Filed under: Content management, Intranets
The goal of many intranets is to deliver high quality, up-to-date, accurate and useful information to staff. In practice, however, this can be challenging to achieve. Much is expected of intranet authors, and they are vital to delivering an intranet that is useful (and used). Yet, in many cases, intranet authoring is treated as a hobby within organisations.
This briefing looks at the role of intranet authors, and challenges organisations to either take intranet authoring seriously, or to let go of unrealistic expectations regarding content quality and timeliness.
Is intranet authoring a hobby?
There are a number of clear signs that intranet authoring is treated as a hobby by organisations:
- intranet authors are not selected based on a required skill set, instead they are ‘volunteered’ by their managers
- intranet authoring is often done by junior staff within a business area, such as administrative staff
- staff are not provided with extra time to author intranet content, but are expected to do it on top of their existing responsibilities
- intranet authoring doesn’t appear in formal job roles
- new intranet authors are provided little (if any) training
- ongoing support for intranet authors is minimal or non-existent
[CM Briefing 2006-03, read the full article]