Improving Internal Communication with Intranet: Do's and Don'ts

Improving internal communication is essential for enhancing collaboration, productivity, and workforce connectivity. An effective internal communication intranet helps achieve this by streamlining information sharing, providing easy access to resources, and keeping employees informed with company updates.

This blog outlines key do’s and don’ts for optimizing your internal communication intranet. It provides best practices to enhance engagement, collaboration, and communication across your organization.

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Key Takeaways:

An internal communication intranet centralizes communication, collaboration, and information sharing for improved efficiency.
Focus on keeping content relevant, engaging, and regularly updated to drive employee engagement.
Address challenges like resistance to change, access, and training during intranet implementation.
Measure intranet success with feedback, measurable goals, and user engagement data.
Future intranets will integrate advanced technologies, support hybrid work, and adapt to evolving organizational needs.

Do's of Using Intranet for Internal Communication

To make the most of your intranet for internal communication, focus on keeping content relevant, engaging, and easily accessible. Ensure regular updates and encourage active employee participation through feedback tools. Prioritize a user-friendly design and mobile accessibility to increase overall engagement and ease of use.

Let’s explore the essential do’s of using your intranet effectively.

1. Keep Content Engaging and Relevant

Content is the heartbeat of any internal communication intranet. But if it’s not engaging or relevant, employees will quickly lose interest.

Focus on providing fresh, timely updates, and content that speaks directly to your employees’ needs. Whether it's company news, updates on ongoing projects, or industry insights, make it useful.

Real-World Example: Salesforce does a great job of posting company-wide updates and celebrating team achievements on their intranet. This keeps their employees not only informed but also motivated.

To make the experience more interactive, incorporate polls, surveys, and comment sections. This allows employees to engage with the content, provide feedback, and share opinions—leading to a more dynamic, engaging platform.

2. Encourage Feedback and Participation from Employees

An intranet shouldn’t be a one-way street. It's important to actively encourage employees to participate and give feedback. The more involved they are, the more they’ll engage with the platform.

Real-World Example: American Express uses their intranet to create open feedback loops where employees can comment on posts. This fosters two-way communication and strengthens the sense of community.

Implement easy-to-use feedback tools like comment sections, surveys, or direct messaging to managers. By acting on feedback, you show employees that their opinions matter, making them more likely to engage with the intranet consistently.

3. Regularly Update the Intranet with Fresh Content

A stale intranet is a forgotten one. For your internal communication intranet to remain useful, you need to keep the content fresh and up-to-date.

Pro Tip: Regular updates, whether it’s about company policies, employee achievements, or new projects, help maintain interest.
Real-World Example: Many companies use their intranet to announce internal job openings, helping employees see potential career growth opportunities within the company. Google does this effectively, sharing updates about new initiatives and internal events, keeping content exciting and relevant.

Set a regular schedule to refresh content and assign a team to keep the information current. An intranet filled with new content will be something employees will check daily.

4. Implement a User-Friendly Design and Navigation

If employees can’t find what they’re looking for, they won’t use the intranet. A clean, intuitive design is critical. The easier it is to navigate, the more effective the platform will be.

Pro Tip: Ensure your intranet has a simple layout with clear, logical categories and powerful search functionality. Make it easy for employees to access the information they need without getting frustrated.
Real-World Example: Microsoft’s intranet is known for its intuitive design. Employees can easily locate resources, and the platform is customized based on their roles, making it efficient and user-friendly.

Consider offering customization options so that employees can personalize their intranet dashboard based on their needs and interests. This added flexibility increases the likelihood they’ll engage with the platform regularly.

5. Prioritize Mobile Accessibility and Responsiveness

Today’s workforce is always on the move, and your intranet should be accessible on any device. If employees can’t access the platform on their mobile phones, they’ll miss out on important information.

Pro Tip: Make sure your internal communication intranet is responsive and fully functional on both desktop and mobile devices.
Real-World Example: Zappos offers a mobile-friendly intranet that allows employees to check updates, participate in discussions, and stay connected no matter where they are—whether at home, traveling, or on the go.

Mobile accessibility ensures that your team can engage with the intranet whenever and wherever they need to, enhancing communication and collaboration across the board.

