Managing information — Internal

Electronic tools are increasingly used to help governmental units manage the vast amount of information that exists beyond customer records. Personnel manuals, federal guidelines, specifications and bid documents, inventories, contracts, and archives of news releases are examples of material that can benefit from electronic storage. Access through a content management system can make research and retrieval of information easy and fast.

Helpful tools

Many employees are accomplished at finding products and information on the World Wide Web. There is a growing acknowledgement that we can transfer that knowledge to the workplace. Since browser-based environments are familiar to today’s workforce, they can successfully be used to find information through intranets. Intranets are internal websites.

Well organized and managed information can reduce the feeling that many workers have of being overwhelmed by the sheer volume of it. A good content management system can make an intranet an invaluable resource.

If organized in a manner that is understandable to users, information can be available within seconds. The intranet can also be used to communicate with employees… for everything from emergency notification to a reference collection of news clips. Content management systems are available as commercial software or can be built to order.

Processes and policies

Content management programs are used to decentralize the development and maintenance of content on the website. Work flows can be established so that one person creates content, another approves it, a third edits and finally it is published. The work flow process allows for just a couple of steps or a long chain of approvals.

Work flow processes create a “to do” list for each member of the approval team. It is possible for any member of the team to check on the progress of work.

Content can be created when an employee has time available and scheduled to automatically publish at a certain day and time. It can also be set to be removed from the website without additional human intervention.

Policies need to be established to help guide content creators.

• Who will set the site standards?
• What, if any, limitations will be put on content for the intranet?
• Who’s responsible for identifying and approving the addition of new technologies?  
• Who budgets for additional functions desired by departments?
• Who monitors for broken links?   Outdated content?
• What policies are required regarding security levels? Who sets them?

These, and probably more, policies should be drafted and approved. Intranet privacy and content policies should be shared with all users.

Documentation

As the intranet project progresses it is helpful to begin documenting decisions so that intent is clearly established to guide future growth of the site. Start by defining:

• How the site is organized
• Why it’s organized that way
• How the architecture should be extended as the site grows.

Next explain what the site includes.

1) Mission and vision (original goals for site)

2) Information about intended audiences

• Who the site was designed for
• Assumptions that were made about their information needs

3) Description of the content policy

• What types of content will and won’t be included and why

4) Include both high-level and detailed information architecture blueprints

• Explain with narrative text

5) Create guidelines for adding content

• Organization (When should a new level in the hierarchy be added?)
• Labeling
• Navigation (How should local navigation systems be extended as site grows?)
• Indexing systems (Under what conditions can new indexing terms be introduced?)

6) Graphic design style guide and a suite of HTML templates

The goal is to explain why you did what you did and document ideas for growth. Future contributors and webmasters will have needed guidance which ultimately should save on costs for re-design.

Security

In the process of determining work flows, permissions are granted to identified individuals according to the role assigned. Everyone has access to data but at different capacities. A predetermination is made as to who can create, approve, edit and publish content. When deciding which functions to allow to run on the internal system, care must be taken not to invite viruses in through connection to outside services where they cannot be screened. An example currently in vogue would be an Instant Messaging program. Those responsible for system security need to be involved in decisions surrounding functionality.

As you can see, a well conceived internal communication strategy is critical to your public entity's success. You must also consider how to handle external information. As you explore these ideas, we are happy to offer whatever assistance you need. Please contact us with your questions.