Manager's guidebook on intranet redesign projects

Manager’s guidebook on intranet redesign projects

Manager’s guidebook on
intranet redesign projects
Maish Nichani, PebbleRoad Pte Ltd
http://www.pebbleroad.com

Version 1.32
Release date: 12 August 2011

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-
ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-
sa/3.0/)

Please direct content feedback and permission questions to the author at
maish@pebbleroad.com.

2011 PebbleRoad Pte Ltd Page 1 of 64


ABOUT THIS GUIDEBOOK ........................................................................................................ 4

NOTE ON USAGE: DESIGN OR REDESIGN .................................................................................. 4

CREATE A PROJECT BLOG ........................................................................................................ 5

PART A: OVERVIEW ................................................................................................................ 6

Stage 1: Establish an intranet strategy ............................................................................... 7

Stage 2: Review information architecture ........................................................................... 7

Stage 3: Review content strategy ........................................................................................ 7

Stage 4: Review collaboration strategy .............................................................................. 9

Stage 5: Review brand strategy ......................................................................................... 10

Stage 6: Implement technology ......................................................................................... 10

Stage 7: Determine a governance framework ................................................................... 11

Stage 8: Create a user adoption strategy .......................................................................... 11

PART B: THE ACTIVITIES ....................................................................................................... 13

STAGE 1: ESTABLISH AN INTRANET STRATEGY .................................................................... 14

Determine intranet owners ................................................................................................ 14

Develop a strategic vision ................................................................................................. 15

Establish an intranet team ................................................................................................ 17

Create an intranet charter ................................................................................................ 20

STAGE 2: REVIEW INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE ................................................................ 23

Create a content inventory ................................................................................................ 23

Design the intranet site structure ...................................................................................... 24

Conduct card sorting exercises ......................................................................................... 26

Design collections ............................................................................................................. 27

Design metadata and controlled vocabularies ................................................................. 30

Create a prototype ............................................................................................................. 31

Test prototype .................................................................................................................... 34

STAGE 5: REVIEW CONTENT STRATEGY................................................................................ 36

Determine a publishing process ........................................................................................ 36

Scope common content ...................................................................................................... 37

Train authors ..................................................................................................................... 38

Write common content....................................................................................................... 39

STAGE 4: REVIEW COLLABORATION STRATEGY ................................................................... 41

Determine a collaboration process ................................................................................... 41

Establish collaboration roles and responsibilities ............................................................ 42

Focus on adoption ............................................................................................................. 43

Review collaboration ........................................................................................................ 44



STAGE 5: REVIEW BRAND STRATEGY ................................................................................... 46

Create the brand brief ....................................................................................................... 46

Design visual mocks of key pages of the intranet.............................................................. 47

Create the visual style guide ............................................................................................. 48

STAGE 6: IMPLEMENT TECHNOLOGY .................................................................................... 51

Gather technology requirements ....................................................................................... 51

Create a sandbox for testing ............................................................................................. 51

Create a migration plan .................................................................................................... 52

STAGE 7: ESTABLISH A GOVERNANCE FRAMEWORK ............................................................ 55

Governance areas ............................................................................................................. 56

STAGE 8: CREATE A USER ADOPTION STRATEGY .................................................................. 58

Identify champions ............................................................................................................ 58

Have briefing sessions on new features and functions...................................................... 59

Prepare support materials ................................................................................................ 59

Open support channels ...................................................................................................... 60

Keep the buzz going .......................................................................................................... 62

CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................................... 64



About this guidebook
This guidebook gives a 10,000-foot view of the intranet design or redesign project
and is written for managers taking on such a project. However, consultants and
designers can also use the guidebook as a reference to anchor their communication
with the intranet team and staff.

This guidebook can help managers:

• Get a better picture of what lies ahead
• Communicate a consistent story with staff
• Anticipate and be prepared for the next step
• Ensure that nothing is left out

Part A of this guidebook gives an overview of what goes into an intranet redesign
project. It describes the major stages and the activities that go under them.

Part B of the guidebook describes each activity in more detail.

Note on usage: design or redesign
This guidebook can be used for managing intranet redesigns and for managing the
design of a new intranet. But it becomes rather redundant to keep referring to this as
‘design or redesign’ all the time. For this reason I am going to stick to one form:
intranet redesign. Some headings may end up being specifically oriented to
redesign, but now you know it can be used for an intranet design project as well!



Create a project blog
Executing an intranet redesign project takes time effort and there will be many
decisions made and actions taken during this time. It is important that all of these
decisions, comments and suggestions be noted down as and when they take place.
The blog format is ideal for such note taking.

Start a project blog and have the intranet team use it to document the progress of the
project.

If your intranet software has a blog feature then use it to start your blog. Otherwise,
you can download and use one of the many blog software packages available on the
Internet. For example, WordPress (http://www.wordpress.com) is a popular blog
software that is easy to implement and use.

Remember to open this blog to all staff. This will help not only in the rollout of the
intranet (staff are kept aware) but also in identifying champions who can contribute to
the project.



Part A: Overview
An intranet redesign project usually has eight stages:

1. Establish an intranet strategy
2. Review information architecture
3. Review content strategy
4. Review collaboration strategy
5. Review branding strategy
6. Implement technology
7. Establish a governance framework
8. Create a user adoption strategy

7.#Governance

2.#Information#
1.#Intranet#strategy 3.#Content#strategy 4.#Collaboration 5.#Branding 6.#Technology
architecture

8.#Adoption

Figure 1: Stages of an intranet redesign project

A couple of points to note from the diagram:

• The strategy needs to be nailed down first
• Governance and adoption start early and continue after the project is
completed

The eight stages are briefly described in the following sections.



Stage 1: Establish an intranet strategy
An intranet strategy is a high-level plan to make the intranet useful and effective. It
gives a direction to everyone working on the project and helps in getting resources
and making decisions.

The following activities are done when crafting an intranet strategy:

• Determine intranet owners
• Create a strategic vision
• Establish an intranet team
• Create an intranet charter

Stage 2: Review information architecture
Information architecture (IA) is the art and science of organising information. A
good IA helps staff locate information easily. Information here ranges from simple
stand-alone pages to large knowledge bases.

The activities in this stage are:

• Create a content inventory
• Conduct card sorting exercises
• Design the intranet site structure
• Design collections
• Design metadata and controlled vocabularies
• Create a prototype
• Test and refine the prototype

Stage 3: Review content strategy
Content strategy refers to a systematic approach to planning, creating and
managing content on the intranet.



There are two types of content on the intranet:

1. Common or global content
2. Specific or local content

Common content refers to content that is relevant to all staff. These include the
following:

• Communications: Company level communications such as news,
events, press releases and other company-related information.
• Shared services: HR, Finance, Procurement, Communications and
Branding, IT, etc.
• Business unit interfaces: Forms, procedures and applications required
for interfacing with businesses units.

