Intranets are finally reaching mainstream acceptance, but I still hear reports, often groans, of how Intranets are not living up to their potential. Many companies build Intranets with an "if we build it, they will come" approach, but are startled when employees fail to drill past the homepage's corporate logo. When this happens, they have usually failed to remember the key to a winning Intranet: dynamic content.
Dynamic content does not mean cute animated graphics, hover buttons, or Java enabled gadgets. These frills are window dressing for customers, not content for employees. If you want your Intranet to succeed, then you need to make it worth using on a regular basis. This means that your content needs to stay fresh and timely.
It can be a challenge to keep public information fresh and timely, but it not impossible. I have outlined four ideas below that will help you achieve an exciting and useful Intranet to maintain your employees' interest. The first ideas are relatively easy and can be implemented without programming or integration. The last few ideas may require some investment, but will unlock your Intranet's potential.
Your Intranet should be more accurate and up-to-date than your paper documents, notices, and flyers. This means that documents that are updated on paper should also be on the Intranet. If you do this your Intranet will be updated the moment new information is saved; in addition, you eliminate the time and expense of copying and distributing paper copies that just collect dust in filing cabinets.
The new version of Microsoft Office, Office2000, lets you store and edit your documents, spreadsheets, and presentations as HTML without losing any formatting. This feature of Office2000 makes a big difference: it removes the update-then-publish barrier from Intranet maintenance because you can finally store original data in an Intranet ready format.
Getting the routine information off of paper and onto your Intranet is an essential first step. If your employees feel like they cannot rely on the Intranet for something as simple as an HR document or the corporate calendar, then they are unlikely to use it for anything else. This sounds simple, but requires a culture change because publishing to the web feels very different than distributing paper copies. This is just the first step in teaching your employees to rely on your Intranet for all types of information.
Document authors must be accountable. If you are pushing information to the Intranet quickly there will be mistakes, so do not expect the information to be perfect. However, mistakes can only be quickly corrected if the author of the information is identifiable and responsible for its presentation. Mistakes can be reported to him easily and corrections should be quick. An Intranet is about self-service and self-reliance so we expect the author of the information to also be the source of the information. Without accountability, correcting mistakes becomes painfully slow.
Mistakes are acceptable until someone makes a bad decision on obviously incorrect data. To prevent this, information should be accurate or clearly flagged as draft. Someone using a web browser cannot rely on subtle cues to distinguish draft data from released information unless the author makes sure it is very clear in the document. Even clearly labeled files can be misused, but in those cases remember to discipline the user not the author. However, employees at companies that do not accept publication draft information are much less willing to publish any information. Waiting for perfection means waiting forever, so allow employees to publish drafts.
In many cases your GroupWare (email, scheduling, and discussion) programs have built in web features. For example, Domino, the server for Lotus Notes' clients, offers remarkable web capabilities with little or no modification of existing applications. These features can extend your GroupWare's reach by giving access to plant floor employees, simplifying connections from remote offices, making it easy for mobile support staff, and even empowering telecommuting. Tapping information from databases to an Intranet has become a relatively painless chore. Most reporting tools and databases offer features that automatically create pre-defined reports. Web based reports can eliminate installing applications or ODBC clients on distributed desktops. This in turn reduces the number of connections your database must maintain and reduces server loads. In addition, data from an Intranet can be cut-and-pasted directly into a spreadsheet for deeper and easier analysis.
Automatically created static reports have a low entry cost, but are limited in functionality. Interactive reports require a larger initial investment, but they allow users to select and filter information on demand ultimately reduces the number of reports you need to design. Using either type of report will make your Intranet a place for your employees to find information, but only interactive reports really let people choose the information they want to get.
Intranet enabled self-service applications make good sense because they functional and inexpensive. However, Intranet applications do not just reduce cost; they can actually improve service by increasing employee self-service for routine requests. For example, several HR packages are offering Intranet editing capabilities so employees' can self-maintain their benefit packages and personal information.
These applications are effective because they are generally replacing tasks that previously required a manual processes (forms or phone calls) or some type of widely distributed application. Intranet applications perform these jobs well because can handle simple jobs and are installation-free, low maintenance, and cross-platform.
Your computer professionals will get an added benefit to making your Intranet dynamic: they will have a place to practice. Since experience on Intranets translates directly to the Internet, your development staff can gain critical experience on internal servers. After all, co-workers will be more forgiving of mistakes than your customers.
Ready, Set, Surf! Not all companies are ready for a dynamic Intranet. I have visited companies that want complex rules and guidelines for Intranet authors. Others fear that people will not understand how to use the information. Still others feel burned because their Intranet has not lived up to its promise and is collecting cyber-dust in the wiring closet.
Let me reassure you that while Intranets have been around for 5 years, it is only recently that the tools have emerged to make using and maintaining them practical. If you follow the steps I have outlined, you can start slowly with very little extra investment. As your Intranet gains momentum and you gain confidence, you can add the more dynamic features. Remember, if you put these tools (and some trust) in your employees' hands then your Intranet will blossom. Sidebar: What is an Intranet?
An Intranet is the use of Internet type technologies, most notably web browsers, to provide employees with internal information about your company. The basic purpose of an Intranet is to make it easy for people at your company to access information that is otherwise distributed by paper. This is convenient because paper copies are hard to keep up to date and generally winds up lost in binders, filing cabinets, and bulletin boards. What is the redistribution cost when someone discovers a typo in the quarterly updated phone list?
Intranets offer more benefits than just creating a paperless office. They create opportunities for improving communication especially between remote offices. Intranet data is bandwidth friendly for wide area networks and dial-up users. In addition, publishing information to an Intranet is easy with the current tools and low risk because it is only for use inside your company.
Intranets really blossom when you empower work groups to publish information to an Intranet instead of shuffling memos back and forth. There is a tremendous different between getting a bi-weekly email with meeting minutes and checking an Intranet site with project status, a complete set of meeting minutes, current documentation, and background documents. The Intranet open format allows groups to easily maintain project histories and create information libraries as company resources.
Ideally, Intranets become places where both workers and managers go to find up to the minute answers. The technology that powers Intranets has reached a point where almost any type of information can be cost effectively rendered to a web browser. The impact for your company is that an Intranet makes it easy for people to find, understand, and share the information they need to their jobs. This means they can spend more time adding value to the information and to your company.
If you do not have an Intranet and want to get started, you can lookup my column Introduction to Intranets
| Interested in reading more? Click here for more articles. |
Originally appeared in Midrange ERP, August 1999. Used with permission.
