November 25, 2002 New Thinking:
Intranet communication versus traditional communication

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• How much time do you spend finding and digesting information?
• How much time do you spend responding to requests for information from other staff and/or customers?
• How many of these responses do you feel could be delivered in a more formal, repeatable manner?
• Where do you currently acquire your knowledge? Is it from other colleagues, print, the intranet, external sources?
• How do you rate the organization in relation to its ability to deliver to you the practical knowledge you need to do your job effectively?
• Do you feel that the organization effectively communicates important strategic issues to you?
• What level of trust do you place in print, person-to-person, and intranet communication?
• How would you rate print, person-to-person, and the intranet in relation to their ability to help you find the right information quickly?

The above questionnaire can become a benchmark that you can measure progress against. For example, in many organizations, staff simply don't trust information on the intranet, because they feel it's out-of-date and badly written. Many intranets are poorly organized, making it difficult for people to find information quickly.

You can solve such problems by investing in more professional publishing processes, and in better information architecture design. The following year you can carry out the questionnaire again. You should then see an improvement in how staff respond to the intranet trust and findability questions.

An important point arises here. A successful intranet requires a long-term strategy. Thinking of your intranet in a 3-6 month timeframe is pointless. You need a 3-5 year plan.

Intranets seek to change a core activity within the organization: communication. You cannot hope to make such a change quickly. You will be trying to change habits that people have developed over years. ('I always ring Mary in Finance when I'm claiming my expenses.')

The cornerstone of all communication is trust. I have come across so many unprofessional intranets that staff simply don't trust. It's bad enough trying to change someone's habits. If they don't even trust the intranet, your job is twice as hard.

We need to become much more professional about how we approach intranet design and management. An annual internal communications questionnaire allows you to establish a benchmark for measurement. Without measurement, you can't have management.

Gerry McGovern
 

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