In most cases, the intranet team should own search, and the responsibility should not be left within IT.
Author Archive: James Robertson
James Robertson is the founder and Managing Director of Step Two Designs, a vendor-neutral consultancy located in Australia.
James is recognised as one of the world-wide thought leaders on the topics of web content management and intranet strategy. He has worked with many organisations in both the public and private sectors, including Fortune 500 companies and Federal Government agencies.
CMb 2008-20
Two types of CMS users
There are two types of CMS users: frequent ‘power’ users, and less-frequent ‘business’ users. The needs of both groups must be met.
CMb 2008–18
Extend the reach of the staff directory
Staff directories are only useful when they contain all staff, even those without a PC or payroll number.
CMb 2008-17
Don’t forget external collaborators
While collaboration tools are spreading rapidly, what has often been overlooked is the frequent need to include external collaborators.
CMb 2008-16
Three ways to update the staff directory
There are three main ways of keeping a staff directory up to date: centralised updates, self-service updating and via integration.
CMb 2008–14
Simplify the search user experience
Search doesn’t work out of the box, and up to 80% of the default functionality must be stripped out for general search users.
CMb 2008–13
Staff directories benefit from cross-linking
Some of the greatest value in a staff directory comes from the cross-linking, within the directory and to other resources.
CMb 2008–12
Two uses for wikis
Wikis can be used as both collaboration tools and as an intranet, and these are two very different situations.
CMb 2008–11
Close team spaces when projects end
Establishing team spaces for projects can be one of the most productive uses of collaboration tools, but they must be closed when the projects end.
CMb 2008-09
Should the intranet look sexy?
Public-facing websites often have a strong marketing element to them, but do intranets need to be as polished in their design?
JULY 2008
Content migration: options and strategies
Explores the options for migrating content as part of a site redesign, giving tips and suggestions.
CMb 2008-07
Helping the intranet team win arguments
To help build team confidence, intranet teams should understand staff needs and the motivations of content owners.
CMb 2008-08
Starting to define the intranet brand
To be successful, intranets must have a clear definition of their purpose and character, underpinning decisions about future directions.
CMb 2008-06
Don’t try to boil the content ocean
Too many approaches to improving intranet content are destined for heroic failure.
CMb 2008-05
Searching more is not always better
Driving enterprise search to cover ever more content does not necessarily deliver better results.
CMb 2008-04
In-context vs back-end authoring
There are two common ways of editing content in a CMS, and each has its strengths and weaknesses.
CMb 2008-03
Clean up your LDAP or Active Directory
Before personalisation can be implemented, underlying LDAP or Active Directory implementations need to be cleaned up.
CMb 2008-01
Time needed to select a CMS
There is a simple answer to the question: how long will it take to choose a new CMS?
Information Architecture Essentials
9 April 2008
Mercure Hotel, Sydney
In this one-day workshop, Patrick Kennedy will present the fundamentals of information architecture (IA), the core methodology for organising and designing websites and intranets.Key skills such as card sorting will be taught, and this workshop is designed to build in-house information architecture skills. A must for all web or intranet [...]
CMb 2007-23
Promote intranet successes
Intranet teams should use a range of approaches to track and communicate their success stories, to managers and the wider organisation.
Collaboration is about people
This article explores the human face of collaboration, touching upon a range of enterprise issues and considerations.
CMb 2007-20
Successful collaboration requires support
This briefing outlines some practical steps that all organisations should take to help business areas and staff make the best of collaboration tools.
CMb 2007-21
Start by ‘gardening’ collaboration
In the short-term, a ‘gardening’ approach to collaboration must be taken, encouraging good uses and cleaning up dead sites.
CMb 2007-19
Establish a portfolio of collaboration tools
There is no one-size-fits-all collaboration solution and a portfolio of technologies should be put in place.
OCTOBER 2007
Intranet Innovation Awards winners for 2007
This article shares the winners of the 2007 Intranet Innovation Awards, providing a screenshot and summary for each winning entry.
CMb 2007-17
Collaboration tools are anti knowledge sharing?
Collaboration tools are vital, but left unmanaged, their spread can be anti knowledge sharing.
