A successful intranet is less about the software you use and more about what you do with it.
One common challenge that all organisations face is how to manage their intranet content. Within my role I’ve encountered a number of different approaches to content management that companies have opted for.
Some of these are:-
- A centralised approach where all content is created (or approved by) a central team.
- A distributed model where teams and departments are responsible for managing their own content.
- Social content management where there are no specific content owners. Staff collectively manage and curate intranet content together.
In theory a distributed model should work the best as responsibility for content is placed with the content owners themselves. However, the reality is that without good governance and policing, content quality will always be hit and miss when distributed amongst the masses.
I recently met two organisations that support this approach. They have both reverted from a distributed to a centralised model in order to control quality of content and improve findability. In both cases intranet usage has gone up as a result of stricter control over what is published and who maintains content.
However, this may not work for everyone. The approach you take is very much down to your business culture and intranet objectives.
What is key is that you select an approach and stick with it.
Do you have any experiences with managing your intranet content you’d like to share? Provide your comments below.
