Launching a new intranet is exciting news for your organisation. Providing the best platform and launch for your intranet is critical for ensuring colleagues are invested in the new software, to ecourage its adoption across your business and for generating that initial buzz. There are many tried and tested tips that clients have shared with us over the years and I have listed the top 10 below. To find out more, and to help with managing your intranet, download our free guide.
Top 10 Intranet Launch Tips:
1) Set a launch date
Setting the date is really important - make sure your whole organisation are aware of your new software launch. Ensure the date is realistic and then stick to it. Why not tie your intranet launch into an important company date or occasion? First day in the new office, new product launch or if no natural date exists, create your own!
2) Set launch goals
What do you want your intranet launch to achieve? What percentage of people logging in will you think is success? It’s great to have some benchmarks to evaluate your launch against. And if you aren't hitting those targets get in touch with our experts for help.
3) Decide on your launch strategy
Once you have determined your launch date and launch goals, the next step is thinking about how you will launch. Will you go 'big bang' or 'secret squirrel'? Find out what these terms mean, and more, on my Top Intranet Launch Strategies blog.
4) Manage expectations
Planning your launch will help you to set expectations with your senior management. If you are starting from a place of very low engagement, collaboration and interaction, your new intranet is not going to transform this overnight. It will take a bit of time. Your launch goals and intranet performance metrics will enable you to monitor your goals on an ongoing basis.
5) Think about Launch videos
Planning your launch gives you the time to think about ways in which you can help end users get to grips with your intranet as smoothly as possible. Many of our clients have made low cost launch videos to introduce their new intranet and short “how to” videos for new functionality. Find out about how our clients have got on, here.
6) Team launch
You may have created a great intranet steering group to help you understand your organisation’s intranet requirements and help to create your new intranet structure. Don't forget to make the most of them! These colleagues are your intranet champions and can really help you with your launch - giving you great ideas, helping spread the word and doing whatever is needed to launch your new intranet.
7) Plan your pre-launch messaging
Working with your internal communication’s team is really important as they are the experts when it comes to managing messages and launch communications. They can help you plan and write pre-launch teaser emails letting colleagues know what’s happening and what to look out for on launch day.
8) Big launch day plan
Setting a launch date is great but it’s a good idea to go further than that and plan out what’s going to happen on the big day itself. Just as with any other project, scheduling the day’s events makes it’s easier to manage and monitor. What time will your new intranet launch? Will you be supporting the launch with an all user email? Will you have launch promotions such as a coffee mornings, launch packs or something else?
9) Walk the floor
Launching a new intranet is very exciting - make sure you get around your office chatting to colleagues about what they think of the new intranet and how they are using it. If you are based over multiple sites, maybe you could host a video call?
10) Review your launch
Once your new intranet is live, make sure to review how it went. Just writing down notes, comments and reviewing your metrics are great ways to record your intranet launch and can be the start of your continual development programme.
I hope you have found these intranet launch tips useful. Your intranet is unique to your organisation and your launch will be too but the tips provided here can be adapted to your own requirements. If you would like to find out more you can download our free guide on how to manage your intranet.
