Intranet Digest

Confused by CoPilot

Ellen van Aken — Wed, 17 Apr 2024 16:59:00 +0200

A former colleague asked if they could use SharePoint for their corporate internet site, as their SharePoint intranet site had lots of success in the organisation. As far as I know that option has been discontinued in 2015, see my earlier post, but I thought I’d ask Copilot in Bing, just to be sure that the answer is “no” and not make a fool of myself, and perhaps receive a few arguments why not. And experimenting a bit with CoPilot is useful, too!

The below text, until “Conclusion 1”, is what I received. May I say this was a bit of a surprise?

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<h1>SharePoint: the good old intERnet days</h1>
<p>Ellen van Aken — Wed, 10 Apr 2024 17:14:00 +0200</p>
<div class=

Did you know that SharePoint used to have internet sites? If you have been there from the start, or from about 2008 or so, you will know that, but if you started after 2015 you may not realize. So, as part of SharePoint’s 23rd birthday celebration, let’s talk about SharePoint and intERnet. And I am not talking about sharing sites and documents with your customers, suppliers or other business partners, but about real websites.

Brand and product sites

I do not know the exact dates anymore, but around 2009 we had a large project at the organization I worked for at that time. We had a successful intranet based on SharePoint (see My very first SharePoint intranet), and at that time you could use SharePoint also for internet sites.
Management decided that we were going to move all our brand and product websites to SharePoint. We wanted to make the best use of our investment in Microsoft tools, have more control over the hosting and maintenance, and save money.
We had a long-term partnership with a good, but very expensive web and brand design agency. They would still be responsible for the design and branding and action mechanisms.
Everyone in Marketing and Sales was very upset as at that time it was fashionable to hate SharePoint. They were very afraid that “it would look like SharePoint” and that was the worst critique you could give a website. (Some people still have that attitude, but I guess they have not seen SharePoint for years </article>
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<h1>SharePoint, the good old intranet days</h1>
<p>Ellen van Aken — Wed, 03 Apr 2024 16:38:00 +0200</p>
<div class=

As SharePoint celebrated its 23 year birthday last week, as mentioned by Veronique Palmer and many others, I thought it might be nice to share my personal history with SharePoint.

The beginning: SharePoint 2001

The first version of SharePoint that I worked with, SharePoint 2001, was a document management solution. It was comparable to the current document library, but with very limited functionality and a different design. There were folders and subfolders, you could subscribe, you could set permissions per (sub)folder and that was it.

The picture below has been taken from this post.

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<h1>Technology at work: the great misunderstanding between businesses and employees</h1>
<p>Bertrand DUPERRIN — Wed, 28 Feb 2024 17:00:00 +0100</p>
<a href= — *A document library from SP2001. Jussi Roine was also already active at that time!*
It would appear that **employees are losing interest in their company’s IT tools**. At the same time, businesses that continue to invest in this area are surprised by the low level of employee adoption and satisfaction.

While researching the subject, I came across a very interesting report by PWC entitled “Our Statuts Of Tech At Work: It’s complicated“.

What does it tell us?

Users don’t feel taken into account

The first thing that strikes me is that, while **businesses say they make their technology choices with their users in mind**, the feeling among users is that this isn’t the case at all.

What should we think?

My experience is that the end-user is often taken into account when choosing a solution that is often new **in the context of a pilot or small-scale deployment**. When it comes to global deployment, however, this is something I’ve rarely seen.

The first criteria are, once the functional scope has been validated, the fact that the product is often lying on a shelf or is **offered by a vendor with a major presence in the company**, and finally the price (which often comes down to the same thing).

Secondly, I’ve already heard “it’s nice, they’ll like it” from a decision-maker barely able to use his own tools. If that’s the only criterion…

Another thing: how can we take the user into account when, most of the time, we don’t know what he actually does on a day-to-day basis?

There are groups of test users, but they often only have brief contact with the tool, not in a real working context, and can’t see all the little details that cause problems in more intensive use.

There’s also a bias in the choice of technology: decision-makers consider a tool as such, whereas the employee doesn’t think in terms of a tool, but in terms of a workflow. How does it integrate with the other tools they use, will they have to re-enter data several times, etc.?

A tool can be the best in every respect, but become a friction point in the employee’s workflow.

Finally, sometimes tools are changed without changing working methods or processes, which not only prevents them from reaching their full potential, but even creates a regression compared to the old, less modern tool.

This is a notable feature of collaborative tools: they enable new ways of working, but if they are used in the old way, they pose a problem of adoption without bringing any benefits. The best example of this is perhaps Teams, which has remarkable potential, but which only becomes apparent if you really change the way you work. For many users, however, it’s just a videoconferencing solution, and for them to realize its potential they need not only to make the effort, but also to get everyone around them to do so. If one person tries to use it to its full potential, but his colleagues don’t, he’ll be out of step, it’ll cause him problems on a daily basis and he’ll back off.

In short, there is no correlation between the quality and ergonomics of a given tool and the complexity of the IT experience in a multi-tool working environment.

Little time to acquire digital skills

One criticism I often hear is that **employees don’t make the effort**. I don’t agree, and the report shows it: they are willing to take the time to improve their digital skills.

They’re even willing to spend an average of **15 hours a month** on it! But only 50% are satisfied with the resources available to them to do so, and what’s more, they don’t have the time to do it on their own time.

The World Economic Forum estimates that by 2022 (the report dates from 2018), more than half (54%) of employees will need significant training, with more than a third (35%) requiring at least six months’ effort. Has this finally happened? I doubt it.

It won’t happen by chance or on their own time.

Employees still like human contact

Employees **rely on technology to simplify their lives**, but not for everything. Companies may have gone too far with self-service.

They value digital mainly for administrative tasks.

Which reminds me of another study on expectations about robots.

29% of employees don’t want us to change their tools

A final point of interest: what motivates employees to adopt new tools?

For 34%, it’s curiosity and the desire to be more efficient and collaborative; for 37%, it’s a way of **changing statu**s and advancing their career.

But we mustn’t lose sight of the fact that for 29%, what counts **is doing their job in an environment they know**, so any change in technology will be seen as a source of disorder and a problem. It’s not that they’re totally closed-minded, but neither efficiency nor their status is important to them: they just want to do their job undisturbed, and we’ll have to find a motivating lever for each of them, if one exists.

Conclusion

As is often the case, people are not opposed to change, but to the way in which you want them to change.

They don’t reject technology in the workplace, but feel that they’re not being given what they need, that they’re not being trained enough, and that the use cases covered are not the right ones.

Sorry for the absence…but I didn’t want to entrust my audience to just anyone…

Bertrand DUPERRIN — Mon, 26 Feb 2024 17:00:00 +0100

Just because you don’t have the time or inclination to write doesn’t mean you can make a mockery of your audience by giving them anything to read instead.

” Hey, it’s been a long time since you’ve written anything, we’re missing you“. How many times have I heard this remark from friends or acquaintances lately, and the reason is simple enough?

Social fatigue and bullshit fatigue

A first reason, as simple as it is obvious, is that over the last two years I’ve been busy enough with my work not to feel like thining too much about it in my spare time. But not only… I’ve been working on some fascinating subjects that I never thought I’d have to face one day, but if it’s been fascinating to do, I can’t say it’s been very fascinating to tell.

Of course, I’ve come away with experiences that, once put into perspective, will feed into what I write here, but first I’ll have to take the time to step back and put things into perspective.

But that’s not all.

Without wishing to play the veteran, I don’t really like the Web we’re offered any more.

Facebook… is still Facebook, and in the end it’s the platform that disappoints me the least, because I’ve never expected anything from it.

Twitter (er…X) has become a no-go area, and when I think back to the days when it was a first-rate source of information and exchange, I realize that time has really flown by since then.

As for Linkedin, whose shortcomings I had already pointed out some time ago, it’s not getting any better. Between those who behave as they do on Facebook, all those who have something to sell and do so in the worst possible way, and those who fall into a navel-gazing discourse where they put themselves forward by telling how all the hardships they’ve been through have made them great people (and therefore whose products and services you should buy), it’s become stinking. Once again, it’s a long way from the days when people shone on this site for their ability to feed other people’s thoughts, rather than for their permanent, poorly-crafted, navel-gazing self-promotion, embellished with emojis that turn their posts into a Christmas garland that gives me the impression of a childish personality.

