In 2008, the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) won a commendation in the Intranet Innovation Awards. Their AJAX-based ‘Intranet Newsflash’ delivered quick bulletins of news and critical messages to users, regardless of the page on display.

EUMETSAT’S intranet innovation doesn’t end there, however. A wiki for new starters and a discussion forum to improve dialogue and internal communication have also been launched.

In this interview, Niklas Sinander, Enterprise Content Manager at EUMETSAT, discusses the motivations for both tools, and they are motivations that will almost certainly strike a chord with most intranet-focused professionals.

S2D: Why did EUMETSAT begin looking at tools such as wikis and discussion forums?

There were separate reasons for each tool, although they’ve evolved similarly.

For the wiki, the idea emerged because we have a high turnover of employees from countries from all over the world.

When they arrive, new employees have a difficult time due to the social differences, how the authorities work and the different language (German). Naturally, in their first few weeks and months, new employees need to concentrate on settling in: they need to buy or rent a house or flat, get a tax identity number, get all the needed insurance, import their car or buy a new one, find schools for their kids, find schools teaching German for themselves, find new friends, and so on.

During this time they’re not very productive for EUMETSAT since, quite naturally, their minds are occupied with all the settling in issues.

To help new employees settle in more quickly, which would be beneficial for both EUMETSAT and the employee, we felt there was a need to provide all the necessary information in one place and ensure it was right up to date.

To this end, we introduced the wiki, with the idea being that all employees, new and old, can add all this information.

[March KM Column by Alex Manchester, read the full article]

At the beginning of my recent round-the-world trip, I went straight from touching down at Heathrow to the British Airways head offices nearby. Ignoring 24+ hours of jetlag, it gave me an opportunity to hand over the trophy for BA’s Gold Intranet Innovation Award in person, as well as recording an interview with Allen Huish.

British Airways’ winning entry was on their Crew Community Forums, established for their 17,000 flight crew. These have been hugely successful, and remarkably effective at improving customer service and resolving day-to-day process issues.

This 8 minute video covers:

• Who are the forums for?
• Why where they established?
• What topics are being discussed?
• What were the challenges?
• What have made them successful?
• Tips for other organisations?

This video talks through the questions and issues that arise for every organisation thinking about collaboration tools, and will be of great interest for senior managers and other stakeholders.

(Obtain a copy of the Intranet Innovations 2008 report for full details on the British Airways entry, including screenshots.)