The Intranet: The Unsung Hero Amongst PR Channels

The intranet is the unsung hero amongst PR channels.

In digit­al PR, where flashy social media plat­forms and soph­ist­ic­ated extern­al com­mu­nic­a­tion tools often steal the spot­light, the humble intranet remains an essen­tial organ­isa­tion­al platform. 

Here we go:

Why the Intranet Matters

The intranet extends far bey­ond a repos­it­ory of doc­u­ments or a cor­por­ate bul­let­in board. It is often essen­tial to foster organ­isa­tion­al learn­ing, enhance social net­work­ing, and facil­it­ate seam­less intern­al communication.

“Intranets as know­ledge man­age­ment tools with­in organ­iz­a­tions can enhance organ­iz­a­tion­al learn­ing by fos­ter­ing social net­work­ing and facil­it­at­ing com­mu­nic­a­tion among employ­ees.”
Source: Encyclopedia of Knowledge Management ¹Boersma, F., & Kingma, S. (2011). Organizational Learning Facilitation with Intranet (2.0): A Socio-Cultural Approach. Encyclopedia of Knowledge Management, … Continue read­ing

A well-struc­tured intranet can stream­line pro­cesses, encour­age col­lab­or­a­tion, and pro­mote a shared sense of pur­pose. It acts as an organ­isa­tion’s cent­ral nervous sys­tem, effi­ciently con­nect­ing vari­ous parts to func­tion cohesively.

The intranet is an indis­pens­able tool in organ­isa­tions’ intern­al digit­al arsen­al. Its poten­tial to facil­it­ate com­mu­nic­a­tion, stream­line pro­cesses, and foster a col­lab­or­at­ive envir­on­ment is immense. As we nav­ig­ate the com­plex­it­ies of the digit­al work­place, let’s not over­look the intranet — the unsung hero that keeps our organ­iz­a­tions con­nec­ted and func­tion­ing effectively.

The Intranet Model

An intranet has three pil­lars and three dimensions.

The 3 Intranet Pillars

The three pil­lars form the back­bone of any effect­ive intranet, cater­ing to an organ­isa­tion’s most fun­da­ment­al needs. Each pil­lar plays a vital role in an intranet’s func­tion­al­ity and effect­ive­ness. When well-executed, they work togeth­er seam­lessly to sup­port the organ­isa­tion’s com­mu­nic­a­tion, col­lab­or­a­tion, and inform­a­tion man­age­ment needs.

When eval­u­at­ing or set­ting up an intranet, it’s cru­cial to focus on these three pillars:

Intranet mes­saging = the intranet’s mes­saging func­tion­al­ity is the core com­mu­nic­a­tion func­tion, encom­passing all forms of digit­al mes­saging, includ­ing emails, instant mes­saging, and chat rooms. It’s the primary tool for day-to-day com­mu­nic­a­tion with­in the organisation.

Intranet meet­ings = the intranet’s meet­ing func­tion­al­ity involves schedul­ing, man­aging, and facil­it­at­ing meet­ings with­in the organ­isa­tion. It includes cal­en­dar man­age­ment, video con­fer­en­cing tools, and resources for vir­tu­al collaboration.

Intranet fil­ing = the intranet’s fil­ing func­tion­al­ity refers to stor­ing, organ­ising, and retriev­ing doc­u­ments and oth­er digit­al assets on the intranet. This includes doc­u­ment man­age­ment sys­tems, digit­al lib­rar­ies, and databases.

The 3 Intranet Dimensions

By effect­ively lever­aging the three dimen­sions of an intranet, an intranet can become a power­ful tool for enhan­cing trans­par­ency, col­lab­or­a­tion, and over­all organ­isa­tion­al effi­ciency. Each dimen­sion com­ple­ments the oth­ers, cre­at­ing a com­pre­hens­ive com­mu­nic­a­tion eco­sys­tem that bene­fits the organisation.

