The cart isn’t just put before the horse in most organizations, the cart is thrown ahead and the horse is thrown to the fire.
Far too many people ask me to recommend a good content management system or portal or search engine. These same people are way over their heads. It’s the equivalent of me asking you, “what’s a good medicine to take?”
“I don’t know,” you might ask. “What ails you? Do you have any allergies? Are you taking any other medications? Any complications I should know about?”
And that’s the problem with most of your crappy intranets – you refuse to ask the right questions to find out specifically what is wrong, and what needs to be solved. Instead you jump right to the medication. Of course, this doesn’t apply to all of you, but it does apply to most.
At the risk of oversimplifying a complex system, a successful intranet has 3 big ingredients:
- People - The right people
- Process - Well defined processes
- Technology - The most appropriate technology
If you have not defined the people (roles and responsibilities, ownership and requirements) and process (governance and publishing, standards and policies) then forget about the technology. The technology will only confuse, distract and undermine your efforts – because you probably picked the wrong solution (more likely, you were SOLD the wrong solution).
Moving beyond the 'big 3', here’s the more detailed model of success that we use at Prescient, the Nexus of Intranet Success (recently refined):
PEOPLE
The single greatest and most important thing that you can do as an intranet manager is to secure the active support of an executive champion. Not just any old VP, but someone on the executive management team – the President or someone who reports directly to the President and has political clout and financial influence.
Many organizations have intranets that are mid-management or grass-root initiatives, and some enjoy a certain level of success. However, the potential of your intranet will never be fully realized without an executive champion.
The number one challenge facing corporate intranets today is not technology, nor tight budgets, but rather internal politics, specifically, the politics of competing priorities and management agendas. The second biggest hurdle is a financial one. To win these challenges you need senior management in your corner.
Before the project (build or re-design) can gain executive support, it must be presented and marketed to demonstrate how it can help the organization achieve its goals and objectives. The intranet must demonstrate measurable value insofar as it relates to company profits, earnings and revenue.
Outside of an executive champion, you still need to identify the roles and responsibilities of other key managers and stakeholders involved with the intranet
An intranet manager also needs to engage employees to involve them in the site design and structure and to promote an ongoing two-way (symmetrical) dialogue. The intranet cannot be solely a push communications vehicle.
If this seems complex or daunting then by all means hire a consultant to help you. It doesn’t have to be me or Prescient Digital Media, there are others that know what they’re doing (see How to hire an intranet consultant).
People are not only at the heart of a successful intranet, they’re the most integral part of every layer, process and tool – including the supporting technology. A successful intranet begins with the right people with well defined roles and responsibilities, and guided and supported by well defined processes and the most appropriate technology.
Here’s some additional & related reading:
Infant intranets need executive loving
Top 5 killer intranet mistakes
