Got Office 365? Why opting for a non-SharePoint intranet is madness!

Posted on 28 September 201716 November 2023 by Dan Hawtrey

These days there is unprecedented choice in the intranet and collaboration space. Not only is there maturity in the intranet software market, but there are also overlapping capabilities with social and collaboration platforms from Yammer to Slack to Workplace by Facebook. Intranet teams have a lot of different options.

One direction of travel is the emergence of a range of hosted or cloud intranets which provide attractive interfaces, templates, the key capabilities youd expect and, above all, convenience and speed. Intranet implementation projects are now much easier and faster and building an enterprise-ready, feature-rich intranet has never been easier.

Turnkey SharePoint intranets

The turnkey intranet market itself has evolved into two key segments:

Standalone and self-contained in-a-box solutions
Those that sit on top of SharePoint Online and Office 365 (some also work with SharePoint on premises).

Intranet managers can opt for strong intranet solutions, either SharePoint based or non-SharePoint based.

But if you are using Office 365 in your organisation, and there are many companies who are or are planning to, there are some clear advantages in implementing a SharePoint-based intranet. In fact. wed go as far to say that opting for a non-SharePoint intranet-in-a-box solution when you have Office 365 really doesnt make much sense at all.

Heres five reasons why:

Creating an integrated digital workplace

In the past couple of years theres been a lot of talk about the digital workplace and having a more consistent, coherent and integrated experience of the wider portfolio of applications in use throughout the organisation, as well as valuable data and content. This helps drive efficiency and process improvement, helps with findability through an integrated search, maintains common standards across different systems and reduces the chance of a frustrating user experience.

Its generally recognised that the intranet plays an important role in the digital workplace, often as the front door or point of entry to different applications and critical documents. Its also usually the place to carry out a search and for employees to find what they need to do their work every day.

If youre investing in Office 365 its very likely that some of the key elements of your digital workplace use Office 365. You may use the document libraries, rich collaboration or the search. A SharePoint intranet-in-a-box product like Wizdom makes it much easier to use the intranet as the front door to current capabilities as well as future functionality on the Office 365 roadmap.

A non-Sharepoint intranet makes it much harder to achieve an integrated digital workplace experience. There will be no integrated search and no simple integration with SharePoint. If your digital workplace is largely based on Office 365 and you want to the intranet to be a gateway to your digital workplace, a non-SharePoint based intranet will likely stymie your efforts.

Unlocking the value of Office 365

Your intranet is a strategic investment and so is Office 365. As well as delivering a more integrated digital workplace, a user-friendly SharePoint-based intranet layer can help drive Office 365 adoption which means youre more likely to be achieving ROI. Your SharePoint turnkey intranet can:

Highlight many of the features within Office 365, explaining the benefits and raising awareness of these tools through communications
Add some context to the tools on offer so they have more value. So, for example, a Yammer group might make more sense and have more value for users when it is combined with intranet-based content or document libraries, therefore driving adoption.
Make Office 365 tools easier to reach and find, through integration into the intranet experience. There are many ways to integrate a product like Wizdom with Office 365, from using Delve and Graph for showing recently documents accessed, to creating a learning portal based on Office 365 video, to adding links in the intranet navigation to these tools.
Improve the usability of Office 365 with a great interface that employees are already familiar with.

Avoiding duplication of costs

If youre an Office 365 subscriber youre already paying for a rich set of collaborative technologies with different options including Yammer, Microsoft Teams and the capabilities of SharePoint itself. Most intranet products now come with their own in-built collaboration capability so when you subscribe to a non-SharePoint intranet product, youre probably paying for capabilities you already have.

Our chosen SharePoint in-a-box product, Wizdom, is a native SharePoint application so it doesnt duplicate the functionality youve already paid for, instead providing a far tighter experience layer on top of Office 365. (The same argument applies to SharePont on premises).

Avoiding duplication also helps to reduce costs for budget constrained intranet teams not only in terms of licensing but also in all those hidden costs such as training, upgrades and more.

Avoiding user confusion

One of the constant challenges for intranet teams is driving adoption and best use of your digital channels across your wider digital workplace. Having a non-SharePoint intranet and Office 365 running in parallel can undermine those efforts by having two parallel systems with overlapping capability.

While employees like choice, they also like clarity. Its far better to have a standard system for collaboration which everybody can use and is properly supported, rather than have two competing systems. The aim for an intranet and Office 365 is to remove silos, not create them.

Stay future-proofed

Recently Microsoft has really sped up its product release cycle with a real expansion of the apps available within the Office 365 suite, including Sway, Teams and more. Theres always pressure to add new features to your intranet and you may be able to use some of the new powerful apps from Office 365. Even if theres no pressing need now, there may be in the future.

With an intranet like Wizdom, youll be future-proofed for the changes that Microsoft make, ensuring they are part of your digital workplace and helping to drive adoption through the intranet interface. A non-SharePoint intranet wont keep up providing a frustrating and fragmented experience for your users.

