Is your intranet successful? Here’s 5 potential reasons why

We are in a marketplace, where intranet experts like Jane McConnell says “today’s intranet model is unsustainable“. So, how can you tell if your intranet is actually successful? Forget about innovation, trust, strategy, and usability.  Here’s 5 very good indications that really matter:

1. Employees use it. Yes, you’ve build the intranet and they started using it. Rest assured that if it did not work or did not help them complete their tasks, they would not use it. Not even lightly!
2. It saves money. If your colleagues in HR or communications decided to stop printing their fancy employee magazine and instead started doing more (with less resources) on the intranet, then you have come a long way. There are other ways in which your intranet can be a money saver, e.g. reduced postage costs, share knowledge internally instead of buying from consultants or collaborate online and cut down on travel costs.
3. It saves time. If you can complete tasks faster assisted by your intranet than you would be able to without it, then you are in good shape. Typical examples here would be looking up a phone number, filling out complex forms that used to be on paper or finding out who else has specific skills.
4. It enables cross-organisational communication. Without the intranet, how would the organisation communicate effectively internally?
5. It makes money. Cost and time savings can be valuable metrics. However, don’t forget the many other scenarios your intranet can support directly or indirectly. For example, if your intranet allows employees to collaborate on new products or business processes, it may not be saving time as such, but the end result may still generate revenue.

In order to measure the above and follow up regularly, you’ll need to do some homework on measurements and reporting. This is an area where I’ve found most intranets have little beyond simple metrics such as counting hits or page impressions.

If you know any other good indicators for a successful intranet, or simply disagree with the above, please leave me a comment.

Good luck with your intranet!

Join our full day seminar, the International Intranet Day, on March 24 in Copenhagen, to learn from case studies from several organisations and network with other intranet professionals.