Intranet Governance:
How to Run an Intranet
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Toby Ward, Prescient Digital Media
How to Run an Intranet
Toby Ward
� CEO, Chief Blogger, Prescient Digital Media
� We build highly effective websites & intranets
Clients include:
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Agenda
� Defining governance & ownership
� The four models of governance
� Sample models
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Sample models
� Case study example
� Standards & policies
� Recommendations
� Free Consulting / Open Q&A
Think about…
� Do you have real intranet authority? Do the owners?
� Do groups / units / divisions do what they want or threaten to?
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Governance
Defines the ownership and management model.
� Management team
� Roles & responsibilities
� Decision making process
Policies & standards
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� Policies & standards
Typical website & intranet
� No senior champion
� Middle managers in communications and IT
� Limited budget and power
� No plan or vision
Silos & sprawl lead to user frustration & waste
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� Silos & sprawl lead to user frustration & waste
� Conflict ensues
� Stalls – often for years
C-level Power
� The most successful intranets have c-level champions
� The greatest barrier to success is politics
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Cisco Employee Connection 2004
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The champion
� C-level executive
� The champion should have power and influence
� Understand the value of the website & the potential
� Needs to be involved, but not on a day-to-day
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� Only attend an occasional meeting
Walk the walk
� Change their mindset – talk their talk
� Sell it: show ‘em the money
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Talk the talk
� What does your organization value?
� Success is more than dollars
� Customer/employee satisfaction
� User productivity
Awareness / Message retention
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� Awareness / Message retention
� ROI is more than just hard cost savings
� Productivity benefits
� Time to market
Nexus of Web Success
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Governance planning process
� Input questions into the strategy survey
� Create model based on best client fit
� Tailor as necessary with client before workshop
� Workshop is 2 – 3 hours
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� Introduce the concept
� Show examples
� Show the recommended structure
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The whole business
� The website is not just a tool – it’s the whole business
� Silos kill – no group can operate in isolation
� Employees demand consistency
� Consistent message
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� Consistent navigation
� Consistent interface
Governance Models
� Decentralized (most common in larger orgs.)
� No single owner
� Driven by policies and guidelines
� Organic growth, sometime leading to site sprawl
Centralized (more common in small orgs.)
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� Centralized (more common in small orgs.)
� Single owner (usually department)
� Bureaucratic
� Highly controlled
Governance Models
� Collaborative / Federated
� Executive champion
� Steering Committee / Council
� Decentralized content ownership; centralized platform
� Centralized Hybrid
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� Centralized Hybrid
� Single owner (usually department)
� Bureaucratic
� Highly controlled
Healthcare – Collaborative Governance
CEO
Communications
Committee
Development
Committee
Finance
Hospital
TBD
• Planned Giving
• Annual Fundraising
• Major Giving
• Operations
Hospital
Communications
Internet Council
(Internal & External Participation)
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Editor-in-Chief
(Director of Communications)
Editorial Committee
(Content Owners)
Finance • Operations
Technical
• Depts
Content Authors
• Depts
Financial Services – Centralized Hybrid
AVP, HRAVP, HRAVP, HRAVP, HR
Senior Executive SponsorsSenior Executive SponsorsSenior Executive SponsorsSenior Executive SponsorsSenior Executive SponsorsSenior Executive SponsorsSenior Executive SponsorsSenior Executive Sponsors
Portal LeadPortal LeadPortal LeadPortal LeadPortal LeadPortal LeadPortal LeadPortal Lead
CIOCIOCIOCIO
SVP Human ResourcesSVP Human ResourcesSVP Human ResourcesSVP Human Resources
Dir. of eDir. of eDir. of eDir. of e----BusinessBusinessBusinessBusiness
AVP HR VP CommunicationsHR Coordinator Director E-BusinessOutside Consultant HR Communications Information Technology US Communications
Development & Support Team(s)Development & Support Team(s)Development & Support Team(s)Development & Support Team(s)Development & Support Team(s)Development & Support Team(s)Development & Support Team(s)Development & Support Team(s)
Portal Steering TeamPortal Steering TeamPortal Steering TeamPortal Steering TeamPortal Steering TeamPortal Steering TeamPortal Steering TeamPortal Steering Team
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Dir. of eDir. of eDir. of eDir. of e----BusinessBusinessBusinessBusinessInformation Technology US CommunicationsUS Human Resources
Operations, Development,Operations, Development,Operations, Development,Operations, Development,
IT Support TeamIT Support TeamIT Support TeamIT Support Team
EditorEditorEditorEditor
Content GroupContent GroupContent GroupContent GroupContent GroupContent GroupContent GroupContent Group
Senior Editorial TeamSenior Editorial TeamSenior Editorial TeamSenior Editorial Team
Cross Company Content/Author GroupCross Company Content/Author GroupCross Company Content/Author GroupCross Company Content/Author Group
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Editor-In-Chief
Intranet Council
Co-Champions
CIO & VP
Corporate
Advisory Group
Human Resources
Collaborative Governance Model
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Editor-In-Chief
Editorial Committee
Corporate Communications
Human Resources
Financial Svcs – Centralized Hybrid
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Case Study: Collaborative
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PNC Bank Intranet – Collaborative Model
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Case Study: Centralized Hybrid
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Centralized Hybrid
Editor in ChiefIntranet Advisory
Council
Intranet OwnerIS&T Support
Senior Leadership Champion
Steering Committee
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Content Contributors
Government Services
DiversityHealthcare Services/Laundry
Finance
EducationMarket
CorporateServices
Key Geographies
Content Area Owners
HR
Supply Management
Marketing
Law
IS&T
Sample structure – Centralized Hybrid
� Champion: Chief Operating Officer
� Owner: SVP, Internal Communications
� Steering Committee: Representation from:
� IS&T, HR, Internal Communications, Europe, USA, UK
