Intranet teams need to be clear on where they are heading, and what they will deliver. Typically, this involves writing either a bullet-point list of goals or a 20-page intranet strategy.
In practice, the list of goals is too short (and too abstract), while the intranet strategy documents are often wordy but unclear. Neither form works well.

What is needed is a single sheet of paper that captures where the intranet is at, where it is going, and what this means in the short-term in terms of actual deliverables. This is the basis for the “intranet concept”, a succinct yet effective description of the intranet direction, written in a narrative format.

This article talks through how to create an intranet concept, and provides examples of two different formats that have been used.

A lack of clear direction

All too often, intranets have little clear direction, with day-to-day maintenance overcoming any attempts to define a clear roadmap for the future. This leads to communications with the business (and executive sponsors) focusing on the how (the behind-the- scenes work) rather than the what (business benefits being delivered).

This is one the contributing factors for the lack of resourcing and support that many intranets receive. It also makes it hard to build enthusiasm with the business when there is no clear future plans (and therefore benefits) for the site.

[September KM Column, read the full article]