In the historical context of any organization, the intranet can be defined as “The new kid on the block”. If managed properly, the future for the intranets would be very bright indeed.
A lot of intranet mangers nowadays are frustrated with their jobs. And, in my opinion, it is easy to understand why. But we need to be clever, put things in perspective and think long-term as well.
Most organizations have no more than 10 years experience with the Web itself. Intranet understanding is about 5 years behind web understanding. That’s not a long time by any stretch of the imagination.
It can take a large organization and average of 25 years to truly understand and fully digest a major innovation. That is why we can acknowledge that, at most, we are in the middle of the beginning. Nevertheless we have a long way to go in this marathon.
On the other hand we see that the intranet has the power to significantly change the very nature of any organization, especially in these potential fields:
The Virtual World
An effective organization today does not need full-time employees based in a physical location. The intranet (and the Web) can help us organize beyond the traditional organization. The intranet can help quickly connect the right people with the right ideas, tools and content to get the job done.
Breaking down traditions
An effective organization today using intranet must move beyond any particular department or division. As an example: If a manager wants to perform some type of training; the question from an intranet manager’s perspective must be: How can we deliver the right training quickly and easily to the employees?
Making sure that this happens will require the support all the various parts of the organization that supply training (IT, HR, etc). It won’t be simple to work beyond the traditional structures of the organization, but it will be necessary for success.
Measuring success
We need to measure success differently. To change the way organizations measure efficiency, costs and success will not be easy. But it is far from impossible. So you’ve hit a brick wall. Go around it. So nobody is listening. Be patient. Reframe your argument and come back later.
What you need to understand is that nobody is going to organize a ceremony in order to hand you a prize for all your hard work. The intranet is new. It needs to earn respect bit by bit.
If you know you’re doing the right thing then keep doing it, and be prepared to keep doing it for years to come.