� Steering Committee members must be representative of the global organization
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global organization
� Editor-in-Chief: Internal Communications
� A “people-centered” approach to design & Info Arch
� Similar structures set up for each geography
Day-to-day Management
� Home page, corporate content and news owned by Editor-In-
Chief
� Training of the content owners done by IS&T
� Content owners adhere to standardization policy and ensure
their content is:
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� Up to date
� Written in web format
� Appropriate for their target audience
� Evolving to meet the growth and needs of the organization
Champion(s)
� Champion will participate in:
� Supporting owner and committee
� Representing intranet to senior executive
� Source of funding
Trouble-shooting and conflict resolution
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� Trouble-shooting and conflict resolution
Owner
� The Owner will:
� Maintain the intranet vision & mandate
� Manage policy development
� Approve project prioritization
� Monitor performance against objectives
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� Monitor performance against objectives
� Allocate resources and budgets
� Ensure that the objectives of the intranet remain in line with
business requirements
� Ensure that agreed policies and good practice guidance are met
Editor In Chief
� Communications individual, to manage day-to-day operations,
content process and policies
� Responsible for home page & core content
� Participates on intranet Steering Committee
� Enforcing Editorial Policy, Standardization Policy, Taxonomy
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� Enforcing Editorial Policy, Standardization Policy, Taxonomy
� Serves as final review and approval on all new sections or sites
� Leads Intranet Advisory Group, drawing from all content
contributors and chaired by Editor
Intranet Steering Committee
� Chaired by Intranet Owner or Champion include divisional communicator’s and President’s Committee reps
� Management participants from across the business
� Bring insight from the global organization
� Discusses policy, evolution of site and drives future enhancements
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� Provides input, reviews and signs off on:
� Intranet plans (e.g. Blueprint, Training Plan, etc.)
� Policies (e.g. Intranet Standardization Policy)
� Troubleshooting
Owners, Authors, Contributors
� Site owners, authors must be documented, trained and versed in
the respective policies
� Key owners and authors could participate in the Advisory Group
� All site owners and authors to “sign-off” on editorial policy
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� Recommended: all site owners and authors take a “Writing for the
Web” course
� Editor in Chief has final review on all new sites or site sections
Site owner – owner or manager of site or section
Author – writes the content on a site or section
Contributor – provides the idea or suggestion for content
Intranet Advisory Council
� Intranet Advisory Council (IAC), using volunteers from focus
groups, to meet quarterly and offer advice and opinions on
direction and evolution, led by Editor in Chief
� Employee representation to be a cross-representation of
employees (not stakeholders), and possibly an outside expert
Representation from Divisions and Corporate
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� Representation from Divisions and Corporate
� Meetings to be conducted quarterly, with a focus on:
� developing and driving content
� navigation/usability testing
IS&T Support Team
� Install, support and maintain new CMS / portal / platform & infrastructure including analytics reporting
� Work with vendors to provide support with respect to hardware/software requirements
� Report to Owner and Intranet Steering Committee any limitations or enhancements available to the new intranet
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enhancements available to the new intranet
� Make recommendations and provide immediate feedback to future intranet enhancements
� Implement and maintain applications
Policies & Standards
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Standards & Policies
• Explicitly defined and documented standards & polices are a
CRITICAL NECESSITY to...
o create a uniform user experience
o protect and secure information and intellectual property
o contain sprawl and reduce associated costs
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o contain sprawl and reduce associated costs
o ensure accuracy and consistency of content
Policies
� Editorial policy defining:
� Content types: front-page news vs. static content
� How content is developed, formatted, presented
� Limitations on technical and graphic elements
� Roles and responsibilities of publishers, editor etc.
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� Roles and responsibilities of publishers, editor etc.
� Standardization Policy
� Compliance details for platform, templates and style guide
� Email Usage Guidelines & Policy
Taxonomy
� Editor-in-Chief to implement a complete corporate taxonomy
guided by business and function need for:
� storing, cataloguing and ‘tagging’ content
� A taxonomy ‘rule book’ in tandem with a new Content Management
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System will ensure effective meta tagging and content
categorization by all publishers
Standards
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Standards
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Policies
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Government of Western Australia
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Government of Western Australia
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Government of Western Australia
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Government of Western Australia
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Government of Western Australia
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Consensus is key
� Make sure supporters & dissidents have a voice & know the model
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Think about…
� Do you have real intranet authority? Do the owners?
� Do groups / units / divisions do what they want or threaten to?
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Your homework
� Create “About this site”
� The owner
� Roles & responsibilities
� Standards
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Reading
� IntranetBlog.com
� Intranet 2.0: Social Media Becomes Mainstream
� www.PrescientDigital.com
Consulting Help
� Governance Workshop
www.PrescientDigital.com
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� www.PrescientDigital.com
www.PrescientDigital.com
www.Prescie
ntDigital.com
Free consulting / Q&A
Toby Ward, President, Prescient Digital Media
www.PrescientDigital.com
www. IntranetBlog.com
www.Twitter.com/TobyWard
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www.Twitter.com/Intranet2
www.Facebook.com (search “Intranet Global Forum”)
416.986.2226