In the con­text of an intranet, com­mu­nic­a­tion typ­ic­ally occurs in three primary dimen­sions: top-down, bot­tom-up, and horizontal. 

Top-down com­mu­nic­a­tion = the top-down dimen­sion refers to the flow of inform­a­tion from high­er levels of the organ­isa­tion’s hier­archy to lower levels. It typ­ic­ally includes offi­cial announce­ments, policy changes, organ­isa­tion­al updates, and stra­tegic directions.

Bottom-up com­mu­nic­a­tion = the bot­tom-up dimen­sion refers to the upward flow of inform­a­tion from lower-level employ­ees to the man­age­ment and lead­er­ship teams. It encom­passes staff feed­back, sug­ges­tions, con­cerns, and insights.

Horizontal com­mu­nic­a­tion = the hori­zont­al dimen­sion refers to com­mu­nic­a­tion among employ­ees at the same level with­in the organ­isa­tion­al hier­archy. It involves exchan­ging inform­a­tion, col­lab­or­at­ing, and shar­ing know­ledge among peers.

Learn more: The Intranet: The Unsung Hero Amongst PR Channels

The 3 Pillars of an Intranet

Pillar 1: Messaging

Intranet mes­saging = the intranet’s mes­saging func­tion­al­ity is the core com­mu­nic­a­tion func­tion, encom­passing all forms of digit­al mes­saging, includ­ing emails, instant mes­saging, and chat rooms. It’s the primary tool for day-to-day com­mu­nic­a­tion with­in the organisation.

The mes­saging func­tion ensures quick, effect­ive, and effi­cient com­mu­nic­a­tion among employ­ees. It allows for imme­di­ate inform­a­tion shar­ing and feed­back, ensur­ing every­one stays con­nec­ted and informed.

Messaging can be imple­men­ted through integ­rated email sys­tems, chat applic­a­tions, and instant mes­saging tools. These plat­forms should sup­port one-on-one con­ver­sa­tions, group dis­cus­sions, and broad­cast mes­sages. Ideally, they should be eas­ily access­ible, secure, and cap­able of hand­ling vari­ous media types (text, images, videos).

Pillar 2: Meetings

Intranet meet­ings = the intranet’s meet­ing func­tion­al­ity involves schedul­ing, man­aging, and facil­it­at­ing meet­ings with­in the organ­isa­tion. It includes cal­en­dar man­age­ment, video con­fer­en­cing tools, and resources for vir­tu­al collaboration.

The meet­ings com­pon­ent is designed to stream­line the pro­cess of organ­ising and con­duct­ing meet­ings, thereby improv­ing col­lab­or­a­tion and decision-mak­ing. It ensures that meet­ings are pro­duct­ive and that rel­ev­ant resources are read­ily accessible.

Effective imple­ment­a­tion includes integ­rated cal­en­dars for schedul­ing, fea­tures for send­ing meet­ing invites and remind­ers, and tools for vir­tu­al meet­ings, such as video con­fer­en­cing. It may also provide access to shared doc­u­ments and col­lab­or­at­ive work­spaces where meet­ing agen­das, minutes, and fol­low-up actions can be stored and accessed.

Pillar 3: Filing

Intranet fil­ing = the intranet’s fil­ing func­tion­al­ity refers to stor­ing, organ­ising, and retriev­ing doc­u­ments and oth­er digit­al assets on the intranet. This includes doc­u­ment man­age­ment sys­tems, digit­al lib­rar­ies, and databases.

The fil­ing sys­tem is essen­tial for man­aging an organ­isa­tion’s vast inform­a­tion. It enables employ­ees to effi­ciently store, loc­ate, and col­lab­or­ate on doc­u­ments, ensur­ing that import­ant inform­a­tion is secure yet access­ible when needed.