CMb 2007-18
Segmenting staff information needs
There are three main facets that can be used to segment staff needs for information: job role, business unit and geographic location.
CMb 2007-16
Does your CMS vendor have product expertise?
More than just about finding the right CMS product, it’s also about obtaining a vendor who can support your needs for the lifetime of the solution.
SEPTEMBER 2007
Using scenarios to select a CMS
Content management scenarios provide a ‘day in the life’ description of how the CMS will be used in practice.”
Why staff visit the intranet
There are two key reasons for a staff member to come to the intranet: to find a specific piece of information, or to complete a specific task.
AUGUST 2007
6×2: a new approach to planning
This methodology provides intranet teams with a new and powerful approach to planning intranet improvements.
CMb 2007-13
Apply IA techniques when creating taxonomies
The field of information architecture (IA) has much to offer those creating taxonomies, including a range of structured techniques for testing their effectiveness.
CMb 2007-14
Your new site will be 20% different from current site
A simple rule of thumb when planning a site redesign is that the new site will be no more than 20% different from the current site.
CMb 2007-12
Avoid long-term strategies
All too often, 18-24 month information management strategies fail to deliver benefits, but there is an alternative.
CMb 2007-10
Personalisation vs segmentation
This briefing draws a clear line between two separate functionalities: personalisation and segmentation.
CMb 2007-08
Recordkeeping responsibilities on a single sheet of paper
Provide every staff member with a tailored and personalised single sheet of paper that covers what they need to file, and how.
CMb 2007-07
Every intranet has its successes
This briefing explores the idea of intranet successes, how to identify them, and how to gain the greatest value from them.
MAY 2007
11 usability principles for CMS products
If a CMS is not usable then it will not be successfully used by authors, and this can be assessed during product selection.
APRIL 2007
Building innovative intranets
Explores a number of approaches that can be taken to build innovative intranets, all of which move intranet teams beyond just maintaining their current sites.
CMb 2007-06
Three fundamental purposes of an intranet
To be truly effective, intranets need to address three fundamental purposes: content, communication and activity.
CMb 2007-05
Intranet teams must cover the three purposes
The intranet team must guide, coordinate and integrate activities across all three fundamental intranet purposes: content, communication and activity.
CMb 2007-04
Intranet benchmarking for free
The Intranet Review Toolkit provides a free way of assessing where your intranet is up to, benchmarked against industry best practice.
CMb 2007-03
There are no “KM systems”
Organisations should abandon the search for ‘knowledge management systems’, and focus more closely on the specific capabilities required.
MARCH 2007
The importance of ‘tangible’ and ‘visible’
Intranet teams should be guided by two words when planning intranet activities: tangible and visible.
CMb 2007-02
Search doesn’t work out-of-the-box
Out-of-the-box, search doesn’t work, and there is a small (but vital) piece of work needed to design and tune the search solution.
CMb 2007-01
Automating three types of forms
There is a ‘rule of thirds’ that can be used to categorise the main types of forms that exist on an intranet.
DECEMBER 2006
Top 10 mistakes when selecting a CMS
Organisations often make the selection of a CMS much harder than it needs to be. They do this by running into common pitfalls that impact on the selection and success of the CMS project.
CMb 2006-22
Plan before CMS implementation
The day the contract is signed with the CMS vendor, the vendor will show up asking: so, what are we actually implementing?
CMb 2006-21
Usability and IA are core skills for intranet teams
Usability and information architecture (IA) are core areas of expertise for intranet teams, and all organisations should take steps to build this expertise internally.
CMb 2006-20
Intranet as a mirror to the organisation
The most successful intranets are those that directly reflect the unique nature of the organisations they serve.
CMb 2006-19
Intranet kiosks or remote access?
here are many staff that have little (or no) access to a computer during work hours, and there are two main approaches for making intranet available: kiosks and remote access.
CMb 2006-17
The enemy of intranets is apathy
The enemy of intranets is not resistance to change, it is apathy, which must be overcome to build support and resources.
CMb 2006-18
Separate design and the CMS
Organisations are almost always better served by separating out the design and the CMS, and sourcing these from different providers.
SEPTEMBER 2006
Creating an “intranet concept”
An intranet concept is a single sheet of paper which outlines where the intranet is at, where it is going, and what it will deliver in the short-term.
