In today's technology fuelled world, most businesses have their own form of intranet (which is a localised version of a website that is only accessible to those within the business). However, many businesses under-utilise their intranet and some smaller businesses may do without one altogether. It can be easy to fall into the trap of thinking that intranets are not worth the investment because they are boring and no one uses them. However, regardless of the size of a company or organisation, intranets are crucial to the success of a business. A well designed intranet not only helps boost employee engagement and retention, but it can also speed up processes and workflow while streamlining business logic and most importantly deliver $ to your bottom line.
Below are some of the key benefits of creating a centralised intranet hub as well as some of the ways you can spice it up.
So, what are some of the benefits to having an awesome intranet?
- Increased productivity – data and services can be more easily found by staff.
- Increased collaboration between departments and teams.
- Communication between different offices becomes easier.
- Information can be more efficiently distributed on a need-to-know basis.
- It can be compatible across multiple platforms and devices.
- More efficient management and sharing of documentation and resources.
- Aids remote access to work tools and resources especially for telecommute or offsite staff.
Ok, how can I make my intranet more valuable?
Well, to start off with, you should be thinking about your intranet as a centralised hub where staff can interact and easily find the tools and resources they need to do their jobs. Additionally, you should also think of the intranet as a place where your company's culture can flourish.
Here are some tactics to make the intranet more engaging:
- Link to all sorts of appealing internal and external content such as blogs, news, events and special offers.
- Share internal news and ideas, encourage feedback and promote discussion.
- Include staff resources such as policies and procedures, guidelines, corporate documents and resources, training materials, organisational charts and other services.
- Use rich media content, for example video, to get messages out to your staff quickly and more effectively.
Another great way to integrate your intranet into your business is to also make it useful to staff. You can do this by using it as a platform to deliver tools. These tools can include:
- Sales and project management tools.
- Collaborative tools such as staff chat, teleconferencing and discussion forums.
- Customer relationship management (CRM).
- Timesheets and other HR services.
If you are willing to put in the effort to integrate your intranet in to the day-to-day happenings of your business it can become an invaluable resource platform for your staff. Not only can an integrated and well thought out intranet enhance company culture, it is also a great way to engage staff, connect people, improve efficiency, and encourage collaboration.
Have you got any background info?
Sure do! Check out these pieces for everything you need to know: Awesome Intranets Cheat Sheet.
Or, if you would like some hands-on help setting up your own intranet we have experts who can help! For more information contact us.