Governance and Management Best Practices

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Governance and Management Best Practices
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bet | 4/39 | Sana | 01.04.2017 | Hajmi | 240,5 Kb. | | #2750 |
4.4Governance and Management Best Practices
DHS has projects in place or planned to address web governance, standards and management. Therefore this section of the document presents general intranet governance and management best practices.
4.4.1Ensure adequate resourcing
It is crucial to the ongoing success of an intranet, that intranet teams are treated and funded at the level of other vital business tools and projects. A successful intranet needs the appropriate staff and resources so they can research, develop and produce.
In his “Managing the Intranet and Teams” report, Jakob Nielsen’s research has calculated that the average size for a core intranet team is five people. As a percentage of an organisation’s total employees, the average proportion of people with responsibilities for the intranet is 0.27% (for an organisation the size of DHS - approximately 12,500 staff - this equates to 33 staff). Some of these team members had other job responsibilities as well; team members often worked only part-time on their intranet. Nielsen asserts that “this is a small number given that intranets are a majority productivity and communication tool for organisations”.
The group the intranet reports to can make a statement and help reflect the intranet’s role in an organisation. For example, when a team resides within Knowledge Management and Human Resources, the emphasis is on the intranet as a tool for managing information. When the intranet team is grouped with other web teams, it emphasises the intranet as a medium of information delivery.
4.4.3Intranet team skills
Including people with development, IT, usability, design, writing, editing and management skills within the intranet team will help to ensure the intranet can grow and respond to the needs of an organisation while retaining quality. Within intranet teams, individuals often fulfil several roles. For instance, one designer might take on the user interface as well as the design, while other individuals might be responsible for both content management and site development.
4.4.4Upper-level management involvement
Nielsen has found 49 that on many occasions, intranet designers said that people above them in the organisation, such as vice presidents, told them to add certain elements to the intranet. Sometimes, this meant dedicating a large part of the homepage to a particular activity, or giving more space and weight to certain group’s intranet section. Often, these changes didn’t fit well with the rest of the design and metaphors, but the designers were nonetheless compelled to make the changes.
Upper-level managers probably have good goals in mind, but they are usually not designers and are rarely involved in the overall design process. Management should communicate the intranet’s goals and key themes, and then give designers the flexibility they need to derive a simple interface that communicates them.
4.4.5Promote the intranet
Like any product, it is important to sufficiently promote an intranet to help ensure its success. Promoting the intranet can help employees learn more about the site and use it more effectively. It’s essential to let employees know when improvements have been made, or new features added, or when the team is working on a redesign.
Nielsen suggestions for promoting an intranet include:
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Have the intranet included in new staff orientation. Often new employees have no formal introduction to the intranet. Of course, a good intranet should not require training in order to use it. The goals of introducing new employees to the intranet is to tell them what’s on the intranet, so they’re encouraged to explore it. The aim is not to teach them how to use specific tools, but instead to give them a quick introduction to key areas of the intranet. Keep the introduction brief; new employees are always overwhelmed with paperwork and learning about their new environment.
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Conduct a “treasure hunt” on the intranet. To help employees’ exploration of the intranet, some organisations conduct an intranet “treasure hunt”. This involves asking users to look for pieces of information, such as tools, policy information, or the company’s mission or values. This introduces the content to users and also makes them explore news areas of the intranet and might help them understand the site structure and content more clearly. Sometime this is run as a type of competition with a prize or some other recognition awarded to a winner.
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Communicate large, impending intranet changes. Even very good intranet changes can be confusing and frustrating to users when they have already learned how to use a different design. People tend to be resistant to change, particularly if they’ve created workarounds to help them work with the previous site. Warn staff when major changes are coming. Sites can offer previews of the changes before they are live. Once the changes are implemented, allow the intranet team time to commit to answering feedback and queries for a period after the implementation.
5.Appendix 5.1Research conducted
Below is a list of online and offline resources consulted in the creation of this document.
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Understanding and Studying Users (Test Data, User Behavior, and Methodology), volume 1
Intranet Usability Guidelines
Jakob Nielsen, published 2007
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Address, Access, Homepage, Personalization, and Promotion, volume 2
Intranet Usability Guidelines
Jakob Nielsen, published 2007
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Forms, Procedures, and Policies, volume 3
Intranet Usability Guidelines
Jakob Nielsen, published 2007
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Communications (Including News and Newsletters), volume 4
Intranet Usability Guidelines
Jakob Nielsen, published 2007
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Corporate Information, Teams, Departments, and People, volume 5
Intranet Usability Guidelines
Jakob Nielsen, published 2007
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Searching the Intranet and the Employee Directory, volume 6
Intranet Usability Guidelines
Jakob Nielsen, published 2007
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Navigation, Layout, and Text, volume 7
Intranet Usability Guidelines
Jakob Nielsen, published 2007
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Content Management and International Intranets, volume 8
Intranet Usability Guidelines
Jakob Nielsen, published 2007
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Managing the Intranet and Teams, volume 9
Intranet Usability Guidelines
Jakob Nielsen, published 2007
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Killer Apps (features that drive people to the intranet), volume 10
Intranet Usability Guidelines
Jakob Nielsen, published 2007
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Intranets: what staff really want
Gerry McGovern Consulting, published July 2007
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The Good to Great Matrix: Key factors for Intranet Success
Toby Ward, published March 2008
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The Difference Between Intranet and Internet Design
Jakob Nieslon, published September 1997
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/9709b.html
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Worlds apart: intranets and websites
James Robertson, published March 2003
http://www.steptwo.com.au/papers/kmc_intranetvsweb
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Better Practice Checklist - 14. Designing and Managing an Intranet
Australian Government Management Office, published May 2004
http://www.finance.gov.au/e-government/better-practice-and-collaboration/better-practice-checklists/intranet.html
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Intranet vs Internet Search
Toby Ward, published September 2005
http://intranetblog.blogware.com/blog/_archives/2005/9/8/1207102.html
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Intranet personalization: does it work?
Gerry McGovern, published September 2007
http://www.gerrymcgovern.com/nt/2007/nt-2007-09-10-intranet-personalization.htm
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Intranet Video
Sam Marshall, published October 2007
http://www.intranetlife.com/intranet_benchmarking_for/2007/10/intranet-video.html
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Employee Directory Search: Resolving Conflicting Usability Guidelines
Jakob Nielsen, published February 2003
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20030224.html
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Why intranet search fails
Gerry McGovern, published December 2006
http://www.gerrymcgovern.com/nt/2006/nt-2006-12-04-intranet-search.htm
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Intranet Innovations 2008 – Intranet Innovation Awards
Step Two Designs
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Key Issues for Enterprise Portals
David Gootzit, published 2008
Gartner
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Key Issues for Portals, Content Management and Collaboration Best Practices Projects
Kenneth Chin, David Gootzit, Jeffrey Mann, published 2008
Gartner
Copyright State Government of Victoria
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reprinted, reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing from the Department of Human Services (DHS)
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