In fact, one day I’ll write at greater length on the subject of Linkedin, but that’s not what I’m here for.

And then there’s my blog, a place I have full control over. I can’t thank my friend Michelle Blanc enough, who, as long as 20 years ago, kept repeating that, despite the proliferation of platforms and networks, we should keep our content (even if I don’t like that term) at home, in a space we control.

But then, as I said, there was a period when I had neither the time nor the inclination to write (or rather, I preferred to write elsewhere on other subjects, as a sort of breath of fresh air).

AI as a remedy for lack of desire and laziness

The good thing about being surrounded by well-meaning people is that they always have a solution to your problems (which I prefer to those who find problems with every solution).

So the solution was quickly found: AI!

“You find a topic, Chat GPT will write the article, and that way you’ll continue to occupy the field by publishing even if you’re busy with something else“.

Are you serious? Do you know me?

Please note: this is not an anti-IA diatribe. I’m aware of its value, what it brings us today and what it can bring us tomorrow. But I’m also aware of some of its limitations (at least today), and I have a minimum of ethics when it comes to the relationship of trust that must exist between a reader and the author of what he or she reads, especially in these times when, between fake news and “clickbait” content, the web, initially conceived as a tool for collective intelligence, is becoming an open-air dumping ground for a kind of collective mediocrity.

AI doesn’t think, it learns

The reasoning is simple enough. Can an AI write a didactic article on a subject? Of course it can, since it feeds on what we’ve given it to learn. So it can, provided we’ve given it quality sources.

But things get more complicated when you’re not content to simply explain, but want to provide an angle of reflection and a point of view.

Can an AI deduce from what I’ve written in the past on certain subjects what I’ll write one day on others, and what I’ll think of them? I doubt it. Now we’re getting into something that, if not intimate, is at least personal.

Sometimes when I tackle a subject, I don’t know myself where my thoughts will lead me once I’ve looked at them from all angles, and I find it hard to believe that an AI will know before I do.

So yes, an AI can occupy the space for me. That’s why I hate the notion of content, preferring instead information or reflection.

Content is defined in relation to a container. But with the web, compared to the old ways of transmitting information, the container is infinite, so filling it implies quantity, which does little to replace quality, transforming information producers into content producers, the Sisyphus of filling the web.

On the other hand, can an AI think for me in the same way I would? No. It can fill space, but not contribute to the advancement of thought.

Humans talking to humans

Another pro-AI argument: “It’ll generate great texts, great for SEO“.

Ah yes, that’s true…

I’ve always watched with a suspicious eye this injunction to learn to “write for the web”. Of course, there are things you need to know to adapt your format to the expectations of your audience, which isn’t the same as for a paper magazine, for example, but it never seemed to me that people who wrote extremely long posts were less interesting and gained less recognition than others.

At most, they let others shine, those who exegete their articles to make their thoughts digestible by others.

But writing for the Web also means thinking about referencing, i.e. the robots that will read you and decide how your prose will appear in search engines.

But don’t we call this evolution of the web the “social web“? An Internet that brings people together and connects them on the basis of what they let others know about them, and therefore what they think? An Internet based on trust?

So to bring humans together, let’s ask them to write for robots. To create trust, let’s ask them to standardize their writing, to fit into a mold, to all resemble each other in form and content.

The result of all this we all know: catchy headlines that teach nothing and lead to content written to be referenced and with no other ambition than to generate views and clicks, not to inform their readers because there’s no information, articles that manage to say nothing because they’re all hot air. And, of course, a writing style that’s recognizable everywhere…you can easily guess why.

I know that in the past this has been a subject of sometimes heated discussion but, even if it means paying a certain price in terms of audience and referencing, I’ve always written what I wanted to write, the way I wanted to write it, for humans who wanted to read it. Not for robots crawling it for SEO purposes.

In short, I could have entrusted my audience to an AI, but I preferred to take the risk of losing it rather than commit myself to a line which, for me, is a lack of respect.

The Humansubstance collective

If AI didn’t convince me to keep this blog artificially alive during this break, it was the spark that made me come back to it sooner than expected.

I was thinking about it, but I was missing a spark, and it’s thanks to AI that it came. Thanks to, not because of: it was the subject that made certain people aware of the issue, and it was a human who woke me up.

In this case, one of my “blogging companions” from the early days, in the person of Hervé Kabla.

“Hey, would you like to join the 100% human initiative launched by Yann (Gourvenec) and David Fayon?”

What’s it all about? The Humansubstance collective brings together bloggers committed to producing content written by humans, for humans, and adhering to a charter:

“This charter is not an indictment of Artificial Intelligence, of which some of the members of this collective have been or still are players, but a guide to good conduct with a view to the reasoned use of these tools. Members of the charter undertake to display the collective’s logo on their respective sites or blogs, and to comply with the following articles. Further to certain comments made to us, let us also make it clear that this charter does not mean either that humans are always “intelligent”, a term that should be defined, which is more difficult than it seems, nor that they are superior to other species, but that they must master the machines they create or use and avoid any anthropomorphism towards them, which is an open door to the loss of reason.“

It begins with a manifesto:

Generative AI tools have limits

They’re just programs: AI tools are not people; you can’t say “he/she” when talking about them;
The starting corpus: These tools exploit multiple data sets (texts, images, scrapped content) and databases processed by statistical methods;
The absence of reflection: these programs work by associating words according to probabilistic rules. There is no logical reasoning behind the results provided by these tools. Generative AIs produce automatic texts, a kind of exquisite corpse, with no thought process, based on probabilities. These contents have only the appearance of a substance;
The absence of human sensitivity and emotion.
The absence of ethics: some of these tools do not respect ethics, have been developed in countries where modern slavery is practiced*, and do not respect the rights in force. When they do respect ethics, they are neither transparent nor explicit.

The members of this collective

are responsible for their choices, their thoughts and their writings.

AI tools are not responsible for anything

content editors are responsible for everything.

The charter follows.

The charter for 100% human content

Our content is created for humans

not for machines
not primarily designed to please search engines (SEO)
we distinguish between text and images. This charter applies essentially to textual content (blog articles, websites, white papers, newsletters, etc.).

The articles on our websites are written by 100% human intelligences

clearly identified by their biographies

When we use generative AI tools to produce images

we disclose this transparently

All the information we produce is verified, cross-checked

cross-checked, referenced and sourced.

This charter owes absolutely nothing to ChatGPT other than its inspiration to do just the opposite.

You’ll also find a list of all the authors who have signed up to the charter. If you’re looking for a list of sites where you’ll find fresh, original thoughts, this is a good place to start.

Homemade is good

Those who eat with me know that when it comes to choosing a restaurant I’m adamant about the “fait maison (home-made)” label, which is very restrictive in France. If I’m going to eat reheated tinned food, I’d rather cook at home, because I don’t see the value of the chef, and I feel that by doing so he’s showing a lack of respect for his customers.

It’s the same for the food that’s supposed to nourish my thoughts and reflections: I’d always rather read a human being, even an imperfect one, than eat canned information.

I don’t know if this collective will become to writing and publishing on the web what the Maitres Restaurateurs are, in France, to homemade food, but we’re going to try in our small way to contribute to a quality web, written by humans for humans. People who respect their readers.

And so, after a salutary break, this blog is up and running again. Thank you Hervé for the spark.

Anyway, I hope you’ll excuse me for this absence, I didn’t want to entrust you to anyone or anything.

Image : writing robot by kung_tom via Shuttertsock

Colour your collaboration

Ellen van Aken — Mon, 01 Jan 2024 17:35:06 +0100

When you open my clothes cupboard you will see , from left to right: red, orange pink, purple, blue, white, grey and black. That is right: I organize my top garments (blouses, sweaters, jackets etc.) according to their colour.

Colour sends a very strong message, it is almost the first thing you notice when you look at something. Colour can also be used to highlight differences and similarities between entities.

So, I am very happy that it is now possible to change the colour of a folder in OneDrive or SharePoint. I think this can help with finding the content you are looking for.

Gregory Zelfond shares a pretty complete how-to and a number of facts about coloured folders:
How to Color Code Folders in SharePoint and OneDrive | SharePoint Maven

Colour can give a very fast indication of the contents of a folder, but no more than that. It should not be your only organizing principle:

Some of your colleagues may have eyesight issues, so if they use a screenreader they may hear the name of the folder, but not the colour; they may be colour-blind (especially common for red/green colours), or they may suffer from cataracts, which may make it hard for them to distinguish colour nuances. Light red and light orange have little contrast between them, as have light green and light teal, and perhaps light purple and light pink.
Light can influence contrast, both the light in the room as the brightness of the screen.
A colour may mean different things to different people, for instance a favourite (or hated) football club.

