There are countless examples of intranets developed at great expense, only to languish in a state of disuse, barely noticed by the employees who were supposed to benefit most.

This is usually the consequence of a poor intranet strategy.

Cordapse has been working with intranets since 1995. We have observed behaviour and seen feedback from thousands of employees from all verticals. 

The number one employee complaint, by a huge margin,  is that the intranet is a waste of time!

A possible strategy to deliver a more valuable intranet would be to provide services, such as online forms and collaboration tools, to encourage employees to visit the intranet more often and stay longer.

So what strategy should underpin your intranet

Information Sharing

Social is changing how we share information. With a simple update status message, you can encourage people to share their thoughts, experiences, activities, and expertise.

Social intranet software, through activity streams and notifications, make discussions interesting, easy to follow, and more human.

Sharing also makes business personal, something that all organizations should aim for. Most organizations however,  fear that personal postings will result in less productivity and inappropriate use of the network. Moreover, when intranet content is personal in nature, it connects the fabric of culture for people to come together and enjoy what they are doing.

Knowledge Capture

Intranets provide a platform and an opportunity to capture knowledge and in a less intimidating and intrusive manner. Profiles, activity streams, and interactions contain a wealth of information about employees which tell a lot about someone’s experience, expertise, and skills.

Knowledge is only beneficial if it is improved upon and continues to evolve. This is very much the case with best practices. An intranet can help keep documentation and best practices frequently updated and, almost always,  take place in real-time.

Communication and Collaboration

The ability to bring outsiders into a project and contribute is another powerful ability that intranets provide. A client can collaborate with a project team while the rest of the organization remains off-limits. Bringing in outsiders into these rich spaces enables new ways of working and collaboration.

When processes are not running smoothly, it is frustrating to receive and generate endless rounds of cc’d emails. Intranets centralize and streamline communication through activity streams. Keeping everyone informed, in real-time, and reduce duplicated and redundant effort.

Empowering People

Intranets are excellent platforms empowering people to speak up and join together for common causes. They provide opportunities for people to contribute their skills, ideas, and opinions to add value.

Important, especially for an organization wanting to innovate from the inside.

Intranets give employees a voice. When employees are encouraged to vent their frustrations using internal sites, it helps leaders address concerns directly and avoid a situation spilling out of control and onto public-facing networks.