Monthly intranet tasks
This article provides a long (but still not comprehensive) list of ongoing tasks for intranet teams.
CMb 2006-13
Login to the intranet
A very simple improvement to the intranet is to ensure that all staff login to the site in order to use it. This allows a number of immediate benefits to be offered, as well as providing a foundation for future enhancements.
CMb 2006-12
The real cost of email in organisations
There is very real cost of the reliance on email: the duplication of information management activities, which has a significant impact on productivity, consistency and accuracy.
JULY 2006
Intranets as a news channel
While news on the intranet home page is widespread, the question needs to be asked: how effective is it?
CMb 2006-11
Five key intranet policies
This briefing takes a different look at the role of intranet policies, and outlines five policies that all intranet teams should develop.
CMb 2006-10
Create a strong intranet brand
The intranet needs to have a strong brand, a sense of identity that, at a basic level, distinguishes it from the public website and other information sources within the organisation.
JUNE 2006
When intranet discussion forums work
This article introduces two critical success factors for intranet discussion forums: a clear purpose, and a common community.
MAY 2006
Nine ways to fix intranet search
This article outlines nine steps that can be taken by all intranet teams to improve the effectiveness of search, covering both design and under-the-hood changes.
CMb 2006-08
10 words to describe successful intranets
This article provides 10 words that describe successful intranets, including: innovative, productive and collaborative.
CMb 2006-05
Obtain search in your CMS?
How good are the search capabilities built into CMS products, and when should you make use of them?
CMS vendors are evaluating us
We are looking for the product that is the best fit to the organisation’s needs. What is rarely recognised, however, is that while we are evaluating vendors, CMS vendors are also evaluating us.
CMb 2006-03
Intranet authoring: a hobby?
Much is expected of intranet authors, in terms of the quality, accuracy and timliness of published material. Yet, many organisations treat intranet authoring as a hobby.
MARCH 2005
Leadership tips for intranet teams
Intranet teams must take on a strong leadership role, and drive forward the evolution and enhancement of the site.
FEBRUARY 2006
Taking a business-centric approach to portals
Now that the early hype has died down, it is not surprising to find that portals have both strengths and weaknesses, which have a major impact on project success.
CMb 2006-02
Intranet managers must be managers
The intranet manager should be free to focus solely on managing the site, and not writing HTML or publishing content.
CMb 2006-01
Search should work like magic
At the most fundamental level, search should work like magic: it should always give staff the information they need, even if they only enter a word (or two).
CMb 2005-22
Managing key information
There are several key categories of documents that should be targeted as part of information management projects, while other documents can be ignored.
CMb 2005-21
Good search is knowledge management
Beyond just helping staff to ‘find stuff’, search can play a valuable role in meeting broader knowledge management goals.
DECEMBER 2005
The “all together” rule for intranets
Intranet content and tools should be aggregated, to help staff find required information, and to complete key tasks.
CMb 2005-19
Meeting your intranet users
Users are not all the same, and do not have the same needs. A key principle is therefore: you can’t usefully deliver information to users you haven’t personally met.
NOVEMBER 2005
10 principles of effective information management
Effective information management is not easy. This article outlines 10 critical success factors that address organisational, cultural and strategic issues.
CMb 2005-20
Search engine ‘best bets’
Search engine ‘best bets’ can dramatically improve the search experience, particularly on information-rich sites such as intranets.
CMb 2005-17
Providing intranet access to records
This briefing outlines a simple scenario in which the intranet helps staff find key corporate information, while the documents accessed are stored in the document/records management system.
CMb 2005-18
Will your chosen CMS vendor go bust?
One of the greatest fears when selecting a new CMS is that the vendor will go bust, but more must be done that just purchasing from a ‘big’ vendor and hoping for the best.
SEPTEMBER 2005
Conducting intranet needs analysis
Determining what an intranet is actually for involves gaining an in-depth understanding of staff (and organisational) needs and issues.
CMb 2005-15
Not all content needs to be of equal quality
Efforts should be targeted at improving the quality of key information, while applying lower standards to the majority of intranet content.
CMb 2005-13
More users = simpler CMS
When deploying a CMS across the whole organisation, the rule is: the more users, the simpler (and more usable) the system should be.
