We constantly hear about the importance of managing our online presence in modern-day business management. Internally, however, another equally beneficial aspect for a business is often overlooked. An intranet is a comprehensive private network system only accessible by an organization’s members. Putting time into the customization of a platform that accomplishes all of your core business needs, such as document management, collaboration and process workflow, can have a large impact on overall performance.
Increased Communication:
Today it is not uncommon to have employees stationed remotely, which can make encouraging communication and trust difficult. Having a well-established intranet system creates a sense of comradery in a modern workplace. Employees can tangibly see the team they contribute to and what role they serve. The social network aspects allow for daily interaction on company goals, shared projects, and corporate culture. Features like integrated instant messengers allow for quick communication between employees as well as decreased travel and meeting times.
Time Efficiency:
From the moment a job listing is posted until retirement, an employee’s life can be made more efficient with a centralized system. Job boards can be posted internally, and notes on applicants shared between departments to make sure the right candidate is selected. Onboarding is easy and consistent, with just one login and system to master. Documents can be quickly distributed and searched for, eliminating siloed departments while retaining security integrity. If an employee leaves the company all of the work they have done is still fully accessible on the server. Document management can be applied externally too, sharing certain folders with suppliers or clients so they can securely access an updated version.
Live Project Tracking:
The ability to track changes and overall progress of projects gives employees a sense of ownership for their work. This helps the company to reward innovative thinking or see who was responsible in the event of a slipup. Task accountability is also a breeze, centralizing to-do lists and meeting notes so nothing gets buried in a string of emails. With time tracking you can keep a running tally of aggregated team hours on a project to automatically update a client’s invoice.
Utilizing an intranet provides a network of transparency but also individuality at every level of the company. However, a willingness for employees to fully embrace the system and some training is still necessary. It is crucial for leadership to set the example highlighting the importance of intranet by fully utilizing the system to get employees on board. Taking the time to correctly implement a system upfront can save a lot of time and money in the long run.
Already purchase a Microsoft 365 subscription for your business? If so, you get the intranet platform SharePoint included. For help setting up or organizing SharePoint or another intranet platform for your business contact the experts at INT.