Intranet Governance: How to Run an Intranet

Intranet Governance:
How to Run an Intranet

Toby Ward, Prescient Digital Media
Strictly Confidential © 2009 Prescient Digital Media Not For Distribution

Toby Ward
CEO, Chief Blogger, Prescient Digital Media
We build highly effective websites & intranets
Clients include:


33+

Agenda

Defining governance & ownership
The four models of governance
Sample models
Case study example
Standards & policies
Recommendations
Free Consulting / Open Q&A


Think about…
Do you have real intranet authority? Do the owners?
Do groups / units / divisions do what they want or threaten
to?


Governance
Defines the ownership and management model.
Management team
Roles & responsibilities
Decision making process
Policies & standards


Typical website & intranet
No senior champion
Middle managers in communications and IT
Limited budget and power
No plan or vision
Silos & sprawl lead to user frustration & waste
Conflict ensues
Stalls – often for years


C-level Power
The most successful intranets have c-level champions
The greatest barrier to success is politics


Cisco Employee Connection 2004


The champion
C-level executive
The champion should have power and influence
Understand the value of the website & the potential
Needs to be involved, but not on a day-to-day
Only attend an occasional meeting


Walk the walk
Change their mindset – talk their talk
Sell it: show ‘em the money


Talk the talk
What does your organization value?
Success is more than dollars
Customer/employee satisfaction
User productivity
Awareness / Message retention
ROI is more than just hard cost savings
Productivity benefits
Time to market


Nexus of Web Success


Governance planning process
Input questions into the strategy survey
Create model based on best client fit
Tailor as necessary with client before workshop
Workshop is 2 – 3 hours
Introduce the concept
Show examples
Show the recommended structure


The whole business

The website is not just a tool – it’s the whole business
Silos kill – no group can operate in isolation
Employees demand consistency
Consistent message
Consistent navigation
Consistent interface


Governance Models

Decentralized (most common in larger orgs.)
No single owner
Driven by policies and guidelines
Organic growth, sometime leading to site sprawl
Centralized (more common in small orgs.)
Single owner (usually department)
Bureaucratic
Highly controlled


Governance Models

Collaborative / Federated
Executive champion
Steering Committee / Council
Decentralized content ownership; centralized platform
Centralized Hybrid
Single owner (usually department)
Bureaucratic
Highly controlled


Healthcare – Collaborative Governance

CEO

Communications Hospital
Committee TBD
Internet Council
Development (Internal & External Participation)
Committee
• Planned Giving Hospital
• Annual Fundraising
Communications
Finance • Major Giving
• Operations

Editor-in-Chief Technical
(Director of Communications)

Editorial Committee
(Content Owners)

• Depts • Depts

Content Authors


Financial Services – Centralized Hybrid
Senior Executive Sponsors
CIO
SVP Human Resources
Portal Lead

AVP, HR

Portal Steering Team
Development & Support Team(s)
AVP HR VP Communications
HR Coordinator Director E-Business
Outside Consultant HR Communications
Information Technology US Communications Dir. of e-Business
e-
US Human Resources
Content Group
Operations, Development,
Senior Editorial Team IT Support Team

Editor

Cross Company Content/Author Group


Collaborative Governance Model
Co-Champions

CIO & VP

Advisory Group Intranet Council

Corporate Editor-In-Chief Human Resources
Communications

Editorial Committee


Financial Svcs – Centralized Hybrid


Case Study: Collaborative


PNC Bank Intranet – Collaborative Model


Case Study: Centralized Hybrid


Centralized Hybrid
Senior Leadership Champion

IS&T Support Intranet Owner Steering Committee

Intranet Advisory
Editor in Chief
Council

Content Area Owners

Corporate Government Supply Finance
Services Services Management HR IS&T

Healthcare Key Diversity
Education
Market Services/ Geographies Law
Laundry
Marketing
Content Contributors


Sample structure – Centralized Hybrid
Champion: Chief Operating Officer
Owner: SVP, Internal Communications
Steering Committee: Representation from:
IS&T, HR, Internal Communications, Europe, USA, UK
Steering Committee members must be representative of the
global organization
Editor-in-Chief: Internal Communications
A “people-centered” approach to design & Info Arch
Similar structures set up for each geography