I am a big fan of using colour as an organization principle. So I always wonder what connects “things” from the same organization/sender/application suite/etc. with the same colour.

In August 2022 I wrote something about three apps with a dark red icon, wondering if they were connected somehow. At that time we already knew that Stream was being transformed, and I was thinking about the future of Delve. (See that post below)

Well, I was right! On December 14, 2023 we learned that Delve will be retired in December 2024, as the functionality is now well embedded into other applications across Microsoft365.

This is part of the message in the Admin Message Center:

Message Summary

We will be retiring Delve on December 16th, 2024. Most of the features and value offered by Delve today are already available and improved in other experiences in Microsoft 365. The main one being Profile Cards in Microsoft 365. Here is a list of features offered in Delve and the experiences we recommend using instead:
- Delve Home – discover relevant documents recommended on Office.com, in Office apps and in Profile Cards.
- Delve Profile – view profile data in the Profile Cards cross M365, through people in search on Office.com and search in SharePoint.
- Edit profile – a new edit profile experience tightly coupled with Profile Cards are being developed and will be released in second half of 2024. It is also possible for users to edit their profile data in the SharePoint profile edit experience (editprofile.aspx).
- Organizational view – exists in the Profile Card and as a dedicated experience in Org Explorer
- Favorites – favorites on Office.com and OneDrive is not connected to Delve and is a good option for users with similar functionality and improved availability.
- Boards – will not be replaced.
I checked whether Outlook Boards could be a replacement for the Boards, but guess what? Those have been retired in June 2023 due to low usage. I guess the same was the case with Delve Boards.

Do I mind? Not particularly. As mentioned, the functionality has already been incorporated into other apps for some time, the Delve app is not visible to F3 users (although they can access it) and the app often causes confusion as generally, more documents are visible to you than you expect. Additionally, having one app less to think, teach or worry about in the Microsoft365 suite is probably welcome.

Now we just have to wait for information about Access You had a great launch day, and your team is educated on the value their new intranet brings to your whole company. To keep the momentum going, you’re going to want a long term post-launch strategy for your company intranet to keep employees coming back for more.

Using company intranet software makes it easy to build and maintain an interactive network where people can share news and collaborate through a centralized knowledge hub. Here are some of the best ideas to turn your intranet into a thriving dynamic digital workplace.

Idea #1: Encourage shout-outs

Employee recognition plays a huge role in employee satisfaction; especially when it’s sincere and spontaneous. Consider including a shout-outs section that lets any employee contribute new posts (and comment on others), and make it visible in the global navigation. This empowers team members on both the giving and receiving side of the acknowledgements.

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Idea #2: Make remote accessibility a priority

In today’s hybrid work environment, it's essential that your intranet is available for remote workers. This includes full mobile accessibility for deskless employees and frontline workers, so they can freely access the information, resources, and contacts they require to be successful on the job.

Idea #3: Motivate employees to upload photos and expand their intranet profiles

If you allow your employees to edit their profiles, as well as choose their own profile photos, they’ll feel more invested in your intranet network. You’ll see people’s personality start to come through too. You can even bring in an actual photo booth to take employee photos. This can help make your business’ intranet feel a little like the best parts of a social network.

Idea #4: Promote employee-centered news

What’s typically the most popular type of news on intranets? News about employees! Employees flock to stories about other team members, regardless of company size, because it’s relatable, human, and most importantly, interesting. These are also a fantastic way to share your company’s brand narrative.

Idea #5: Host a photo-of-the-day contest

One of our clients has a large backlog of photos to post, because so many employees love the photo-of-the-day feature. It puts employees in the spotlight, as well as highlights their individual creativity. Everyone wants their moment in the sun, and it’s a phenomenal way to drive engagement.

Idea #6: Integrate timesheet software

Plan to launch your intranet alongside a new online timesheet system. This will make the timesheet system easily accessible from your intranet, which will be especially helpful for remote team members.

Idea #7: Add a name pronunciation feature

Name pronunciation isn't just a courtesy, it's an important part of creating a diverse and inclusive workplace. Stikeman Elliott, a Canadian Law Firm, is one of the many organizations to integrate ThoughtFarmer’s intranet features that makes name pronunciation easy.

Idea #8: Celebrate new hires

Announcing new team members on your intranet is not only a great way to showcase new people to your whole team at once, but it gets new staff involved in your intranet from day one. You can even use this to host a short Q&A on your intranet, so new people can introduce themselves and talk a bit about their previous work experience.

Idea #9: Post a quiz-of-the-week

Creative quizzes have gained a lot of popularity in the last few years, thanks to publications like BuzzFeed. Why not feature one on your intranet? They are a fun way to build camaraderie between coworkers. Whether it’s figuring out which TV show character they’re most like, or discovering which color best represents their personality, there’s lots of fun (and engagement) to be had.

Idea #10: Create employee avatars

Instead of using boring old pictures, why not add some life and color to your intranet with artistic sketches and avatars of your employees? Thanks to freelance services like UpWork, it’s quick, easy, and affordable to get these types of illustrations made for your team.

Idea #11: Feature an employee-of-the-week

Dedicate space on your intranet to showcase not only an employee’s role within the company, but also to highlight their interests and achievements. Being acknowledged for success is a fantastic motivator, as well as a great way to build an emotional connection between featured employees and your intranet.

Idea #12: Publicize your intranet goals

Your intranet should have attainable goals and metrics, and your whole team needs to be aware of this information. When employees can see the metrics for themselves, they’ll be more invested in the overall success of your intranet.

Idea #13: Keep your headers fresh

Keeping your intranet content fresh and dynamic is a great way to encourage employees to come back for more. Try taking advantage of customization opportunities, like regularly swapping out the header on your intranet homepage. It’s worked for years for Google, why shouldn’t it work for yours?

Idea #14: Send email newsletters

Once your new intranet is up and running, you’ll have plenty of news; especially if you’ve enabled news authors throughout the organization. Weekly emails, including links to popular news, allows you to reach employees directly in their inboxes. People can easily scan the news digests and follow links to stories that interest them. ThoughtFarmer has this feature built in—you just need to turn it on.

Idea #15: Gauge employee interests with an intranet poll

The secret to sustained intranet adoption is to populate it with content that employees want. An interactive way to learn what employees want to see on your intranet is through a poll. ThoughtFarmer makes it easy to add a poll card to a news post. The result? Instant feedback. Plus, people love to see what others think too!

Idea #16: Circulate a survey

As mentioned above, polling is a great way to immediately gauge interest. However, if you want more in-depth data, it’s worth sending out a survey. Surveys provide deeper insight into questions relating to the findability of content, navigation, or general satisfaction with a new intranet. You can learn how to improve the data you’re gathering by exploring How to Create an Intranet Evaluation Survey, as well as Designing, Launching, and Analyzing an Intranet Survey.

Idea: 17: Incorporate gamification

A few of our customers have incorporated gamification elements to keep employees coming back for more. Our Customer, MedData, set up a system that awarded badges for intranet related tasks, such as: commenting on discussions, completing their profile, and finishing relevant learning modules. This led to immediate adoption after launch and sustained engagement.

Idea #18: Enable audio notifications

We’re always amazed at the lengths some of our customers will go to, in order to achieve maximum intranet adoption. Healthcare company MedData, configured a gobbling turkey auditory notification to engage intranet users around Thanksgiving. Creating auditory notifications is a great way to alert employees (especially new users), when they receive a notification.

Idea #19: Get leadership involved

Southern Star Central Gas Pipeline wanted their intranet launch to be fun and exciting, so they created a very imaginative and funny launch video. Featuring the company’s President and Chief Executive Officer, the video highlights all their previous intranet’s shortcomings.

The video served as a good teaser for all the new and engaging features they were about to enjoy, and even more importantly, it sent a strong message that leadership supported the transition.

Idea #20: Play intranet bingo

It’s important for employees to become familiar with your intranet’s features and functionality as soon as possible, and in fun, creative ways. Intranet bingo can help. To play, distribute bingo cards that list things like employee titles, departments, or group names in a bingo format. Then instruct participants to look it up on the intranet. The first person to successfully complete the activities and get five-in-a-row wins a prize.