To be effective, content in these common areas should be written and presented in a
staff-friendly style. Such a style will help staff find the right information and
accomplish tasks with ease, thereby improving trust in the system, which in turn can
lead to an increased use of the system.

The activities for common content are:

• Determine a publishing process
• Identify content owners
• Scope common content
• Create content type templates
• Train authors to write effectively
• Write and review common content

Apart from common content, staff have content that is specific to their teams or
departments.

For example, engineering and finance teams will have content related to their work. It
could be work-in-progress documents or it could be final deliverables. The point here
is that these documents are not required outside the team or department, unlike



common content.

When you’re doing a redesign, you’ll need to ask the following questions:

• What will happen to such specific or local content after the redesign?
• Will it move to the new system or will it stay in the existing system?
• If you’re planning to move all such content into the new system, how are you
going to do it?
• Are you going to have owners review the content before moving?

These decisions are tough. It may take a while before all content successfully moves
from the old system to the new system.

The activities for specific content are given below.

• Review existing content
• Create a migration plan
• Migrate content

Stage 4: Review collaboration strategy
Collaboration has become one of the prime drivers for initiating intranet redesign
projects.

The reasons are quite clear: collaboration cuts through barriers and allows staff to
work across organisational structures, enabling knowledge sharing and improving
productivity. It is difficult to argue against such a proposition.

However, collaboration on the intranet still presents a significant challenge: staff
may not be familiar with working in an online environment. They may know the
nuances and exchanges that are needed to collaborate in a face-to-face
environment, but when it comes to online collaboration there are fears, uncertainties
and doubts that need to be overcome.



Having a clear collaboration strategy can help bridge these gaps.


• Determine a collaboration model
• Establish collaboration roles and responsibilities
• Focus on adoption
• Establish collaboration governance

Stage 5: Review brand strategy
Brand strategy refers to how the brand elements will be addressed during the design
of the intranet. The deliverables in this stage usually cover elements such as brand
alignment, typography, colours, images, tone and personality.


• Create the brand brief
• Design visual mocks of key pages of the intranet
• Create the visual style guide

Stage 6: Implement technology
Although this is an important stage, the success of the implementation really
depends on the success of earlier stages and on the technical capabilities of the
implementation team (internal or external).


• Gather technology requirements
• Manage the vendor
• Create a sandbox for testing
• Create a migration plan

Note that the implementation team will usually have a software development



framework in place. The activities presented here will be part of such a framework.
As the project manager, you may not have control over all the technical details, but it
is important that you have oversight of the activities mentioned here.

The success of the implementation should be based on how faithfully it represents
the intranet redesign requirements.

Stage 7: Determine a governance framework
Governance is key to the success of the project and it should not be left to the very
end.

A governance framework is a standard approach to governing all areas of the
intranet.

Many governance activities involve a change in culture or the current way of doing
things. It is therefore important that senior management is involved at this stage and
supports the cultural change at all levels.

Stage 8: Create a user adoption strategy
Rollout is less about technical delivery and more about managing the impending
change.

This stage is often missed out or not given the attention that it deserves. While it may
be more exciting to just go for the launch, you should not forget the primary target of
the change– the staff.

Staff need to be informed, trained and supported to make the jump to the new
intranet. This stage lists activities that can help staff make the change successfully.

• Identify champions
• Train champions
• Hold briefing sessions with staff on how they can best use the intranet in their
work



• Prepare support materials
• Open support channels
• Keep the buzz going



Part B: The activities
Part B of this guidebook describes the activities in the eight stages in detail.



Stage 1: Establish an intranet strategy

Determine intranet owners

What it is
Identifying owners who are going to be responsible for the success (or failure) of the
intranet.

Why you need it
You need owners to:

• Give a vision and direction for the intranet
• Rally support from other departments to help in the redesign effort
• Participate in regular project updates
• Sanction important changes and help in decision-making
• Help market the intranet at all levels
• Keep the intranet relevant by using it as a tool to improve the performance of
key business initiatives
• Steer the change management effort
• Provide resources to sustain and improve the intranet

How to do it
The owners are usually from the following departments:

• Human resources
• Corporate communications
• IT
• Knowledge management
• Strategy and innovation

Next, plan for a meeting with the contenders. You may already know which


departments are powerful or which have vested interests to own the intranet. For
example, if the HR department has the most content on the intranet, it will be unwise
to leave them out of the meeting.

During the meeting, don’t forget to list down the importance of being an intranet
owner and the responsibilities that come with this role.

Don’t be surprised to find that multiple departments may agree to form a steering
committee to own the intranet. If this is the case then you need to find out how the
responsibilities are going to be shared.

Resources
• StepTwo: Who should own the intranet? (http://bit.ly/n5Orwc)
• Prescient Digital: Intranet Governance: Ownership, Management & Policy
(http://bit.ly/3lormy)

Develop a strategic vision

What it is
A strategic vision is a short document that gives direction to the intranet. It should,
at its very least, help the business stay focused, and at its very best, help the
business excel.

All subsequent actions related to the intranet should stem from this strategy.

Why you need it
The vision document forms a base of reference for all discussions on the intranet.
Because the intranet owners have endorsed the document it becomes a valuable
reference when debating design decisions, features and functions.

Without a strategic vision, you may find yourself in discussions where the base
reference for the intranet redesign keeps shifting, sometimes jeopardising the entire



project.

How to do it
“Having a central store to keep documents” is not a strategic vision. It does not
signify a positive business outcome. It also does not give directions on what to do
next.

Given below is an example of a high-level strategic vision.

The intranet will be our online work environment. Staff are required to work in
this environment. The intranet will consolidate communications and will help
staff share and collaborate to meet business objectives. Information will be
organised to support work and to make it more efficient. Key work processes
will be supported on the intranet. For example, all leads will be shared on the
intranet and so will all project and mission reports. Efforts to improve the
intranet will be done regularly and it will focus on making work easier and not
the other way around. If legacy business processes are coming in the way of
keeping the intranet simple, the legacy business process must be reviewed
and aligned to support the intranet.

To keep the focus the following metrics will targeted:

• 100% of news, events and other announcements will be made via the
intranet
• 100% of common content will be on the intranet
• 100% of ROT content will be removed from the intranet
• 100% of all customer leads and project and mission reports will be on
the intranet
• 80% of all forms will be electronic forms



Note that the above vision has the following features. It is:

• Short and sweet
• Written in plain language that resonates with all staff
• Presents a concept, a vision that is attainable
• Lists metrics to be measured against

Finally, remember to craft this document with the help of the intranet owners. Their
endorsement is essential in ensuring that staff take the vision seriously.

