What are the secrets behind successful intranets? How does your
intranet measure-up?
Many companies have some general impressions of their intranet
relative to the industry, other companies and perhaps even the
competition. But you can’t simply walk across the street to see your
competitor’s intranet. The problem: the firewalls are too high to see
if the grass is greener on the other side of the street. Sure, you
can find the odd case study, but they rarely provide a complete picture
and often highlight only the good, and rarely the bad.
While hiring a consulting firm to benchmark your intranet remains
an option, insight and feedback from internal stakeholders and users
can in itself paint a highly accurate picture for gauging your
intranet’s performance.
Intranets often have multiple stakeholder and user groups inside
and outside the organization. More often than not, company politics –
particularly the issue of intranet ownership and management – is a
hurdle to overcome during an intranet’s evolution.
"The number one challenge
facing corporate intranets today is not technology, not even tight
budgets; it's politics."
“The number one challenge facing
corporate intranets today is not technology, not even tight budgets;
it’s politics”, says Toby Ward, president of Prescient Digital Media
who references a Melcrum Research study on intranets that found
Ownership and Politics among the top issues confronting intranet
managers in Europe and North America.
By letting stakeholders know that their input is welcome and
necessary, the uncertainty and risk of undertaking an intranet design
or re-design is greatly reduced or eliminated. The stakeholder input
stage also serves as an important political measure for securing
stakeholder buy-in and support. This buy-in is critical for delivering
value, motivating use and maximizing return on investment (see below
for information on the white paper Intranet ROI).
“It is amazing how precise internal stakeholder impressions can be
when properly gathered and sorted,” adds Ward. “When conducting a
comprehensive intranet evaluation, our performance ratings almost
always mirror the collective feedback and ratings of the intranet
stakeholders (owners and key players).”
Ward’s consulting firm, Prescient Digital Media, employs a formal
methodology and approach to evaluating the intranet that includes a
series of business requirements analysis tools. These tools include
stakeholder interviews and workshops, user research, and
benchmarking (comparing the intranet to similar ones of the same
industry, geography, and size). A systematic evaluation employs a
unique methodology, built on years of best practices, focused on six
evaluation criteria:
-
Design
-
Layout
-
Usability
-
Content
-
Tools & Innovation
-
Planning & Resources
Each category is scored accordingly and ‘weighted’ (categories
such as Content and Planning & Resources are given higher weight
given their overall, relative importance) and an overall rating score
is applied, on a scale of 1 – 10. In addition, stakeholders are also
asked to rate the intranet on a scale of 1-10. Surprisingly, the
average stakeholder rating closely mirrors the formal evaluation
rating.
A sample of recently completed
intranet evaluations with a number of companies (unnamed) spanning
several industries:
Company by
Industry
|
Stakeholder
Rating
|
Prescient
Rating
|
Differential
|
Financial services
|
8
|
8.5
|
.5
|
Energy
|
4.5
|
4.5
|
0
|
Investments
|
7.5
|
8.5
|
1
|
Insurance
|
6
|
6
|
0
|
Gaming
|
4
|
4.5
|
.5
|
Government agency
|
3
|
3
|
0
|
The sample ratings of recent evaluations reveal a close
correlation between the consultant’s evaluation scores and the
stakeholder’s average rating. In half of the sample companies, the
score is precisely equivalent.
“The analysis allowed us to confirm our strengths and more
importantly our areas for improvement”, explains Loretta Dunn, Senior
Communications Specialist for The Co-operators, a Canadian-based
insurance firm that benefited from Prescient’s intranet evaluation. “We
were somewhat surprised that the formal evaluation so closely mirrored
the combined input of our people, but we're pleased that the final
report painted an accurate picture of where we are and where we should
be heading."
User input and research is also critical to understanding the
current and potential value of the corporate intranet. Of course, to
maximize the intranet’s value, it must be used – and used often. This
requires knowledgeable and motivated employees.
To win the hearts and mouse-clicks of your target audience, you
must also understand their needs and preferences and incorporate these
into the form and function of the intranet.
"...performance ratings almost
always mirror the collective feedback and ratings of the intranet
stakeholders (owners) and users."
While corporate business requirements
may sometimes conflict with user needs, a happy balance must be struck.
As such, user research in the form of surveys, focus groups and
usability testing should always accompany the business requirements
gathering and stakeholder engagements.
The majority of companies likely know that their sites are
underperforming and failing to meet expectations. The real value in
evaluating an intranet is the key findings and subsequent
recommendations that will help transform a 6 to an 8 or 9 (on a 10
point rating scale).
In the end, a formal evaluation must be accompanied by key
recommendations for evolving the intranet.
“The site evaluation was valuable, which added to the credibility
of the report, but more important are the actionable recommendations
accompanying the assessment,” states Ed Coutinho, Director,
Business Systems at the Greater Vancouver Regional District
(GVRD).
These actionable recommendations then serve as the baseline for
developing the complete intranet blueprint encompassing its entire form
and function. And, if properly developed, a blueprint that
constructs a foundation that surpasses the best
competition.
A Senior Internet Business Consultant and a regular writer and
speaker, Carmine Porco is the Vice-President of Prescient
Digital Media. For more information on Prescient’s CMS Blueprint
service, or for a free copy of the white
paper “Finding ROI”, please contact us.