Idea #21: Get your intranet up on the big screen

Display your new intranet wherever possible, including any big TV screens. The TV in reception, the kitchen, or even the small screen in the elevator — show off your intranet everywhere. This is great for both adoption, as well as keeping your intranet front-of-mind for your employees.

Idea #22: Host an intranet drop-in lounge (with snacks!)

Informal get-to-know-you sessions can help employees ask questions and learn about your new intranet in a more relaxed, unintimidating environment. Just don’t forget the cookies and pizza. A few snacks for the session can create a surprising amount of excitement.

Idea #23: Arrange for a no-meeting day

A No-Meeting Day is a perfect opportunity for all employees to spend more time exploring the intranet. Be sure to post some engaging content on these days using any of the other ideas in this article.

Idea #24: Personalize the intranet home banner

Your intranet home page banner is likely the very first thing your intranet users will see when visiting your new intranet site, so it is important that it is welcoming. It also needs to reflect your culture and brand. ThoughtFarmer makes it easy to have multiple themes on your site at once.

Idea #25: Curate a pet photo gallery

While employee-centric stories and photos attract a lot of attention, pet galleries often get the most return visits. If you haven’t already set up a pet photo gallery, now is the time to launch one. You can check out our blog for more reasons why every intranet needs a pet gallery.

This is only the beginning

These are just some of the virtually limitless number of intranet engagement ideas that you can incorporate into your post-launch plans, and continue building engagement and excitement, so your employees will always want to come back for more.

Still prepping for launch? Need some more ideas to help get your team excited leading up to and including launch day? Check out these 25 creative intranet launch ideas.

We hope that these post-launch ideas got the wheels turning in your mind for some of your own unique ways that you can build excitement and maintain engagement with your intranet post-launch. With a bit of effort, you can make your intranet an invaluable resource for every member of your team.

There’s a new font in town

Ellen van Aken — Thu, 03 Aug 2023 17:10:58 +0200

You may have heard, read or noticed that there is a new Microsoft default typeface called Aptos. As I have an interest in typography, I thought it might be nice to write something in the different Microsoft fonts used over the years, to show you how the different types look in writing. As I can not use different fonts on this platform, I am embedding a PDF created out of a Microsoft Word document. (Which was very frustrating with all the images that mess up the layout)

If you can not see the embedded document, please view it in a PC browser or watch it here: This is Aptos!.pdf

Here goes:

So, after this trip to memory lane, I have set my defaults to…Arial. I like that one most. Please be aware you can only change the default fonts in

Outlook (web and desktop)
Word, PowerPoint, Excel, OneNote desktop (NOT in web, although you can change it per document)

It was interesting to notice that the option to change the default font is in various places across the 365 suite. </article>
<article>
<h1>25 creative intranet launch ideas</h1>
<p>Kelly Batke — Wed, 26 Jul 2023 17:13:11 +0200</p>
<p><span style= A new intranet can significantly improve your workplace, but getting your team to adopt and engage with it won’t happen on its own. You need a focused, dedicated, and creative intranet launch campaign, if you want your new intranet launch to be successful.

Here are 25 actionable intranet launch ideas you can use to propel your intranet (or extranet).

Phase 1: INTRANET PRE-LAUNCH

Involved employees are engaged employees. Spark excitement and relieve concerns by giving team members a sneak peek at their new intranet.

Idea #1: Involve key employees in product evaluation

Include employees in early discussions, so they can learn some of the ways your new intranet can help improve their daily workflow. Check out our blog for more information on how employees can search for content more easily across your intranet.

10 steps to a successful intranet launch

Ready to launch your intranet? Download our informative guide.

Download now

Idea #2: Encourage employees to offer feedback

Employee feedback is essential to designing a useful, intuitive intranet. Get employees to participate in card sorting and task testing activities. Show employees that you value their input, while simultaneously improving your intranet navigation.

Idea #3: Let employees help name your intranet

To paraphrase Shakespeare, what’s in an intranet name? Not much, if it’s named by only one person. Running an event where employees can suggest and vote on names for the intranet, makes the process exciting and engaging for everyone. Check out our step-by-step guide on crowdsourcing an intranet name for more information.

Idea #4: Send home QR code teasers

Consider creating a QR that leads to a simple landing page with all of your vital intranet information. They can include:

A copy of the new intranet’s navigation
Your intranet’s vision statement
The site’s URL for easy home access
Simple instructions for logging in
An email address to use when asking for intranet assistance

Idea #5: Share fun facts from employee profiles

Penn State ran a brilliant intranet launch campaign that sparked a lot of excitement. Their launch included a series of posters, which shared trivia about Penn State employees to generate interest in their profiles.

Idea #6: Distribute welcome packages

Another part of Penn State’s outstanding intranet launch campaign was welcome packages assembled by a team of volunteers. The kits included:

A booklet introducing the intranet
An agenda for launch day
A thumb drive preloaded with required documents

Idea #7: Give your intranet a strong visual identity

How do you make some brands fun that normally wouldn’t be considered playful? Corus Orthodontists created a mascot to go alongside their new intranet - both named Coco. Read our case study on how Corus used Coco to create a visual identity for their intranet and made exploring their intranet fun for employees.

Idea #8: Suggest super users create example profiles

By having a few engaged users fill out their profiles as examples, you can achieve two things: You’ll provide recognition to highly motivated users, and you’ll help other users see their potential. Also, using this approach means less work for you and more credibility with your users. Win-win.

Idea #9: Pre-populate employee profile photos

If you have a database of security badge photos, or another repository of staff pictures, consider uploading them to user profiles ahead of launch. Replacing blank profiles with real photos will instantly bring your personnel directory to life.

Idea #10: Set up key groups and locations in advance

Your new intranet will likely have group pages for each department and company location. Adding employees to their respective group pages ahead of time allows you to:

Reduce the time and effort required for users to complete their profiles
Ensure your team directory is organized from day one
Enable personalized news delivery for each group

Idea #11: Construct a contributor community

If you’ve already engaged your intranet stakeholders and power users ahead of time, this should happen quite naturally. The key is to get content owners, news authors, and group owners involved beforehand. Waiting until after launch is a wasted opportunity to increase adoption and engagement right from the start.

Idea #12: Circulate an internal press release

Some employees only want the specifics. An announcement or press release gives you the ability to concisely educate employees ahead of time on the name of your intranet, how to navigate it, and most importantly, why it exists.

Idea #13: Host a focus group lunch

Focus groups are valuable for determining how your users feel about your intranet prior to launch. Take this small group out for lunch and pick their brains about the upcoming intranet launch. Ask them for honest feedback. Be sure to include team members from multiple departments, so you can gain insights from a variety of operational perspectives simultaneously.

Idea #14: Display a launch countdown clock

A countdown clock creates a sense of urgency and excitement in all of us. It also sets firm expectations about when changes will take effect. To excite users about their new intranet, one of our customers made the banner from their old intranet look like it was decaying.

Idea #15: Showcase your brand consistently

Ensure that all your brand assets are incorporated into all the new content, news, and updates present in your intranet at launch. When team members can tell every part of your intranet is also part of your brand, it makes your entire system feel more cohesive and collaborative.

Idea #16: Feature your intranet in a town hall meeting

There are few events that attract employee attention like a corporate town hall. These company wide meetings are a great opportunity to get your intranet in front of everyone at once, and show employees that leadership supports and values the transition.

Idea #17: Collect and share feedback

Potential users will be more likely to explore your intranet if they see positive feedback from another team member. Leverage the super users, who are already familiar (and passionate) about your new intranet to share their thoughts. They’ll likely be keen to talk about all the reasons they’re excited for the new intranet, and these useful changes are much more captivating and persuasive coming from colleagues than trying to convince users on your own.

PHASE 2: LAUNCH DAY

This is the day you’ve been preparing for! If you want employees to have a good first impression of your intranet, it must be immediately interesting and useful. Don’t be afraid to think outside the box.

Idea #18: Create a launch video

We had a recent customer, who got their President and CEO involved in the creation of an intranet launch video. For a company with several locations, this was an ideal way to build engagement with their new intranet, while also offering an entertaining way to get multiple departments directly involved.