Resources
• NetStrategy JMC: Two strategic tools often neglected: the vision and the
mission statement (http://bit.ly/n7w2fj)
• Wikipedia: Strategic Planning (http://bit.ly/b3vIMA)

Establish an intranet team

What it is
A team of professionals tasked with running the intranet on a day-to-day basis. This
team reports to the intranet owners.

As an intranet manager, you’re part of this team. But you’ll need more people to
support you in this challenging journey.

Why you need it
The intranet caters to different people who have different needs and skill sets. There
will be staff who need support and guidance to use the intranet. Some will need to
know how to write and publish and some will need to learn how to share. All of this
change cannot happen automatically. It needs to be managed. This is the job of the
intranet team.



How to do it
Identify existing staff who can fill the different roles required for the team.

There could be a situation where you can’t find the right people with the right
expertise within the company and you don’t have the luxury to hire new staff. In such
cases you have no option but to select staff with the right attributes and train them.

Given below are roles and job descriptions of a typical team:

Role Responsibilities

Intranet manager • Build on the vision and mission of
the intranet
Overall manager of the intranet and • Keep senior management in the
responsible for the efficiency and loop
effectiveness of the intranet. • Day-to-day management of the
intranet
The ideal intranet manager will be a • Audit changes to the common
senior-level staff, a degree holder with 5+ content area
years of experience in managing large • Gather intranet statistics on a
projects. They will have a strong user- monthly basis
centred focus. They will also have a firm • Gather and act on feedback from
grasp of web-related technologies, staff (interviews, surveys, usability
especially from the publishing or content- tests)
related side of it. • Gather, analyse and execute
improvements to the intranet
(small projects)
• Hold monthly intranet reviews
• Manage the work of the content
strategist and IA/usability
specialist
• Market the intranet



Content strategist • Audit and track common content-
shared services
Responsible for the quality of published • Audit and track common content-
content on the intranet. knowledge exchange
• Create and manage the publishing
The ideal content strategist will have a model
strong web publishing background. They • Create and manage content
will be a mid-level staff, a degree holder publishing templates
(media and communications) with 5+ • Train intranet authors
years of experience in the web publishing • Train on the use of collaboration
industry. They will have a strong user- spaces
centred focus. • Train on knowledge capture and
representation

Information architect/Usability • Manage and grow the collections
specialist • Train on organising information
• Audit organisation of information
Responsible for the ease of use of the • Make recommendations and
intranet and its applications. improvements on information
access and navigation
The ideal IA/Usability specialist will have • Create usability metrics for the
3+ years of experience in information intranet
architecture and online usability. They will • Conduct usability tests on both
have done information architecture content and applications
projects and conducted usability studies. • Make usability-related
They will be mid-level staff. recommendations or
improvements
• Consult with the IT department on
developing intranet applications

Business impact analyst • Analyse work practices
• Build new work scenarios using
Responsible for leveraging the intranet to the intranet capabilities
• Help staff to understand benefits



improve work practices. of improving work practices by
leveraging the intranet
This person should have both technical • Help with the IT department to
and business knowledge. They should be execute improvements in work
able to quickly spot opportunities that can practices if necessary
make work practices more efficient. • Train staff on using the new
processes
• Measure the impact of the
changes

In small intranets, the intranet manager usually performs all the above roles.

You’ll need dedicated people if the intranet caters to thousands of staff or has a ton
of activity taking place on the intranet.

Resources
• StepTwo Designs: Roles needed in an intranet team (http://bit.ly/A6fO8)
• StepTwo Designs: What every intranet team should know
(http://www.steptwo.com.au/products/everyteam)

Create an intranet charter

What it is
An intranet charter describes, in very simple terms, what the new intranet is all about
and how it will be useful to staff.

While the intranet vision is a statement of purpose for the intranet team and the
intranet champions, the intranet charter is a statement of promise to staff.



Why you need it
The charter prepares staff on what to expect when the new intranet is rolled out. It
gives them enough time and space to think about how the intranet may affect their
work.

How to do it
You can adapt from this sample of an intranet charter given below. Just remember
that the message of the charter must be used in all communication to staff.
Inconsistent messages will just confuse staff.

The new intranet [use the eventual name of the new intranet] will make life
easier for all staff. It will help you to easily find information that you need for
your work. It will also be the platform for you to collaborate with your team and
share resources with colleagues across the organisation.

More specifically, the new intranet will allow you to:

• Get up-to-date corporate news and announcements in a consistent way
• Save time when looking for common information that supports work
such as HR, Finance, Training, etc.
• Easily find and connect with other staff
• Easily reach out to and share information with all staff
• Easily collaborate and work together with your team on projects and
initiatives

There will be a support team to help you learn about the new features and
functions of the intranet.

Once the charter is ready, push it out to staff in a regular and consistent way. This is
called ‘marketing’!

The charter can be published in poster or brochure form and can be posted in



common areas around the offices.

Create an online version of the charter and put it up on the intranet as well.

Resources
• StepTwo: Creating an intranet concept (http://bit.ly/nD0VkN)
• ThoughtFarmer: How to launch an intranet (http://bit.ly/buTIuR)
• Zappos: Family core values (http://bit.ly/dCGKVA)



Stage 2: Review information
architecture

Create a content inventory

What it is
A content inventory is a list of all pages on your intranet.

This may be a cumbersome, if not impossible, task to do if you have a large intranet.
In such a case, it is enough to sample the different types of content (e.g. project
plans, policies, forms, templates, proposals, etc.) existing on the intranet. This
shorter list is called a content audit.

Allow selected staff from different departments to go through the content audit and
review it. This will help you spot missing content types and other important
information.

Why you need it
Doing a content audit has many advantages:

• It presents an overview of common pages
• It opens up the opportunity to analyse the content and identify gaps (such
as orphaned content and outdated content)
• It becomes a managing tool during the intranet content writing phase
• It doubles-up as a migration plan when you want to move content to the
new intranet

How to do it
Create an MS-Excel spreadsheet with the following columns:



• Name of page
• URL of page
• Owner
• Content type
• Redundant, Outdated, Trivial (ROT)
• Remarks

Go through the pages of the intranet section by section and capture a representative
sample of pages within each section.

Resources
• Donna Spencer: Taking a content inventory (http://bit.ly/xpyxL)
• Adaptive Path: Doing a content inventory (http://bit.ly/nZLuyW)

Design the intranet site structure

What it is
The information on an intranet is usually organised like a tree (hierarchical). An
intranet site structure shows this organisation.

Why you need it
The site structure shows how the intranet is organised. Without it you will have no
basis for building the intranet.

Given below are two sample substructures for HR information.

