For all the heroics of pilot Chesley Sullenberger and the happy ending for all the survivors of the ill-fated US Airways flight that splashed-down in the Hudson, the parent corporation directing that flight does not earn a similar fate. Though US Airways did not completely fail the crisis, they did fail at web crisis communications.

Within moments of the plane landing in the Hudson, ferries began to redirect their sterns to the partially submerged wing tips of the big jet airliner; the only quicker response was the one by users of Twitter. The tweets were ringing through the Twitter website and PDAs across the planet faster than CNN could break the story. A simple lesson, really: the Web has become the ultimate quick response system in times of crisis. Though this lesson has been re-learned many times (the bombings on Mumbai are just one of countless examples), US Airways still had not learned the lesson.

Amongst the flurry of tweets were those from myself, who working from the greatest of distances, my building in Vancouver, was able to communicate more about the story than the airline itself. And while the Internet continues to prove itself amongst the fastest of communications channels, US Airways still did not have a response or a message on their website two hours after their accident. I was watching – and the company posted no message on their home page, and none to their press room.

Read my full column US Airways fails web crisis communications

According to Jane McConnell's annual Global Intranet Trends 2009 report, c-level executives now participate on the intranet steering committees of half of the respondent companies that have a steering committee (about 1/3 of the respondent companies have a steering committee; roughly 1/6th of the total respondents therefore have a senior executive actively involved). While it is true that most of the remaining organizations don't have a senior executive actively engaged, this finding represents a marked increase over 2007. In 2007, only one-third of the intranet steering committees have the privilege of a c-level executive on the intranet steering committee.

While there is hope that more executives will come to realize  -- or be convinced -- of the intranet's value to an organization, there is still pause for concern. The study finds that only 14% of the respondent intranets consider the intranet as "business critical." This is unfortunate because in many instances the intranet is business critical; others may not have the chance to become business critical because senior management aren't convinced they should invest in the intranet or a redesign.

The truth of the matter is that an intranet manger or consultant's number one job is sales – selling the value of the intranet. Most c-level executives don't have a clue what the intranet can do for the organization, and they sure as hell don't use it themselves. Consider the findings from last year's Global Intranet Trends Report finds:

• 40% of respondents say the lack of senior management ownership (stewardship or championing) of the intranet is a serious obstacle

• 44% of respondents say the intranet is not seen as a priority and is a “serious obstacle”

In nearly half the organizations, senior management is a “serious obstacle.” However, the blame is not always the fault of senior management, who often don't understand the intranet because they have bigger concerns. To wit: “Even when the intranet strategy is documented, which is the case in over 60% of respondents the precentages drop rapidly regarding senior managemetn signoffs,” states the report. 

Most organizations, even the above average organizations that participate in the annual intranet study, don't have a documented strategy! No wonder your senior management doesn't support the intranet! Executives can be excused for not supporting the intranet in those organizations where the intranet doesn't have a stragegy or even a simple business case in the form of a needs-benefits analysis. In those cases, senior management is not the obstacle, its the intranet team!! 

Not surprising then that the Global Intranet Trends study has uncovered that 80% of “stage 3” intranets (the most advanced, valued intranets on Jane's 3-point scale) do have a strategy. The link between intranet value and strategy is becoming clear. Having said that, a strategy unto itself is not a strategy; the best intranets have strategies and senior management support. “When documented strategies and steering groups do exist, they often do not have sufficient involvement from business related people nor decision-makers in out-lying parts of their organizations,” concludes Jane. “This is part of the reason that senior managers are not always sufficiently aware of the intranet.”

The single-edged sword is not enough: a great intranet requires both a strategy and senior management support. Without senior management support, you need to find or buy a sales hat. Learn to sell the intranet – or hire an outside intranet consultant who can (see How to hire an intranet consultant). Putting on your sales hat, requires:

• Case studies - showcase to executives what a winning intranet looks like

• Active commitment – use case studies and needs analsysis to secure an executive champion (or 2)

• Business case – work with your executive champion to determine the requirements for an effective business case

• Sales presentation – with all of the above, hit the road and sell every executive that will listen

• Proposal – now you're ready to send your proposal to funding committee or executive that will ultimately determine your budget

Unfortunately the executive suite and senior management have proven that most companies care little for the intranet, and still in fact view it as a cost center. Unless intranet managers can find their sales hats then little will change the minds of executives who, by and large, will limit the investment in the intranet or enterprise portal.

The above findings and insight from this year's Global Intranet Trends 2009 report are just a fraction of a percentage of the insight and findings you need to know. Do yourself a favor and order the Global Intranet Trends 2009 report – it's worth it.

To read more about combating complacent executives read Building sustainable leadership support.

Additionally, you can see both Jane and I present our insights and findings from our respective studies (mine being the big study on Intranet 2.0) at this year's IntraTeam Event on March 3-5, 2009 in Copenhagen. This will be the top intranet event in Europe this year. Readers of IntranetBlog.com also get a discount of 15%. Just use price code: "Prescient15" when you reserve on the IntraTeam website.

ADDITIONAL READING:

Intranet business case

Leading an intranet redesign

Finding Intranet ROI

Read more how intranet experts Prescient Digital Media approach intranet redesigns:

The Intranet Plan Intranet Blueprint © 2008
The Intranet Portal Blueprint © 2008
Intranet Evaluation
Value and Return on Investment
CMS Blueprint © 2008

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