Idea #19: Run an intranet scavenger hunt

Nigel Williams, former intranet manager at Romec, led a virtual treasure hunt as part of their new intranet launch. It helped build familiarity with the new intranet, and offered an excellent prize worth winning—a trip to New York City! Your prize doesn’t even need to be that extravagant to draw lots of attention quickly. Everyone loves winning free stuff.

Idea #20: Engage remote employees using virtual conferences

For dispersed offices, or hybrid workplaces, an intranet launch campaign is the perfect opportunity to bring people together. Hosting a video conference allows you to introduce your new intranet software personally, as well as actively demonstrate its value as a resource for your whole team - onsite and off.

Idea #21: Plan your launch around a sporting event

Consider coordinating an intranet launch party around a specific sporting event. For example, you could host your party to coincide with an MLB game. You can even provide treats for employees like a loot bag full of Big League Chew, sunflower seeds, and a QR code that highlights important intranet information. Who says educating and engaging your team can’t also be fun? Not us.

Idea #22: Throw a baby shower!

One of our clients held a New Baby celebration when they launched their intranet. They actually named their intranet ‘Mark’, and then promoted his arrival by announcing “Come celebrate! Mark is born!” A baby shower where no one has to buy presents? No wonder their team loved the idea so much.

Idea #23: Hire an influencer

Influencers can have a dynamic impact on marketing, without a doubt. Hiring an influencer to promote your new intranet may seem expensive, but sites like Cameo actually make it easy (and affordable) to get personalized messages from celebrities.

Idea #24: Integrate instant messaging

Email fatigue is real, and it’s created a huge demand for instant messaging platforms, like Slack. Slack can be a quick and easy way to promote your new intranet or distribute teaser images. ThoughtFarmer’s Slack integration makes it easy to share, search, or link to intranet content.

Idea #25: Make it a form-al event

As part of your launch day strategy, create a contest and award prizes to the first five employees that submit their vacation requests through the new intranet form builder (it’s already built into ThoughtFarmer, so it’s super easy-to-use). This will assist with automating some processes, as well as help employees become familiar with completing forms through your intranet.

Are you ready to launch?

These 25 ideas represent just a small sampling of what’s possible for an intranet launch campaign. If you're like us, it will get your creative juices flowing.

We hope his list of intranet launch ideas provides some inspiration to help you get the most out of your intranet software. The next step is to combine your own creativity, alongside your company’s unique culture, and figure out some ideas that will work best for your intranet launch. We know you can do it!

[VIDEO] Leading and Laughing In Turbulent Times

Ian Blake — Wed, 19 Jul 2023 23:04:59 +0200

The pandemic had many of us feeling frustrated, anxious, and disconnected. And now, with the current economic times, we find ourselves again in a period of uncertainty.

Since we spend so much time with our co-workers (albeit digitally), these feelings are having a huge impact on our professional relationships.

The good news is that much of how we feel is in our control. And when times are tough, a little humor can go a long way in improving our mood and keeping us connected and engaged.

The better news is that we’re here to help! Watch our recorded webinar featuring ‘humor in the workplace’ expert (and legit funny guy) Michael Kerr who will chat about:

Why laughter during uncertain times truly is one of the best medicines
How to maintain a more positive, resilient outlook in the face of uncertainty
What does it mean to “step up as a leader” during challenging times?
How to connect and communicate more effectively in the virtual world
How not to be a “jerk at work”: Insights and lessons from Michael’s hot-off-the-presses book, The Jerk Free Workplace: How You Can Take the Lead to Create a Happier, More Inspiring Workplace

This presentation is guaranteed to make you laugh.

Why every intranet needs a pet gallery [adorable photos included]

Kelly Batke — Wed, 19 Jul 2023 19:00:48 +0200

Picture this: You're having a stressful day at work, deadlines are looming, emails are piling up, and your brain feels like it's about to explode.

Suddenly, a cute puppy or a fluffy kitten pops up on your computer screen, wagging its tail or purring contentedly.

You can't help but smile and feel a wave of relaxation wash over you. That's the power of pets.

A recent study showed that the average person spends 45 minutes a day looking at pictures of cute animals and that each of those people has 20,000 cute animal photos on their computer. According to a study of more than 1,000 participants by the U.K. office 365 app company Wrike, people who use cute animal photos at work report higher productivity than those who don’t.

The last few years have been full of unpredictability, which is why it's important for organizations to create a positive work environment and make their employees feel valued.

A pet gallery is a collection of photos and stories about employees' pets. It can be a fun and engaging way to connect with colleagues and create a sense of community within the workplace. Here’s why it’s a good idea for organizations to have a pet gallery on their intranet.

Boost employee morale

Pets are known to bring joy and happiness to our lives, and the workplace is no exception. A pet gallery on the intranet can bring a smile to employees' faces and create a positive atmosphere. It's a great way to boost employee morale, especially during stressful times.

Want more Intranet ideas and tips for success?

Get our award winning intranets guide

10 Award Winning Intranets

Promote work-life balance

Having a pet gallery on the intranet can also promote work-life balance. Employees can share photos and stories about their pets, which can help them feel more connected to their colleagues. It's a great way to show that the organization cares about employees' personal lives and interests.

Encourage employee engagement

A pet gallery can encourage employee engagement and create a sense of community within the workplace. Employees can comment on each other's photos and stories, which can lead to conversations and friendships. It's a great way to break down barriers and encourage employees to interact with each other.

Show the human side of the organization

Having a pet gallery on the intranet can also show the human side of the organization. It can help employees see that their colleagues are not just co-workers but also individuals with families and pets. This can create a sense of empathy and understanding within the workplace.

Improve workplace culture

A pet gallery on the intranet can improve workplace culture. It's a fun and engaging way to connect with colleagues and create a sense of community. It can also create a positive and welcoming atmosphere, which can improve employee retention and recruitment.

As you can see, having a pet gallery on the intranet is a great way to promote a positive workplace environment. It can boost employee morale, promote work-life balance, encourage employee engagement, show the human side of the organization, and improve workplace culture. It's a simple and effective way to show employees that they are valued and appreciated. So, if you're looking for a way to create a fun and engaging workplace environment, consider adding a pet gallery to your organization's intranet.

New Photo Shuffle Feature Now Available!

ThoughtFarmer is excited to share a new card available to our clients to install on their intranets. The Photo Shuffle card seamlessly combines photos from up to five ThoughtFarmer galleries, and presents each image, one at a time, in a random order.

This is great for livening up your intranet with visual memories, ranging from adorable snapshots of your beloved pets to vacation adventures and company events. The possibilities are endless! Contact ThoughtFarmer to learn more.

[VIDEO] How to measure internal communications

Kelly Batke — Mon, 17 Jul 2023 21:02:13 +0200

Every single day your colleagues are interacting with internal communications. They are reading emails, commenting on intranet posts, and showing up to meetings.

But what’s the result of all this? And how do employees truly feel about the state of internal communications in the workplace?

If you can’t answer these questions you aren’t alone. Many internal communicators can’t.

Check out this webinar recording where we will walk through every step necessary to measure your internal communications.

You will learn:

How to conduct an internal communications audit
How to decipher your intranet analytics
How to present your findings

Intranet scalability: What to look when choosing intranet software for your business

Kelly Batke — Thu, 13 Jul 2023 21:12:46 +0200

You’ve finally found the intranet of your dreams. The features are ideal, the support is outstanding, and the usability is excellent.

There is just one problem. Your organization is poised for some serious growth.

So the next question is, is your intranet scalable?

Scalability is a crucial factor to consider when choosing a new intranet. As your business grows and evolves, your intranet should be able to scale up to meet your changing needs.

In this blog post, we will explore the importance of scalability for intranet software and how organizations can ensure their intranet will grow with them.

What is Scalability?

Scalability is defined as the ability of a system or software solution to handle increased workload and traffic without sacrificing performance or stability. In the context of intranet software, scalability means that the software can accommodate the growing needs of your organization, whether that's an increase in users, data, or functionality.

Have you been tasked with creating an intranet RFP?

Our intranet RFP guide will ensure you end up with a scalable solution.

Learn more

Why is Scalability Important for Intranet Software?

Without scalability, your intranet may become slow and unreliable, causing frustration and reduced productivity for your employees. In extreme cases, your intranet may even become unusable, which can lead to significant business disruptions.

How to ensure you have a scalable intranet

Plan for growth

If you haven’t yet chosen an intranet solution, now is the time to think ahead. Your intranet should be able to accommodate growth in the number of users, data, and functionality. By planning for growth upfront, you can avoid the need—and headache— to switch to a new intranet solution down the road.

