How good is your Intranet?

An intranet is difficult to evaluate. That’s because intranets are not public and, in general, the companies keep the secret about their intranet.

Also, an intranet is difficult to evaluate because the benchmarks used to evaluate a website don’t apply for intranet or the results are confusing. For example:

Web	Intranet
The number of unique visitors	We already know this number – all the employees who have access to a computer. You’ll have a problem only if the actual number of visitors is significantly lower than the number of employees.
The number of visitors on a particular page	This figure is important but not fundamental. The most popular pages (like pictures from the last teambuilding) are not necessary the most important ones.
Average time spent on site	Again, an important metric, but can leads to misinterpretations. What if an employee open a page and let it open all day in a browser window without reading it? What if the content of a page is too difficult to understand and the employees lose too much time on it?
Page views per visit	Is it the Intranet very interesting? Or maybe the users don’t find what they need immediately (2 or 3 clicks)

If you can’t rely on web metrics, what should you do? There are other ways:

• Measuring the objectives – You should set up objectives for your intranet, in accordance with the business strategy of your company. And these objectives should be S.M.A.R.T. (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Timely). Did you achieve these objectives?
• Periodic audits – An audit is very useful. It uses a set of benchmarks comparing an actual intranet against an ideal one. An audit means results (where you are at this moment), explanations (why are you there?) and recommendations (what should you do to improve the current situation). Developing an intranet is not an “one shot game”. It requires continuous development because the intranet grows with the company and adapts to the needs of the company. That’s why it is strongly recommended to conduct periodic audits (usually once per year).
• Periodic qualitative research – An Intranet is good if it is valued and used by the employees. User satisfaction surveys should be conducted on regular basis.

 So, how good is your intranet? Here are few questions:

• How easy is for an employee to perform his top 10 tasks? Does the intranet properly support him?
• What a new employee supposed to learn during the 1st week? Is all the information readily available?
• Is there a place for all the information regarding a product?
• A VIP whishes a personalized product. Can the sales person easily locate the person who can assist him, the procedure and all the required documents?

How a good Intranet should look like?

• Has S.M.A.R.T. objectives in accordance with the business objectives
• Facilitates collaboration and supports knowledge management
• Has updated, processes and services orientated content
• Reinforces the corporate culture