Make the right decision

Take it from us, if youre going down the Office 365 road a non-SharePoint intranet makes little sense. We predict that at some stage in the future that you will want your intranet to integrate with your core suite of Office 365 tools. And if you dont want to, your stakeholders and your users will eventually demand it.

Wizdom is a perfect choice. Youll be buying an intranet which keeps up to date with Office 365, but also provides the best integrated experience available as a native SharePoint app.

Earlier in the post we stated that Office 365 is a strategic investment and so is your intranet – with a SharePoint intranet-in a box youre effectively investing in both

The rise of the digital workplace and its impact on intranet

Posted on 19 September 201729 June 2022 by Dan Hawtrey

If youre an intranet professional, have been investigating a new intranet product, or are working on an Office 365 roadmap, youre likely to have come across the digital workplace. Its a term and a concept thats been steadily growing in popularity over the past three years and have now entered the mainstream.

Originally, the digital workplace was used as a term by some of the leading players in the intranet and collaboration world such as the Digital Workplace Group and Jane McConnell. That growth has extended to organizations such as Microsoft, Accenture, and Gartner. Its now often used within organizations to describe functions, roles, and even intranets.

Defining the digital workplace

Defining the digital workplace isnt as straightforward as it might seem, and there is no consensus about exactly what it is. It means different things to different people, and use varies across different organisations.

In our experience, there are three over-lapping definitions:

Its an experience. The digital workplace is the employee experience of all workplace technology, covering a wide portfolio of applications, the relative interfaces, the hardware in use and so on. Its the digital equivalent to the physical workplace.
Its a specific environment. Some see the digital workplace as a specific digital ecosystem a company provides where there is some integration and the employee can access a wide series of applications. Usually the intranet acts as the front door to the digital workplace and will be a significant part of it
Its a concept or a mindset. Others view the digital workplace as more a way of thinking a holistic and strategic way of looking at the employee experience of technology at work.

In reality, these three definitions are strongly interlinked as the concept emphasizes the importance of the experience which leads to development of specific environments!

The intranet as the key channel in the digital workplace

Although some organisations have chosen to re-brand their intranet as a digital workplace, we view intranets as being distinct and different. The digital workplace has a wider focus, while the intranet is usually the most important channel within it.

There are several reasons why the intranet is the key channel within the digital workplace:

The intranet is the perfect starting point for employees to access the wider digital workplace, a gateway to other systems and apps.
Intranets can usually be accessed by all employees so they are the logical channel to be the focus for any integrated experience.
Intranets have evolved to include new capabilities such as collaboration, so many essential digital workplace tools are already included in the intranet.
Intranets are flexible so new links and features can be added, keeping up with the ever-expanding digital workplace.
Intranets can be used to communicate the how and why of using wider digital tools critical for digital workplace adoption and giving context to all the tools and apps in use.
Many organisations are using Office 365 as the center of their digital workplace and an intranet is a great vehicle to leverage your investment with Microsoft.

Four positive trends from the rise of the digital workplace

The rise of the digital workplace has been great for intranets and the teams behind them. Heres four key trends which we see happening with our clients and beyond.

1. Intranets are becoming more essential

In the past, some intranets have typically been regarded as nice to haves and not essential to everyday working. This is changing.The digital workplace emphasizes the importance of having an integrated, high quality employee experience of workplace tools. Intranets are stepping up to the plate to be the natural entry point into the wider digital workplace, as well as the place to complete tasks. Intranet software providers are making it easier to deliver key apps and features and integrate other systems so that the intranet is truly the go to place for employees to get things done.

2. Senior stakeholders are seeing the strategic importance of the intranet

The digital workplace encourages a more strategic view of technology, emphasizing its importance in digital transformation, employee engagement, and more.With the intranet as a central part of the digital workplace, senior stakeholders are more likely to take the intranet seriously and see its true potential.

3. There are new opportunities for intranet teams

Intranet teams are sometimes misunderstood or under-appreciated within the organizations they serve. The teams are also small so the opportunities for career advancement may be limited.The digital workplace offers an opportunity for intranet teams to lead the way in a new and growing area, work with a wider set of technologies and make a real difference. This exposure and focus can lead to new challenges and opportunities for intranet professionals.

4. Organizations are moving forward with the future of work

Because the digital workplace promotes a more holistic view of workplace technology, it often means different stakeholders from across your organization will work together to move forward in a coordinated way.Hopefully, they are uniting behind a shared vision of the future of work within your organization.This is great news as it can help intranets to evolve too as the modern, essential interface for employees, enabling new ways of working and working in harmony with other applications.

Raise a glass for the digital workplace!

The digital workplace concept is here to stay and intranets will benefit enormously. Were already starting to see more interest from senior leaders, better career prospects for teams, and vastly improved intranets.Naturally, there is a still a long way to go, as the digital workplace concept is still young. However, were confident that the next five years or so will prove to an exciting time for intranets and also the people who manage them.

The original article was published here.

