Intranet managers and money: Talk money in order to get money

September 26, 2008 | Comments (0), | Categories: Business value, Strategy & governance |

Very interesting post by Stephan Schillerwein on the IBF blog following a IBF Global meeting: The recession-proof Intranet.

Stephan lists 3 things any intranet manager should be able to answer about his/her intranet.

I quote:

1. State the current investment level

2. List current Intranet services and deliverables including their benefits to the organisation

3. List additional beneficial intranet services that can be added at low cost to help the organisation improve or cut costs

My own experience is that most intranet managers cannot answer the 3 questions above.

This is confirmed by the 2008 Global Intranet Survey data (collected from June – September 2008). When asked what knowledge areas are important for an intranet manager, the “money related” points were at the bottom of the list: “Finances, return on investment analysis” and “Business cases”.

The full list as rated by the survey participants from high to low:

  • User-centered approach, design
  • Information architecture (structuring information)
  • Organisational dynamics
  • Business and business processes
  • Tools: e.g. search, content management systems
  • Technology trends
  • Needs analysis techniques
  • Business cases
  • Finances, return on investment analysis

I’ve often felt over the past couple of years that the “user first” mentality, which was sorely lacking in the past, has now become too predominant. We risk losing the attention or, more likely, not capturing the attention in the first place of the top management and decision-makers in the organisation.

Their main concerns are business-related. If we cannot related the intranet directly to business (in the large sense of the activity performed by the organisation), we will never get into the conversation.

Granted, the intranet manager role itself is unclear in most organisations. They cannot be all things to all people. But they can make sure that they get someone on their team, or have access to someone in the organisation, who can help them answer the 3 questions above.

(Note: The survey asked 2 questions: the first about “skills” required for intranet managers, and the second about “knowledge areas”. More about the first one later.)

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