Want to improve communication with real-time notifications? Send instant SMS alerts to your team, ensuring everyone stays informed and can respond swiftly to important updates or emergencies. Book a free demo today!

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Also Read: 5 Steps for Creating a Successful Internal Communication Strategy

Content Management Best Practices

Effective content management is crucial for maintaining an organized, engaging, and efficient internal communication intranet. To ensure your intranet remains useful, focus on keeping content current, well-organized, and easily accessible. Implement clear categorization, use multimedia to enhance engagement, and maintain consistent branding across all pages.

Following are the best practices to optimize your content management strategy.

1. Consistent Branding Across All Intranet Pages

Your internal communication intranet should reflect your company’s brand. By maintaining consistent branding across all pages, you reinforce your company’s identity and culture. This creates a unified experience, helping employees feel more connected and engaged.

Why it works: Consistent branding ensures your employees always recognize the platform as a legitimate part of the company. It helps them relate to the content and establishes trust.
Pro Tip: Use the company’s logo, color palette, and fonts consistently across every page. This gives the intranet a professional, cohesive feel, making it easier for employees to navigate and engage.
Real-World Example: IBM has successfully implemented consistent branding in their intranet, making it feel like a seamless part of the company culture. Employees instantly connect with the platform because of its familiar design elements.

2. Use of Multimedia to Enhance Communication

Text-heavy communication can be tedious and often fails to capture employees' attention. Adding multimedia like images, videos, and infographics not only makes your content more engaging but also improves comprehension.

Why it works: Visual content is easier to digest and often more memorable than text. It can simplify complex ideas and communicate them more effectively.
Pro Tip: Embed video tutorials or short explainer clips in place of written content to ensure the information is more accessible and engaging. Videos can also help highlight company culture and employee success stories.
Real-World Example: Nike uses videos on their intranet to introduce new products and explain company initiatives. Employees are more likely to engage with these multimedia pieces than traditional text-heavy updates.

3. Classification and Organization of Information for Easy Retrieval

A cluttered intranet will frustrate employees. Information must be organized in a way that makes sense for those using it. Categorize your content logically—by department, project, or urgency—to make it easier for employees to find what they need quickly.

Why it works: Clear categorization reduces time spent searching for information and minimizes confusion. It also enhances productivity by ensuring employees can access resources without unnecessary delays.
Pro Tip: Use specific, easy-to-understand tags for categorization. Consider organizing resources by teams, roles, or projects to make them more intuitive.
Real-World Example: HubSpot organizes their intranet into categories such as “Marketing,” “Sales,” and “HR,” making it simple for employees to locate relevant resources quickly. This structure encourages frequent use and engagement with the platform.

Also Read: 7 Best Mobile Workforce Management Software Solutions

Don'ts of Intranet Use for Internal Communication

When using an intranet for internal communication, it's crucial to avoid common pitfalls that can hinder efficiency and engagement. These include overwhelming employees with excessive information, neglecting security, and using outdated or irrelevant content.

Below are some of the key mistakes to avoid, ensuring your intranet remains an effective, secure, and engaging tool for your team.

1. Avoid Information Overload

It's easy to think that more information means better communication. However, bombarding your employees with excessive information leads to confusion and a lack of focus.

For instance, when your employees are overloaded with too much content, important updates get lost in the shuffle. The purpose of an internal communication intranet is to streamline information flow, not drown employees in unnecessary details.

Limit the number of updates each day or week.
Prioritize important news and documents, making it clear what needs immediate attention.
Use clear headings and bullet points to make reading faster and more digestible.

By refining your content and cutting back on non-essential updates, you help your employees stay focused on what truly matters.

2. Do Not Neglect Security and Data Protection

Security should always be a top priority when managing an internal communication intranet. Failing to adequately protect sensitive company data opens the door for cyberattacks and data breaches, which could devastate your business operations.

When setting up your intranet, ensure:

Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is required for access.
Data encryption protocols are in place, both for storage and transit.
Roles and permissions are clearly defined to limit access to sensitive data.

Data breaches are expensive, and once lost, trust is hard to regain. Secure your intranet, and you will safeguard not just information but the integrity of your business.