Running an Intranet RFP – an agency view

Posted on 14 August 201716 November 2023 by Dan Hawtrey

We love working with new clients (as well as old ones!). Obviously, we like to win new business, but the most rewarding aspect is meeting new people and working on exciting projects. The Content Formula team love implementing new things. Making clients happy is what were all about!Usually winning a new client means going through an RFP process. The Request for proposal is an established and structured way for organisations to invite, evaluate and ultimately select an agency or partner to work with it. For us, an RFP could be anything from an invitation to develop a three-year relationship to just providing a product, such as a turnkey intranet.Usually the RFP is a natural step after the formulation of an intranet strategy and making an intranet business case. You may also have done some preliminary work to get the support of your senior management.

RFPs are a big commitment

RFPs are a way of life for digital agencies and software vendors, but they can also be extremely time-consuming for both the organisation and the agency involved.Its a significant time and resource commitment for both parties. It can involve multiple individuals from both side. An RFP process can also last for months, delaying important projects.From an agency point of view, we always carefully consider whether we want to respond to an RFP. We weigh up the time commitment, the value of the work and the likelihood of winning and the associated risk of not-winning.This means that occasionally we will have to turn down the RFP invitation when:

We just do not have the resources to respond adequately, perhaps due to current work commitments
We dont feel were the best agency to respond to the RFP or dont believe we can help the potential client
The work on offer is not of high enough value because it is a small project, although if this is the precursor to a longer working relationship it may be attractive
Where the information requested appears to be over-the-top and it will take us too long to respond
Where the deadline for responses is unrealistic
When we assess we have very little chance of winning the work
Where were not sure the client knows what they want and they are perhaps using the RFP process to find out (intentionally or unintentionally) the information they need rather than select an agency. It is likely they could benefit from consultancy services.

Tips for running a successful RFP process

The danger for an organisation which ends up having agencies and vendors not responding to their RFP is that they will not be able to find the best partner for their needs. The team will also be wasting more time, resources and energy on the RFP process.Here are a few tips which can lead to a better RFP process for everybody.

Find out more information first

Youll save a lot of time by properly researching your list of potential agencies to invite. A lot of information can be gleaned by looking agency websites, and by getting recommendations from your peers.However, the best thing is to arrange a call first. Were delighted to speak to clients about their needs. If youre researching products, then arrange a demo. This can usually be done virtually and its a great way to get a feel for a product such as an intranet-in-a-box solution.Some organisations run an RFI process (Request for Information) prior to an RFP where they ask for information from a wider set of agencies, although this can be a time-consuming process too.

Meet the agency before the RFP

The chemistry between the teams from agency and client is important and is often a key input for any final decision. Ideally meet an agency in person before you invite them to tender. Perhaps ask them to come in for an hour and present to you. We love to meet potential clients. Please get in touch!

Work on an intranet strategy before the RFP

It really helps to know what you want from your agency. The best way to achieve that is by working on an intranet strategy which is based on a thorough understanding of your users. The strategy will help you to craft a more accurate RFP document for your needs.It can be very difficult for agencies to give you a proper response if you are too vague about your needs. Some potential great implementation partners for you may not feel they are able to help if youre at too early a stage in your thinking to adequately run the RFP process.Ideally, you should also have business commitment for your project too. An RFP where the work then gets cancelled because there wasnt approval is very frustrating for all.

Dont run an RFP to validate a decision already made

If youve already more or less decided on a supplier and youre running an RFP because your procurement function says you must, or you need to validate your decision with senior stakeholders, then please try to consider alternatives to the RFP process.Of course meet other agencies to make a decision, but when carrying out an RFP go into it with a genuinely open mind otherwise you are potentially wasting a lot of your own time and those within your organisation.

Project manage the RFP

RFPs need to be tightly run as projects to keep them on course. Ensure you:

Have realistic timelines allowing responses from agencies and proper internal consideration of the suppliers
Stick to deadlines
Dont invite too many suppliers, otherwise this may prove too difficult and time consuming for you and your colleagues
Assemble the right team dont leave out stakeholders who will insist on a retrospective review of any decision!
Are transparent about the process and keep everyone involved in the loop.
Stick to the rules. In some industries and the public sector, there may be strict rules to the RFP process which must be adhered to.
Let the agencies who didnt win know the reasons why this feedback is very useful.

Be prepared!

The key secret of running a successful RFP is to be properly prepared. Do your research on the agencies, derive your intranet strategy, and plan the process. Dont go into an RPF lightly, otherwise it can be overwhelming.Follow some of the tips in this post and were convinced youll get more out of the process and find the right implementation partner for your organisation. Youll end up with a willing supplier and related product. Youre far more likely to develop a successful relationship, delivering great solutions with excellent results.

Making the business case for your intranet

Posted on 11 July 201716 November 2023 by Dan Hawtrey

So, you’ve got your senior management behind the idea of a new intranet, youve gone ahead and written an intranet strategy and now its time to make the business case.