Sample 1 Sample 2

Employee info HR



• Circulars • First days at work
• Declaration of assets • Leave & time off
• Uniform • Pay & benefits
• Delegation of duties • Medical benefits
• READ THIS BEFORE • Dental benefits
TAKING LEAVE -- leave
application
• Service conditions
• Hire2-updated

Notice that Sample 1 seems randomly listed. There is no clear organising principle
and the names do not follow a consistent style. Such structures have many
disadvantages such as:

• Low use: A poorly designed site structure is an effective staff-repellent. It
will drive staff away instantly. They will not be able to find information and
will feel lost.
• Lost opportunities: Every repelled staff is a lost opportunity for the
intranet to be useful.
• Loss of trust: Staff will lose trust in the intranet. If they lose trust, they will
hoard.
• Information hoarding: Staff will hoard information and will create local
copies for themselves.
• Increased memory workload: Staff tend to rely on their memory to
remember where content is found instead of being guided by intuitive
navigation labels.

Site structures, therefore, must be designed with care.

How to do it
Here are steps to go through:



1. Study the content inventory and look out for areas that can be fixed
quickly using site structure best practices (see resources section)
2. If you have doubts on how to arrange some areas, then conduct card-
sorting exercises (see next activity)
3. Once you’ve gone through all substructures, stitch them together. This will
give you the overall site structure.
4. Test out the new structure with staff. This is called a ‘site structure test’.
The test can be done by way of another card sorting exercise or by using
software specifically designed for testing site structures (e.g. Treejack,
http://bit.ly/g708p).

Resources
• PebbleRoad: Designing site structures for intranets and websites
(http://bit.ly/YBYYz)
• Rosenfeld Media: Card sorting: designing useful categories
(http://bit.ly/eAzQN)
• UX Booth: Classification schemes and when to use them
(http://bit.ly/aUcQPx)
• Boxes and Arrows: Card sorting: a definitive guide (http://bit.ly/16rTpL)

Conduct card sorting exercises

What it is
Card sorting is a method to understand how staff group and arrange content on the
intranet.

Why you need it
Content on the intranet can be grouped and arranged in many different ways using
many different perspectives. For example, the intranet manager may group items in
one way that they think will be useful. The content owners, on the other hand, may
think of another way to group content that they think will be useful.



Content on the intranet should be grouped and arranged from the perspective of the
people using the content—the staff’s perspective.

Card sorting exercises reveal the staff’s perspective in grouping and arranging
content.

How to do it
Here are the general steps:

1. Use the content inventory and identify sections you want to test out
2. Pick out a representative sample of the content from these sections
3. Write the title of each content item on an index card (you may end up with
hundreds of such cards)
4. Recruit appropriate staff for the exercise and instruct them to group
content items that they think belong together. You may also want them to
label the groups they create.
5. Make a note of their arrangements and labels
6. Conduct several rounds of the same exercise with different staff
7. Analyse the results to get a better picture of how staff see the content on
the intranet

Resources
• Rosenfeld Media: Card sorting: designing useful categories
(http://bit.ly/eAzQN)
• UX Booth: Classification schemes and when to use them
(http://bit.ly/aUcQPx)
• Boxes and Arrows: Card sorting: a definitive guide (http://bit.ly/16rTpL)

Design collections

What it is
A collection is used to organise homogeneous content or content that exhibit similar



attributes. For example, Corporate News is a collection—all corporate news items
have a similar content structure. They are also called structured pages.

An intranet can have many collections, such as:

Corporate news Project documents

Events Trip reports

Customer feedback Case reports

Customer profiles Intelligence scans

Sales inventories

Collections can scale well. If you have a collection of knowledge assets with a well-
defined metadata then it does not matter much if you have 50 documents in this
collection or you have 50,000 documents. The navigation scheme largely remains
the same (the taxonomy may have to scale though).

Why you need it
All intranets will have collections. Some may be general, such as News and Events,
while others many be aligned to business needs such as project, sales and trip
reports. The big idea behind collections is that they can be connected. This has
many advantages. For one, staff can easily crosslink different collections such as
country briefs and trip reports for that country. This makes it easily to easily hop,
skip, and jump between related information easily. The outcome is that information is
easy to find and navigate.

How to do it
Once you’ve identified a collection, you need to identify the scenarios under which



the collection will be used. This will also give you a direction for the metadata you
need to have.

For example, for the trip reports collection, you may want to design for the following
scenario: “Find a trip report made to a particular country in a particular year for a
particular purpose.”

The metadata needed for this scenario are:

• Purpose of the trip
• Country the trip was made to
• Year the trip was made

Note that this metadata will be in addition to the other types of metadata you need to
identify (see next activity).

Once you’ve identified the metadata you can quickly create a flow of the collection
such as the following:

Trip%reports
By%purpose,% Landing% Keyword
country,%year page

Browse%trip% Search%trip%
reports reports

Read%a%trip%
report



Figure 2: Trip report collection model

Resources
• PebbleRoad: Designing site structures for intranets and websites
(http://bit.ly/YBYYz)
• PebbleRoad: Designing collections for the web (http://bit.ly/cfQRpv)
• Ann Rockley: Managing enterprise content (http://amzn.to/oIjzT6)

Design metadata and controlled vocabularies

What it is
Metadata is data that you use to find information. For example, you may want to find
trip reports by:

• Title of a trip report
• Purpose of trip
• Country the trip was made to
• Year the trip was made in
• Cost of the trip

Metadata carries values. For example, the country the trip was made to can hold the
value ‘USA’. Here comes a problem. One staff may enter ‘U.S.A.’ while another
might enter ‘US’. So who is correct?

In order to have consistency in what value a metadata item carries, the values are
controlled or pre-specified. If a value for the country metadata is specified as ‘U.S.A.’
then staff will just have to select this value (instead of entering it manually).

Such controlled values are called controlled vocabularies. Controlled vocabularies,
or CV for short, are usually presented in a drop-down list for staff to select the values
from.



Why you need it
All pages on the intranet should have metadata. Metadata makes it possible to easily
identify, co-locate and share information across the organisation.

Without metadata it will not be possible to relate one piece of information to another.
For example, one trip report is related to another trip report because they share the
same metadata called ‘document type’.

Moreover, if the organisation has a corporate metadata standard then it should be
used and applied to information on the intranet as well. This will ensure that the
company has an overall view of all the information. Think of this corporate metadata
standard as a wide net that is cast over all the information a company owns.

How to do it
Establishing a corporate metadata framework requires specialist expertise. If you
have someone with such expertise within the company, then use this person to craft
the metadata framework. Otherwise, you have no option but to get a consultant to
get this work done.

Resources
• Wikipedia: Metadata – Wikipedia (http://bit.ly/9OBZa6)
• NISO: Understanding metadata (PDF) (http://bit.ly/5dJlHM)

Create a prototype

What it is
A prototype gives shape to the intranet information architecture. It is a limited
working model of the intranet that visually shows how staff will interface with the new
intranet. Just note that the prototype is skeletal, meaning it is without the visual
design layer (or skin).