(See how Corus Orthodontists chose an intranet solution that would work prior and post expansion)

Choose a cloud-hosted platform

Look for solutions that can easily scale up as your organization grows without significant performance degradation. Cloud-based solutions especially are built to be scalable, making it easier to users, storage space, and additional functionality as needed.

Verify pricing

Some vendors charge on a per-user basis. This means that larger organizations may pay less for each employee. However, you could be hit with a higher overall cost if your number of employees falls at the top end of a price bracket. So make sure you verify what the price will be with more employees.

Enquire about governance

You might not care so much who has access to what in a small company, but as you expand you will likely have evolving thoughts on who can post content, share files, and distribute information. Look for a solution that has flexible permissions without complexity.

Ensure high availability and support

Your intranet software should be highly available, meaning that it can continue to function even in the event of hardware failures or other disruptions. If you launched a new intranet when your organization was smaller, the vendor may not have the ability to support your growth. And the larger your organization is, the more employees will be impacted during downtime.

Consider integrations

The tools and tech you rely on now might not be the ones you require in the future—especially if your organization is involved in a merger. This is why it’s important to ensure your intranet supports multiple integrations.

Security

Lastly, you will need to ensure your security won’t be compromised as your organization grows, and you add additional users to your intranet. By having a solution that scales securely with your organization, you can also avoid shadow IT, where employees turn to tools not approved and authorized by the company.

As you can see, scalability is essential for intranet software because it ensures that your intranet can continue to meet your organization's needs as it grows.

By planning for growth, choosing a scalable platform, ensuring high availability, and monitoring performance, you can ensure that your intranet will grow with your organization. By selecting the right intranet software solution, you can improve communication, collaboration, and productivity, and ultimately achieve your goals more effectively.

Want immediate intranet engagement? Try an intranet poll.

Kelly Batke — Thu, 13 Jul 2023 19:00:23 +0200

One of the great things about using our own product at ThoughtFarmer is that we get to witness in real-time what works best for increasing intranet adoption and engagement.

Case in point: Polls.

I am always amazed by how much interaction and engagement our polls get, whether they are to gather feedback on events or office topics, or fun polls such as these questions recently posted on our intranet:

If you were handed the following summer drink menu, which would be your first drink of choice?

Which of these would bring you the most joy to have on or near your desk?

Which skill or talent would you be interested in learning from a friendly coworker?

The answer options had a creative spin that made the questions extra engaging and fun to think about. These definitely get people onto our intranet! People always want to know how others responded which they can view right after submitting their answer.

Here’s everything you need to know about intranet polls, and how you can use them to your advantage.

Why intranet polls?

Intranet adoption and engagement are crucial for any organization. However, it's not always easy to get employees to use the intranet regularly. That's where intranet polls come in.

Intranet polls are a quick and easy way to collect feedback and opinions from employees. They can be used to gather information on a variety of topics such as new product ideas, employee satisfaction, or company events.

Want more Intranet ideas for success?

Learn how our clients have enhanced their communications and culture with ThoughtFarmer

Read case studies

How intranet polls increase engagement

By creating quick and easy polls on your intranet, you can gather feedback from employees, get a better understanding of their needs and preferences, and make informed decisions that improve their overall workplace experience. In this section, we'll explore the benefits of using intranet polls to increase employee engagement and provide some tips on how to create effective polls that will get your employees excited and engaged.

Employees feel heard

When employees are asked to participate in polls, they feel valued and heard. It shows that their opinions matter, and the company is interested in their feedback. This can lead to increased engagement with their intranet because employees are more likely to return to see the results of the poll or to participate in future polls.

Polls create a sense of community

Polls can also create a sense of community among employees. When employees see the results of the polls, they can see how their opinions compare to others in the organization. This can create a sense of belonging and encourage employees to engage with the intranet more frequently.

Polls provide insight into employee preferences

Intranet polls can provide valuable insight into employee preferences and opinions. This information can be used to make informed decisions about company policies, products, and events. When employees see that their opinions are being considered, they are more likely to engage with the intranet platform.

Polls encourage two-way communication

Intranet polls encourage two-way communication between employees and management. When employees participate in polls, they can see that their feedback is being considered by management. This can lead to more open communication and collaboration, which can further increase engagement with the intranet platform.

As you can see, intranet polls are an effective way to increase intranet adoption and engagement. They provide employees with a voice, create a sense of community, provide valuable insight into employee preferences, and encourage two-way communication.

If you're struggling to get employees to engage with your intranet platform, consider implementing intranet polls as a way to encourage participation and feedback. For inspiration on what to include in your next poll, check out this post from Indeed on 100 Fun Polls and Entertaining Questions for Work Events.

Polls are just one of the many intranet features ThoughtFarmer offers. Check out our full feature list.

How to improve communication for deskless employees and frontline workers

Kelly Batke — Thu, 13 Jul 2023 17:27:56 +0200

If I were to ask you to close your eyes and envision a typical workplace and describe it to me, chances are you would mention a desk, cubicle, and maybe even a water cooler.

Yes, this may resemble a typical office, but it doesn’t resemble a typical workplace.

Why? Because only 20% of workplaces in the world have office-based employees.

Wait, what?

Yes, that’s right, 80% of the overall workforce are deskless workers, like those that work in retail, factories, restaurants, hospitals, construction sites, or warehouses.

So if this is such a large and significant component of the global workforce, why have we been ignoring them?

A recent study found that over 83% of frontline workers don’t have a corporate email address, and 45% don’t even have access to the company intranet when at work. This contributes to deskless employees and frontline workers feeling left out, and unaligned with corporate strategies.

Because they are often disconnected from the corporate and in-office workers, 80% of remote workers said they are more likely to feel excluded than in-office employees. Furthermore, 54% of them believe their employer views them as disposable or temporary workers.

This undervalued group is the backbone of our economy, yet we have failed to empower them with the same opportunities as in-office workers.

The good news is that there is much we can do to keep these employees informed, connected, and engaged in their jobs (*hint, it involves intranet software and mobile devices).

Make locating information easy

Locating relevant information is a growing concern—and not just for deskless employees! According to a McKinsey report, employees spend 1.8 hours every day searching and gathering information. On average, that’s 9.3 hours per week, with nearly 20% of the week spent looking for internal information or tracking down colleagues who can help with specific tasks.

By making information, news, and people, easily discoverable on your intranet, employees can find the resources they need to be productive. But for this to benefit deskless employees, your intranet must be accessible through a mobile device.

Consider a scenario of a large library. A librarian may be tasked with assisting a customer locate a book, but imagine how much easier this job would be if the librarian didn’t have to return to their desk each time, but instead could wander around searching for information from their mobile device?

Or, what about bus drivers? Sure they may have access to traffic and construction updates when they clock in and out for the day, but imagine if they had access to this information from their phone when they needed it?

Ready to begin your intranet journey?

We’ve compiled all the questions we get from new intranet buyers into this clear, easy-to-follow workbook.

Download now

Give deskless workers a voice

Because deskless employees are difficult to reach, they often feel voiceless, and therefore feel like their opinions and ideas are not heard and respected. Give deskless employees a voice by enabling two-way communication from the convenience of their smart phone.

For example, a restaurant franchise could post a new menu to their intranet and ask for feedback from the kitchen and wait staff. These employees can then provide input, by commenting or voting, from their mobile device, at a time convenient to them. Or, you could push out a survey to frontline workers asking for their thoughts on the latest merger and acquisition.

Equip frontline workers with the latest safety information

Deskless employees are at a higher risk for work-related injuries compared to office employees. If you doubt this, consider how frontline employees were impacted during the COVID-19 pandemic.

With information changing rapidly and frequently, frontline employees require access to critical information. Posting this information on your intranet ensures employees stay informed. You could also make safety and security information required reading, in which employees must acknowledge they have read a specific policy or page.

Enable push notifications in a deskless office

Send instant mobile push notifications in emergency situations to ensure all deskless employees get the message faster. Our new Broadcast feature was designed for scenarios like these; scenarios where you need to cut through the noise to get employees’ immediate awareness.

Broadcast alerts are intended to be relevant and not overwhelming. It’s about empowering communications professionals with an easy, efficient way to send all-employee alerts about important news.

ThoughtFarmer's Broadcast feature ensures critical messages are pushed through to employee smart phones.

