All FreePint Articles | Article Categories |

FreePint Report: Intranet Manager
Tuesday, 31st July 2012

By Robin Neidorf

Abstract:

Twice a year, FreePint publishes a compendium of articles supporting different areas of information work. This report collects six months' worth of articles for intranet managers.

Article:

Twice a year, FreePint publishes a compendium of articles supporting different areas of information work. This report collects six months' worth of articles for intranet managers.

In this issue, you'll see a lot of commentary, tips and comment on two key trends: The first of these trends is the collaborative enterprise. The second (related) trend is the effort to make market leader SharePoint more collaborative.

Collaborative enterprise

A number of new tools are now on the market to encourage and support interactions via corporate intranets that leverage the user behaviours workers have developed in social media. Many of the articles in this report offer insights from projects incorporating these tools.

What many experienced managers note, however, is that the culture supporting collaboration is just as important -- if not more important -- as the tool itself. The key to success, more than one writer explains, is to expend as much effort on understanding and adapting your corporate culture to encourage sharing, as on the choice, implementation and testing of the tools.

SharePoint developments

Microsoft completed an acquisition of enterprise microblogging tool Yammer, after months of speculation that the deal was in the offing. Many observers expect Microsoft to incorporate Yammer into SharePoint, bringing to that platform a much-needed social component.

As of this publication, no clear direction from Microsoft has yet been forthcoming. Surely by the next FreePint Report: Intranet Manager Update in early 2013, we'll have plenty more commentary to reflect new developments.

Collaboration begins now

Regardless of the tools you have to hand or the current state of your culture of sharing, collaboration is a necessary component of success for information-related projects of all kinds. Intranets can touch and connect every knowledge worker in an organisation, yet often users complain that they lack the dynamic elements that make collaboration with colleagues an exciting part of business.

Share this report with colleagues. Discuss the ideas, examples and lessons learned. Regardless of who "owns" the intranet in your organisation, make its excellence a collaborative effort.

This is the opening editorial for the FreePint Report: Intranet Manager. FreePint Subscribers can login to view, download and share the report with colleagues.

If you do not yet have a FreePint Subscription, start the process by completing our online form, "How can FreePint help?"

Stay informed when new content is published by FreePint for intranet managers by subscribing to the RSS feed for the category, and by subscribing to the free Information Practice Newsletter.

By Robin Neidorf

Robin has been working with FreePint since 2004, and, since joining full time in 2006, is responsible for strategic planning, product development, relationship management, research and communications. She currently heads the FreePint Research division.

Robin Neidorf ran a research and communications consulting business for 10 years, prior to joining Free Pint Limited. As a consultant, she focused on strategic planning, using information to make better decisions, and creating effective audience-focused communications across different media.

Robin has worked with a wide range of organisations in the for-profit and non-profit sector. She has developed online communities, publications and distance learning modules for a range of business purposes. She is the author of Teach Beyond Your Reach: An instructor's guide to developing and running successful distance learning classes, workshops, training sessions and more (second edition, Cyber Age, 2012) and the co-author of E-Merchant: Retail Strategies for e-Commerce (Addison-Wesley, 2001).

Robin can be reached at robin.neidorf@freepint.com

LinkedIn Profile »

More articles by Robin Neidorf »