Why you need it
A prototype is primarily used for communications with different people. For
example:

• It is easier to get feedback from stakeholders from a prototype than it is from
textual documents.
• It is also easier to get feedback from staff by testing the prototype with them.
• Lastly, it is easier for the development team to understand the requirements
of the new intranet by looking at the prototype than by reading textual
requirement documentation.

A prototype shows two aspects of the intranet: information organisation and
navigation.



Figure 3: Hand-drawn wireframe



How to do it
There are many different ways to create a prototype. It could be done on paper,
PowerPoint, a prototyping software application or even HTML.

Irrespective of how it is created, your prototype should communicate the design
requirements well.

Resources
Wireframes magazine

• Smashing Magazine: 35 Excellent Wireframing Resources
(http://bit.ly/dJFmS)
• Rosenfeld Media: Prototyping – a practitioners guide (http://bit.ly/9Fa3f)
• Axure (prototyping application): http://www.axure.com

Test prototype

What it is
A prototype test is done to evaluate whether the new design is meeting its objectives
or not. The design objectives are usually to enable staff to execute information-
seeking tasks quickly and efficiently. A prototype test can be done to test an
application workflow as well.

Why you need it
Although the prototype is developed based on research, the information organisation
or navigation may not be usable. A prototype test can shed light on whether or not
staff can accomplish a set of tasks. The tasks are usually ones that are common or
important.

How to do it
Identify key scenarios you want to test. Make sure that the prototype can support


these scenarios.

For example, if you want to test if staff can find ‘the latest corporate circulars’, then
your prototype should have pages that lead up to finding the latest corporate
circulars. Sometimes, you may need to add more sections to the prototype just to
support the scenarios.

A common metric used for a prototype test is ‘task-completion’—whether or not
staff can complete the tasks given to them.

Task-completion is a useful metric, but don’t accept the results blindly. Sometimes
the way the task is staged in the prototype may be a better way of doing things, but
because staff are not used to this new process they may not be able to complete the
task given to them.

In such cases you should account for the time taken for staff to learn the new
process. You could, for example, test two similar tasks at different times during the
test. Or, you could have a briefing session before the test to give staff an overview of
the new design.

The idea here is not to discount an efficient process just because staff fail to
complete the task—they may just need a little more time to understand the new
process.

Make changes to your prototype based upon the findings you gather from the
prototype test.

Resources
• Smashing Magazine: 35 Excellent Wireframing Resources
(http://bit.ly/dJFmS)
• Rosenfeld Media: Prototyping – a practitioners guide (http://bit.ly/9Fa3f)
• Axure (prototyping application): http://www.axure.com



Stage 5: Review content strategy

Determine a publishing process

What it is
An intranet publishing process guides how information is published to the intranet
and managed thereafter.

Why you need it
Depending on your intranet, you will be managing a small or a large team of content
writers. There will be chaos if there is no standard process to submit and publish
content to the intranet. A standard process makes it clear what is to be done and
what is expected.

How to do it
There are three common ways to publish to the intranet:

1. Direct publishing: Content writers publish directly to the intranet. They
take full responsibility for the accuracy and completeness of the content.
2. Central publishing: Content writers send content to their department
content owners, who then send it to a central publishing team that
manages the publication process.
3. Approver-based publishing: Content writers send content to an
approver. The content is published after it is approved.

Many intranets use a hybrid approach. Corporate News, for example, is usually
published directly, while a policy is usually routed to an approver before getting
published.

Sit with the intranet team and select a process that will work in your organisation.



The publishing process you select will impact the system implementation. Workflows
and notifications that you indicate in your publishing process will have to be factored
into the system. It is best, therefore, to involve the system implementers when
making this decision.

Take on-the-ground realities into consideration when creating workflows. It will be
inefficient and frustrating if there is a serial workflow but staff who are required to
provide approval are always travelling. Try to keep workflows simple and practical.

Resources
• StepTwo: Five intranet publishing models (http://bit.ly/BMSCQ)
• Mark Morrell: Publishing great content on BT’s intranet (http://bit.ly/cbEus5)
• Content strategy for the web: http://www.contentstrategy.com/
• A list apart: Elements of Content Strategy (http://bit.ly/gHPXM9)

Scope common content

What it is
Common content refers to content that is general or common to all staff. Usual
common content includes HR, Finance, IT, corporate communications, etc.

Why you need it
Properly organised and designed common content is one of the most basic and
fundamental benefits of the intranet. Staff can self-serve their way to information and
tasks, thereby becoming more productive.

How to do it
Common content will be identified during the information architecture study.

Common content must be scoped and respective owners must be identified for each



piece of content. This task can be managed using an Excel spreadsheet.

Given below are details that should be captured in this spreadsheet:

• Page
• Owner
• Approver (or editor)
• Location of existing content
• Writing – start date
• Writing – end date

This spreadsheet should contain details of all common content pages and it needs to
be managed by the intranet manager (you).

Resources
• NetJMS: When ‘global and local’ becomes ‘common and specific’
(http://bit.ly/oMMbSU)
• Yahoo Style Guide (http://styleguide.yahoo.com/)

Train authors

What it is
Train authors to write content for the intranet in a consistent style.

Why you need it
Training is important because it will allow the content to be written in a consistent and
proper style. Otherwise, different pages will look different and there will be no
consistency in the way content is presented.

For example, one page may use headers, while the other may not; one page may
use legal numbering for bullets, while the other may use roman numbering.



How to do it
You will first need to create an editorial style guide if you don’t already have one.

An editorial style guide contains, but is not limited to, the following:

• Headlines and titles
• Punctuation
• Capitalisation
• Spelling
• Usage

Once you have the editorial style guide in hand, you can then start offering training
sessions to staff on how to improve their writing using the editorial style guide.
Remember to make these sessions hands-on and practical. You’ll need a wide
variety of good and bad examples for exercises.

Resources
Yahoo Style Guide (http://styleguide.yahoo.com/)

Write common content

What it is
This is the actual act of writing common content for the intranet.

Why you need it
After the authors are trained, they need to start writing their content. This writing
process needs to be managed.

How to do it



Here is a good process to follow:

1. Have authors write the common content in MS-Word and not directly using
the Content Management System (CMS) authoring environment. This way
all common content can be screened for consistency and style before it is
published to the intranet. In addition, by using MS-Word to write the
content, you don’t have to wait for the CMS to be up and ready.
2. Create a MS-Word template for content authors. Customise this template
to follow some of the rules of the editorial style guide. For example, the
template can be used to automatically insert captions for tables and to
format the dates correctly.
3. Review the submitted common content. Turn on ‘Track changes’ when
reviewing. This way the authors can be aware of the mistakes they may be
committing.