Don’t burden remote workers with paper

Frontline workers and deskless employees don’t have the same access to printers and fax machines like office based staff do, so avoid requesting printed documentation from them. Instead, ensure all documents and forms are available online—both to access and to complete and submit. Our online form builder is a popular feature designed for frontline employees to complete forms from the convenience of their mobile device.

Help deskless employees feel connected to the culture

Finally, it is critical that we do everything we can to ensure deskless employees feel connected to their workplace culture.

Research by Ragan shows that just 56% of deskless workers in the United States feel connected and engaged with their employers. A shocking 84% of deskless workers say they don’t get enough direct communication from top management, and only 10% feel strongly connected to their companies.

While these stats are alarming, the solution isn’t all that difficult. By posting all relevant employee news and corporate updates on your mobile intranet, employees can feel in-the-know, and see for themselves what is happening in the organization.

Imagine how empowering this could be for janitorial workers, who are often excluded from employee news and discussions, or factory workers, who are often in a separate facility than office staff!

By investing in a mobile intranet, you're giving frontline employees a platform to connect and collaborate with their peers and overcome any disconnect they may feel.

Improving the frontline employee experience isn't just about acquiring new technology though; it’s also about the realization that we need to listen to all employees, wherever they are, and no matter what their job is.

[Video] How to fast-track new employee onboarding in a hybrid workplace

Kelly Batke — Mon, 10 Jul 2023 23:30:16 +0200

How do you keep new employee engagement high without regular face-to-face touchpoints with your employees?

How do you ensure they are properly onboarded and ready for their tasks when they start their job?

And, how do you keep new employee information centralized and easily accessible?

Watch the following video where we talk with HR professional Laura Goodridge, Head of People Experience at eSSENTIAL Accessibility. We examine the evolution of employee onboarding and why an intranet is a pivotal tool for facilitating onboarding and ramping up productivity for remote and hybrid employees.

You’ll learn:

How hybrid and remote work has transformed onboarding
How to build an onboarding hub on your intranet
How to measure the success of your onboarding efforts

Work in progress – but different work

Ellen van Aken — Mon, 10 Jul 2023 13:12:40 +0200

It has been some time since I posted here. I mentioned it at the bottom of my latest posts: I am currently moving house, which includes

selling our current house, involving presenting the house as nicely as possible when people visit for a tour
decluttering, as we are moving to a smaller apartment with less storage space
renovating our new apartment, which we leave to professionals, but needs a lot of decisions, discussions and organizing

All this takes up more time than I had expected, and I find it difficult to focus on Microsoft365. In retrospect, I wonder how we managed our last move (in 2005) while having full-time jobs! </article>
<article>
<h1>How to encourage intranet content creation across your organization</h1>
<p>Kelly Batke — Thu, 06 Jul 2023 19:00:49 +0200</p>
<p><span style= There is a well known proverb that goes something like this:

Create another department’s intranet content, and you help them for a day. Teach them how to create their own intranet content and you empower them for a lifetime.

Ok, so maybe that’s not exactly it, but you get the point.

You can take on all the intranet content creation you want, but it isn’t sustainable; especially if your organization is growing.

Benefits of empowering intranet content creators

Similar to user-generated (UGC), employee-generated content (EGC) has many advantages including:

Improved intranet adoption. The more employees are involved in intranet content creation the more likely they will return to your intranet.
Content won't get stale. Abundance content creation means your intranet is less likely to become stale from infrequent and outdated content.
Provides teams and departments with their own voice. Each team and department is unique in an organization. Use this opportunity to showcase their strengths, and how it contributes to other departmental initiatives.
Less reliance on email. The more employees rely on their intranet for sharing information, the less likely they will be to email this information.
Reduced IT bottlenecks. When employees know how to post their own content, they won’t rely on other departments like IT.
Increased knowledge sharing. The more teams and departments are empowered with content creation, the higher the overall knowledge share.
More inclusive environment. Allowing multiple teams and departments to post content helps to create a more inclusive culture.
Scalability. Sharing content creation with other departments means you’re no longer constrained by budgets or time spent planning future content.

Looking for ways to engage more staff in using your intranet?

Learn about the many use cases for an intranet in this informative whitepaper.

Intranet Use Cases

Tips for mastering employee generated intranet content

Let go of control

If your background is in communications you likely have some lofty expectations for how content should read.

However, engaging intranet content is so much more than well crafted prose and impeccable grammar. The best content is raw and transparent. So let go of the grammar rules and empower your team to create content that best represents them. Besides, you can always edit it later if necessary.

Also, intranet content isn’t restricted to text. Encourage contributions in the form of photos, videos/vlogs, even music, depending on your team.

Have a content review process

Empowering internal content creators doesn’t mean permitting every single employee with editing and publishing access. Security settings within your intranet should allow you to specify exactly who gets access to content creation and who doesn’t.

If you have concerns about employees posting team and departmental content, consider setting up a sign-off process. Within ThoughtFarmer this is easily accomplished with our new content review feature. It lets you set up reminders for yourself or your team to review content to make sure the content is current, accurate, and well organized.

Gamify it

One way to encourage employees to participate in content creation is to introduce an element of competition. Many of our customers turn to gamification to get their colleagues involved in many intranet activities—including content creation.

One of our customers created badges for almost every activity on their intranet. Complete your profile? Get a badge. Comment on a discussion? Get another badge.

You could also incentivize your top content creators with gift cards. This shouldn’t be too hard to identify your lead contributors within your intranet analytics. Within ThoughtFarmer, there are specific segments that can be easily set up to quickly identify who the top content creators in your organization are.

Make it mobile accessible

Whether your workplace is office-based or not, your intranet should be fully accessible from a mobile device. Our ThoughtFarmer app allows users to enjoy the same experience in the mobile version as they enjoy in the desktop version. This allows employees to create content in realtime, which is really useful in specific scenarios. For example imagine you run a construction company, and you’ve just learned of a chemical spill. You have a few minutes at the most to quickly convey critical time-sensitive information to your onsite workers. A mobile app makes this super simple.

Train employees

No one is going to add content to your intranet if they don’t know how. Modern intranet software makes it easy for anyone to create pages and edit content, but that doesn’t mean users don’t still need a helping hand. Plus, for less tech-savvy employees, training gives them a boost of confidence to get started with the intranet.

While there is no one-size fits all approach to intranet user training, we offer some tips in our blog post: 7 Tips for designing your intranet training program.

Quash writing fears

A common barrier to content creation is a fear of not being able to write. This is why it is important to have conversations to alleviate any fears and lay out your expectations.

While understandably some organizations may have editorial guidelines to adhere to, intranet content creation has become much more human in the last few years. Help content writers understand that you are (likely) not seeking perfection. Also, content creation isn’t restricted to writing. It could be adding videos, memes, meeting notes, or polls.

Examples of good employee generated intranet content

ThoughtFarmer customer Coast Mental Health is one of the best examples of empowering content creators. Their intranet is owned and governed by employees, not the communications department. Guidance and feedback is provided, but employees are encouraged to be accountable for the pages/content created.

This approach has led to excellent and unexpected intranet content. For example, one team created an e-learning safety module. Another employee assembled an e-learning module on violence prevention. Employee created content has emerged as some of the heaviest trafficked pages on their intranet.

Another great example is publishing company PCI. Their CEO and President Drew Clancy blogs every single day and shares it on their intranet. However, some of the most inspiring content comes from the employees. In a section called Victory Vault, associates are encouraged to share difficult times they have endured. On this page the bravest of associates share stories of unbelievable circumstances with one simple hope—that their story will help, heal, or inspire a fellow associate who may be going through a similar scenario.

We hope this inspires you to create a team of intranet content writers!

What collaboration really means

Kelly Batke — Mon, 03 Jul 2023 19:36:25 +0200

Remote and hybrid workplace environments have highlighted the significance for effective collaboration—particularly when many of us jump around the various synchronous and asynchronous collaboration tools; but do we truly understand what the term collaboration means?

The word collaboration is so overused and overhyped it’s becoming meaningless. Even with the launch of intranet software, video technology, and other collaborative tools, some people still suffer from, and complain about, poor collaboration.

This forced us to contemplate the true nature of collaboration and explore its many dimensions. The journey resulted in a simple, useful definition for collaboration, and arriving on an important conclusion:

Collaboration is a deeply human activity, and no tool on its own can solve the problem of poor collaboration.

