The Intranet: How well does it support employees?
Having evolved into key tools generally taken for granted, intranets could be regarded as indicators of the priority and attention given to IKM. Here are some typical comments heard when employees talk about the corporate "information shop", reflecting the organization's overall approach:
8a. The diligence and quality devoted to the public website is reflected in the intranet - it is a welll designed tool that saves me lots of effort and time. My colleagues and I are motivated to supply suggestions and content to the intranet team.
8b. I was amazed once I finally discovered what was hidden in the intranet underneath some of the menu options - I wonder if others had the same experience of being confused by what was on the screen. Now I have bookmarked the good parts so I can get to them easily.
8c. With rapid growth in the company, the intranet hasn't quite kept pace - it seems the unit responsible for it is preoccupied with other priorities. Frequently, I don't find what I need and end up asking colleagues for help.
8d. I don't use the intranet much - it's focused on administrative functions.
And here are some typical comments made by information professionals, again reflecting various approaches to IKM:
8e. Our active role in the ongoing development and enhancement of the intranet ensures that what we learn from employees about how they experience the intranet is translated into improvements.
8f. One of our high-value activities is populating the daily news portion of the intranet with key developments employees need to know about - in logical clusters so individuals can zero in on items relevant for them.
8g. Even though our licensed content is featured on the intranet, we are finding that orientation and "guided tours" are critical in helping employees become aware of the nature of the content. We do a lot of outreach and offer personal support to ensure the organization gets value out of its investment in content.
8h. IT policy precludes a button for the information centre on the top page of the intranet - it's not uncommon to hear an employee say he or she never knew the information centre piece existed.
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