Resources
• Yahoo Style Guide (http://styleguide.yahoo.com/)
• Content strategy for the web: http://www.contentstrategy.com/
• A list apart: Elements of Content Strategy (http://bit.ly/gHPXM9)



Stage 4: Review collaboration strategy

Determine a collaboration process

What it is
Collaboration on the intranet is fast becoming one of the main reasons for having an
intranet. A collaboration process sets the standard for collaborating on the intranet.

Why you need it
Staff may know how to collaborate and work on a project through face-to-face
meetings and sharing documents through email (not a very efficient process, though)
but it is a very different matter when it comes to working in an online environment.
The simple basics such as what to do when starting a collaboration space, inviting
participants, documenting discussions and closing a collaboration space are very
new concepts and needs to be defined and managed.

In addition to putting up a structure, the collaboration process also sets up how
discussions and documents can be shared, not only in a project but also across
projects.

Finally, a collaboration process is needed to change old habits. Staff may be used to
simply creating folders and putting files in them without consideration of how they will
be accessed. This will have to change when in a collaboration setting.

How to do it
A good way to establish a collaboration process is to outline what takes place before,
during and after collaboration.

The table below shows such a process.



Before collaboration During collaboration After collaboration

Introduction to Roles & responsibilities Roles & responsibilities
collaboration during collaboration after collaboration

Roles & responsibilities Strategies for participation Surfacing collaboration
before collaboration for different collaboration lessons learnt
types

Creating a collaboration Housekeeping policies Housekeeping and
space archiving a collaboration
space

First steps after creating a Collaboration review
collaboration space

Collaboration tools – which
to use when

As you can see, there is a lot that goes into getting the collaboration strategy right.
We can’t cover all the points, but let’s take a look at the most important one next.

Establish collaboration roles and responsibilities

What it is
Having a process is not enough. You’ll need people to manage the process.

Why you need it
Collaboration cannot run in autopilot mode. There will be day-to-day training and help



that is required. Staff may not know how to collaborate on a complex project or they
may have special requirements. A team is required to manage this process.

How to do it
Typically there are three roles that are needed to manage collaboration:

1. Steering: People in this role guide the collaboration process. They
provide the necessary support and sponsorship needed for collaboration
to succeed in the organisation.
2. Business: People in this role are closer to the ground. They link the
steering to execution. They understand challenges staff face and use that
to provide solutions. Their objectives are to help staff collaborate better to
support their business goals.
3. Technology: People in this role give the technical guidance to support
collaboration. They support day-to-day management all the way to
designing custom applications.

Put in the effort to get passionate people to fill these roles.

Resources
• Michael Sampson on Collaboration: http://currents.michaelsampson.net/
• Michael Sampson: Seamless Teamwork:
http://www.michaelsampson.net/seamlessteamwork.html
• Collaboration roadmap (http://www.collaborationroadmap.com/)

Focus on adoption

What it is
If intranet collaboration is new to your organisation then you may have a challenging
time getting your staff to use the collaboration tools in the intranet. Usually, this may
less to do with the collaboration tool itself and more to do with the possibility that staff



are not seeing the benefits of using it or that they don't have the skills to use the it.

Your job as the intranet manger is to be observant of such gaps and then take action
to bridge them.

Why you need it
One of the biggest challenges in getting collaboration to work in an organisation is
getting staff to understand how collaboration can help them in their work.

Wikis, blogs, status updates and real-time authoring are all very exciting to the
technically inclined. But many other staff, especially older staff, will fear such tools.

A good way to allay their fears is to build their confidence in understanding and using
the tools. This is where adoption comes in.

How to do it
There are many adoption tactics that can be used, but before you focus on just the
tactics is important you establish and overall adoption strategy. Michael Sampson
has written and excellent book on adoption especially for collaboration setups. You
can find information on this book and many more resources at
http://www.michaelsampson.net/useradoption.html

Also, more on overall adoption is described in Section 8 of this guidebook.

Review collaboration

What it is
A collaboration review is done to understand how the collaboration effort is unfolding
in the organisation.

Why you need it



The collaboration should be reviewed regularly to gauge where it is working and
where it is not and what can be improved. This sets up an improvement cycle that
not only improves the collaboration effort, but also sends an important message to
staff: collaboration is important and the organisation is serious about making it work.

How to do it
Review the following areas:

• Were collaboration goals clearly articulated?
• Were members well informed about the process?
• Were processes followed?
• Were the tools used effectively?
• Was support given when needed?

The reason for doing the review is to identify gaps that may be preventing effective
collaboration from taking place in the organisation.

Resources
• Reviewing intranet-based collaboration setups (http://bit.ly/1a1LWX)
• Enterprise 2.0: New Collaborative Tools for Your Organization’s Toughest
Challenges (http://amzn.to/bxp4bK)
• Collaboration roadmap (http://www.collaborationroadmap.com/)



Stage 5: Review brand strategy

Create the brand brief

What it is
A brand brief is a short document that lays down the Who, What, Why, When,
Where and the How of applying the brand elements. It gives many examples of how
to apply the brand elements in different situations, as well as showing common
mistakes and incorrect usage of the elements.

Why you need it
The brand brief sets the visual communication strategy for the intranet. The styles
govern how the intranet will look, how visual additions will be made, the design of the
marketing materials, and so on.

The brand brief will be used in the content strategy stage (to align with the same
principles) and in the rollout stage (to create advertising or promotions that align to
the principles).

If you have a small intranet, then you may not need an intranet brand strategy. But if
you have a large or multiple intranets, then you should consider having a consistent
brand direction across all intranet properties.

How to do it
It’s best to get a specialist to create the brand brief. You can do it internally if you
have someone with branding expertise, otherwise, get an external brand consultant.

Resources
• Online Journal of Business & Design: What goes into a brand brief
(http://bit.ly/fB59uh)



• Roland Smart: The creative brief – branding (http://bit.ly/ro4Stu)

Design visual mocks of key pages of the intranet

What it is
Key pages of the intranet prototype, usually the home pages or the departmental
pages or the social pages are Photoshopped using the brand elements and
guidelines. These are called visual mocks.

Why you need it
Visual mocks are used in a few situations. These are:

• To discuss the visual design
• To present to management
• To discuss with the implementation team about the feasibility of executing
the design

How to do it
Get the visual designers to study the prototype and the brand brief. They should also
be aware of the overall goals and objectives of the intranet.

Identify key pages of the prototype to mock. The choice of pages should be guided
by their ability to present the different brand elements. If a detail page can provide
better fidelity, then it should be mocked up as well.

Once the designs are in, do an internal review before showing them to stakeholders
or staff.

