When it comes to intranets, ‘governance’ is a word that people recognise, and a concept they are pretty sure they need, but often they aren’t sure exactly what it means. The essence of governance is having a framework in place that enables the decision-making and planning processes for the intranet. This ...
Monthly Archives: November 2008
November 27, 2008
Extend the reach of the staff directory
Staff directories are at their most effective when they contain a full list of people in the organisation. The realities of today’s complex organisations may mean this is not the case by default, and some extra effort may be required to extend the reach of the staff directory. Include all staff One ...
Categorised under: Intranets, James' articles
Tags: Intranets, staff directories
November 27, 2008
Managing the intranet through a crisis
We live and work in times of boom and bust. Even when the economy travels well, there are stresses and strains in our working lives. However, if the economy takes a sudden dive, then the impact on organisations is likely to require us thinking and reaction beyond the ‘business as ...
Categorised under: Intranets
November 26, 2008
One week until Melbourne intranet roadshow
Just a quick reminder that's only a week until the Intranet Innovation Awards Roadshow in Melbourne (Thursday December 4). We have 80+ people signed up to see some innovative (and practical!) ideas relating to intranets. It's not too late to attend, but you'll need to register before the day: When: Thursday, ...
Categorised under: Conferences & presentations
November 26, 2008
Intranet teams: are we leading or managing?
The first session of the 2-day Intranet Leadership Forum workshop in Sydney today asked the question: are we leading or managing our intranets? Leading is about being proactive, strategic and visionary. Managing is about maintaining, organising, structuring and planning. The discussions were structured around the following questions: Can you articulate your company ...
Categorised under: Intranets
Tags: governance, Intranets, leadership
November 25, 2008
Practical ways to assess CMS usability
The usability of a content management system is paramount. If authors and site owners can't work out how to use the CMS, you've got nothing. The CMS can have all the functionality in the world, but usability trumps it all. I've written about this before, outlining 11 usability principles for ...
Categorised under: Content management, Usability & user-centered design
November 24, 2008
Web content migration: disastrous strategy
Gerry McGovern writes about the problems with content migration. To quote: How is Joe going to solve this problem? Here is the traditional web management solution. Joe decides he needs a new jug. Joe gets a team together to decide what sort of jug is needed. They specify a really ...
Categorised under: Content management
Tags: content migration
November 21, 2008
Accessibility is getting better in CMS products
I've been facilitating CMS vendor demos for most of this week, as part of the final stages of a University CMS selection project. One of the things that has changed in the products is their support for accessibility, generally for the better. The good news There have been some encouraging improvements: Some now ...
Categorised under: Content management, Usability & user-centered design
November 21, 2008
The SharePoint Report
We've been working with a good number of organisations on strategies for their SharePoint-based intranets. While this has allowed us to build up a solid body of knowledge on SharePoint, our strictly vendor-neutral role prevents us from publishing publicly on it (or on any other product for that matter). What we ...
Categorised under: Book & product reviews
November 20, 2008
Intranet ice age
Sara Redin has written an article on freeze periods for intranets. To quote: Freezing an intranet solution means, that for a period of time, content cannot be updated and preserved because the programmers are working on moving the old content from one system to another. A freeze period is something that ...
Categorised under: Intranets
Tags: Intranets
November 20, 2008
Leading CMS requirements
Seth Gottlieb has written a piece on writing good CMS requirements. To quote: Generic requirements gathering processes are self absorbed. They are optimized to comprehensively find business requirements, not understand them within the context of business goals. And the more the requirements are abstracted from the goal of managing content, ...
Categorised under: Content management
November 19, 2008
Is there a groundswell of demand for collaboration tools in your agency?
Craig Thomler asks: is there a groundswell of demand for collaboration tools in your agency? To quote: In my travels and conversations with peers I've become aware that many of them are seeing needs emerging within organisations for better collaboration tools - people are seeking better and more cost-effective ways ...
Categorised under: Collaboration
Tags: Collaboration
November 19, 2008
PDF manuals: the wrong paradigm for an online experience
Mike Hughes writes about the problems with PDF manuals. To quote: Let me describe a familiar user assistance experience. A user installs a new application, and when the user wants Help, the application directs her to the user documentation on a Web site or CD-ROM. What the user finds there ...
Categorised under: Content management, Usability & user-centered design
Tags: documentation, pdf
November 18, 2008
Three tiers of collaboration
There are many elements of collaboration, and we often encounter the "blind men and the elephant problem". We're all talking about collaboration, but we're actually discussing different parts of the animal. Some people are referring to technology when they talk about collaboration, others are looking at the "collaborative culture" within organisations, ...
Categorised under: Collaboration, Knowledge management
Tags: Collaboration, Knowledge management, model
November 17, 2008
The beginnings of a theory of participation
Stuart French has outlined the beginnings of a theory of participation. To quote: Below is my first try at mapping the interactions between these concepts and uses the actual labels used by the participants in the study. There is minimal theory in this framework. Each link is based on evidence ...
