There are two main approaches to redeveloping an intranet: a big bang and evolution.

Determining what an intranet is actually for involves gaining an in-depth understanding of staff (and organisational) needs and issues.

Efforts should be targeted at improving the quality of key information, while applying lower standards to the majority of intranet content.

It is widely recognised that an intranet must be trusted, if it is to be regularly used by staff across an organisation.

All too often, centralised intranet teams find themselves battling with decentralised authors to enforce consistency and quality standards.

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.

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.

Paired interviews are a very effective technique for identifying differences in working practices or terminology.

Any intranets structured around the organisational chart are difficult to use. Before attempting a restructure, consider why this structure has been used.

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.