It’s a little late for New Year’s resolutions, but we’re still early in the budget year for most (or near the end for others). Nonetheless, the intranet is usually in a state of improvement.

Here are 6 timely resolutions for improving the intranet, regardless of the calendar month, by Prescient’s Cathy McKnight:

Resolution #1 - Taxonomy. Develop and execute a robust intranet taxonomy so the site’s content will not be “invisible" to its users.

Resolution #2 - Metrics. Look at the metrics collected on site usage, and use that information to plan the site’s growth and evolution so that it meets the needs of the employees. 

Resolution #3 – Prioritize. “I cannot be all things to all people.” 

Resolution #4 – Redesign. Speaking of revamping the site’s design, this is the year that we ditch the orange and green banner, and update the President’s page so that it does not include a photo of her with a beehive hairdo.

Resolution #5 – Engagement. Get in touch with stakeholders and target audiences. 

Resolution #6 – Marketing. Let everyone know just how great the intranet site is (especially now that you have successfully kept to all your resolutions). 

The top intranet complaint at any organization is “I can’t find anything.” This is why the taxonomy is so important. Learn more by reading What is the New Year without (intranet) resolutions?

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Scandinavian cell phone maker Nokia recently reported record-breaking fourth quarter results. The company is making money hand over fist (approaching $6 billion in 2006). Senior management is predictably getting big bonuses this year. However, employees are not getting the same bonuses and Nokia is not paying out a special “Connecting People” bonus despite the good results.

The Helsinki Sanomat reports “…a further cause of annoyance is the fact that the missed targets also translate to cuts in the bonus systems paid by individual business groups. Such bonuses are based on the net sales, business profit, and cash flow, among others. Nearly all of Nokia's 68,000 workers belong to the scope of bonus systems as well other than the Connecting People plan.” (See Nokia personnel fume over bonus cuts).

"Nokia workers have expressed their disappointment in regard to what they feel is an unjust situation on the company's intranet chat groups, where the company directors have also answered some of the questions.

Nokia President and CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo explained the bonus criteria in a Friday video speech, which has since been available on the Nokia intranet.

 

The personnel representatives have already held talks with the management over the development of the Connecting People, bonus system, which is the most controversial. Nokia has promised to continue to discuss the development of the system world wide."

"The Long Neck is where the business case of your websites lies. It is the small, crucial set of tasks and content that your customers really come to your website for," writes Gerry McGovern in Do you know your long neck?

"Intranet or public website, government or commercial-every website has a Long Neck. It is crucial that you know what your Long Neck is so that you can deliver maximum value with scarce resources."

Gerry’s bang on. Although, on an intranet, the long neck representing the most commonly accessed content or tools, is probably stretched longer.

The following seven areas likely represent between 60-80% of all requests on the vast majority of intranets I’ve worked with:

• Search
• Employee directory
• Job postings
• News
• Forms
• Policies

If an organization can master these seven areas, with the proper planning and governance as a supporting foundation, then the resulting intranet will be dam good. Easier said than done of course…

Read Gerry’s full article Do you know your long neck?

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ON A PERSONAL NOTE: I’ve been remiss in welcoming new clients as of late… but I’ve been too busy looking after many of them and others! A big welcome (would a hug be inappropriate?) to Thomson Financial, GMAC, Intrawest (Playground), the Municipality of Halton, Degussa, and I know I’m missing someone… I’m sorry I’ll make it up when my memory returns.

In addition to running the business and trips back in forth between Vancouver, Detroit, Toronto and Calgary, with multiple speaking engagements in the past couple of weeks, my wife is away for a few days so I’m running the house and assumed the role of interim COO of the girls… must sleep soon…

But first I have to get something off my chest: Gary Bettman almost ruined the league with over-expansion and soaring salaries and then had to force an acrimonious year-long lockout of players (the longest of any professional sport) to fix the dam mess he made. Now the owners have rewarded him with a 5-year extension. Not to mention his amazing ability to always sound like an ass while belittling almost every reporter that interviews him. (Someone on a local talk show today called-up to say, "I finally figured out who he sounds like! That rabbi from Seinfeld!")  For more check out: Gary Bettman Sucks

Finally, I send my sympathies to Rex Grossman for quarterbacking the Bears to their first Super Bowl appearance in 21 years in his first full season as a player. Yes, he made a couple of mistakes, but the Bears losing had little to do with his play, and a lot to do with the Bear’s brutal defense and a stellar Colts offense.

The value of a really good intranet is considerable and immense. While usage, ROI, and employee satisfaction are typical and traditional performance measure for the intranet, the intranet is also leading to improved retention and job satisfaction.

At HCL Technologies, the intranet is a key component of its employee retention program (see Employees first` is the new mantra!, Business Standard).

Read my complete piece Intranet is key to good HR (Communitelligence.com)

To measure and increase the value of your intranet, please dowload the free white paper, Finding ROI.

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How pervasive are social media tools (such as blogs and podcasts) becoming? Here are some of the numbers (taken from my CNW seminar series Social media (Web 2.0): are you in?):

·         There are approximately 55 million English language blogs – 45,000 new blogs created every day

·         44% of web users in the U.S. read political blogs

·         20% of Canadians say they read blogs on a regular basis

·         Three of the top 8 most trafficked sites on the Internet are social media sites that didn’t exist a couple of years ago (e.g. YouTube.com)

·         13% use RSS (real simple syndication ) for reading

·         29% of U.S. adults who own MP3 players have downloaded podcasts (The Pew Internet & American Life Project)

Read the complete article or listen to the complete webcast of Social media (Web 2.0): are you in? (www.GetStrat.com)