

– Blog: www.TheLongDog.co.uk

Technology

Intranet governance - dull but necessary