3. Refrain from Using Outdated or Irrelevant Content

An internal communication intranet serves as a central hub for your team to stay connected and informed. If the content is outdated or no longer relevant, employees will lose trust in the system, which impacts overall engagement.

Old files, obsolete company announcements, or information about past projects can clutter the system and confuse your employees. To avoid this:

Regularly update your content and archive old documents that are no longer necessary.
Ensure that news and policy changes are clearly marked and up-to-date.
Remove irrelevant content promptly to avoid confusion and maintain clarity.

This ensures that your internal communication intranet is a trustworthy resource for timely, relevant information.

4. Avoid Complex Designs That Hinder Usability

A sophisticated design may look appealing, but it often leads to poor user experience (UX). When designing your internal communication intranet, you need to prioritize simplicity and functionality. A complex or overly flashy design can distract employees from finding the information they need.

To make your intranet user-friendly:

Keep navigation simple, with a clear menu structure and labeled categories.
Use intuitive icons and language to guide employees to the right resources.
Avoid cluttering the interface with excessive images, animations, or pop-ups.

A clean, simple design is more than just aesthetic – it’s a vital factor that ensures your team can easily access the information they need without unnecessary hurdles.

Also Read: Top 13 Internal Communication Tools for Your Company Teams

Addressing Challenges in Implementing Intranet Solutions

Implementing an internal communication intranet can streamline business operations, but it comes with its own set of challenges. These hurdles can create friction in adoption and impact overall effectiveness if not addressed properly.

Let's examine how to overcome these obstacles and ensure your intranet works smoothly from the get-go.

1. Overcoming Resistance to Change

The introduction of a new internal communication intranet system often meets resistance, especially in companies with established ways of working. Employees may be skeptical about adopting a new system, fearing it will disrupt their workflow or add to their already heavy workload.

To overcome this, start by:

Communicating the Benefits: Ensure employees understand how the new system will directly benefit them, such as simplifying communication and streamlining collaboration.
Involving Key Stakeholders Early: Involve department heads or influential team members in the planning and pilot phases. This helps spread a positive message and encourages others to follow suit.
Gradual Rollout: Rather than launching the intranet system to everyone all at once, opt for a phased rollout. This allows employees to adjust and reduces anxiety surrounding the change.

Ultimately, the key to overcoming resistance lies in creating trust through clear communication and demonstrating the value of the new system.

2. Ensuring Equitable Access for All Employees

One of the most pressing challenges when rolling out an internal communication intranet is ensuring all employees have equal access. This can be particularly difficult for companies with remote, hybrid, or on-site teams that may not have consistent access to the same resources.

Consider the following strategies:

Mobile-Friendly Design: Ensure your intranet is optimized for both desktop and mobile devices. This is particularly important for employees who may not have regular access to a computer but rely on their phones for updates.
Multiple Access Points: Employees should be able to access the intranet from a variety of locations and devices. Consider remote access options, like VPNs or cloud-based systems, for employees working from different locations.
Training on Access Tools: Offer training to ensure that all employees are comfortable with the platform, especially if it requires different tools or permissions.

By removing barriers to access, you create a system that all employees can rely on to stay informed and engaged.

3. Providing Adequate Training and Support

The success of an internal communication intranet hinges on how well your employees can use it. Implementing the system is only half the battle; the real challenge lies in ensuring that your employees know how to use it efficiently and effectively.

Here’s how you can provide the necessary training and support:

Comprehensive Onboarding: Offer structured training sessions for employees when the intranet is first launched. Use tutorials and guides to walk them through the system’s features.
Ongoing Support Channels: Create a dedicated support team that employees can contact for help. Having someone to turn to for issues ensures that problems don’t escalate and affect productivity.
User-Centric FAQs and Documentation: Provide self-service resources like FAQs and user manuals. These can help employees quickly troubleshoot minor issues without needing to reach out for help.

Training doesn’t stop after the initial launch. Consistently updating training materials and offering refresher courses will keep employees engaged and ensure they’re using the system to its full potential.

Also Read: 5 Steps for Creating a Successful Internal Communication Strategy

Measuring the Success of Intranet Communication Strategies

To ensure your internal communication intranet is achieving its intended goals, you need to measure its effectiveness regularly. Without proper measurement, it’s impossible to know if the strategy is working or where improvements are necessary.

