Top 3 post intranet launch activities

The end is only just the beginning

Although launch date becomes an understandable focus, post launch there will still be a considerable amount of time and effort required to keep your investment firing on all cylinders. The end, as they say, is only just the beginning… so here are our top 3 tips to keep reaping the benefits from your intranet:

#1. Get talking about your intranet

It might have been the sole focus for the last few weeks, but how will everyone else know that the intranet is up and running? You need to make sure that your employees are using the technology so you’ll need to get communicating and have easy, accessible and 'jargon-free' conversations about why employees need to get involved.

Ideally, you will have already done your homework and identified what people said they needed and wanted from the best intranet software. Now’s your time to show them that you’ve listened; try offering short, informal training sessions that focus on the functionality, i.e. what it can help them to achieve, rather than the technology itself. In other words, create the desire for people to want to use it first, then you can show them how.

It goes without saying that people will only use technology if it seems intuitive and easy to use. Some companies we work with have used specific launch events to create a buzz and get people engaged: for example, hiring a professional photographer to take profile pictures for the intranet. Others have used gamification ideas, such as a digital treasure hunt to find clues hidden across the intranet.

Choose something you feel will work for your specific audience and don’t expect immediate take-up! These things take time, so don’t just offer one session and move on. Plan in as much time as it needs.

#2. Encourage feedback… and listen to it

There’s feedback… and then there’s feedback. How your staff use the intranet tells you what they like to use and what they don’t, and this all holds vital information and feedback for your business. When asking users about the new intranet ask open questions that encourage a deeper level of communication. Rating things on a scale of 1 to 5 might make for nice stats, but they don't tell the story behind the numbers.

While it’s useful to know how many new users are logging in to the intranet, or how long they’re spending on each page, this type of feedback is only valuable if you look at, and then take action on the results. Take Unily intranet solutions for example,.Unily comes with sophisticated user analytics built in, but you need to examine it and garner insights from the data that is there. In other words, you need to know how to take the information you have forward, in order to continuously evolve your digital presence right from day one.

It’s a continuous journey of feedback, analysis and action. Only then can you truly be confident of the value you’re providing. This is why as part of the Unily cloud intranet solution, the inclusive consultancy time works through the review of usage data and identifies where improvements can deliver results and improve user adoption.

#3. Show your appreciation

Every SharePoint intranet solution – even the most basic – requires people to do something different. Staff might look for information in a new way or they might be encouraged to make new contacts across the business to start new ways of working collaboratively. Whatever it is, they will have been asked to take new actions. Human beings tend to like acknowledgement and appreciation so an important post launch priority is to make sure people know their efforts – and the outcomes - have been noticed. Otherwise, what was the point of all the hard work and investment in the first place?

It’s good to make people aware of what is being achieved across the business – success stories and feedback are a great way to communicate this. Use the intranet to highlight where specific teams have really made a difference, such as finishing a project bang on schedule, or the roll-out of a successful international product launch; especially where you can highlight how the intranet played a pivotal part. It’s important you specify not only what was achieved but also what it means to the business. For example, better project collaboration resulted in 20% less emails for people to manage. This is a great way to showcase the benefits for employees and engage them in long term use of the digital tools available to them.

Invest in your enterprise

So, if you’re reading this post launch, ask yourself whether you’ve planned for the journey ahead and if you are ready for the future growth and potential your SharePoint intranet investment has to offer. Remember, we’re here to help so contact us and let's start talking about how your future intranet can achieve even greater success.