Intranet Software, Business Intranet Solutions, Hosted Intranet

Intranet Content Administration - The Middle Ground


At some point during an Intranet planning process, the question of how to administer and who will administer the content of anIntranet content administration Intranet must be dealt with. An Intranet is an important information receptacle, full of the thoughts and ideas that help form the culture and institutional memory of the organization; so someone needs to be in control... right? Or perhaps not right at all?

Opinions on the issue of control of content within an Intranet likely cover the entire political spectrum; some would hand the power to the people and while others will lean more towards the authoritarian persuasion.

The former, while it leaves something to be desired in terms of strict management, is certainly a much better alternative than using an Intranet only for top down communications. If administration/ownership is not distributed, then, in my opinion, it is counteractive to the purpose of having a company Intranet. Indeed, as an information sharing and collaborative tool, a degree of freedom is essential within an Intranet.

Fortunately, for those not ready to relinquish control to the masses, there are some excellent alternatives. By finding some middle ground, an organization can give their Intranet an effective balance of freedom and governance. This article will discuss several ideas and strategies that can contribute to an Intranet that nicely settles into that middle ground.

Power to the people!

There is much to be said for a “hands-off” approach to administering an Intranet; this is because it is ideally the employees who will provide the majority of content. In order to develop an effective and dynamic knowledge base, employees should feel as though they are free to contribute content, ideas, and opinions. These concepts are also important to the overall general acceptance of an Intranet.

A well designed Intranet has the power to make the work experience more efficient, and also more enjoyable. By involving employees, you will create an environment that will strengthen working relationships and foster effective information sharing. As a nice side-effect, employees will enjoy a higher level of job satisfaction and your organization will become stronger and more profitable.

Published content administration

Giving all employees publishing ability may be a frightening concept, which is understandable. Fortunately this is not at all essential; nor is it recommended.

Lo, the cubicle revolt can be avoided! There are other ways to involve the employees and ensure that the company Intranet is being used effectively. For example, administration of published materials can be assigned to group representatives that would monitor the nature and the quality of any published material. In fact, companies commonly will use Intranet committees and key representatives to administer an Intranet.

Give all team members a voice

But… then what happens if some people don’t agree with what is being published or are in a position to expand on the ideas but are not given the means? This is an important consideration and the solution, in my opinion, is that the Intranet should provide the means to give them a voice. How many times have you read an excellent blog article, only to reach the comments section and be introduced to a whole new world of ideas? If you read blogs then your answer will be – many times indeed!

Ideas may seem brilliant, especially if they are our own. But they are only as useful as their ability to evolve into great ideas and then to bring them about. An Intranet can encourage the spread of ideas, it can be used to forge teams and, in fact, the right Intranet can be one of the most important tools in your business.

'Capital isn’t that important in business. Experience isn’t that important. You can get both of these things. What is important is ideas.'
- Harvey S. Firestone

Provide the tools

In a discussion on Intranet content and distributed ownership, I would be remiss to not cover social media. The right tools will give employees the forum to communicate and this may be among the most important content on your Intranet.

Internet technology continues to change the way we communicate, as is evidenced everywhere on the Web. Few would argue the spectacular growth and global acceptance of social networking, media sharing, discussion forums, blogs, and the likes. The Internet has revolutionized the way we communicate; these communications media are not going away.

I read somewhere once that early naysayers predicted that television was nothing more than a short lived fad. Not so, from my observations… and what we are seeing with social networking is an explosion in popularity that is unrivaled in history. In a few short years, to not bring these technologies into the office will be akin to not offering telephones.

To my thinking, the Intranet is a facility that employees should share and, in which, they can be involved. Providing the right tools and resources will give employees a feeling of ownership and will, in turn, increase use and acceptance. Sure, there is a need for administrative controls and there will be a need for some moderation; these things will be worked out. There is also a need to provide administration to make sure that published content is up-to-date and relevant, however, in a balanced Intranet, such administrative powers do not need to equate to 'control' and perhaps, after all, we can find a place in that middle ground.

Marlon McMartin is founder and Managing Director of OfficeAbility Intranet software. This article is copyright protected and may only be republished provided there is reference given to the author and a back-link provided to www.OfficeAbility.com (anchor text – Intranet Software, Business Intranet, Hosted Intranet).
 

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