Analyzing Your Corporate Intranet

By definition, your Intranet (more precisely, your corporate Intranet) is a projection of the Internet onto your company. In other words, our Intranet offers the same functionality available on the Internet – but only to your employees. These functions (tools) are your internal corporate Web site, social network, blogs, forums, e-mail, messaging system (chat) and file sharing services (documents, pictures, video, etc.). Obviously, these functions must be available as both Web sites/tools and mobile applications.

Typically, Intranet is used for both corporate (work-related) and personal (social) communications. It is a good idea to structure Intranet in such a way as to separate the two.

Specifically because your Intranet database (repository of all documents, posts, messages, etc.) is a part of your comprehensive corporate knowledge base where data mining should separate between corporate and personal content. Both, however, must be well-protected from internal and external unauthorized access.

Obviously, every employee must maintain (possibly with some influence ‘from above’) a proper balance between corporate and personal activities. One efficient way to do that – and also to make sure that employees adhere to the corporate code of online conduct – is to monitor all employee activities on the Intranet and let them know that they are constantly being watched. This practice is pretty much standard in a corporate environment.

In its corporate realm, Intranet is used mostly for collaboration on corporate projects (including corporate events) and processes, brainstorms, seeking advice and help, Q&A and the like. Which requires appropriate training and support - for maximization of employee productivity.  

In its personal realm, it is used for collaborating on social events and other projects, joint pursuit of hobbies and other interests, etc. Which also might benefit from some training and support.

It is also used extensively by your corporate communications team for conducting internal communications campaign. Its database is constantly monitored and mined by your human resources department for valuable knowledge about your employees. Both require the solid methodology and highly efficient process and tools.

As any other IT project (or any other corporate project, for that matter), your Intranet is an investment project. With all the usual KPI – NPV, IRR and the like. And the IRACORACI, of course. Therefore, you have to have all three components of this project description – solid financial and operational plans and an IRACORACI description.

How does your Intranet create financial value for you? In its corporate realm, collaboration on corporate projects improve the quality of decisions and actions – and the overall corporate productivity. Which automatically increases financial value.

Additional value is created by internal communication campaigns and by better decisions in actions in human capital management that stem from valuable knowledge obtain by analyzing the Intranet database.

In its personal realm, your Intranet allows employees to create emotional value by communicating with each other and building and maintaining emotionally beneficial relationships. And – as John Grisham eloquently put it in his bestseller The Firm – ‘a happy worker is a productive worker’. In terms of generating financial value for your shareholders.

You need, however, to monitor closely what is going on in this personal realm to make sure that it indeed creates emotional value. In other words, makes your employees more (not less) happy.

What do you need to maximize your Intranet performance and aggregate value in both corporate and personal realms? First of all, your Intranet must be comprehensive in terms of both functionality and content (the latter must completely satisfy informational needs of its users – your employees). It must offer highly efficient communication and collaboration tools for both corporate and personal use.

It must offer highly efficient and comfortable structure that matches behavioral patterns of its users and emotionally comfortable and stimulating style that matches their emotional needs.

To achieve these and other key objectives, your Intranet must be run by highly competent Intranet manager who would follow solid methodology and a highly efficient corporate process of Intranet management. To do this job right, he or she will need a comprehensive, well-structured, accurate and up-to-date description of your Intranet. His or her activities must be supported by no less highly competent Intranet administrator and content managers.

Your Intranet manager must establish and maintain friendly, valuable and efficient relationship with your Intranet users. That must yield valuable feedback on designing, structuring and developing your Intranet and other corporate issues (you will be surprised how many valuable ideas you can get from your employees via Intranet). Everyone wants to feel needed and heard; therefore, you must involve your Intranet users into the process of its design, development, implementation and possibly even operational management of your Intranet.

In our fast-paced world the highly efficient process for monitoring your internal and external environment and lightning-fast adaptation of your Intranet is an absolute must for maximization of its performance.

As for the ‘quality-of-fit’, your Intranet must match your KEF (especially technological, social and cultural); your declaration of corporate identity (it is a part of your identity); your corporate mission and vision (it is a part of both); your corporate strategies (especially communications, personnel and IT management); your corporate culture and code of conduct.