You should manage this process well. Otherwise you risk getting into a never-ending
spiral of small changes. Here is a good practice:

• Take the homepage and create three visual variations



• Discuss with the team and stakeholders and select one design
• Apply the chosen design to several other templates
• Discuss with the team and the stakeholder again and refine the design
• Continue with remaining pages and create the style guide

Create the visual style guide

What it is
A visual style guide lists the design rules used in creating the visual mocks. These
rules usually cover the following:

• Layout
• Colour
• Typography
• Content containers
• Images and other media

The sample screens shown below are taken from the Drupal visual style guide.
(Drupal is a popular open source content management system.)



Figure 4: Sample of Drupal visual style guide

Why you need it
Visual style guides govern the look and feel of pages on the intranet. The style guide
lays down rules for creating new sections and new pages. Without the style guide
there would be no control over the look and feel of pages that go up on the intranet.

Note that although a visual style guide is independent of the underlying technology
platform, you could come across situations where the technology platform just cannot
deliver a particular style without extensive customisation. In such cases you’ll have to
look at the costs and benefits to understand the impact of keeping to a particular
style.



How to do it
Ask the visual designers to create the style guide. They know the design decisions
they made in creating the mocks.

Resources
• PebbleRoad: Creating and Maintaining a Web Style Guide (http://bit.ly/fZF7v)
• Drupal visual style guide (http://bit.ly/7nng6J)
• The UX Bookmark: A huge list of Style guides & UI guidelines
(http://bit.ly/9T43Bs)



Stage 6: Implement technology

Gather technology requirements

What it is
Now that the design requirements are done, either an internal team or an external
team will be called in to translate the design requirements into technical
specifications.

Why you need it
You need the technical specifications because this is the bridge that links what the
design phase has spent so much time and effort on and what finally will be
implemented as a working intranet.

The technical specifications may not match the design requirements completely.
This is where you, as a manager, have to be cautious and understand why the
technical team cannot build a particular design feature. Is it because the technical
team is not competent, or because the product does not support the feature, or
because it will be too expensive to customise the feature? More often than not it is
the lack of creative skills on the part of the technical team that leads to a feature
getting axed and the default being chosen. So be careful here.

How to do it
It is the job of the technical team to draw up the technical specifications. However,
you have to sit with them and go through each item and ensure that it does not
compromise the intranet design. Yes, this process takes time, but the effort is worth it
as it will clear the smoke early on and lay the foundations for the new intranet.

Create a sandbox for testing



What it is
Full development would start after the technical specifications are written down and
signed off.

It would be wrong if staff are just ‘given’ the new system six months down the road.
Staff need to be involved in the implementation phase as well.

A good way to get this going is to create a sandbox. A sandbox is a testing area
where the system functions and features are tested. Selected staff can use the
sandbox to test out important features and functions before they are rolled out.

Why you need it
You need a sandbox to ensure the implementation is going according to plan. Staff
can test out important features and functions and can identify gaps before the system
is fully rolled out. This closes the feedback loop and keeps expectations in check.

How to do it
Ask the appointed technical team to set up the sandbox. Select the right staff
(champions or those interested in being a part of it) and brief them on the objectives
of the testing. Observe and measure if the features and functions are meeting the
design specifications.

Keep a log of the changes and suggestions given by staff. Review this log at regular
intervals to ensure the issues are addressed.

Create a migration plan

What it is
A migration plan is one of the most important deliverables of the implementation
stage. It clearly shows how existing content and applications will be treated and
taken over to the new system.



Why you need it
The migration plan is the one that surprises many intranet managers. This is
because the amount of time and effort required for the migration is underestimated.

It is much better to iron out all the migration issues as early as possible to avoid
delays in the implementation.

Remember that staff not only want a new and more efficient system, but they also
want all of their important content back.

As an intranet manager, you should be wary of such blanket statements. The old
intranet usually will have content that is just not worth keeping, but some staff may
request if for the sake of “safety”. This is usually a sign that they do not want to invest
the time to go through the content and do a bit of housekeeping. Be sensitive to such
requests. It could be that the staff or the department needs some help in
understanding how to manage content and keep good quality content.

How to do it
You need a technical team that has experience and expertise in managing
migrations. There are no two ways about it. There are many things that can go wrong
in a migration and having people who have been there and done that is a real
boost.

First, you have to select content that is useful to go into the new intranet. Next, you
have to decide if the selected content needs to be rewritten or just copied over. If you
find that much of the content needs to be rewritten then you need to dedicate the
time, effort and resources needed to get it done. You may be looking at four months
to write around 500-700 pages of content. A good tip: start as early as you can.

Resources
• CMS Wire: No Small Task: Migrating Content to a New CMS
(http://bit.ly/fFqxO)
• CMS Wire: Content Migrations: Options, Strategies and Faux Pas



(http://bit.ly/EY2LN)
• Microsoft: Content migration (http://bit.ly/cKU95E)
• PebbleRoad: Planning and coordinating content migrations
(http://bit.ly/oispLH)
• ThoguhtFarmer: Content migrations: the iceberg of intranet projects
(http://bit.ly/roavRj)
• Website migration handbook (http://migrationhandbook.com/)



Stage 7: Establish a governance
framework
Governance is a framework for managing, supporting and improving the intranet
over time. This means that after we have certain baseline requirements in place
(vision, leadership, team, terms of use), governance is really about making day-to-
day decisions to support and improve the intranet.

There are many different ways to govern the intranet, given below is something that
has worked for us in our client engagements.

Baseline(requirements

Information*organisation

Publishing
Make* Gather*
improvements feedback
Groups

Apps

This framework calls for a set of baseline requirements. This should be in place
before the improvement loop can take place. There are four key targets for



governance: information organisation, publishing, groups and apps.

Given below is a brief description of this framework.

Setting the baseline
Baseline requirements are those that must be in place for successful operation of
the intranet. These are:

• Clear vision of intranet
• Leadership support
• Intranet team

We’ve covered many of these areas in earlier sections.

Governance areas
There are four areas of governance:

1. Information organisation
2. Content
3. Groups
4. Technology

For each area of governance we outline the following:

• Who: who is responsible for this item. An item could be publishing
procurement policies.
• Guidelines: what guidelines are applicable for this item. An example of a
guideline can be the Writing Style Guide. This should be referred to when
common content is authored or updated.
• Feedback. This refers to how feedback is gathered for the item. Using the
same example, feedback could be captured using interviews, analytics,



usability testing, etc.

Given below is a sample:

Item Who Guidelines Feedback

Common content Intranet team Publishing Staff feedback via
guidelines the intranet or
emails
Writing guidelines
Comprehension
Content review testing
checklist

The same procedure is applicable for all items under all the four areas of
governance.

