Most people want to get to their information these days without waiting. This is where your intranet comes in. If your intranet is not working properly, than your site is not going to reach its full potential.
How can I allow my intranet to reach its full potential?
Good question. This is a question that is asked a lot. Allow me to explain the answer to this in a few easy steps.
1) The first step is to build it. Say what? Well, it’s true. You do need to have it in there for it work properly. The intranet also serves as a communicative device too. It helps send messages out to people who might not get them otherwise.
Let’s say that your office is holding a meeting for the whole company. How are those who work in the mail room going to hear about it? Are you looking to leave them out intentionally? I didn’t think so. This is where the intranet comes into play.
Now not everyone is going to get the benefits of this feature. That is okay. You can still look for alternate routes for people to get the same messages. However, these alternate routes still won’t happen without the intranet. It’s going to be better if you have one ready for use, regardless of someone’s circumstances.
2) You have to offer the right features. Don’t just throw something in there because it looks good. This won’t get you anywhere. There are lots of people who are short on time these days. These people don’t have all day to access your latest stats and pictures. They want it simple and they want it right away. You might want to consider making a few of these features very easy to read through.
Social Media– Social updates need to be quick and clean, especially why posting them.
A People Directory– This is the killer on all mobile devices. You have to make sure that your people finder is up-to-date and clean. If it’s not, your customers will go elsewhere.
News– This becomes a problem for some. Not every news feed is important or relevant to everyone. Just because a story about Kanye is important to you, that doesn’t mean it will be for everyone else. It’s best to use headlines. This way your users can pick out what is good for them, leaving the rest behind.
Blogs– This is another thing to keep in the back of your mind. People are attracted to blogs, but only when they are short and sweet. It’s better if you pick out the ones that interest your clients the most and ditch the rest.
This is also where your intranet comes in handy. It will keep only the most valuable of information at your eye level.
3) Testing is also important, even when everything is up and running. Always conduct tests. This way you can see what is still working and what has gone by the wayside.
4) Some people want to be able to work “over the internet.” This is where the intranet comes in. Most people don’t want to “dial-up”, especially if they need to get online really fast. This is even more apparent for the mobile users. Your intranet can help you with this, but first it needs to be there to work.
If you continue to page two, you will find some more tips on making the most of your intranet.