Getting a business case for a new intranet is not always straightforward. Many of the benefits of intranets are intangible and senior management may regard it as a tactical rather than a strategic-level solution. Budget for intranets also tends to be trumped by investment in external-facing digital channels.

If you have already worked on a strategy which has senior stakeholders support it should be easier to get your business case approved, as your proposal will offer no surprises.

Even then, you should consider carefully how you construct your business case. It is likely you will go through more scrutiny, be considered against other budgetary requests and it may be reviewed by a wider group of stakeholders.

What should you include in an intranet business case?

Every organisation handles business cases slightly differently. There may be a standard document or form, and a related process. You may also need to make a presentation. The format may well dictate the contents of your business case and the supporting evidence you choose.

Most business cases are likely to include all or some of the following:
How the current intranet, if you have one, is failing
Why you need a new solution rather than using the old one
Why you need a specific solution, if youve selected one
The benefits the new intranet delivers and how these align to wider strategic goals
The risks of not introducing the new intranet
In some cases, you may also be reiterating the general need for an intranet in the first place
Quantified and non-quantified evidence to illustrate all the above

What evidence should be included?

There is a range of evidence you can include in a business case, but remember that business cases love numbers and you will definitely need to include some memorable figures.

Heres some common types of evidence, both numerical and non-numerical:

Specific reduced costs

Specific reduced costs are often driven by replacing legacy systems or the old intranet, with most savings made through the associated licensing costs. These can be significant if you are consolidating several intranets into one and can also include training and support contracts. You may also be replacing hard copy communications such as a staff newspaper.

Other cost avoidance

The new intranet may also be making potential cost savings by doing things much more efficiently than the old platform. This might include making design changes or introducing a new feature. How many costs are you potentially avoiding by using the proposed modern, efficient new intranet rather than the existing, clunky old one?

Quantified softer benefits

Quantifying the softer benefits for an intranet is at the core of a business case. This can include time saved, productivity gains, reduction in emails, increases in employee self-service, improvements to specific processes such as employee onboarding, better customer responses, better data accuracy and so on. If you express these as cost savings then be careful they are credible and that you can explain the maths behind the calculations.

Wider, indirect softer benefits

Indirect softer benefits are often the rationale for a new intranet. These include driving employee engagement, cultural change, organisational change, supporting increased digital skills and reducing risk. Note that these can be more convincing if they are pegged to a specific initiative or organisational event such as a significant merger.

Development of new capabilities

Many of the wider benefits mentioned above may also be driven by capabilities included in the new intranet and not available in the current one. Capabilities might include collaboration spaces, social tools, better internal communications through personalisation, better search and the flexibility of moving to the cloud.

Relevant intranet metrics

You’ll need to illustrate why your current intranet is failing. Any relevant metrics from your organisation which reflect this will help, including low adoption, low engagement, minimal satisfaction and poor performance.

The wider context

Wider demographic and survey data that show employee needs, reflect common problems or widespread tech habits can be very useful. This can be anything from levels of employee trust to mobile use in the consumer world to office design trends.

General information about the intranet market

It’s important to show the capabilities of modern intranets to demonstrate their potential, for example the power of an intranet-out-of-a-box solution. You can then show the capabilities of your chosen product in this context.

Success stories from other companies

Referencing specific success stories from other organisations which illustrate an intranets potential or emphasise that your organisation is behind in the game can be very powerful. If you can find examples from your competitors, even better.

Alignment of strategy, roadmaps and capabilities

Sometimes there’s a key initiative such as a global branding programme which means an intranet makes perfect sense. Sometimes an opportunity is driven by a digital roadmap. If getting the new intranet will help leverage investment in other systems (perhaps Office 365 or a new HR system) then it is worth mentioning.

A new intranet may also be driven by necessity such as the withdrawal of support for a product or an internal upgrade of hardware or software.

Tips for presenting your business case

From time to time, as intranet consultants, we help our clients present an intranet business case. Heres a few tips to weve picked up over the years.

Keep it convincing and credible

Remember that your senior stakeholders scrutinise may business cases. Always make sure the evidence you present is convincing and credible, otherwise it may discredit your whole business case. Be particularly wary of presenting cost savings which are based on tenuous calculations.

Keep it targeted to different needs

Remember that different stakeholders have varying agendas and diverse views. Include evidence which illustrates the advantages of the new intranet for each of them. Show different stakeholders whats in it for them.

Keep it focused

There can be a temptation to throw all the evidence you can at a business case. If you are including everything but the kitchen sink, make sure youre not diluting the argument by adding too much detail. Senior stakeholders are very time-pressured people. If necessary, move additional evidence to appendices so those interested can drill down into the detail.

Keep it strategic

A business case needs to resonate at the organisational level. It must be aligned to wider company objectives. Its possible your organisations template for your business case already ensures this happens, but always be specific on how the new intranet furthers company strategy.

Keep it positive

We find its always best to focus more on the opportunities presented by a new intranet rather than the risks of non-deployment, although the latter can be covered. Stakeholders need to be able to visualise the potential of an exciting new intranet to really get behind it.