CMb 2005-14
Is your intranet trusted by staff?
It is widely recognised that an intranet must be trusted, if it is to be regularly used by staff across an organisation.
CMb 2005-12
Intranets: losing the language of enforcement
All too often, centralised intranet teams find themselves battling with decentralised authors to enforce consistency and quality standards.
CMb 2005-11
What to include in intranet search results
Much can be done to simplify search results pages, to make them easier to use for all staff to use.
Case study (July 2005)
Five intranet reviews, five different results
This case study presents the findings from five intranet reviews across a range of organisations, each with very different results.
Intranets as the first source of information
Intranets must be more than just a dumping ground for ’second-hand documents’ if they are to be successful. Instead, a radically different policy needs to be put in place.
CMb 2005-10
Spending patterns during CMS implementation
There are three clear phases to the adoption of a content management system. The activities and spending patterns during these phases needs to be understood, to ensure that sufficient time and resources are made available.
CMb 2005-08
Paradox of delivering to isolated staff
Staff in geographically isolated locations are most reliant on information sources such as intranets, and yet in practical terms they are the hardest to reach.
CMb 2005-07
Two types of in-bound call centres
In-bound call centres deal with either queries or transactions (or both), and this has a big impact on the knowledge and information required.
APRIL 2005
CMS interoperability?
While the goal of interoperability between content management systems (CMS) is very important, it is limited by the lack of implemented standards.
CMb 2005-04
Creating an upwards spiral for your intranet
If intranets are to succeed, an upwards spiral must be created, where each success (no matter how small) leads onto further improvements.
CMb 2005-03
Three levels of information management
Information must be managed on three levels within an organisation: corporate, team and individual. Tools and processes must be provided for each of the levels.
MARCH 2005
Online staff directories: survey results and key findings
This article shares survey results and recommendations on the design and implementation of online staff directories, the most used element of most intranets.
CMb 2005-02
Is workflow the wrong metaphor?
The unspoken truth is that workflow often doesn’t work well in practice, leading to the question: is workflow the wrong metaphor?
CMb 2005-01
How staff look for documents
You need to understand how staff look for documents in a business setting, in order to design suitable systems and classification schemes.
FEBRUARY 2005
Step-by-step: implementing online forms
Online forms on a corporate intranet deliver clear benefits and cost savings. This article outlines a simple step-by-step approach to implementing online forms.
CMb 2004-21
Who should own the intranet?
One of the first challenges when establishing an intranet is to determine who should have overall ownership of the site, and where the intranet team should be located.
CMb 2004-19
KM for consistency and innovation
This briefing contrasts the role of knowledge management in supporting both innovation and consistency.
CMb 2004-20
How to scope an intranet release
The challenge is to deliver sufficient intranet content and capabilities, within the time and resource constraints. This briefing outlines a simple approach for balancing these factors.
OCTOBER 2004
Rolling out a records management system
This article presents a new perspective to rolling out a records management system, highlighting three critical success factors: the system, classification scheme and message.
CMb 2004-16
‘Knowledge sharing’ should be avoided
While ‘knowledge sharing’ is a common goal for KM projects, it is often neither meaningful or effective.
CMb 2004-15
Choosing your information delivery channels
All delivery channels (not just the intranet) must be considered when planning an overall information management and communications strategy.
SEPTEMBER 2004
Content reuse in practice
While content reuse may be a goal of many CMS projects, it is often complex to implement in practice.
CMb 2004-14
Establishing an intranet community of practice
A critical success factor for an effective and sustainable intranet is the establishment of an intranet ‘community of practice’.
AUGUST 2004
Developing a knowledge management strategy
A successful knowledge management strategy must identify the key needs and issues within the organisation, and provide a framework for addressing these.
JULY 2004
Successfully deploying a content management system
Implementing a CMS is not easy. Our experience has shown that there are five key aspects that must be addressed as part of the deployment project.
CMb 2004-09
Have we seen the perfect intranet?
We are often asked whether we have seen the perfect intranet, and our answer is no. Read more to find out why.
CMb 2004-10
Self-sufficiency in a CMS
The requirement for self-sufficiency should be addressed by all organisations looking to purchase a content management system.