Day-to-day Management
Home page, corporate content and news owned by Editor-In-
Chief
Training of the content owners done by IS&T
Content owners adhere to standardization policy and ensure
their content is:
Up to date
Written in web format
Appropriate for their target audience
Evolving to meet the growth and needs of the organization


Champion(s)
Champion will participate in:
Supporting owner and committee
Representing intranet to senior executive
Source of funding
Trouble-shooting and conflict resolution


Owner
The Owner will:
Maintain the intranet vision & mandate
Manage policy development
Approve project prioritization
Monitor performance against objectives
Allocate resources and budgets
Ensure that the objectives of the intranet remain in line with
business requirements
Ensure that agreed policies and good practice guidance are met


Editor In Chief
Communications individual, to manage day-to-day operations,
content process and policies
Responsible for home page & core content
Participates on intranet Steering Committee
Enforcing Editorial Policy, Standardization Policy, Taxonomy
Serves as final review and approval on all new sections or sites
Leads Intranet Advisory Group, drawing from all content
contributors and chaired by Editor


Intranet Steering Committee
Chaired by Intranet Owner or Champion include divisional
communicator’s and President’s Committee reps
Management participants from across the business
Bring insight from the global organization
Discusses policy, evolution of site and drives future enhancements
Provides input, reviews and signs off on:
Intranet plans (e.g. Blueprint, Training Plan, etc.)
Policies (e.g. Intranet Standardization Policy)
Troubleshooting


Owners, Authors, Contributors

Site owners, authors must be documented, trained and versed in
the respective policies
Key owners and authors could participate in the Advisory Group
All site owners and authors to “sign-off” on editorial policy
Recommended: all site owners and authors take a “Writing for the
Web” course
Editor in Chief has final review on all new sites or site sections

Site owner – owner or manager of site or section
Author – writes the content on a site or section
Contributor – provides the idea or suggestion for content


Intranet Advisory Council
Intranet Advisory Council (IAC), using volunteers from focus
groups, to meet quarterly and offer advice and opinions on
direction and evolution, led by Editor in Chief
Employee representation to be a cross-representation of
employees (not stakeholders), and possibly an outside expert
Representation from Divisions and Corporate
Meetings to be conducted quarterly, with a focus on:
developing and driving content
navigation/usability testing


IS&T Support Team
Install, support and maintain new CMS / portal / platform &
infrastructure including analytics reporting
Work with vendors to provide support with respect to
hardware/software requirements
Report to Owner and Intranet Steering Committee any limitations or
enhancements available to the new intranet
Make recommendations and provide immediate feedback to future
intranet enhancements
Implement and maintain applications


Policies & Standards


Standards & Policies
• Explicitly defined and documented standards & polices are a
CRITICAL NECESSITY to...
o create a uniform user experience
o protect and secure information and intellectual property
o contain sprawl and reduce associated costs
o ensure accuracy and consistency of content


Policies
Editorial policy defining:
Content types: front-page news vs. static content
How content is developed, formatted, presented
Limitations on technical and graphic elements
Roles and responsibilities of publishers, editor etc.
Standardization Policy
Compliance details for platform, templates and style guide
Email Usage Guidelines & Policy


Taxonomy
Editor-in-Chief to implement a complete corporate taxonomy
guided by business and function need for:
storing, cataloguing and ‘tagging’ content

A taxonomy ‘rule book’ in tandem with a new Content Management
System will ensure effective meta tagging and content
categorization by all publishers


Standards


Policies


Government of Western Australia


Consensus is key
Make sure supporters & dissidents have a voice & know the model


Your homework
Create “About this site”
The owner

Roles & responsibilities

Standards

5252+

Reading
IntranetBlog.com
Intranet 2.0: Social Media Becomes Mainstream
www.PrescientDigital.com

Consulting Help
Governance Workshop


www.Prescie
ntDigital.com


56

Toby Ward, President, Prescient Digital Media

toby@prescientdigital.com
www. IntranetBlog.com
www.Twitter.com/TobyWard
www.Twitter.com/Intranet2
www.Facebook.com (search “Intranet Global Forum”)
416.986.2226

Intranet Governance: How to Run an Intranet

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