Employee yellow page directories continue to be one of the few killer intranet applications. I’ve not come across an intranet or portal (that is undertaking proper log analysis metrics) where the directory isn’t in the top three most visited pages or intranet sections.

Unfortunately, there are very few really good employee directories. IBM, Cisco, and Mastercard have really good ones. Microsoft has an incredible employee yellow pages on their intranet. Among the standard contact information provided in the average directory entry, Microsoft employee profiles also showcase:

·    Employee photo

·    Shared links

·    Related (featured documents)

·    Backup contact name and information

·    Reports to...

·    Direct reports...

·    Team site link

·    Professional and technical interests

·    Industry experience

·    Language fluencies

·    Years at Microsoft

·    Personal interests

·    And more...

“None of us can personally know more than around 250 people, yet we want our companies to be smart, learning organisations where it's easy to find the right person to talk to,” writes Chris Collison, co-author of a new book "Learning to Fly - Practical knowledge management from leading and learning organisations" (Chris Collison and Geoff Parcell). “This is why many organisations create "yellow pages" applications, which enable employees to find and contact other staff with particular expertise and skills.”

Collison warns though that employee directories can be fraught with problems and “often end up as out-of-date, glorified intranet telephone directories.”

To traverse the slippery slope of creating an effective yellow pages application, Collison suggests in his book 10 key steps (adapted from Knowledge Management – Creating A Sustainable Yellow Pages System):

To celebrate the New Year I thought I’d put to paper (or screen) my top wishes for the year… consider it the desired resolutions of clients and consultants!

1- Planning before technology

The horse and cart work so much better when you let the horse go first. The same is true of the intranet. Don’t let Microsoft sell you Sharepoint, or IBM sell you Webshpere, and then say, “We need some consulting.” An intranet needs a plan before the technology is selected. Otherwise you’re working for the technology when the technology should be working for you.

There are hundreds or thousands of platform options when you consider portal solutions, content management systems, hybrids and other products. Why would you automatically default to an expensive and generic product if you don’t have to?

For the record, Sharepoint or Websphere might do the job you’re looking for, but those products are not for everyone. In fact, in my mind, they only work for a small minority of companies.

2- Turn-down the portal hype

Portal technology has never lived up to the hype because they solve little by themselves. This of course relates to the aforementioned cart before the horse and the need for planning before technology. What most portal companies fail to properly promote during the sales process is that a successful portal requires three key requisites:

• People
• Process
• Technology

Unfortunately, most portal companies are only after the money to buy and implement the portal. The fact remains that there are very few successful portal implementations out there. People and process are often an afterthought. In fact, they are the two most important factors, technology is merely an enabler.

Build the foundation with a strong ownership, defined governance, polices and standards, and a well documented blueprint and then consider looking at portal solutions.

3- More executive champions

A corporation is not a democracy. Corporations, including not-for-profit corporations and government agencies and ministries, are run from the top down. Some corporations are more democratic than others and rule with a more collaborative environment than the traditional chain-of-command control structure, but all corporations are run from the top. As such, your intranet’s value will be severely limited without the support from senior management. Grassroots campaigns work in an open democratic society; grassroots intranets ultimately fail in a controlled corporation. When executives speak, employees listen. Moreover, senior management has deep pockets that make dreams come true…

4- Demand ROI

A 2003 study of 240 intranet managers and consultants undertaken by Prescient Digital Media revealed that only 6% of organizations undertake ongoing, specific measurement of the ROI of their intranet. Occasional measurement is undertaken by only 26% of organizations and 51% either do no measurement, don’t know if they do, or only guess at the ROI. 18% are considering ROI measurements. As I recently wrote in Intranet ROI, many organizations will continue to show interest in ROI; most however won’t demand it. Just because it’s not demanded though doesn’t mean you shouldn’t find it. If you don’t find it, you’re not proving the value of the intranet or portal. If you’re not proving the value, you’re limiting its value and potential because you will fail to garner the necessary resources to build and increase its value.

5- Well-prepared RFPs

I am so sick of seeing RFPs that have 20 pages of legal text and a half page of requirements. Please, do not let purchasing write your RFP. Prepare all your requirements first, and then fit them into your standard RFP template.

Purchasing doesn’t know the first thing about an intranet, in fact, they are damaging your organization when you let them drive the RFP. Purchasing should drive the process, not the requirements. Determine precisely what you need to do and the type of functionality you need to fulfill those needs. Then you can prepare an RFP that invites vendors to meet your requirements instead of focusing on legalese that only benefits the lawyers. Better yet enlist the support or help of someone with a lot of RFP experience… a good RFP can make a project that much better.

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Happy New Year!