1.  Internet and Intranet: The Difference Is…

            There’s the Internet and the Intranet.    An Intranet is, in effect, a private Internet. While the Internet can be thought of as the World Wide Web, think of the Intranet as the organization Wide Web.

            Even when Intranet users have access to the Internet, Internet users do not have access to the Intranet. The Intranet is a closed system. In effect, it is a private library, or club, that only members can access.

            Unlike e-mail, which can be easily erased and ignored, or printed material which can quickly become out of date, Intranet sites are more permanent—and easily updated—and can be an effective way to publish information that employees need to have regular access to, such as price lists, technical specifications, inventories, schedules, internal directories, policies and procedures, and so on.

            Intranet sites can result in reduced operating costs, a major reduction in paperwork, and can lead to better and improved beneficiary service, and faster and better access to up-to-date information.

            However, nothing online—even on an Intranet—is ever completely secure. There are practical limits to the types of information that can safely be stored there. There can also be problems of hackers both outside and inside the organizational structure.

2.  Look Behind the Technology

            One problem with technology is that at times we can get so involved with the hardware and software, or so fascinated or intimidated by it, we forget about the process that was used to get it there, and that keeps it operating. And the reasons for using it.

            Producing an Intranet site is like publishing a book. It needs content and a way to bring that content to the readers. As a result, it needs writers, photographers, editors, and graphic designers to produce the content, and computer programmers, software designers and experts to put it all online in a way that is easy to access and use. In more and more cases today editors and graphic designers are also software designers and programmers. Those skilled in paper publishing are learning the skills needed for electronic or e-publishing, and vice-versa.  They are not always that different.

            Web designers, for example, often use HTML (Hypertext Markup Language), or some other similar system, such as SHTML (Smart Hypertext Markup Language). These are the “codes” or “symbols” that tell the computer what various elements need to look like when they are published on the “screen”—size, type font, spacing, etc. HTML, SHTML and all the other coding systems are just the electronic equivalent of the old proofreaders’ “symbols” or “codes” that were used to tell typesetters what various elements needed to look like when published on paper—size, type font, spacing, etc.

            The key point to remember is that while the technology is important, without content, it is little more than publishing a book filled with blank pages, or one with some pages printed sideways and others in unrecognizable writing.

3.  Intranets as Communication Centers

            The time involved in actually writing something is often negligible compared to the time involved in actually getting it published and distributed so that employees can read and use the information.

             This is one of the greatest timesaving attributes of the Intranet.

            Let’s say that you are putting out a new procedures manual and radically changing the way that specific problems are to be handled. It’s a big job, and the manual will run to more than 100 pages.

            If this had to be printed, it would have to go to a printer or the duplication department. Once the copies were actually produced, they would then have to be distributed. In some cases this could mean shipping heavy documents across the city, the country, or the globe.

            At some point you would also have to tell employees that a new procedure is being introduced and that at a specific time, the old procedure is to be dropped. Once it is introduced, people will have to become familiar with it.

            The biggest advantage that an Intranet offers is that as soon as the copy is “printed,” it is online. “Distribution” is automatic. Instead of getting 50, 500 or 5,000 copies out to the employees who need it, they have access to it as soon as they switch to the appropriate page on the Intranet. Should a mistake be discovered on page 39, it has to be fixed only once—on the Intranet. There is no need to send out addendums to be pasted into a paper booklet or loose-leaf binder. And it generally allows for greater search capacities—something that is more difficult with printed materials.

            To let people know that it is on the Intranet, all you have to do is send everyone an e-mail.

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4.  F.A.Q. Facts

            If you have 50 new employees you will have 50 people asking many of the same questions—over and over again. If they are all hired and go through orientation together, this is not a major problem. The questions will all be asked once, and the employees can learn from the questions of others.

            However, what happens when the new employees come in one or two at a time, over a period of several months, of when people forget the answers to the questions they have already learned as well as where to find them? All of those questions will still need to be answered.

            For years organizations handed out “Welcome to the organization” booklets filled with all the information that new employees needed and the answers to their most common questions. These booklets had to be reprinted on a regular basis. When changes were made in the organizational structure, procedures, or in top management or the chain of command, unused copies had to be collected and destroyed and new editions published.

            New employees are not the only ones with questions. What are the 10 most common questions employees ask in your department? What about other departments? What common questions do the employees in your department ask other departments?

            Establishing a F.A.Q. (Frequently Asked Questions) page—or pages—on your Intranet site will save countless hours spent answering routine questions.

            F.A.Q.s have the added advantage of giving employees the answers to questions they may be embarrassed to ask because they feel that they “should already know” the answers.

            Some people would rather make mistakes than admit that they don’t know how to do something. By putting the answers on the Intranet they can “get” information without being seen “asking” for it.

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5.  What Goes on the Intranet?

            Intranet sites do not fill themselves. Leaving the decision about what to fill them with to someone else is like leaving the decision about what books to print—and how many copies, in what languages, and with what art or illustrations—to the printer.