Categorised under: Collaboration
Tags: Collaboration
November 17, 2008
Make your intranet 2-way using ideas
Allen Huish writes about making your intranet 2-way using ideas. To quote: The concept is a great, practical development of web 2.0 - let anyone in your community create an idea and then let anyone else vote and comment on it. Then promise to do something about the ideas that ...
Categorised under: Intranets
Tags: Collaboration, Intranets
November 14, 2008
De-hyping CMIS
Barb Mosher provides an overview of Content Management Interoperability Services (CMIS), the latest standard for content management interoperability. To quote: The Content Management Interoperability Services (CMIS) spec was created by a group of ECM vendors — specifically, Microsoft, IBM, EMC, Oracle, Alfresco and Open Text. The purpose of the specification ...
Categorised under: Content management
Tags: cmis, content management systems
November 14, 2008
New community of practice in the UK
For two years now we've been running our Intranet Leadership Forum in Australia, providing a professional community for intranet teams. This is hugely enjoyable to run, and I think there's a lot of value to be gained from these types of groups. I'm therefore very excited to hear that J. ...
Categorised under: Conferences & presentations
November 14, 2008
Serena to talk at the NSW KM Forum
Just a quick note to say that Serena Joyner (the KM lead in our growing team) is speaking at the NSW KM Forum on Tuesday 25th November. This is what she'll be covering: Collaboration on the frontline – the challenges and some success stories We will look at some case studies ...
Categorised under: Conferences & presentations
November 13, 2008
Intranets are the same the world over
I've made three major international trips this year, running workshops and presenting at events. Countries visited include the UK, US, Denmark, Switzerland and New Zealand. I've had the pleasure of talking with many intranet teams, and seeing a wide range of intranet sites. Similarities Coming out of these and previous trips, my ...
Categorised under: Intranets
November 12, 2008
Is it worth asking people what they want on your intranet?
Allen Huish asks the question: is it worth asking people what they want on your intranet? To quote: A great example of this bias in surveys was when British Airways was designing its new 'Raid the Larder' concept in Club World. The team involved did the right thing and got ...
Categorised under: Intranets
Tags: Intranets, needs analysis, user research
November 12, 2008
Content value analysis for intranets part 2 – a methodology
Patrick Walsh has outlined a methodology for a content value analysis of intranets. To quote: You will also need to record each page visited and the details of the assessment (I’m putting together a form that I am intending to use myself, if you want a copy please post a ...
Categorised under: Intranets
November 11, 2008
Three considerations for enterprise 2.0
Continuing my discussions about practical approaches to enterprise 2.0, I've been observing and thinking about a range of adoption patterns. Like any new technology, there are many successes, and at least as many failures. For organisations looking to benefit from enterprise 2.0, we obviously want successes. From where I stand, ...
Categorised under: Enterprise 2.0
Tags: Enterprise 2.0
November 11, 2008
Making decisions about user research
Donna Spencer has written a post on making decisions about user research, in which she introduces a nice model to help the organisation understand when to conduct user research. To quote: Importance to the business: Just how important is the project/application in meeting organisational/business goals? Importance to users: What will happen ...
Categorised under: Usability & user-centered design
Tags: user research
November 10, 2008
A brief guide to successful virtual teams
James Dellow has posted an article on successful virtual teams. To quote: While it might not be recognised, in many organisations collaborating together as part of a virtual project team or a remote workgroup (where the staff are not co-located with each other, including tele-workers) is a normal fact of ...
Categorised under: Collaboration
Tags: teams
November 10, 2008
Enterprise 2.0 – Identify problem. Determine solution. Then tools
Stephen Collins has written a post on enterprise 2.0 implementation, rounding up a number of posts including mine, and then adding his own excellent thinking. To quote: Done right, introducing Enterprise 2.0 to your organisation can be a massive positive step - but it must be done right. Successful implementations ...
Categorised under: Enterprise 2.0
Tags: Enterprise 2.0
November 7, 2008
KM Approaches and Tools – A Guidebook
A little while back, Straits Knowledge published their KM Method Cards. These provide a handy at-a-glance resource for knowledge managers and business people, and they can be used in many different ways (see my earlier review for more). Patrick Lambe and Edgar Tan have now built on this foundation, ...
Categorised under: Knowledge management
Tags: Knowledge management
November 7, 2008
Tips on collecting data for social network analysis (SNA)
James Dellow has shared some tips on collecting data for social network analysis (SNA). To quote: Just as brief overview, Social Network Analysis (SNA) is a tool that provides a technique for analysing informal networks. SNA is an interesting Knowledge Management (KM) "technology" since it provides one of the few ...
Categorised under: Knowledge management
November 7, 2008
Gottllieb’s 2nd Law of CMS implementation
Seth Gottlieb has published his 2nd law, which states: Novelty + Urgency = Chaos. In the context of CMS implementation: Here is how it usually plays out in the world of web content management. A company buys a new CMS and intends to migrate 50-100 sites onto the new platform. ...
