While a number of enhancement have been outlined for online news sections, the usage of intranet news is tightly tied to the usage of the intranet as a whole. If staff are not visiting the intranet, then the publication of news has little value as a communications channel.
Many intranets, however, do not contain sufficiently compelling or useful information for the site to the used daily by staff. Corporate policies and procedures and HR information, while 'important', are not needed regularly by staff.
This highlights the broader challenge facing intranet teams: more closely aligning the intranet with the operational aspects of the business, and the daily activities of staff.
Repositioning the intranet as a 'business tool' rather than a publishing platform will do much to increase the usage (and value) of the site.
In practice, the communications aspects of the intranet must be managed in a coordinated way with the broader operation of the site. Only then will the organisation be provided with an effective channel for disseminating news.
Into the future
This article has explored only the core issues of 'basic' news facilities on the intranet. While these will be sufficient in the short-term, and for smaller organisations, more extensive news facilities will be needed into the future.
This may include creating multiple news channels, with the ability for staff to 'sign up' to news that is of interest to them.
News would also benefit from being 'personalised' or 'tailored' to individual roles and business areas in the organisation. This would do much to increase the direct relevance of news, while reducing the volume received by any one individual.
In the longer term, technologies such as RSS may entirely eliminate the conventional news channel on the intranet. With every staff member having a news aggregator, news can be published (and consumed) much more widely.
In the short term, intranet teams would do well to provide RSS feeds for intranet news, to support early adopters in the organisation and to start to demonstrate the longer-term benefits.
Without a doubt, intranet news is an area that requires much more innovation if it is to meet the expectations and goals set for it. Intranet teams are therefore encouraged to try out different approaches, and to devote greater time to designing and implementing intranet news.
Conclusion
The intranet can provide an important news channel for organisations, but solutions must be carefully designed and managed.
Beyond basic design factors for the home page news area, consideration must be given to the volume and scope of news. Steps must also be taken to ensure that news reaches all staff, regardless of whether they have access to a computer.
At the end of the day, however, the intranet is most effective as a news channel when it is used daily by staff. The focus must therefore be on making the intranet useful first, with the use as a communications channel being and added (and secondary) benefit.http://www.steptwo.com.au/papers/kmc_intranetnews/index.html
