Intranets have come a long way since their early beginnings as a glorified filing system. Today’s intranets have much more functionality and resemble visually appealing websites we use in our personal time. Despite intranets becoming more modern in both functionality and appearance, many organizations are still using intranets the same way they were 10+ years ago. Organizations aren’t using their intranets to their full potential, and are missing out on the plethora of collaboration tools within the platform. Because of this, employee collaboration is suffering.
Here are 5 ways you can leverage your intranet for employee collaboration:
1. Enterprise Social Networking
While the primary function of an intranet is to assist with day-to-day business tasks, modern intranets introduced social features. Enterprise Social Networking tools move internal communication and employee collaboration online, through your company intranet. By including a variety of interactive intranet features, employees can easily communicate and collaborate from different departments, office locations, or while on the road traveling for work.
Some of these features include:
- Message Boards – post ‘wall like’ updates
- Discussion Forums – post, or contribute to, topics of discussion
- Live Chat – instant two-way communication
- Status Updates – share status updates on your whereabouts
2. Department Sites & Project Sites
Employee collaboration can be a challenge for organizations that have multiple teams, departments, or office locations. Many organizations require departmental and cross-location collaboration, but with different schedules or even time zones, a face-to-face meeting or conference call may not be possible. Department Sites and Project Sites provide a dedicated site on your intranet for employee collaboration. You can include any of the previously mentioned Enterprise Social Networking tools in your Department/Project Site to streamline collaboration. In addition, you can include a documents library with resources specific to that department or team and a Task Manager to keep track of duties/tasks a team member has completed.
3. Employee Profiles
It can be difficult for employees in large organizations to get to know all of their colleagues. Employee Profiles allow space on the intranet for employees to add personal information about themselves, along with a photo. This information can include an ‘about me’ section, special skills or certifications, job description, links to social media accounts, birthday, work anniversary, and more. The type of information you provide is up to you.
In addition to personal information, the Employee Profile includes a Message Board. This enables staff to post questions or comments directly to their profile. There is also contact information available on an Employee Profile, so if an employee needs to know the email or phone extension of one of their colleagues, they can easily look it up, ultimately streamlining employee collaboration.
The Employee Profile also displays an org chart, showing who reports to who along with their contact information. This is helpful for employees to know who in the company or in a department they need to collaborate with.
Improve Employee Collaboration
Your intranet is a great tool to leverage for improving employee collaboration. Whether it’s between colleagues at the office, working remotely, or across office locations, employee collaboration won’t suffer because of distance.
How have you leveraged your intranet for better employee collaboration? Let us know in the comments!