Getting it over the line

Everyone does businesses cases slightly differently and weve covered some of the generics here to give you some ideas. Usually its not just the formal business case that gets the over the line – it takes a lot of stakeholder management in the background and getting the right backing.

Also remember that intranets are ever more powerful and, even if your business case fails this time around, you may have done more to advance your case than you think.

Why your intranet must budget for change management

Posted on 12 June 201716 November 2023 by Dan Hawtrey

Intranets now have a powerful set of capabilities and apps, from internal communications to collaboration to forms and workflow to being fully optimised for mobile devices. Indeed, some are morphing into digital workplaces, becoming the starting point of the working day for employees.

However, despite the powerful features of your intranet, it does not necessarily guarantee adoption from users. And without adoption, your intranet might as well not exist!

The intranet adoption conundrum

Adoption is often a conundrum for intranet teams. As an intranet consultancy, its something we get asked about all the time.

Despite the best efforts of teams, employees seem hooked on repeating old habits, such as using email for everything.

One critical point is that, in most cases, using the intranet and the related tools is not mandatory. There are other options for employees. So instead of using collaborative spaces or social tools, employees prove resistant to change and revert to the ubiquitous email. However good your intranet is, the idea of build it and they shall come has long been discredited.

Another key reason is that employees are constantly bombarded by messages and information, and thats on top of them being fantastically busy with their everyday activities. It can be challenging to get their attention and let them know about the intranet or social tools they should be using.

Plan for change management

For the best chance of good intranet adoption, you need to plan for adequate change management. Change management is likely to feature marketing and communications, training and support and initiatives to drive engagement. Generally, it will need to be targeted to specific groups and it will need to be ongoing.

Typical change management tactics for intranet and digital workplace projects include:

Traditional written communications, often via the intranet itself
An engaging launch campaign with teaser videos, events, competitions and roadshows
Endorsement from senior leaders
Self-service resources including how-to videos, user guides and e-learning
A support community to answer questions and give advice
Targeted training for super-users, content owners and community managers
Use of an advocate or champions network and their continuing engagement to drive use via peer recommendations
A train the trainer programme

In addition there may be behind-the-scenes stakeholder management, possibly a programme of improvements released iteratively and, of course, a highly useful site!

Youll need budget!

All of this takes time and resources to deliver adequately. Although you can leverage the (free) energy and enthusiasm of local champions, theres a limit to what you achieve without any spend. Youll still need to support and train them, produce resources, get your message across to users and even travel to remote offices.

If youre not budgeting for change management as an integral part of your intranet project then youre missing a trick. A good approach is to do this upfront, presented together with any development, product, IT and design costs. Indeed, weve seen some projects which have budgeted most of the project costs to change management.

Also with the opportunities for lower costs delivered by an intranet-in-a-box solution, presenting additional change management costs can be more palatable for stakeholders.

Heres some reasons why you should budget up-front for change management.

There may not be budget for business-as-usual

Traditionally when a project is considered finished and goes into business as usual there is either little budget left or investment can get cut. Budgeting for a period of ongoing change management can reduce the chance of that happening.

Change management starts during the project phase

Change management effort starts during the project phase, not just around launch time. When you involve employees to provide input, give feedback and test your new intranet, youre helping to drive a sense of ownership and creating advocates for the new platform.

These people may help you launch it later and act as champions within their peer networks. Consider change management as a process which runs from the very beginning of your project.

Employees and organisations are continually changing

Organisations, teams, employees and their needs are always in a state of flux. Youll always need to educate new starters, train new content owners and launch new features. All that requires ongoing support and change management. An intranet is never truly finished and nor are the efforts to drive intranet adoption.

Complex platforms are likely to have a phased launch

Usually central intranet teams are very small. Realistically a team of three may support 100,000 employees. To cope with the workload, it may mean that a staggered or phased launch is required in organisations. This may require a sustained change management effort lasting months.

Adoption will be part of the strategy and business case so be consistent

Your intranet strategy and related intranet business case will almost certainly have envisaged good adoption. Ideally, both should have mentioned the change management efforts required. If this element is in your business case it should then be in your project budget too.

Manage the expectations of your senior stakeholders

Intranet teams are always keen to win budgetary approval for a new platform, and getting that doesnt always come easy. Dont succumb to the temptation to sugar coat a budget request by leaving out change management costs so it is more likely to get passed. Make sure your senior stakeholders understand that change management is essential or youll be setting yourself up for a fall.

Digital literacy is a source of competitive advantage

Learning how to use the tools on the intranet and wider digital workplace, for example those in the Office 365 suite, can help to increase confidence in tools and levels of digital literacy across the workforce. This is hugely beneficial in the long run and can really help drive digital transformation, deliver better collaboration and inspire innovation.

