Ten Tips for Building an Effective Intranet
An intranet can be a powerful business tool — or a serious waste of money. Follow these tips to get the most from yours:
- Keep the technology simple at first. Before you invest in expensive software and hardware, consider what you really need. Many companies can build a simple intranet using existing hardware and free software. If you outgrow that, then it may be time to spend more money and effort.
- Don't do too much at once. Whether you're making the move from an old network or starting from scratch, getting people to use your new intranet will be easier if you don't overload them with features. Adding one feature at a time also makes it easier to troubleshoot problems.
- Pick applications people need. Discussion groups and videoconferencing both sound great, but they'll be a waste of time if what your employees really want is basic e-mail, Internet access, and online expense report filing. Intranet applications that sit unused are a waste of money.
- Invest in employee training. The best way to convince people that they'll like your new intranet is to show them how to use it. Spend some time with employees; show them how to use the new applications and solicit feedback for future improvements.
- Make the intranet fun to use. Add at least a couple of features that your employees will enjoy using. It's often easy to configure an intranet so individual employees can have their own internal Web pages, for example, or to set up a bulletin board where employees can post family news, for-sale notices, and other information.
- Don't expect miracles. An intranet is not going to suddenly make your company twice as productive or half as expensive (in fact, it can do just the opposite if you don't keep an eye on security — see tip 9 below). A properly prepared intranet, however, can be a solid foundation for time- and money-saving applications. Unlike most older corporate networks, standards-based intranets can grow and evolve fairly easily as technology improves, which means your company is less likely to be left behind.
- Think outside the box. One of the best features about intranets is that they use technologies — such as HTML and JavaScript — that many people understand and use. As a result, your employees may have good ideas for changing and improving your intranet. And remember that any interesting application you see on a Web page may work just as well on your intranet. This is new stuff, so it pays to keep an open mind.
- Don't underestimate the resources you'll need. Servers crash. Viruses sneak onto systems. Network cards die. All of these things take time to fix. Make sure someone on your staff has the know-how to keep things running smoothly. If you don't already have someone around, hire a consultant who makes house calls, or at least make sure the intranet products you buy come with solid tech support and good warranties.
- Keep security in mind. Hackers can break in to access your confidential records. Viruses zip from user to user in seconds. Employees waste time cruising illicit Web sites. Firewalls, proxy servers, virus scanners, and network monitoring tools can help prevent these problems. Find out what these tools are and how to use them.
- Create a clear set of rules. If you allow employees to build personal Web sites on the intranet, or if your company gives employees e-mail or Internet access, make sure you establish a fair-use policy before anything unfortunate happens. The policy should dictate what sort of material is acceptable — and unacceptable — on internal Web pages; whether e-mail can be used for personal purposes; and what kinds of Web sites employees can visit.
