The New Intranet Governance Paradigm: measurable targets

In 2008 I led a large intranet implementation project where the senior sponsors demanded that there be a governance plan developed. But when asked what governance meant, they were mostly interested in making sure that content was updated and that there be some form of oversight to ensure that business units were using the same platform for sharing information. Governance was more about who owns what and making sure everyone plays well with others.

Recently new performance management tools and the economic downturn have brought a new perspective to intranet governance: measurement.

Increasingly the stakes are higher for directors and managers. They are being asked to identify key performance indicators and display their day-to-day, weekly, monthly, quarterly achievements on a performance dashboard. The recession has made this work environment even more pressured. These demands for “the numbers” has focused attention on tools that help teams and organizations communicate and collaborate, such as corporate intranets and/or portals. There is a new expectation for accountability -- read “measurable results”. Intranet implementations are expensive! Between the hardware, software, and services, medium to large organizations are making huge investments in intranets. There should be an ROI on that investment.

As user experience consultants, we could not be happier. If measuring the impact of a well-designed intranet or portal is going to become mainstream, then excellent usability is the new imperative.

Are you looking to reduce employee churn, improve customer satisfaction, or increase productivity? A user-centered design based on solid research data will provide a rationale and baseline for future measurement. So bring on the targets!