Change management is key

The experience of organisations shows that change management is key to driving intranet adoption, and good levels of adoption are a prerequisite for intranet success. If you want to achieve convincing intranet ROI then employees need to be using the intranet on a regular basis. Change management is integral to success.

Training, support, communications and campaigns need to be properly resourced. By including the costs in your original project budget plans, everybody has a realistic view of what will be needed to make your intranet a lively platform that helps employees with everyday work and enables wider organisational objectives.

How to get senior management support for a new intranet

Posted on 10 May 201716 November 2023 by Dan Hawtrey

One of the early critical milestones on the path to implementing a new intranet is ensuring you have the support of your senior management and, ideally, your budget holders. But thats not always straightforward to achieve. Their lack of support can end up as a stumbling block which puts the new intranet project on ice for another year.

In this post, were going to look at some of the reasons why this is the case and what you can do about it.

Why aren’t senior leaders interested in your intranet?

There are many reasons why it can be hard to get a new intranet on senior managements agenda, including:

Senior management often view the intranet as a tactical tool rather than a strategic one, and therefore it comes lower down the pecking order in terms of investment. Investing in digital channels for customers is usually a priority over investing in channels for employees.
Perception of the intranets value can be diluted because it does so many different things for different stakeholders.
Some intranets deliver a poor experience and are associated with static content repositories, so the term intranet can be a slightly toxic brand. Intranets have a bad press!
Some well-run teams operate their intranet successfully on a shoestring and senior stakeholders want them to carry on like that, not realising that a platform has reached end of life. (Youve been doing great for the past six years!)
The benefits of an intranet are sometimes intangible and hard to measure.

The path to a new intranet

In many organisations, theres a rough sequence of events which results in a new intranet:

Getting the idea of a new intranet on the agenda of senior stakeholders
Developing an intranet strategy based on a discovery phase
Making a successful business case and getting budgetary approval
Running an RFP process to select intranet software and an implementation partner
Carrying out the project and implementing governance in parallel
Investing in ongoing change management and intranet improvements to drive adoption and value

Doing that early work to get senior manager buy-in is sensible. You need their participation, engagement and agreement for developing a strategy and business case. Not doing the groundwork increases your chances of the whole idea being rejected.

If its clear there is currently no support for a new intranet then you may be saving yourself a lot of effort (and heartache) further down the line. However, its also likely youll be able to get their initial thoughts on the direction of a new intranet, as well as the features which will resonate with particular stakeholders.

You may also be able to identify an enthusiastic senior champion or ally who can help you get the message across to their peers. Equally, youll be able to identify one or two people who need the most persuading and target the right arguments to help challenge their assumptions.

Ten tips to drive senior management support

We know it can be hard to win senior management over. Heres a few tips weve seen working which can help swing them around to your way of thinking.

Tip 1: Hold one-on-one sessions
Holding individual, face-to-face sessions with senior individuals is often the best way to get their attention to explain what you would like to do. If this is impossible, then ask your supportive boss to meet their own boss to drive the argument.

Tip 2: Target whats in it for me
Senior stakeholders have different responsibilities and agendas so make sure you target messages to individual needs. For example, your Head of HR wants to know about how a new intranet can improve HR services and drive employee self-service.

Tip 3: Hold a workshop to drive consensus
If there is enough interest, workshop or open session to drive a consensus on the need for a new intranet and what it might look like, can be very valuable in persuading sceptical or less interested senior management. Weve run intranet workshops with clients and have found them a useful precursor to establishing a strategy. If getting a workshop together is too difficult, it may be possible to present at an existing management meeting.

Tip 4: Piggy back off key initiatives
Sometimes there may be key organisational initiatives such as a new strategy, an upcoming merger or a commitment to digital transformation where the intranet will really add value. This may be an opportunity to emphasise the need for fresh investment.

Tip 5: Run a Proof of Concept or pilot
Sometimes a successful Proof of Concept or pilot can help persuade senior management of the need for a new intranet, particularly those who are sceptical about benefits or concerned about risk. Naturally this tactic needs IT buy-in and can also backfire if the pilot doesnt go smoothly.

Tip 6: Draw on the bigger picture
Covering the wider themes of the digital workplace, digital transformation, the value of the employee experience and the future of work can help to show the intranets contribution. A great intranet can be a strategic investment.

Tip 7: Reference the Office 365 roadmap
If you are already on an Office 365 roadmap you can emphasise some of the opportunities ahead and show how the new intranet is an integral part of your Office 365 journey. For example, a SharePoint intranet-in-a-box with an engaging interface can really help drive adoption and leverage your investment in the wider Office 365 toolset.

Tip 8: Showcase inspiring examples
Citing successful examples of what other organisations have done, particularly from the same sector, can help senior managers visualise the potential of a new platform. We find screenshots always help make intranet benefits more tangible.

Tip 9: Be positive and passionate
Its amazing the difference being positive and passionate can make to a pitch. Emphasise the opportunities rather than the risks and the challenges. Never be defensive. Your new intranet can make a real difference to your organisation and to your employees!

