The intranet is not a communications tool; nor a technology. And it’s certainly not just a website. The intranet is a business system to support the entire company. It touches and represents all facets of the business, and if executed properly, improves all aspects of the business.
A successful intranet improves:
* employee communications
* business processes
* time-to-market
* sales and revenue
* operations
* human resources
* financial administration
* information retrieval
* employee self-service
More and more often the intranet is being owned by or driven by communications. However, to properly steer the intranet, one must ditch the communicators hat and don a management cap.
The leader(s) of the intranet requires a multiplicity of talents:
* build and secure internal consensus
* sell and market the benefits of the intranet to senior management
* evangelize the use and involvement to employees
* advocate and secure funding
* understand and deploy technology platforms and applications
* track and measure costs and benefits
* manage and train managers
* write and edit for the web
A such, the internal communications role is evolving, if not dying.
“Internal communication people need to stop thinking about ourselves as internal communicators. Because we’re simply not anymore. And we shouldn’t be,” says Keven Keohane, Head of Engagement Consulting for global brand agency.
“It’s no longer about crafting the right messages, ensuring they are delivered using the right channels at the right time, and getting feedback and “engagement,” writes Keohane Enterprise IG in The end of internal communications (www.simply-communicate.com).
“Internal communicators need to start thinking of themselves as business process support (and in some cases, design) experts and part of the team that directly enables the organisation and its stakeholders to deliver the best possible customer experience.”
http://intranetblog.blogware.com/blog/_archives/2007/1/10/2639118.html
