Free resources — Profile your organization

Assess your government's readiness for an intranet

Intranets are websites for internal use. Public agency intranets are used mainly for three things:

• to centralize information resources in a manner that makes them easily retrievable
• to communicate within the organization
• to accomplish tasks, collaborate and brainstorm

If you don’t already have an organization-wide intranet, you’re probably ready for one. Here are a few of the signs that may indicate the need for an intranet.

1. Have one or more departments within the organization set up their own informal intranet to give employees easy access to the latest rates, schedules, contracts, forms or similar documents?

2. Has anyone in your organization been caught without access to an important document because someone’s on vacation and it’s locked behind their computer password?

3. Do you need a more timely method to get notices like customer service updates, announcements, job postings, board meeting minutes and schedule changes in front of employees?

4. Would it be helpful to have communication policies, approved logos, media relations tips, PowerPoint templates, photos, sample letters and other helpful tools centrally and readily available?

5. Can you benefit from saving the money normally used to print and update hard copies of seldom-used manuals and directories?

6. Is your organization interested in boosting employee productivity by saving the time one would normally use combing through files to find a piece of needed information?

7. Would it be easier for employees to obtain previous employee newsletters, news releases, and customer bulletins if they were all in one place in an electronic format?

8. Are there times when, using a simple web browser, field workers, telecommuters or travelers would benefit by gaining remote access to internal documents such as directories, manuals, schedules, and contracts?

9. Is there a need or desire to get employee communication functions off of the mainframe computer?

10. Would it be beneficial to have the most recent versions of the employee roster or organizational chart, phone lists, accident forms, and even fact sheets all in one easy-to-get-to place?

11. Is inconsistent information given out to customers due to the fact that there are various editions of the same document in each desk?

12. Could more people help knowledgably handle calls if up-to-date information was available to all employees through an intranet?

An intranet is about getting information and getting it as quickly as possible. But it can also be used to help build the community of employees within an organization. Inclusive planning for the annual picnic, the employee giving campaign or the fair booth can all be facilitated through an intranet. Employee morale can also be enhanced by getting uniform, timely information to those with computer access.

Many organizations discover other unique and creative uses for intranet technology to solve business problems. Is your organization ready for an intranet? Let us know how we can help you!

We recommend two more profile tools; assess your website usability and evaluate your electronic communications.