Categorised under: Content management
November 6, 2008
Next Tuesday in Canberra: Intranet Innovation Awards Roadshow
Just a quick reminder about the Intranet Innovation Awards Roadshow in Canberra next Tuesday (November 11). It's a free session, and we already have 90 signed up. There's still space for a few more, but we need to know now. Where: Canberra When: Tuesday, 11 November 2008, 2-4pm Cost: Free Sign up: ...
Categorised under: Conferences & presentations
November 6, 2008
Online education courses from CMS Watch
CMS Watch are some of the wisest folks in the enterprise content management market. Their pragmatic and fearless reviews are built on an encyclopedic knowledge of products and vendors, and they've also learnt a lot about what works (and what doesn't). That makes their recently-launched online education courses of ...
Categorised under: Content management, Information management
Tags: content management systems, courses, enterprise content management, training
November 6, 2008
Enterprise 2.0 vendors need to get more serious about mobile
Jevon MacDonald writes that enterprise 2.0 vendors need to get more serious about mobile. To quote: The truth is that the most successful Enterprise 2.0 applications will focus heavily on mobile and will take in to consideration the considerably different use cases related to how different functions use mobile devices.
Categorised under: Enterprise 2.0
Tags: Enterprise 2.0, mobile
November 5, 2008
Intranet Innovation Awards: Melbourne (December 4)
We've now organised an Intranet Innovation Award Roadshow event for Melbourne, providing a free afternoon session sharing insights and ideas from this year's winners. Discover approaches that can be reused in your ...
Categorised under: Conferences & presentations
November 5, 2008
Podcast: out of the box content management
On Monday I was interviewed by Phil Dobbie of BTalk Australia. The podcast on out of the box content management has now been published. To quote: (15min 54) There are a huge amount of content management systems (CMS) available, from free open source platforms through to advanced commercial solutions. That ...
Categorised under: Content management, James' articles
Tags: content management systems, linkedin, podcast, selection
November 5, 2008
Creating a new intranet: funnelling down to a solution
It's nice to be involved at the start of a brand new intranet, rather than improving (or fixing!) an existing intranet, which is the norm. It's also a fairly small (120 person) public-sector agency, so big-scale or complex methodologies are out. To help the project team think about the approach, ...
Categorised under: Intranets
November 5, 2008
Juice and Jitter
Nathan Wallace, following on from winning an Intranet Innovation Award this year, has generously shared more information on his work: Juice: An innovative and user-centric approach to IT equipment and new starters. Jitter: Experimenting with microblogging in the enterprise. (You can also see a video interview with Nathan, talking ...
Categorised under: Enterprise 2.0, Intranets
Tags: Collaboration, Enterprise 2.0, intranet innovation awards, Intranets
November 5, 2008
Collaboration framework
Shawn Callahan has outlined a collaboration framework, providing a practical process and describing the necessary business environment. To quote: Organisations need simple ways to create a common understanding about what needs to be done. Our collaboration framework aims to provide two perspectives: the dashed oval represents the collaboration environment—the container ...
Categorised under: Collaboration
Tags: Collaboration
November 4, 2008
Justifying your knowledge management programme
Matt Moore has written a whitepaper on justifying your knowledge management programme. To quote: If you are running a knowledge management programme then you know that you do good work. Whether it is involves communities of practice, learning from projects and operational activities, or documenting organisation knowledge in a myriad ...
Categorised under: Knowledge management, Metrics & ROI
Tags: business case, Knowledge management, metrics
November 4, 2008
Do collaborative online groups need to be successful?
Craig Thomler asks the question: do collaborative online groups need to be successful? To quote: My personal experience of collaborative communities over more than ten years of operating and participating in them is that they all ebb and flow over time. Often only a few individuals are required at their ...
Categorised under: Collaboration
Tags: Collaboration
November 4, 2008
How to cut your intranet budget?
Janus Boye argues that it should be possible for most intranet teams to get more done with less. To quote: I want to take this discussion a step further: It may indeed be helpful for some to look at the intranet as a cost cutter, but actually it should be ...
Categorised under: Intranets
November 3, 2008
Time for a reality check
Richard Dennison writes about the need for a reality check on social media tools. To quote: I’m reading an increasing amount of stuff taking swipes at social media along the lines of … it was all just hype … it’s not delivering what it promised etc. I guess it was ...
Categorised under: Collaboration, Enterprise 2.0
November 3, 2008
Implementing enterprise 2.0 in the real world
Now that the hype of enterprise 2.0 is starting to settle, it's clear that there are many valuable approaches that can (and should) be put into practice. Intranet and information managers are busy, however, pulled in many directions by different stakeholders. Resources are limited, and senior management visibility is often low. ...
Categorised under: Collaboration, Enterprise 2.0, Intranets
Tags: Collaboration, Enterprise 2.0, Intranets
November 2, 2008
Photo: Shapes against the storm
Shapes against the storm (I) Sculpture by the Sea, BondiStormy weather seemed to rob us of any chance of photography, but at the last moment a gap opened in the clouds to ...
Categorised under: Photos
