3 Common Intranet Portal Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them

Organizations invest in creating their own internal intranet solutions for many reasons, but one of the most common ones is to increase efficiency. This can cross numerous departments and locations, but the end-goal is to give your employees the tools and resources they need to work more effectively, efficiently, and easily.

When employees can perform their duties faster and with less stress, you wind up with happier employees and a company that is prepared to manage growth.

Unfortunately, many intranet projects crash and burn, or take years to complete. Companies often underestimate the resources and time it may take, and lose sight of the big picture.

Here are 3 of the Main Reasons Some Intranet Projects Fail, and what you Can do to Avoid Them:

1. There was no Initial Strategy Created for Deployment

If you didn’t take the time to figure out what you wanted to get out of your employee intranet, and the steps it would take to get there, you are not setting yourself up for success.

Without a clearly defined plan of deployment and action, you are at risk of both not finishing your project and not using it properly when it’s done. How can you measure ROI with no benchmarks or expectations?

The fix?

Start with creating a strategy and timeline. Stay on top of it, and ensure deadlines are being met. While unexpected issues may arise, and you may need to be flexible, starting with a plan is the only way to stay on track.

2. You are Ignoring the People who will Use it

Traditional sharepoint intranet design was all about pushing corporate objectives. Today, it has changed and the most effective employee intranets will be delivering value to their end-users.

If you don’t create something that is user-friendly and delivering the content they need, your employees won’t use it. It won’t achieve the results you want because it’s not helping them to be effective or efficient.

The fix?

Include your employees in the complete intranet design process. From start to finish, get their input.

Find out what type of content and information they need, and use them to test possible functions and widgets to ensure the end result is something quick and user-friendly.

3. You Don’t Have a Content Strategy

If you’ve managed to deploy your new employee intranet, congratulations! But the work is not over yet. In order for this new tool to be used, you need to have a strategy.

If the content isn’t fresh and relevant, you won’t be able to draw people back every day. As departments and roles change, who is going to update the information?

The fix?

An effective way to create and manage a content strategy is to find volunteers within the organization. Find the people that are happy to be involved, and excited to contribute to the overall success of the company.

Have them form a committee, and create a plan they will execute alongside management to ensure the content continues to meet the needs and demands of the workplace, try LS SharePoint Intranet as own corporate solution.

• ← Prev
• Next →