Intranet teams have to interact with more and more stakeholders. After all, the intranet supports primary processes and is becoming the source for information provision. It affects every employee, every department and all levels in your organization. And so everyone wants to have a say in content and functionalities. While every strategic choice has an impact on the deployment of people and budget. Agreements on governance are therefore essential. What is 'governance' and what is a sound model for this? And what can we learn from the 10 best intranets of 2011 ?
Governance as a success factor for intranet
What is governance anyway?
“A sound, well-developed plan, and management according to a strict governance model that is supported by a strong senior manager and a strong management team,” says Toby Ward , in the article in which he highlights 2 of the 5 pillars on which you base a good intranet .
But it becomes clearest when you contrast the concept of 'governance' with the concept of 'management' — we quote from the report 'Global Intranet Trends 2011' by Jane McConnell :
'Governance' is the management instrument that sets the framework and defines how strategic goals, decision structures, accountability requirements and procedures to resolve differences of opinion work.
'Management' is about putting governance into practice , using guidelines, rules, procedures, and so on.
A shorter definition is that of Maish Nichani : “Intranet Governance is a framework for managing, supporting and improving the intranet. It aligns people and technology to realize business value.”
Why is governance necessary at all?
Because everyone wants to have their say on content and functionalities. And because every strategic choice has an impact on the deployment of people, resources and budget. Developing and managing your intranet strategy and tools is not a hierarchical process, and therefore the 'normal' hierarchical structures no longer suffice .
Because who values every trend and development – think of mobile internet and apps? Who sets the frameworks and guidelines? And who tests them? How do you manage that process? How do you ensure that the right people work together, across the boundaries of their own discipline (Communication, IT and the business)? And that they decide on the priority and scope of projects in structured, good consultation? In short, a sound governance model is needed.
The basics of intranet governance
3 levels of governance: strategic, tactical and operational
3 levels of governance: strategic, tactical and operational (Source: Sabel Online)
3 levels of governance: strategic, tactical and operational (Source: Sabel Online)
The governance framework should contain agreements at each of these levels. Amanda Broomhall lists singapore phone number list 7 core elements — how much better can it be? — that together form that framework for your intranet (without wanting to be exhaustive). And here too, a clear division can be made into levels.
Strategic
Strategy
Ownership
Tactical
Policy and guidelines
Roles and responsibilities
Dealing with and responding to feedback
Operational
Support
Training
Intranet strategy forms the basis for governance framework
A sound governance model is based on a well-founded strategic foundation. So your intranet strategy, if all goes well, is closely aligned with the strategy and objectives of your company or organization. That is why, when drawing up an intranet strategy, you look for 'hooks' in your business strategy or policy plan: strategic choices around internal communication and process support via information and communication technology . Or you look for points of contact in the more general policy that you can seize.