The decision was made – we are starting the implementation of the intranet in the company! That’s great – we have already written about the advantages of this solution on our blog many times. However, do you know how to go about it? For the intranet to best meet the needs of the company and facilitate the functioning of the company, its implementation should be well planned. How to properly establish the stages of intranet implementation and carry out the entire project?
The intranet implementation process should begin by asking yourself a few questions – this is how it is easier to define goals and determine what features the intranet should have in the company. It is not only a form of design – in-depth interviews can help in creating a commonplace on the web – long conversations with employees, not only with those with many years of experience but also with those with short experience.
This is the first point that we need to specify – the type of users depends on what the company intranet looks like, what its layout is, and what will be its content.
Access is a topic that is directly related to data security. It depends on what data we intend to store on the intranet. If it is only to be a place where we enable the sharing of information from the company’s life, we place documents and reports from company events, there is nothing to prevent all employees from having access to all content.
It is different when the intranet is a kind of archive – it contains project documentation or other files to which only some employees should have access. Then it is especially important to protect some content from unauthorized persons – you need the help of a developer specializing in intranet design will be useful.
This is the question from which the company’s management often starts working on the implementation of an intranet platform. Our experience shows, however, that it should be released much later – only when we find out how employees will use the intranet and what we put in it. If the company does not have such needs, perhaps the simplest version of popular and proven platforms is enough, just like the frequently chosen MS SharePoint.
We have already written about its possibilities on our blog, and we assure you – it is a good tool with many functions, and flexible enough that experienced developers can easily adapt them to the company’s needs. However, if we know that the intranet will perform additional functions or must be better protected, it is better to commission an appropriate company to create a custom solution.
The answers to the above questions will help to find out what employees expect on the intranet and to predict how they will use it. As we have already shown – the basis here is to specify the purpose of intranet implementation. We will find out if they need an archive, a communication platform, or maybe both. Such knowledge will allow you to design your intranet to be a useful tool.
We have already written about its possibilities on our blog, and we assure you – it is a good tool with many functions, and flexible enough that experienced developers can easily adapt them to the company’s needs. However, if we know that the intranet will perform additional functions or must be better protected, it is better to commission an appropriate company to create a custom solution.
This point is often overlooked when it comes to the intranet deployment steps. That is an evaluation that we should perform a few months after introducing the platform to the company. That is the period after which all employees should find out whether the current form of the intranet enables comfortable and effective use of it. If so – great job! If there is still something wrong – maybe it is worth contacting specialists?