In an earlier note I was thinking about what’s the definition of an intranet. Now let’s talk about its conditions of success.
The intranet is the represenation of the organization. Let’s consider the case of an enterprise deciding to lower its center of gravity, to put the individual at the first level as an information and value creator. The so said enterprise will have to improve its intranet to make it become what the enterprise chose to be, this space that virtualize relationship between individuals being the only common meeting space for your distant teams.
Necessary conditions ? Yes. Enough ? Non
Because between the strategical reflection and the tool that will be set up, there’s a very important step : you have to consider the management, the organization, the process, the way people are allowed to interact one with another. If all that isn’t conformed to the line of you strategy your strategical project will fail.
No organization can say “let’s become transverse, take into account the specificities of our knowledgeworkers, lower of center of gravity, give autonomy and facilitate initiatives” and set the accurate tools, keeping in the same time a management that make teams work in a post taylorian system, with only top-down communication, without any tolerance toward error wich makes initiative impossible. And you cand add several others examples…
Conclusion: clearly verbalize you strategy, define the way people will be supposed to interact together, set it up and then think about intranet tools.
Because :
– a local project in contradiction with strategy and management will fail.
– an intranet set up due to a strategy but in contradiction with management will very few chance to success.
– a strategy without a tool that will virtualize it is condamned to fail in today and tomorrow’s knowledge enterprises.
Those three points (strategy, management, intranet) are both necessary but are not enough if taken individually. You must consider the “whole pack” and align everything on strategy.
