Designing and Managing an Intranet

Let’s throw some terms and issues on the paper to understand where the Intranet best fits into the organisation:

An Intranet is a technology that enables a team within an organisation to deliver services (communications, information, reports, etc) to stakeholders in an organisation. In Australia, there is a guide by AGIMO (Australian Government Information Management Office) that is titled “Designing and Managing an Intranet”. This document would assist in providing some information prior to deploying an Intranet Site. Let’s have a quick overview of what’s it about.

“Designing and Managing an Intranet”

Distinguish between Websites and Intranets

• Business Goals
• Audience
• Users familiarity with the site
• User Browsers and Platforms
• Site size content and structure
• Appearance of site
• Frequency of updates and authoring models
• Metadata
• Integration with other systems
• Legal liability
• Consider the potential of the Intranet to enhance the operation of the organisation

Policies and Procedure

• Check out other organisations to see what they’ve done
• Identify Staff and Business Needs
• Determine Intranet Goals
• Establish a team(personnel)  to manage it
• Have a organisation sponsor
• Consider the appropriate governance model

Design and Content

• Determine Authoring Model
• Apply user-centred design techniques
• Schedule regular evaluation of the Intranet Site
• Incorporate “Killer Applications” and make the Intranet a place for “doing things”
• Ensure High-Quality Content
• Consider the most appropriate structure for the Intranet
• Establish Content Review processes
• Ensure that the Intranet meets accessibility standards
• Consider Recordkeeping issues
• Consider implementing a content management system

Communications and change management

• Build Trust in the Intranet Site
• Market the Intranet Site

If you want to check out this resource, go to http://www.finance.gov.au/e-government/better-practice-and-collaboration/better-practice-checklists/intranet.html