Until 10 or 20 years ago, intranets were created either as a result of an experiment (for example in IT), or because there was a need to improve communication within a corporation. In the meantime, intranet capabilities have increased tremendously and stakeholders’ requirements diversified. What objectives are there for an intranet?
The intranet started its triumphant progress about 20 years ago. However, it’s only recently that corporations started to focus on their intranets’ true stakeholders: the employees. Not long after the emergence of intranets in organizations, those responsible for them started to ask what a modern intranet actually is. After all, no one wants to set up an outdated system that employees don’t want to use. Today, in the times of digital transformation and Generation Y, intranets are at least as important as 10 or 15 years ago. But what is a modern intranet nowadays? Is a ‘social intranet’ with user profiles, status updates, communities and chats sufficient?
Many companies still see their intranet as something that is still being installed. Like a new software, that should be used by all employees. So the intranet project manager creates a specification booklet, defines functions and milestones. Then the software is checked against the requirements and ticked off (or not). Based on a decision matrix, a software solution is chosen and installed. Then quickly some training is provided. Done. A classic software project.
A few days ago, I had to put up with Winfried Felser calling me a “fake.” It was meant as a joke because I had told Winfried that some of my tweets are automatically generated from a blog and our public microblog. In a way, he is right. I really did up my Twitter game in October or November last year – first via Buffer and now Hootsuite. It’s been working really well so far. And I’ve always answered and responded personally and will continue to do so.
