Recently I spoke at Intranatverk about some key governance principles that are common to successful intranets. Book cover - Digital success or digital disastersI took this subject from my book 'Digital success or digital disaster?' which a practical, experience-based approach to growing and managing a successful intranet. The purpose of a governance framework is to ensure that you balance business needs with the user experience. An effective governance framework is essential for a well-managed intranet. It can be the deciding factor between a good user experience, greatly valued, and a poor user experience with little benefit. Every intranet is different depending on the size, type, and culture of the organisation it supports. However, there are some key governance principles that are common to their success. Know your organisation Define the scope Put people first Use all resources Compare and benchmark Do what you say you will do Keep it legal These principles for good governance are not like a menu that you choose which items to have and leave others alone. You need to follow all of these to build a strong foundation to improve your intranet and implement your strategy. Think about how you build a house with the foundations, walls, floors, windows, doors and finally the roof. It would not make sense for you to have windows, doors, and a roof only. The same applies to your governance framework.

1. 7 principles for
good intranet
governance
Mark Morrell
Intranet Pioneer
and author of…

2. • A governance framework ensures you balance business needs with
the user experience.
• Effective governance framework essential for well-managed intranet.
• Can be deciding factor between:
• good user experience, greatly valued, and
• poor user experience with little benefit
• Every intranet is different depending on size, type, and culture of the
organisation it supports.
• BUT……some key governance principles are common to success.

3. 7 principles for good intranet
governance
1. Know your organisation
2. Define the scope
3. Put people first
4. Use all resources
5. Compare and benchmark
6. Do what you say you will do
7. Keep it legal

4. 1. Know your organisation

5. Stable
Has your CEO been there for last
five years?
How often does your
organisation reorganise?
Is business growing steadily or
exponentially?

6. Complex
Is it difficult to outline the
structure and titles of the
key business areas and
functions?
How do they interact with
each other?

7. Ambitious
Is your organisation extending
into new geographies or
markets?
How many takeovers or
mergers has your
organisation been involved
in the last 12 months?

8. Regulated
• Do you need to separate some
of your intranet from other
areas because there is a risk of
a conflict of interest?
• Can only certain people with
the right authority access this
information?

9. 2. Define the scope

10. • Have one governance framework.
• Set out clearly what is included and what is not.
• If it is everything, give examples to avoid ambiguity.
• Avoid competing governance frameworks that:
• conflict with your scope and aims
• cause confusion with people using different parts of
your intranet.

11. 3. Put people first

12. Be confident when you use
your intranet
• Never forget your aim with
governance.
• Make people feel confident
with integrity of information
and tools every time.
• People know they can always
rely on it helping, not
hindering, them.

13. Your first priority is to…
People who use your intranet to:
• view information
• share ideas and opinions
• use applications
• find answers to problems
People are customers and, as we all know, the customer comes first!

14. Your next priority is to…
Develop the right level and type of governance. It must:
• Be easy to implement
• Be clear how it is managed
• Publishers accept the customer comes first
So your intranet helps people who use it with their work.
If they do not use it then you have wasted your time, resources, and
effort for little or no reward.
Be pragmatic with your approach. It need not be perfect but it must be
good enough to give people confidence whenever they use the intranet.

15. 4. Use all resources

16. Resources available
Employees under your direct control
Employees in business areas and
functions with intranet roles you are
responsible for
Employees available to support
projects
External contractors to help with
projects if funding is available
IT resources to select, deploy
technology for testing and
implementing
Other resources for projects that you
may not control them, but could need

17. 5. Compare and benchmark

18. What are you looking for?
What do you want to compare? Is it a
new function or the whole intranet?
Why do you need to compare? Is it a
priority for your organisation?
When do you need to compare? Is it
immediate or do you have time to
plan for this?
How do you want to compare? Is it an
informal assessment through
networking?

19. 6. Do what you say you will do

20. Your reputation, relationships
and credibility
This applies to anything you do but
it is important for your governance
work.
People working with you are more
important than the technology you
are managing.
Your credibility and your intranet’s
depends on relationships with key
stakeholders who approve strategy.
Publishers will comply with
governance framework and help
people using the intranet.

21. 7. Keep it legal

22. Areas to consider
• Accessibility
• Information retention
• Legal and regulatory
frameworks
• Confidentiality
• Freedom of information
• Data protection
• Copyright

23. I have found the best intranets help people
to be more productive and effective. A
consistently good overall experience,
supported by great governance, helps
achieve these benefits.

24. Thank you
Blog: intranet-pioneer.com
Twitter: @markmorrell
Email: mark@intranet-pioneer.com
Book: http://j.mp/MMDigitalSuccess