MAY 2004
Selecting a Content Management System
AGIMO Better Practice Checklist, for those given the responsibility to determine CMS requirements and evaluate products.
MAY 2004
Implementing an Effective Website Search Facility
AGIMO Better Practice Checklist, outlining a number of issues should be considered when designing and implementing search facilities.
MAY 2004
Implementing a Content Management System
AGIMO Better Practice Checklist, on the implementation of a content management system (CMS).
MAY 2004
Designing and Managing an Intranet
AGIMO Better Practice Checklist, for staff responsible for intranets, including those in website or intranet teams.
CASE STUDY (MAY 2004)
Evaluating Caloundra City Council’s EDMS classification
This case study describes the use of usability techniques to evaluate the the Keywords for Councils classification for Caloundra City Council’s document management system (EDMS).
MAY 2004
Intranets and knowledge sharing
The intranet can serve as a platform for knowledge management initiatives, via approaches such as collaborative environments, staff directories, wikis and weblogs.
CMb 2004-07
After the CMS implementation project
While it is vital to ensure that the initial implementation project is successful, this is only the beginning of an ongoing commitment to growing the use of content management throughout the organisation.
CMb 2004-08
Using narrative in a CMS tender
Consider presenting requirements in ‘narrative’ format, as this provides a more complete description of needs, and gives much-needed context to vendors responding to the tender.
APRIL 2004
Intranets when organisations merge
This article outlines a phased approach to creating a new corporate intranet when organisations merge, following the progress of the merger itself.
CMb 2004-06
Intranet search reports
Search engine reports are one of the most effective tools for gathering user information and improving an intranet.
CMb 2004-05
More than just finding policy documents
This briefing looks at the role of corporate policies within an organisation, and the need to better communicate their message to staff.
FEBRUARY 2004
Open-source content management systems
Open-source CMS has now matured to the point where it should be considered alongside commercial products, but is not without its weaknesses and issues.
CMb 2004-03
Intranet teams: a leadership and coaching role
Intranet teams should play a leadership and coaching role in the organisation, in order to ensure that the intranet is effective, up-to-date and usable.
CMb 2004-04
Definition of information management terms
This briefing provides an at-a-glance definition of terms for a range of information systems, including CMS, DMS and RMS.
CMb 2004-02
Choosing an intranet project sponsor
Lack of project sponsorship is one of the greatest causes of IT project failure. For an organisation-wide platform such as an intranet, the need is even greater.
CMb 2004-01
Sources of CMS uncertainty
In the context of limited budgets and timetables, organisations must identify the most uncertain aspects of a CMS project, and concentrate management efforts on them.
DECEMBER 2003
Dynamic or batch publishing?
There are two main publishing models used by content management systems: dynamic and batch publishing, and each has its strengths and weaknesses.
NOVEMBER 2003
Choosing the right CMS authoring tools
There is no single best authoring environment provided by a content management system. Instead, the authoring tools must be matched to the job at hand to ensure they are easy and efficient to use.
CMb 2003-21
The difference between usable and useful
A redesigned site can be easy and quick to use, and perfectly structured, and still be useless. For a site to be useful, it must meet user needs, and there are a range of techniques for identifying these.
CMb 2003-20
The importance of staff induction
Staff induction is vital in getting staff up to speed, and ensuring they are productive. Yet most organisations have inadequate or ad-hoc processes in place.
CMb 2003-19
Drawing clear lines between information systems
In many organisations, the intranet competes with e-mail, file shares, document management and records management. What is needed is a clear policy about what these systems are for.
CMb 2003-18
Understanding the CMS marketplace
An important first step is to gain an understanding of the CMS marketplace. This briefing outlines a few of the practical ways of doing so.
CMb 2003-17
The value of intranet feedback
A simple intranet feedback mechanism is an effective way of keeping an intranet up-to-date, and assisting with change management and cultural change processes.
AUGUST 2003
Knowledge management for front-line staff
The front-line environment must be understood when implementing knowledge management initiatives.
CMb 2003-16
What is the purpose of a CMS tender?
There are real problems with many tenders released, and it is valuable to revisit the purpose of a CMS tender.
CMb 2003-15