            Since you know what your in-house computer capabilities are, you can make sure that nothing on the Intranet will overwhelm your in-house systems.

            To figure out what to put on your Intranet site, you first have to decide what information your employees need to know. After all, this is for employees, not beneficiaries. Since your employees may also be your beneficiaries, however, you might want to include easy—or easier—access to the beneficiary information that you make available to the general public on your organization Internet site.

            While many Intranets are hard wired so that they can only be accessed from inside organization buildings, some have special access capabilities for sales staff or others who regularly work outside of the office.

            Here’s a list of what many organizations have on their Intranet sites:

·        Mission statement;

·        Goals and achievements;

·        Products and services;

·        organization history;

·        Directory of top management, including biographies sketches;

·        Internal organization news—events of internal interest and organization calendar;

·        Archives of organization newsletters;

·        Pictures and biographical sketches of “employees of the month,” “salesperson of the month,” or winners of other similar in-house recognition;

·        Current organization news—copies of news releases sent to the media, as well as copies of newspaper or magazine print articles about the organization, as well as audio or video clips of radio and TV news broadcasts about the organization;

·        Archives of old organization news releases and stories about the organization;

·        Chain of command, organizational structure, and organizational chart;

·        Explanations of what the different divisions, departments, teams, and sections do and are responsible for;

·        organization and Intranet directories;

·        Physical locations and addresses of branch offices and departments, including regular mail and interoffice mail addresses, plus external and internal phone numbers and extensions and any special dialing instructions for calling from one office to another, especially if they are in different regions or countries;

·        Policies and procedures;

·        F.A.Q.

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7.  Getting More Out of Your Intranet Site

            The amount of material you can have on your Intranet site is basically limited only by the size of your hard drive—and in today’s world of inexpensive memory that is a minor limitation—which is why and increasing number of organizations are expanding their sites and making them more inclusive. Here are five items that could make your Intranet site more useful and popular, boost morale and increase productivity by improving in-house communication:

1]         A monthly newsletter 

We looked at newsletters earlier in this course. As we said, they can be published online. Even if the organization newsletter is separate, there is still a lot to be said for having a separate Intranet newsletter as well. It keeps the users in touch with the Intranet, and with any changes being made to the system. It can contain hypertext links to various sites on either the organization Intranet or the Internet. You can even include electronic copies and archives of the “regular” organization newsletter and even any external publications you produce for action sponsors/beneficiaries and beneficiaries.

2]         Feedback

You don’t know if you’ve communicated something successfully until you get some sort of feedback showing how the message was received. Feedback is even more important online. One way to find out if your site is doing its job is to ask for comments. A good way to get those comments is to put them in the form of regular polls. Polls attract users and feedback. The users also check the poll results to see what others have to say on the same topic. You could even give users the option to be put on an automatic mailing list for poll results.

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3]         Get Bookmarked
If you have a useful site, the easiest way to guarantee that it gets used often is to ask your users to bookmark it. While we all know that we can bookmark a site, sometimes we forget. So just ask your users to do so. A simple “Bookmark this page now!” message could generate more visits, get users on to a specific page more quickly, and reduce the amount of time employees have to spend online.

4]         Stay Current

A organization’s Intranet site should become the organization’s cyber gathering place—where employees go to find out what is new, and where they look for information and answers in times of change and uncertainty. As a result, it needs to be more than merely “current.” It has to be on top of things. It should serve the same function as TV does in times of breaking news—the one place to go for accurate information.

5]         Add a Discussion Board or Chat Room

A discussion board or chat room will give your users a forum for expressing their opinions and networking with other users. Think of it as a lounge or “commons,” a place where users can gather to share ideas, exchange tips, post questions, and find other people with similar problems, concerns and interests. It also offers you a level of feedback that is hard to achieve otherwise.

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9.  Intranet Myths

            There are a number of myths and misconceptions surrounding the intranet. Here are three of them from the Complete Intranet Resource at http://www.intrack.com:

1]         Intranets are for BIG organizations

Not really. Even if your organization has a handful of employees, you could use an Intranet to your advantage. The success of an Intranet depends on the cost savings and increase in productivity. Smaller organizations may find it easier to cut through red tape and use Intranet technology right away.

2]         Build It And they Will Come

Many Intranet projects don't take off as expected, sometimes for the simple reason that people don't know or remember it’s there. Use promotional techniques to get people to visit your intranet, and to get them to keep coming back.

a.       Request the help of your marketing department and use their expertise.

b.      Promote your Intranet through management. Have them mention it at all meetings and with all correspondence.

c.       Hold an "Intranet day." Give away prizes. Make a banner with your URL.

d.      Update your content regularly with useful information. Add local news, weather, news releases, etc.

3]         They’re Just Another Fad

Intranets are here to stay. We will see variations of Intranet technology over time and we will also see this technology evolve, but it is definitely here to stay.

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