And yes you are correct while so much has been written on this topic, it still remains an interesting conversation especially in context of the digital transformation and next generation technologies helping us in our work lives.
In today’s day and age, all organisations are information driven. No matter what industry you’re in, whether that be finance, retail or NFP, you’ll have one thing in common – your staff need to know where all the information related to your services, products and internal processes are stored.
With the growing number of apps and tools that supports collaboration, deciding whether your company or organisation will benefit from an intranet is a common problem that companies face as they grow. Often throughout the migrating process companies start to realise not only how much information they have, but also how much they have lost over the years due to not having a centralised and secure intranet to store and disperse knowledge with the wider team.
There’s no magic cure-all when it comes to solving all of your company’s information and data issues, since doing so would also require a cultural shift into a new way of working. But, utilising an Intranet is probably the best way to start working in this direction. By doing so, you’re working towards building a smarter and more connected workforce which fosters collaboration.
So why should your business have an Intranet portal? While the list of Intranet benefits can go on for ever, let’s look at our top 3 reasons why –
- When an employee leaves, company knowledge also goes out the door
Think about all the time you spend looking for information, trying to work out what a specific process is or asking the office expert questions about something you’re not sure how to do. Week after week, employees are wasting countless hours seeking out information that someone in a company has but was unable to share. Even worse, when an employee decides to leave a company, a lot of knowledge is also lost. Why? Because not every process, workaround or tactic is written down. In every company there’s always one or two people who are seen as the ‘go-to’ employees for literally everything. They give great advice, steer you in the right direction and understand how company software, platforms and services work. Everything is great when they’re around, but what about when they go on leave or if they call in sick? Loss of productivity creeps up and the panic can quickly set in. But imagine if all of the processes and knowledge of that employee existed in a centralised space? With an Intranet portal, you can do just that. You can capture institutional knowledge by having employees create documents on various projects, topics, strategies and procedures so that other employees can easily pick up where they left off. Quite simply, a one page document could turn out to be a lifesaver if it’s easily accessible to the right people at the right time.
- Emails clog up , overload employee inboxes and meetings
If you’re a time-management aficionado, then the thought of an over-crowded inbox probably makes you twitch with anxiety. You’re not alone. Management and HR experts alike have been discussing the idea of email overload for over a decade, and there are even tech companies whose sole business strategy is to build a platform that encourages ease of communication without the need for endless emails. In a growing company, if email is the sole way that your staff communicate, then it’s likely that they’ll end up with too much information or left out of the loop. Another consequence is that emails get forwarded on, people get bcc’d and cc’d, and before you know it, a simple project and all it entails exists not in an email trail, but an email tree. As you can imagine, it would be hard for all parties to be on the same page. If this is how your staff are currently working, then you really need an Intranet to set your staff up for success. By doing so, all parties will be able to collaborate with ease in a more streamlined and organised manner. - Meetings has these days become another time consuming task (and often not the best use of time), modern workspaces provides collaboration workspaces (Use of Microsoft Teams for example) with magnitude of features including persistent chat, structured documents & information and more that can be considered to limit the number of formal meetings.
- Remote workers and accessing information/documents ‘on the road’
A lot of companies are now offering flexible working arrangements where employees work remotely full-time or a day or two per week from home. When you have a remote workforce, it becomes even more important to ensure that your employees feel a sense of community, are interested and most importantly connected. A good way to keep your remote workers efficient and engaged is with the use of an Intranet. Think of an Intranet as an office where employees can communicate with ease, share documents, contribute their own ideas and collaborate just like they would if they were working side-by-side. With an Intranet, employees can work productively, even if they’re miles apart. Intranets can be customised depending on the needs of your organisation. If you have remote workers, then a cloud Intranet becomes a dynamic tool for increased collaboration. Suddenly staff can access important documents no matter where they are; if they’re on the road, they can even access a document via mobile apps or devices, making getting work done easy.
About Prometix: At Prometix, we design implement and support Microsoft based technology solutions that help our client’s staff to more easily use and share information as individuals and in teams. We work with our clients to establish a structure that makes information easier to create, store, find and share with others. We’ve worked hard to understand how people want to access and share information.
For more information on our success stories please feel free to call us on (02) 8072 0666 or email enquiries@prometix.com.au