This conclusion may seem obvious, but it took a lot of failure and organizational development theory to discover how organizational culture and managerial practices can either nurture or hinder good collaboration.

What does collaboration mean?: A useful definition for collaboration

In response to bad collaboration we crafted a definition to inspire a more holistic, useful, and simpler perspective. We landed upon this:

Two or more people working together towards shared goals.

That’s it — just nine words to define collaboration. Such simplicity is necessary when the term has become overly-hyped; especially where digital workplace vendors are trying to sell new ways of working to confused companies, and where business experts constantly stress the importance of building more collaborative and innovative organizations..

Dissecting the meaning of collaboration and understanding what is collaboration

This simple collaboration definition includes three parts:

Two or more people (team)
Working together (processes)
Towards shared goals (purpose)

This collaboration definition doesn’t mention technology or software, but it does provide a solid framework for understanding what collaboration is and isn’t. For starters, collaborating takes place in teams.

A big group of people using social software together doesn’t equate directly to collaborating. It may be conversation; it may be cooperation; it may be knowledge sharing; it may improve employee engagement or the digital employee experience; but it is not collaboration.

Next, collaborating is about people working together and completing shared processes. This is where technology fits in, but not all of these processes are technological.

Finally: purpose. If people are working together, but have no shared goals, they are cooperating, not collaborating. Cooperation is usually much more lightweight than collaboration and often has less focused goals.

Intranet software is excellent for increasing cooperation and collaborating, but these two activities are not synonymous. Technology is just one piece of the puzzle and there is a limited scope of what collaboration actually is.

What does collaboration look like on an award winning intranet?

Learn how some of the most innovative organizations are leveraging their intranet.

Download now

What’s the best method of collaboration?

While an intranet offers collaboration tools, there is no one perfect tool or method for all roles and activities.

Collaboration can be grouped into three broad categories: simple collaboration, document collaboration, and structured collaboration.

Simple Collaboration (instant messaging and microblogging)

Tools that allow for instant response times are great for tasks geared around coordination—like preparing a project for launch. However, they can be distracting, and can remove people from deep concentration. Commenting may work for increasing dialogue, gathering feedback, or editing a document or project. Unfortunately it will fail when building something new.

When members of a specific team use microblogging to share updates and information about their joint work, it becomes collaboration. Imagine a marketing team working towards a deadline on a marketing plan and posting status updates about tasks completed or questions that arise. This is a specific group of people (the marketing team) working together (communicating about the project) towards shared goals (deadline for a project).

Document collaboration (Google Docs, Git)

Where simple collaboration is focused more on the conversations between people and teams, document collaboration is focused on a deliverable. Think of a sales team working together on a proposal, or a software team coming together to contribute to a source code repository.

Document collaboration tools have value for the individual, yet are even more powerful when connected with a team.

Structured Collaboration (forms & idea sharing)

Where the first two types of collaboration do not have any required format, structured collaboration does. Either explicitly with a series of fields (e.g. a vacation request form), or implicitly via a specific topic (e.g. an Idea or Q&A forum).

Many intranets allow users to complete a form to request things like vacation, or a new computer. Typically, there is some kind of workflow process to review and approve these requests. Unfortunately, many of these systems (while meeting our definition of collaboration) aren’t always easy to use. When done correctly, intranets should make it easy to collaborate around fielded data, allowing for flexibility in the process and conversation around the best ways to achieve a task.

The other type of structured collaboration revolves around a topic, like idea management and Q&A forums. By limiting their context these areas become more focused and directed. Idea forums can act as the nucleus for future collaborating, such as when an employee identifies an opportunity for cost savings, which could then be spun out into a project for further collaboration.

As you will see, identifying the best way to collaborate can be confusing. There is no one tool to rule them all approach to collaboration. Collaboration is role and context dependent. Sam Marshall of Clearbox Consulting has done a further exploration of these ideas in his blog post titled Collaborating without documents in the digital workplace.

Think teams

Collaborating happens within small groups of people—think project teams, cross-functional management teams, or functional teams. While collaboration can happen with two or more people, there is an upper limit as to how many people can collaborate at once. Attempts to collaborate across an entire organization will result in noise, distraction, and annoyed staff.

We often think of collaborating as this big thing that the whole organization has to improve, but it is something that happens on a smaller scale, within teams with clear and often narrow focus.

Why collaboration is important

Many people correlate collaboration with social software. They imagine purchasing a piece of digital workplace software and launching it to every employee in their organization and calling that collaboration.

Collaboration is a targeted, team-based activity. Intranets, extranets, and other social software can help drastically improve it, but you can’t lump all the possible features and activities into one term. And collaborating is about people’s interaction with each other as much as about the tools we use.

When someone says you’ve got to get better at collaboration, ask, “Who, exactly, needs to get better at collaboration?” and, “How do they need to get better at collaboration?” and, “What work do they need to improve their collaboration?”

Intranet software can improve not just collaboration, but communication, cooperation, coordination, idea-sharing, team communication, knowledge management and more.

Let’s work together to be clear about collaboration, what the business value of stronger collaboration is, and what the full array of changes are that can lead to better collaboration.

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in 2012 by Ephraim Freed and has been updated for accuracy and comprehensiveness.

Intranet Digest

Confused by CoPilot

Brand and product sites

The beginning: SharePoint 2001

Users don’t feel taken into account

Little time to acquire digital skills

Employees still like human contact

29% of employees don’t want us to change their tools

Conclusion

Sorry for the absence…but I didn’t want to entrust my audience to just anyone…

Social fatigue and bullshit fatigue

AI as a remedy for lack of desire and laziness

AI doesn’t think, it learns

Humans talking to humans

The Humansubstance collective

The charter for 100% human content

Our content is created for humans

The articles on our websites are written by 100% human intelligences

When we use generative AI tools to produce images

All the information we produce is verified, cross-checked

Homemade is good

Colour your collaboration

Message Summary

Idea #1: Encourage shout-outs

Idea #2: Make remote accessibility a priority

Idea #3: Motivate employees to upload photos and expand their intranet profiles

Idea #4: Promote employee-centered news

Idea #5: Host a photo-of-the-day contest

Idea #6: Integrate timesheet software

Idea #7: Add a name pronunciation feature

Idea #8: Celebrate new hires

Idea #9: Post a quiz-of-the-week

Idea #10: Create employee avatars

Idea #11: Feature an employee-of-the-week

Idea #12: Publicize your intranet goals

Idea #13: Keep your headers fresh

Idea #14: Send email newsletters

Idea #15: Gauge employee interests with an intranet poll

Idea #16: Circulate a survey

Idea: 17: Incorporate gamification

Idea #18: Enable audio notifications

Idea #19: Get leadership involved

Idea #20: Play intranet bingo

Idea #21: Get your intranet up on the big screen

Idea #22: Host an intranet drop-in lounge (with snacks!)

Idea #23: Arrange for a no-meeting day

Idea #24: Personalize the intranet home banner

Idea #25: Curate a pet photo gallery

This is only the beginning

There’s a new font in town

Phase 1: INTRANET PRE-LAUNCH

Idea #1: Involve key employees in product evaluation

Idea #2: Encourage employees to offer feedback

Idea #3: Let employees help name your intranet

Idea #4: Send home QR code teasers

Idea #5: Share fun facts from employee profiles

Idea #6: Distribute welcome packages

Idea #7: Give your intranet a strong visual identity

Idea #8: Suggest super users create example profiles

Idea #9: Pre-populate employee profile photos

Idea #10: Set up key groups and locations in advance

Idea #11: Construct a contributor community

Idea #12: Circulate an internal press release

Idea #13: Host a focus group lunch

Idea #14: Display a launch countdown clock

Idea #15: Showcase your brand consistently

Idea #16: Feature your intranet in a town hall meeting

Idea #17: Collect and share feedback

PHASE 2: LAUNCH DAY

Idea #18: Create a launch video

Idea #19: Run an intranet scavenger hunt

Idea #20: Engage remote employees using virtual conferences

Idea #21: Plan your launch around a sporting event

Idea #22: Throw a baby shower!

Idea #23: Hire an influencer

Idea #24: Integrate instant messaging

Idea #25: Make it a form-al event

Are you ready to launch?

[VIDEO] Leading and Laughing In Turbulent Times

Why every intranet needs a pet gallery [adorable photos included]