Is an intranet essential for every business? The short answer is “yes.”
However, every business has its own reasons for needing an intranet. So it’s not enough to implement any old intranet solution in your business; you need to find the intranet that works for your organization.
But First, What Is an Intranet?
An intranet is an online platform that acts as an internal-facing network for your organization. It provides information to your employees, allowing them to quickly look up the documents or data they need to do their jobs. Depending on the nature of your business, an intranet may also provide services and information to your partners or customers.
Here are some of the benefits that the right intranet solution could provide for your business:
1. A Platform for Communication
The right intranet allows various departments and individuals within your organization to communicate with each other. You might think that email fulfills that role, but the problem with email is that information is locked away in individual inboxes, which prevents people not involved in the conversation from looking up and using that knowledge.
Communication that takes place on the company intranet can be stored indefinitely and made available to everyone, preventing vital knowledge from being lost.
2. A Self-Service Environment
An intranet is a place where employees can find the tools they need to use and the forms they need to fill out as part of their positions. This can often eliminate the need for an employee to approach another colleague or department to ask for what they need, which can lead to an increase in efficiency. In addition, an intranet is a place to discover content and unlock the organization knowledge.
3. A Home for Collaborative Projects
In most businesses, people work together to complete projects. An intranet provides a hub for these projects, where employees can go to see how each project is progressing, contribute content, update tasks and manage conversations
4. A Gateway
An intranet is a gateway to other resources. The first intranets were just collection of hyperlinks. Today, intranets give employees access to a wide range of useful tools, information and other helpful, interactive resources.
5. A Place to Discover People
The key purpose of an intranet is to connect people in all parts of your organization. Many intranet systems allow employees to create profiles, which other users can search. The result is that everyone can find the people they need to speak to, even in a large organization.
6. A Platform for Community and Conversation
People in the modern workplace communicate in a variety of ways, including email, instant messaging, video chat, group chats and private messages. A good intranet system facilitates these conversations, fostering a sense of community within your organization.
So, Is an Intranet Right for You?
Every business can benefit from a great intranet platform. But you won’t gain any benefits from the technology if you don’t know what you want it to do for you. Begin by working out why your business needs an intranet, and then look for a turnkey or ready-to-go intranet solution that provides the features you need.
Whether you want to improve communication, provide a platform for group project work or set up a self-service environment to allow your employees to work more efficiently, defining your goal is the first step to setting up an intranet system that is right for your business.
