Excite Communications

The prime objective of most intranets is to act as a source of information – the place to find documents, policies and forms. For too many intranets, however, this functional role becomes a modern Frankenstein’s monster. The intranet becomes the place where documents are dumped and forgotten, where policies go out of date and where logical navigation and accessibility become things of the past – it becomes impenetrable and out of control.

This is where careful information architecture, clear design and thorough content management become crucial. By building an intuitive site structure, you can ensure quick and easy access to information. By designing visually stimulating pages, you can draw attention to key messages. By using a content management system, you can evolve the site – making it fresh, dynamic and up to date.

The best intranets, however, now go far beyond being just a source of information. They enable staff to work in flexible, new ways – increasing individual efficiency and enhancing collaboration.

Collaborative workspaces allow teams to work with each other remotely in a secure, closed environment. Staff can share information, creating and maintaining version-controlled documents. They can ask questions, exchange ideas and discuss issues on a Messenger-type application. They can even conduct conference calls via the web. These types of functions stimulate interaction and inclusiveness, boosting morale and increasing efficiency. They provide a sense of community to staff who work from home, or remote locations, or who travel as a regular part of their job. And they enable organisations with multiple offices – in the same country or around the world – to work as a single, united entity.

Intranets can also perform an invaluable internal communications role. They have the ability to reach across an entire organisation and to provide timely and engaging news. The emergence of rich media and the digital capture of audio and video have revolutionised how people view content online – and have opened up new possibilities for intranets.

To make the most of these opportunities requires a content management system that is flexible, intuitive and able to deliver messages in a variety of ways. Communicating quickly, openly and engagingly keeps staff informed, and fosters a sense of positive involvement. This can be enhanced through the use of online feedback mechanisms, allowing staff to contribute ideas and providing a vehicle for two-way communication.

For large organisations, or those with more than one office, modern intranets can also perform the role of an internal social network. However, this does not mean simply creating a Facebook-style community offering light relief and an opportunity to relax.

Internal social networks can encourage the sharing of ideas between people who don’t normally work with each other, as well as enhancing the way teams work – especially if they work across a variety of locations.

At Excite, we boast a wealth of experience of creating intranets that improve the ways people work and that deliver real value.

For Cinven, we helped connect the offices of a leading international buyout firm in London, Paris, Milan, Frankfurt and Hong Kong.

For Enham, we provided an accessible knowledge source and engaging community for a large charity with a number of sites in the south of England.

For Addleshaw Goddard, we smoothed the merger of two large law firms and helped create a new sense of internal community.

For Investcorp, we enhanced the collaboration of a private equity company with offices in New York, London and Bahrain.