Tip 10: Be consistent and clear
Its important to be consistent in what you are saying. Although you want to emphasise different benefits to different stakeholders, at the core you should have a clear and consistent message that is easily understood so if senior managers discuss this they are coming from the same reference point.

Be persistent!

Getting a new intranet on the agenda can be challenging and for every senior manager that is enthusiastic, there may be another who is stubborn or disinterested.

Even if you dont feel like youre making any progress, you might be surprised at how a well argued, consistent message can permeate senior management thinking. If youre persistent, you may find that you have the backing of your leaders. With that support, the rest of the path to a new intranet becomes much easier.

Video: Build or buy your intranet? Off-the-shelf versus custom build

Posted on 24 April 201729 June 2022 by Dan Hawtrey

The digital workplace features high on the list of priorities for companies going through digital transformation. Many are re-assessing their intranet, understanding that it can make a serious difference to their efforts in terms of social, collaboration, adoption and employee engagement. The intranet is often seen as the thing that ties the digital workplace together. It’s the organisational operating system.

What are the key points and questions to consider as you choose your intranet technology? In this structured walk-through of the arguments we’ll help you decide.

If youve got Office 365 as your digital workplace platform or if your company is running SharePoint on-premise a key consideration will be how to move forward with your intranet. In the last couple of years SharePoint off-the-shelf intranets have become more and more popular and many companies have jumped on board. However, custom build has not gone away – we still see lots of companies going down this route for a variety of reasons.
In this webinar we answer the following questions:
– What are the pros and cons of each approach?
– What are the risks?
– What are typical costs?
– What about support and other ongoing costs?
– A quick look at the off-the-shelf market
– What are the typical functionalities offered by intranet-in-a-box products?
– What to look for in an off-the-shelf product?
– Is there a middle way? Can you build and buy?
– What are the factors in your own business that may point to a specific solution?
– What should small companies do?
– What should large companies do?

Define your intranet strategy before you buy your intranet

Posted on 19 April 201729 June 2022 by Dan Hawtrey

Have you got an up-to-date and documented intranet strategy? And by that we mean a proper intranet strategy that has been researched, well thought out and signed off by key stakeholders.

Well bet that in most organisations the answer is no. Surprisingly, many intranet teams dont even develop a proper intranet strategy before they make their decision to buy an intranet-in-a-box like Wizdom or intranet content management system (CMS).

Thats a risky route. Youll be investing money in an intranet and running a project that:

May not really meet the needs of all your users
Isnt aligned to wider company objectives or those of senior stakeholders
May be difficult to manage or successfully drive adoption

With a solid intranet strategy in place, youll be making a genuinely informed buying decision. For example there are many intranet-in-a-box solutions out there. How do you know which one is going to be best for your organisation?

We are often asked to help clients with an intranet strategy or carry out user research which can help them answer all the questions that need to be answered before they commit to a solution.

Buying the right software means you can deliver value to individuals and your organisation, and ensure your intranet is successful and sustainable. Ultimately youre more likely to achieve a better level of ROI.

Intranet strategy needs a discovery phase

A good intranet strategy is based on a thorough understanding of your users and your organisation.

You need to really get under the skin of how users work. That usually means a detailed discovery phase where you should:

gather intranet and related statistics such as email usage
run focus groups and interviews
carry out an intranet satisfaction survey
observe users at work and so on.

This discovery phase also also needs to ensure you understand the views of your key stakeholders. In our post on getting management buy-in we suggested carrying out interviews or running a workshop. This can be part of the research process for your strategy.

You also need to ensure the strategy is aligned to your core company strategy and sub-strategies such as IT, internal communications, digital and change initiatives. Youll also need to be in sync with your IT roadmap and potentially the Microsoft product roadmap, if youre going down the Office 365 route.

Finally a discovery phase should also be informed by whats happening in the market and what other organisations are doing in this area. There are articles, publications, case studies and networking opportunities which show where intranets are heading and what is possible to achieve.

What should your strategy include?

An intranet strategy can vary from organisation to organisation and may be dictated by a standard format in use. However, the successful ones we have seen, include:

A mission or vision statement which is clearly aligned to company strategy
Key objectives and benefits
A diagnosis of whats wrong with the current intranet or related platform
High level characteristics of what your intranet needs to deliver
Tactics for delivering the project
A high-level roadmap or action plan
KPIs

Seven reasons for developing an intranet strategy

Here are some key reasons for making the effort to develop an intranet strategy.

1) Help you choose the right CMS or intranet-in-a-box product

There is a bewildering choice of intranet and digital workplace products out there. And the number is growing.

Having a strategy can help you to define the critical characteristics of a solution which need to be in place to deliver value and drive adoption. Not every solution is right for every organisation, so work out your strategy and find the CMS which is the best fit for you.

2) Making a convincing business case

Having a strategy which is signed off by your stakeholders, and is then reflected in the business case, means that you already have consensus and engagement from stakeholders before you submit it. A business case based on real data is also more credible.