It is important to note that you cannot expect to get everything ready by the time the
intranet launches. However, it is imperative that a deliberate attempt be made to
build the guidelines and the feedback mechanisms when the item is encountered for
the first time. For example, if the intranet team is focusing on the collaboration then
the team should also focus on building the guidelines and the feedback mechanism
as well. Do not wait till everything is done and then try to build the guidelines and
the feedback mechanisms.

Resources
• Intranet Focus: Governance and Strategy (http://bit.ly/oYQ14e)
• ThoughtFarmer: Why intranet governance matters (http://bit.ly/nMbIKw)
• NetJMC: Governance in the digital workplace (http://bit.ly/e99i9q)
• Martin White: Intranet Management Handbook (http://amzn.to/nKmyuv)



Stage 8: Create a user adoption
strategy
There are many ways to get staff ready—from management-driven formal
approaches to champion-driven fun approaches. Here is just a small sample of
possible strategies.

Identify champions

Who they are
Champions are staff who are motivated and energised by the vision of the new
intranet and want to play a part in the change.

Why you need them
You and your intranet team can do only so much. If you have a large organisation
then it gets even tougher to get staff to learn and use the new intranet. Champions
can help your team out because they are also interested in the new intranet and are
motivated to help. With a network of champions across your company you can reach
many more staff and are able to support them more efficiently to make the change.

How to do it
Anyone can volunteer to be a champion. However, at times, champions need to be
found.

You can find potential champions by noting people who are asking many questions
about the new intranet, who are showing keen interest in the progress of the intranet,
or who are making suggestions or giving ideas voluntarily. Gather such staff and give
them the opportunity to become acknowledged champions.

Even champions need training so that they are better prepared to guide others. Hold
a few training sessions for champions and give them access to all the support



materials. Teach them the best practices and the common pitfalls.

As with other initiatives, champions should be familiar with the intranet charter and
should use the same vocabulary and principles when interacting with others.

Have briefing sessions on new features and
functions

What it is
Not all staff have the time to pay attention to an intranet rollout. You may need to
hold briefing sessions across the organisation to inform staff that there is something
new coming their way, and let them know how they will be affected and how they can
prepare for the change.

Why you need it
A briefing session reaches out to many staff and starts the buzz around the new
intranet. The session also addresses the ‘What’s in it for me?’ factor—staff know
what to expect and how they can better prepare for it.

How to do it
Briefing sessions should reach out to as many staff as possible. You may have to
hold multiple briefing sessions, if needed.

Briefing sessions should be organised like an event and not like a classroom training
session.

There could be booths set up to showcase important features and functions of the
intranet, and to hand out support materials.

Prepare support materials



What it is
Support materials are materials like how-to guides, frequently asked questions, style
guides, tips and tricks, templates and process diagrams. These should be prepared
and made available to staff before rollout.

Why you need it
A wealth of support materials shows that you care about this new intranet and you’re
doing your best to help staff use it. It also motivates reluctant staff to give the new
intranet a shot. Finally, the support materials will set the tone for subsequent
conversations on the intranet. How you design the support materials, the language
you use, the concepts you introduce will find its way into common use.

How to do it
Creating support materials takes time, so it is best to start early. A good time to start
will be when the specifications for the new intranet are drawn up and the
implementation is underway.

A good way to create support materials is to create a support wiki. With a wiki, the
process can start early and the pages can be built over time. This creates a nice
rhythm for the rest of the project.

Assign the job of building the pages to few interested staffers. They can work out the
structure of the wiki and content for the pages.

Try to use media where possible. Short video instructions are better bets than long,
bulleted pages.

Open support channels

What it is
Support channels can provide a way for staff to ask their questions and have them



answered.

Why you need it
Staff will have many fears, uncertainties and doubts around the new intranet. If these
are not addressed they may lead to bigger problems; for example, loss of trust and
negative publicity.

How to do it
Two common ways to implement support channels are:

1. E-mail and phone support.
2. Website support that lists FAQs, common practices to follow, etc.

E-mail and phone support are easy to implement. However, you’ll have to ensure
that staff are aware of such support channels.

All e-mails need to be archived and available for others to browse through.

A support website is an area on the intranet that hosts all intranet support-related
materials. The support materials you create (see previous section) can be housed
here.

Note that like other pages on the intranet, the support pages will also grow.
Therefore it is best to estimate the time, effort and resources required to keep the
support channel running smoothly.

Resources
• Michael Sampson: User adoption strategies
(http://www.michaelsampson.net/useradoption.html)
• The Association of Support Professionals (http://www.asponline.com/)



Keep the buzz going

What it is
Keeping staff informed on the happenings on the intranet front.

Why you need it
A common complaint staff have about an intranet rollout is that it takes them by
surprise – they do not see it coming. By keeping the redesign buzz going right from
the start has many advantages:

• Helps staff prepare and plan
• Gives an opportunity to take part or voice concerns
• Keeps competing or redundant projects at bay
• Keeps a healthy conversation going

How to do it
The easiest way to do this is to communicate frequently about the impending
change. The internal communication platform can be leveraged for this purpose,
especially for email broadcasts.

If the support website channel is used then it can double up as the primary channel
to communicate news and developments on the new intranet.

Here are some tips on keeping the buzz going:

1. The first batch of communications should focus on the goals of the new
intranet. The intranet charter can be used for this purpose.
2. The second batch of communications should focus on preparing staff for
the change. Providing screenshots or previews of different sections of the
new intranet can help.
3. The final batch of communications should start after the intranet is
launched and it should address common misconceptions or fears that



staff might have about the new intranet. The support channels can be
leveraged for this purpose. Use stories to illustrate the benefits of the
intranet. It’s one of the better ways to demystify the intranet.

As mentioned earlier, a blog can be used to inform staff about the new intranet. The
blog can be started as early in the process as possible and when enough materials
are ready to share. It is also important that this communication is done regularly—
infrequent communications will only dilute the ability of this channel to inform staff of
the change.

Resources
• Michael Sampson: User adoption strategies
(http://www.michaelsampson.net/useradoption.html)
• The Association of Support Professionals (http://www.asponline.com/)
• Microsoft: I Use SharePoint
(http://sharepoint.microsoft.com/iusesharepoint/landing.aspx)



Conclusion
Designing or redesigning an intranet takes a lot of time, money and resources. As an
intranet manager, you have a lot to look after and be accountable for. This guide will
help you plan and manage your resources in the most effective and efficient manner.
Armed with this knowledge, you’ll be a confident leader and not be slave to the
wishes of an implementation team or the confines of particular software.

It takes patience and perseverance to create a good intranet but the thrill of helping
staff and giving them a platform that eases and improves their daily work is
priceless.

Good luck!


Manager's guidebook on intranet redesign projects

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Manager's guidebook on intranet redesign projects