Let’s break down the key methods to assess the success of your internal communication intranet and adapt it for optimal performance.

1. Utilizing Feedback Mechanisms for Continuous Improvement

Your employees’ feedback is a goldmine for improving the internal communication intranet. Listening to how they use the system, what works for them, and what doesn’t will provide invaluable insights for refining your strategy.

To effectively gather feedback:

Surveys and Polls: Regularly send out short, targeted surveys asking employees about their experience with the intranet. Keep the questions specific and actionable to gather detailed insights.
Focus Groups: Gather a small group of employees who actively use the system and ask them for in-depth feedback. This can help uncover problems that may not be obvious in larger surveys.
Open Feedback Channels: Set up a dedicated email or form where employees can leave comments or suggestions for improvement.

It’s important to not only collect feedback but also act on it. Employees should feel that their input results in tangible changes. This not only improves the system but increases engagement with the intranet.

2. Setting Measurable Goals and Objectives

Without clear goals, you won’t know if your internal communication intranet is meeting its purpose. Establish specific, measurable objectives to guide the success of your communication strategy.

To set actionable goals:

Define Key Performance Indicators (KPIs): These could include user adoption rates, frequency of intranet use, or the time it takes employees to find information. Tracking these metrics over time gives you a clear picture of performance.
Set Engagement Targets: Aim for specific engagement benchmarks, such as a certain percentage of employees accessing the intranet daily or interacting with particular features like forums or document sharing.
Link Goals to Business Outcomes: Connect the success of the intranet to broader business goals, such as improving collaboration between departments or increasing the speed at which employees complete tasks.

By setting measurable goals, you can pinpoint exactly what’s working and adjust your strategy when things aren’t progressing as planned.

3. Analyzing User Engagement Data to Inform Future Strategies

User engagement data is a powerful tool to understand how your internal communication intranet is being used and where it can be improved. If your intranet isn’t seeing much engagement, it could signal that employees aren’t finding it useful, or there’s friction in accessing or navigating it.

To track engagement effectively:

Monitor Login Frequency: Track how often employees log into the intranet and how long they stay. If login rates are low, it may indicate that employees aren’t finding the platform valuable or easy to use.
Content Interaction: Look at how employees engage with specific content, such as documents, news posts, or collaboration tools. If certain areas are underutilized, it could point to a need for better communication or training.
Feedback Loops: Regularly cross-reference engagement data with the feedback you collect. This helps you understand why users may be interacting with the intranet (or not) and how to make improvements.

Data-driven decisions are crucial for optimizing your intranet and making it more aligned with the needs of your team. Regularly analyzing engagement will help you adjust features, content, and access to increase efficiency.

Conclusion

An optimized internal communication intranet boosts collaboration, productivity, and engagement. Keep content fresh and relevant, encourage employee feedback, and prioritize a user-friendly, mobile-accessible design. Regular updates and secure access ensure your intranet remains a valuable communication tool, enhancing business efficiency.

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FAQs

Q. How often should I audit the content on my internal communication intranet?
A. A full content audit should be conducted at least quarterly. This helps identify outdated materials, broken links, or unused sections and ensures that the intranet remains relevant, accurate, and valuable for employees across all departments.

Q. Can gamification improve usage of an internal communication intranet?
A. Yes, incorporating gamification—like leaderboards, achievement badges, or participation points—can increase user engagement by making routine interactions more rewarding and enjoyable. It’s especially effective in encouraging knowledge sharing and participation in discussions.

Q. What role do department champions play in intranet success?
A. Department champions act as intranet advocates within their teams. They help promote features, encourage usage, gather localized feedback, and provide training support. Their involvement boosts adoption and bridges gaps between departments and administrators.

Q. How can I tailor the intranet experience for different employee roles?
A. Use role-based customization to display content and tools relevant to specific departments or job functions. This ensures employees see what matters most to them, reducing clutter and improving usability across the board.

Q. What’s the best way to handle announcements across time zones?
A. Schedule announcements based on users’ local time zones and use pinned posts or digest emails to ensure visibility. This guarantees that important updates aren’t missed and helps maintain consistent communication across global teams.