What do you want your intranet to achieve in 2020? As we approach a new decade, there is no better time to take a moment to think about our intranets, how far they have come in the last 10 years and what we what to achieve in 2020 and beyond.
The role of intranets has changed dramatically over the last decade. The pace of change has been accelerated by mobile technology, social media, changing working practices, data security and the increasing need to connect our workforce in a way we've never experienced before.
I think the biggest influencers over the last decade have been:
- Smart phone technology - this has revolutionised our expectations of what we can do on our mobiles and has helped the blur the lines of work/personal life.-
- Social media - The way we communicate, how we communicate is in continual flux as more social media apps emerge and we are now communicating with less words and more images, video using emoji's.
- The rise of the remote workforce - In 2020 up to half of our UK workforce will be working remotely for some or all of their working week. This has meant we have needed to provide full mobile intranet access and for remote users to easily add content via whatever device they are using.
- Data security - With many high profile data breaches making the headlines over the last decade and the introduction of GDPR, our intranets provide a secure way in which your users can connect, collaborate and store documentation.
- How we work - Today our work/life balance has become blurred, the rise of the gig economy is changing the traditional intranet and we now work from anywhere at anytime. Not only has this generated new intranet requirements of functionality such as contacts directory but also intranet access and a responsibility to care about our workforce's health and wellbeing.
Given all of this, how do we go about thinking and planning for our intranets in 2020 and beyond? I think 2020 will be the year of health and wellbeing, with high profile public figures raising awareness of the importance of mental health, we need to ensure our intranets help our users.
I also think Microsoft 365 intranets will continue to grow in popularity and will become even more business critical than they are today.
As with everything, the place to start working out what you need to do, is to look at your current intranet and think about scheduling time to undertake a review or audit. Find out what your users need and want because each business is unique.
If you are thinking about a new intranet for 2020, software choices will play a major role in your decision. Whether you opt for a SharePoint based intranet or something more tailored will be based upon your requirements, timings and budget.
For help in understanding your intranet choices and navigating your ever growing user requirements, get in touch and we can introduce you to Sorce and our wealth of resources and expertise.
Topics: intranet governance, intranet planning, intranet engagement, intranet collaboration
