10 ways to get you and your intranet set for a productive year

Happy New Year!

We at Intranetizen hope you had a great break and have come back to work in 2014 with a fresh mind, ready to make the best of what work has to throw at you. For the four of us 2013 was a busy year full of some rewarding achievements and frustrating stumbling blocks. We took time away  in December to gain some perspective and are ready to tackle 2014 with renewed enthusiasm. Are you ready to join us?

While you have the motivation, are in the right frame of mind to make changes and while things are still a little quiet in the office there a few little things you can put in place to make sure 2014 is a really successful year for you and your intranet.

Book some time in your diary for important things

1. Make time to check the numbers. Schedule half an hour at the start of each week to look at the metrics for the week before.  Look at what was most popular, what the trends are, if there is anything unusual or unexpected.

2. Ensure you get good feedback on what really matters. Book time in your diary to sit with real users of the intranet.  At least half a day a month, with a different group of people, where you can listen in, ask questions and get a real world view of what is and isn’t working.

3. Book time with the decision makes and influencers. Know your stakeholders, if you haven’t already, book time with each of them on a one to one basis – at least once a quarter – to understand what they care about when it comes to the intranet.

4. Learning time. Finding time to keep up to date with the industry, what other people are doing and generally do some self development is difficult. Start out by booking one full day a month for learning.  You could just use it to read a book, or you could attend a conference or event – but the what isn’t important right now.  Get the time put aside in your diary – you can move it around later.

Set up ‘online you’

5. Get your reading lists and subscriptions tidy. There’s a whole world out there, and a few clicks now can save you days later.  If you haven’t already:

• Subscribe to a few blogs. We have a few suggestions, but pick people or organisations that give you good insight and inspiration
• Get on twitter and start following the #intranet community. We have a list of people to get you started
• Subscribe to this blog by adding your email at the top right of this page or subscribe to our rss feed.

6. Update your own linkedin profile with stuff you have done.  Rather than giving your job title as the first thing people see on your LinkedIn profile, try and make it reflect what you do. Update your past projects and experience to reflect last years achievements. Think about any new skills you have learned.  Look back on your profile can be a great way to give you perspective and help you understand what you want to do this year. Take a look at our article on defining your role in one sentence and add as a pithy description of your role.

Do a direction and alignment check

7. Ask your team and stakeholders what the purpose of the intranet is – get the alignment right. Mis-alignment between what you think you’re trying to do and the business perception of the intranet can be dangerous. Take time out in 2014 to make sure this alignment is in place.

8. Schedule some downtime. Book lunches, think holidays, have fun stuff to look forward to. There’s a world outside intranets. Who knew! Go discover. We know that intranet work is sometimes a struggle. You likely don’t have resources you really need and working with that frustration can take it out of you.  Having time away from all that is important – so make sure you make time for it. Also, lunching and socialising with people outside of your Intranet circle can help broaden your understanding of your organisation and you may find yourself befriending a few people that are great allies for future projects.

9. Pick three things to achieve in the next 3 months. The team at StepTwo challenged us all to define three wins for the first three months in 2013 — a kind of intranet new year resolution. We love that idea, we’ll be doing it, join us: what are your 2014 picks?

10. Re-build your board. Are you surrounded by the right people? Are your digital board the right people to shape the future direction of your intranet or digital workplace? At the start of the year, review them

• Do they have the right skills?
• Are they from the right parts of the business?
• Do they have the time to commit properly?
• Are they suitably visionary?

This is vital governance housekeeping to complete at the beginning of each year.

Implementing these 10 items right now will  ensure you, your team, and your intranet are set in the right direction and mind frame for 2014. We have already started, have you?

We would love to hear from you; your thoughts on our list above, your outlook on 2014 and what you want to achieve in the comments below.