Intranet engagement is something we all strive for. Engaged colleagues mean increased morale, which leads to increased productivity, better collaboration and lower staff turnover. We might achieve high intranet engagement when we first relaunch our intranet but continual engagement is something that can seem elusive at times.
Here are my thoughts on how to nurture an engaging intranet today:
1. Expand the remit of the Intranet Steering Committee
Expectations of Intranet Managers are growing as the scope of the intranet grows. Excellent technical understanding, project management, supplier management, marketing management, negotiation skills, research experts, confident and articulate speakers and writers and as well as all of this their finger firmly on the pulse of what’s happening in the wider tech industry!
Maybe it's time for your intranet steering committee to become the "Intranet Steering Team" and also include intranet ambassadors, marketers, researchers and tech experts. By expanding the groups remit to include specialist skills the intranet steering team transforms into a collaborative working group, bringing fresh ideas and expertise which will help with morale, content planning and exciting new developments.
2. Let your colleagues fall for your new intranet.
When you launch a new intranet you may implement a carefully crafted intranet launch strategy with lots of buzz, training videos, cakes, balloons and promotional gadgets to let everyone know what the new intranet is, how to use it and why it’s so important to the business. You might be launching across multiple countries and locations, increasing the complexity of the launch and the importance of communication.
All of this is fantastic and well done for pulling it off but Instead of daily intranet updates from the Intranet Manager telling everyone what’s new, what should be read, how to do everyday tasks, how about less is more? If your colleagues are given the space and time to discover their new intuitive intranet for themselves and find new ways of working wouldn’t they be more engaged?
3. Let your intranet have a heart & sense of humour!
Empowering your colleagues to easily contribute, comment and express their feelings through the intranet is a great way for them to be recognised and heard. There should also be room for fun within the intranet. Your content governance policy should outline what is and isn’t acceptable in terms of content, but let your colleagues have fun with the new intranet and think about how you could get the ball rolling. We all know however there is nothing worse than “organised” fun, so try and keep it natural! Maybe even the odd funny youtube video could find a place in your intranet heart.
4. Go big on accessibility
People will want to find people and information quickly and easily. I’m sure when scoping your new intranet, the importance of robust search functionality and tagging were highlighted. Enabling colleagues to pin favourite content, find one another easily, connect and collaborate are sure ways to nurture high levels of engagement.
5. Ask for feedback
Don’t underestimate the value of asking what your colleagues think of your intranet. Yes, it’s great for finding out about how colleagues use the intranet, but more than that it’s saying that you value their feedback. If you have launched a new intranet, quarterly feedback and chance for comment might be useful.
I hope this blog has given you some ideas about how you could create ongoing enthusiasm and engagement with your intranet. Your intranet is the first thing colleagues will see every morning. Exceed their expectations, surprise them now and again and listen to their feedback.
Here at Sorce we’ve experienced hundreds of intranets of all shapes and sizes and are skilled at helping uncover opportunities to improve engagement and business processes. We have a wide range of learning resources you can access and download.
