Part I of this two-part series on intranet planning
underscored and underlined the critical importance of understanding
your users, stakeholders and business requirements and mapping plans
and solutions to those requirements.
Planning
Once the needs and requirements are identified, the planning – or
the answer to the expressed needs – may begin. The planning phase maps
out the strategic and tactical approach to building or redesigning your
intranet and/or portal. Once the planning phase is complete, the end
result should be an expansive blueprint with many elements
including:
-
Strategic
plan
-
Success measures &
measurement plan
-
Organizational
recommendations
-
Functional brief and
plan
-
Change management
plan
-
Marketing and promotional
plan
-
Funding
model
-
Business case and ROI
plan
-
Governance
recommendations
-
Content management
plan
-
Information
architecture
-
High-level
wireframes
-
Design
concept
While the technology phase has been separated from the assessment
and planning stages in the methodology described above, the audit and
the mapping of the required specifications are in fact assessment and
planning exercises. In fact, it is not uncommon to lump this phase into
the assessment and planning phases. In this critical phase, the current
technology – infrastructure, hardware, software, capacity, etc. –
deployed within the organization is documented. A gap analysis is then
performed to determine what is required to deliver the specified
functionality in the plan prior to undertaking and vendor evaluations
or demos.
By committing to a formal and thorough planning phase, the
uncertainty and risk of undertaking large-scale intranet endeavors,
often involving multiple stakeholder and user groups inside and outside
the organization, is greatly reduced or eliminated. The assessment
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 (for a free
copy of the white paper Intranet ROI, please
email prescient@prescientdigital.com). Most importantly, assessment and
planning provide a foundation for creating a sound and leading edge
model for the building phases of your intranet.
If the end intranet or portal solution is not acceptable to all
groups that will use it, the solution may require reengineering or
termination – expending far more time and money than if the intranet
was properly planned from the start. As the value of intranets grow so
to do user and management scrutiny as well as the required investment
to meet demand. If you fail to properly identify your business
requirements upfront and assemble the necessary plan to address them
your intranet will surely face a slow death. It may take a couple of
years, but termination is almost certain and will spur the need for yet
another round of costly investment. Worse still, the people who
launched and steer the intranet may face the same grim demise.
Case Study
Toronto-based Manulife Financial is a global insurance and
financial services company. With its global reach and need to remain
competitive, Manulife decided to evolve its current Lotus Notes
database system into one that will a true, web-based portal. Before
undertaking any coding, design or choosing any software or technology,
Manulife undertook a thorough business requirements assessment of their
internal environment to serve as the foundation for developing a
comprehensive strategic plan. The assessment included internal research
and interviews with 35 key stakeholders at Manulife.
The final Plan served as a strategic and functional blueprint with
more than 250 pages and 50 recommendations for the development,
governance, and management of the proposed portal. Included in the plan
are detailed functional recommendations, the information architecture
schematic detailing the portal's navigation, case studies and
benchmarks of leading intranet companies, governance and content
management recommendations, the portal's creative design, and a
business case with a planned return on investment (ROI).
Prior to launching Phase 1.0 of the portal, additional user
research was undertaken including a pervasive employee survey (sample:
3500), regional focus groups, and individual usability testing on a
portal prototype.
“Ask employees what they want to see on their intranet, and then
deliver,"
says Donna Morrison, Vice President Corporate Communications at
Manulife, who spent considerable up front time with employee surveys
and focus groups to learn what issues needed to be addressed through
the Company's first corporate intranet. "Once you've delivered,
ask them what they think of what you've done. . . . it not only helps
create a better, customer-centric product, it wins over the skeptics,
raises awareness, and ultimately begins to shift the culture to one
that is more self reliant and more productive."
Just prior to launch, the portal Governance Model was completed
and committed to paper as was a Content Editorial Policy – each
developed with input from all of the portal stakeholders.
Since the successful launch of its portal,
@mfc, Manulife is planning the next phase and
currently conducting a new round of employee research in anticipation
of a portal product and more robust content management system
rollout.
Toby Ward, a former journalist and a regular e-business
columnist and speaker, is the President and Founder 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.