We believe a business case which emerges from a strategy has more chance of success.

3) Aligns your project to business objectives

Some less successful intranet projects can either be too technology-focused or too centred on internal communications. An intranet based on a proper strategy firmly establishes wider business objectives. Its more likely to have a wider impact and achieve better ROI.

4) Everyone on the same page

Intranets have multiple capabilities, are used for many processes and involve a diverse group of stakeholders. A strategy helps everybody who is involved across your organisation to work from the same page. Thats important for the success of your project and can also help avoid misunderstandings.

5) Aligns your project to other roadmaps

Weve seen far too many projects where an intranet is being introduced despite the roadmap for other systems pulling in a different direction. A good intranet strategy aligns your project to other roadmaps such as IT, digital or HR. This can result in savings by avoiding duplication and even a more integrated experience for users further down the line.

6) Makes adoption more likely

An intranet based on a strategy which truly understands employee needs and behaviour means it is more likely to be used. Designing an intranet based on the way employees work and for common, everyday scenarios is a great starting point for driving adoption.

7) Reduces risk of failure

An intranet without a strategy is directionless and has a higher risk of failing. One that has a clear aim and plan is more likely to succeed.

Make time to make a strategy

Believe us, its worth it. Spend some time to make an intranet strategy so you can make an informed choice on your CMS. And if you need help in this area, dont hesitate to get in touch.

An intranet is a strategic investment which can deliver some fantastic benefits to employees, teams and organisations. Make a considered choice based on a validated strategy signed off by key stakeholders.

How to be an intranet video star (video)

Posted on 28 March 201729 June 2022 by John Scott

In his IntraTeam 2017 presentation Content Formula intranet consultant John Scott examines why intranet video has had a tough time catching on compared to web video. He explains why it’s all about to change and gives you tips and advice on how you can start to use video on your intranet.

Also see John’s other recent video explaining the difference between Microsoft’s two video offerings: Microsoft Stream versus Office 365 Video Portal

How social intranets drive digital transformation

Posted on 24 February 201729 June 2022 by Dan Hawtrey

Yesterday @Wedge and @Blamb from Intranet Now held a hackathon-like event. The objective was to create a practical handbook for intranet and comms teams who are involved in digital transformation in their organisations. The room was filled with a rich mix of intranet managers, internal comms managers, IT and intranet consultants many of whom have first hand experience with digital transformation drives.

The idea of creating a handbook specifically for intranet practitioners makes sense. Whilst the intranet isnt always going to be held up as an exemplar of digital transformation it clearly has a role to play in communication.

A definition

But what exactly do we mean by digital transformation? The group seemed to have a bunch of definitions that more or less sit on a spectrum. At one end of the spectrum we have a definition where DT is more akin to a metamorphosis where a company completely reinvents itself and disrupts its own industry with a ground breaking digital invention. This aspirational definition certainly fits with the word ‘transformation but it isnt very realistic because not every company can disrupt its industry. The world just doesnt work like that. Also, there arent many examples of traditional companies that have done this. Can you think of any?

At the other end of the definition spectrum we have the idea of a very pedestrian change where a company adopts digital ways of working such as process automation. But this definition falls over when you ask the question, would Kodak have survived if it had focused on process automation? Nokia? Blockbuster Video? No. They died because they failed follow the market.

So rather boringly I think the real life definition sits somewhere in the middle. A few companies most probably new upstarts are going to disrupt industries and the large majority will follow and copy and iteratively find ways to differentiate themselves in order to grab their market share. And some will die or disappear into insignificance.

2 crucial roles for the social intranet and its manager

You have to go through the arguments about defining DT in order to realise that its a bit of a red herring. The correct definition doesnt really matter. Which ever one you chose its ultimately about change and the intranet plays two crucial roles in driving it.

First, the intranet as a communication channel is an important one. Not just in terms of getting the initial message and objective out there but also to change behaviours and attitudes through telling stories. Testing out new ideas is key to digital transformation and the intranet can really help communicate these tests and crucially, help get the point across that its ok for tests to fail. Most companies struggle with understanding creative failure. As the official voice of the organisation the intranet can help break the failure-is-good-for-you taboo. To do this effectively comms and intranet managers need journalistic and networking skills to sniff out the good stories and write them up in a compelling way. They also need consistency of messaging and persistence. Keeping at it on top of all the other things in the job description.

The second crucial role that the intranet plays is as a social and collaborative hub. A place where people can go to discover content, collaborate and exchange ideas fluidly and easily. This is because digital transformation is above all about innovation. The human mind needs external stimulation in order to come up with new ideas. Modern ways of working, when implemented correctly and successfully, create connections, facilitate stimulation and accelerate the development of new ideas. Intranet managers therefore need to continue at building the case for the social intranet, implement it in ways that foster creativity and work to build adoption. Thats all easier said than done. Youll have to wait for the release of our handbook in order to find out more. Well be sure to publish the link here when its live. In an upcoming post well also explore in more detail what makes a good social intranet.