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Intranets are intrinsic networks that are primarily intended for use by employees of a company. A well-designed intranet can provide numerous advantages, such as improved collaboration, communication and knowledge sharing. Learn more about the key features that an intranet should have in order to properly serve your organisation.
7 Features Your Intranet Must Have
1. People/Culture Focused
Intranets, as a central repository, have evolved into the cultural communication hub for transmitting corporate culture. Putting company culture and people at the centre of an intranet can boost adoption rates.
Here are some features to think about for your intranet:
- Users are sent push notifications regarding essential and timely updates, announcements and news.
- Highlighting employee engagement and incorporating a theme to reflect the organisation.
- Channel for updating rewards, work anniversaries, recognitions and birthday greetings.
- Methods for connecting people and getting to know your team.
2. Simple Navigation And Search
The ability to store all of an organisation’s critical information in one location is a significant component of an intranet. Intranet browsers should be robust and capable of indexing all intranet content. Employees ought to be able to locate the data they require quickly and easily without getting lost in a web of links. And, increasingly, businesses should seek to make full use of metadata in search.
3. Updating And Maintenance
Your intranet will inevitably require regular updating and upkeep to make sure that the information offered is both accurate and relevant, and incorporating a picture or modifying content shouldn’t be a complicated or time-consuming process. Amazingly, many intranet systems necessitate the assistance of technically skilled individuals to complete these tasks.
4. Engaging Mobile Experience
Today’s mobile-driven culture has simplified and facilitated intranet access for employees. Responsive mobile app design allows for efficient intranet access on phones and other handheld devices, resulting in a consistently excellent UX (user experience).
Employees can access the mobile intranet from just about anywhere, resulting in more timely action. It provides employees with a more convenient way to access data and communicate effectively.
5. Cloud Assistance
Modern intranets are built with worker mobility in mind. Many employees want job flexibility, and the great majority need a secure server wherever they go. A cloud-based intranet allows employees to work from home or from any location and access essential tools and widgets, whether at the office or on the move.
6. AI and Bots
The intranet revolves around finding the content that people require to complete tasks quickly and efficiently. Searching through ever-expanding information libraries for accurate and relevant information appears to be a difficult task for any employee.
Incorporating chatbots into your intranet can help extract relevant information by leveraging the power of a communicative user interface. Chatbots retrieve information from the intranet and display it directly on the corporate messaging app of choice.
A chatbot’s communicative UI enables staff to access information from the same messaging channel.
The chatbot can respond to user queries by scanning the entire Intranet, Knowledge Base, ERP, CRM, etc. They aid in increasing employee engagement by increasing intranet usage and thus growing adoption rates.
7. Customisation and Branding
Your brand, which reflects your company’s core values, has an impact on both customers and employees. According to studies, employees value branding much more than customers. Your business’s activities and resources must be consistent to succeed with employee branding. Some advantages of a good intranet include the ability to share and express your brand via colours, logos, customisation and personalisation. Customers should be able to personalise it to their liking.
Conclusion
The most vital intranet features listed above serve a variety of organisations in a variety of industries. However, they all aim to create the best intranet solutions by industry requirements that aid operations, enhance business and employee performance, and promote company culture.
Some businesses may require intranet features to integrate with a knowledge management system. Others might prefer to use more social intranet elements that unify communication. The end goal, however, ought to be features that engage employees while making their jobs easier.
Ultimately, intranets must assist people and make their work easier — all features should point to that function.
