Subscribe to newsletterDoes your job title reflect the strategy and vision behind your role?
How many times have I heard intranet managers complain that they get phone calls when there are email problems, or there is a problem with a password for a collaborative space or the user cannot get ahold of a document stored in a document management system that is technically separate from the intranet. In fact, it is irrelevant to the user whether or not the intranet team is actually responsible for these things.
All the user knows is that he/she goes to the intranet, clicks on a link, and has a problem. Whether or not the application is fully integrated, just connected via a link, or actually a totally separate functionality that the intranet manager has absolutely nothing to do with, the user experience comes down to “I went to the intranet and I had this problem.”
Intranet managers should be delighted that users consider the intranet the reference point for all things – all things good and bad, of course. This is a sign that the intranet is becoming the single point of entry into the organisations’s internal online tool set. Is your organisation embracing this new mind set? Or are you still organised in “online tool silos”?
The very name of your departement or team or even your job title can be used to reflect the vision your organisation has of the intranet and the intranet landscape. I use the word landscape to mean the intranet and all pieces of the environment in which the intranet exists. This can include email, the employee directory, dedicated portals, document management systems, collaborative spaces and so on. I am including whatever the user perceives as “the intranet”.
While analysing the data and producing the 2006 Global Intranet Report, I observed many different titles. The 2007 Survey participants have an even wider range of titles. Take a look at some of these team and/or job titles, and think about the different images they project and whether or not some of these might be of interest to you.
Of course you cannot completely control the name of your department or team, but you can surely influence it. Maybe some ideas below – all from real people - will inspire you!
“My role is focused on the intranet”
Let’s start with what I call the “Intranet Something” titles. These are the most frequent, and reflect different philosophies and degrees of responsibility
- Intranet Coordinator
- Intranet Manager
- Intranet Leader
- Intranet Gatekeeper
- Intranet Overseer
These five words carry quite different meanings and your choice should be made carefully. It will in part depend on your company culture and the degree to which you are centralised or decentralised, using global processes or not.
Coordinator - a person whose job is to make different things work well together, and must often work through influence rather than direct control
Manager- a person with a team of people and a certain degree of control and direct responsiblity
Leader – a person with vision and the ability to bring others together around this vision
Gatekeeper – a person whose job it is to protect something of value and to ensure that it is well taken care of
Overseer – a person whose role is to supervise people and/or things to make sure all goes well
“I am in charge of content”
Then we have titles that reflect responsibility for content on the intranet.
- Intranet Producer
- Intranet Content Management
- Editorial Webmaster – Internet – Intranet – e-communications
These three titles are different in that:
Producers do the “real” work – the often thankless task of producing and maintaining high quality content
Content management may refer to managing either producers or the whole content provision system (people and tools)
The third title uses the unfortunate word “web master” and although it is preceded by “editorial”, still suggests someone who executes what others create. The extension of “e-communications” to the title raises the level a little, but it still projects a limited level of responsibility.
“We are here to serve”
Another set of titles suggest the intranet is there to serve the organisation, help people do their work, but do not make a direct relationship to the actual business of the organisation
- Director, Intranet Services
- Interactive Communications Manager
- IT Manager: Communication – Collaboration
- Intranet Team, Internal & Change Communications
- Online Communications Officer
- Internet & Intranet Support Team Leader
- Global Intranet Services Manager
- Manager, Enterprise Web Management
“The intranet is important”
Another set suggests importance of the intranet
- Vice President Intranet Services
- Corporate Communications: Program Manager, Intranet Strategy & Production
- Global Intranet Specialist
Having a VP in charge of intranet services, setting up an official program with a person in charge of strategy and production, and have intranet specialists all suggest that the organisations attribute value and importance to the intranet. They recognise the need for expertise, strategy and high level management.
“The intranet brings business value to the organisation”
The following titles go on step further, with an indication of the business value the intranet brings to the organisation
- Internal Web Capability
- Business Consultant | Web Strategy and Marketing
- Intranet Business Analyst
- Business Change Manager – Intranet
“Beyond the intranet”
The final title in my list is the one that reflects a strong vision that goes far beyond the intranet itself.
- Director, Workplace Strategy & Enablement : Total Workplace Experience CoE
This suggests a company that has a strategy for the workplace, wants to enable employees, and has gone so far as to create a center of excellence for the “total workplace experience”. This company is clearly people and user-focused, and considers this concept sufficiently important to build a team of experts around it.
What is your title?
I would love to hear from you, and get your comments on titles, or some new titles to add to my list. The Global Intranet 2007 Survey is still on-going, so drop me a line if you would like to participate.
I’ll publish a list of titles in one of the appendices so we’ll have a global view on titles being used today in the intranet world.
I’d like to remind you quickly of one of the learnings from the 2006 Report, and we will see if it has changed in 2007 as I have repeated the question.
Note that of the 74 % of global intranet teams who do strategic work, only 40% of them are recognised by management for doing so.
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4 Responses to “Does your job title reflect the strategy and vision behind your role?”
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January 23rd, 2008 at 10:19 am
I recognize this problem. My previous title was Corporate intranet webmaster and yes, I got a lot of calls about broken links and such. My current title is Global Business Process Manager Intranet to reflect my role in the project management organisation we use to develop and maintain the corporate intranet. It also reflects the role of the intranet: support business processes.
January 24th, 2008 at 7:13 pm
Thank you Rita for your example. It’s a perfect illustration of what I mean. I hope a lot of intranet managers will be able to make similar changes in their titles. Your example is what I would call a truly major change!
November 5th, 2010 at 10:40 am
Interesting article. I once, as an intranet manager had the fanciful and much peer-mocked title of ‘Global Intranet Webmaster’.
November 6th, 2010 at 6:35 am
Sounds like a role-playing game!