A well-organ­ised fil­ing sys­tem on an intranet includes fea­tures for doc­u­ment upload and down­load, ver­sion con­trol, access per­mis­sions, and search func­tion­al­ity. It should sup­port vari­ous file formats and provide a logic­al, user-friendly struc­ture for organ­ising doc­u­ments into folders and categories.

The 3 Dimensions of an Intranet

Dimension 1: Top-Down Communication

Top-down com­mu­nic­a­tion = the top-down dimen­sion refers to the flow of inform­a­tion from high­er levels of the organ­isa­tion’s hier­archy to lower levels. It typ­ic­ally includes offi­cial announce­ments, policy changes, organ­isa­tion­al updates, and stra­tegic directions.

The main aim is to inform all employ­ees about the com­pany’s goals, achieve­ments, and changes. It ensures that every­one is aligned with the organ­isa­tion’s vis­ion and objectives.

On an intranet, top-down com­mu­nic­a­tion is facil­it­ated through offi­cial news chan­nels, broad­cast emails, lead­er­ship blogs, and ded­ic­ated sec­tions for cor­por­ate announce­ments. This con­tent must be eas­ily access­ible and prom­in­ently displayed.

Dimension 2: Bottom-Up Communication

Bottom-up com­mu­nic­a­tion = the bot­tom-up dimen­sion refers to the upward flow of inform­a­tion from lower-level employ­ees to the man­age­ment and lead­er­ship teams. It encom­passes staff feed­back, sug­ges­tions, con­cerns, and insights.

Bottom-up com­mu­nic­a­tion is cru­cial for fos­ter­ing a sense of inclu­sion and empower­ment among employ­ees. It allows the man­age­ment to gath­er ground-level insights and address issues that may not be vis­ible at the top.

Tools such as sur­veys, feed­back forms, and for­ums on the intranet enable bot­tom-up com­mu­nic­a­tion. Encouraging employ­ees to share their ideas and feed­back through these chan­nels can lead to a more engaged and pro­duct­ive workforce.

Dimension 3: Horizontal Communication

Horizontal com­mu­nic­a­tion = the hori­zont­al dimen­sion refers to com­mu­nic­a­tion among employ­ees at the same level with­in the organ­isa­tion­al hier­archy. It involves exchan­ging inform­a­tion, col­lab­or­at­ing, and shar­ing know­ledge among peers.

Horizontal com­mu­nic­a­tion is crit­ic­al to break­ing down silos, fos­ter­ing team­work, and encour­aging cross-depart­ment­al col­lab­or­a­tion. It facil­it­ates know­ledge-shar­ing and prob­lem-solv­ing among employ­ees who may not inter­act fre­quently in their reg­u­lar work routines.

The intranet can sup­port hori­zont­al com­mu­nic­a­tion through social net­work­ing fea­tures, team col­lab­or­a­tion spaces, shared doc­u­ment lib­rar­ies, and intern­al chat sys­tems. These tools help cre­ate a more con­nec­ted and col­lab­or­at­ive work environment.

Intranet Best Practices

Here are 10 best prac­tice tips on how to max­im­ise the effect­ive­ness of your intranet for cor­por­ate com­mu­nic­a­tions in gen­er­al and intern­al com­mu­nic­a­tions in particular:

Implementing these best prac­tices can sig­ni­fic­antly enhance the intranet’s role in intern­al com­mu­nic­a­tions, turn­ing it into a dynam­ic, enga­ging, and indis­pens­able resource with­in your organization.

Complexity and the Law of Diminishing Returns

While it’s tempt­ing to keep adding fea­tures to an intranet, it’s cru­cial to be wary of the law of dimin­ish­ing returns. The bene­fits of a more com­plex sys­tem must be weighed against the addi­tion­al costs and poten­tial for decreased user-friend­li­ness. The syn­ergy prom­ised by integ­rat­ing vari­ous com­pon­ents into a single sys­tem is often exag­ger­ated com­pared to the addi­tion­al cost and complexity.