Blog | 25 August 2017
The intranet – so much more than a bulletin board
Most large companies have it, but not everyone uses it. We are talking about the intranet. A platform that can take internal collaboration to new heights if designed and used properly.
An important investment for your company
The intranet is an investment that benefits both the company and the employees, as long as it is adapted and easy to use. A good intranet paves the way for an efficient way of working, both for the group and individuals.
When all news and documents are gathered and structured in one place, it is easy to get a clear overview. This means that less time is spent searching through emails and more time is available for daily tasks.
Structure and personalisation
It's important to have a clear structure and idea behind the intranet. For some, the digital workplace is a place that creates confusion and resignation when nothing can be found. For others, it's a place they never visit, so posts and news don't reach the employees who need to see them.
Intranets can also be overloaded with information and have a cluttered structure. A chaotic intranet does not encourage use, rather it scares the user away. In today's information society, we expect to find answers to our questions – and quickly.
At the same time, we don't want to see information that is not relevant to us. By personalising the intranet, staff only see the information that is relevant to them. It drastically reduces the flow of information. Employees aren't inundated with messages and documents that are of no use to them.
Encouraging collaboration
A good intranet can encourage collaboration between colleagues and can even make daily work more efficient. By bringing all communications together in one place, staff are not forced to jump between different platforms with different purposes. Today, one platform might be used to bring together different projects. Another to share important information. All this plus emails and an internal chat to talk about everything from the day's lunch plans to scheduling a meeting or delivering proposals to clients. It is possible to avoid the hopping and instead have a secure base.
Companies therefore have a lot to gain from updating their intranet. It is possible to create a platform that fits the needs of the company and its employees. An intranet can be so much more than just a bulletin board. It has the potential to become a digital workplace, a hub of the company's operations.