More and more businesses are embracing digital and investing in a hybrid workforce. Digital transformation provides limitless opportunities to augment how firms function.
How employees exchange information is also evolving, making sharing, editing, and communicating challenging.
Many digital workplaces now utilize platforms that make more meaningful real-time connections possible, and one of them is the social intranet.
In today’s world, essential components of any intranet include social networking tools, a comprehensive design, and a smooth user experience.
However, without proper practices and updated features, it will not be a practical working platform that suits a company’s work processes.
This article will discuss the overall function of social intranet in an organization, its benefits, and best practices.
Defining social intranet
A social intranet is a network that brings employees together to collaborate and share information.
It is usually called an internal or corporate social network (CSN). This platform allows employees to communicate more than emails alone.
The main aim of a social intranet is to improve communication and connect different departments, individuals, and staff.
As such, its online communities consist of employees from various departments, where they can ask questions or share information.
Unlike other social networking platforms, social intranet does not publicize information. Instead, it manages and controls all content within the company.
4 benefits of social intranet
Employees can be more productive when using the social intranet. They can utilize this platform to share files and collaborate with co-workers.
To explain further, here are the four significant benefits of the social intranet:
1. Better collaboration
Social intranet allows employees to connect with co-workers throughout the whole organization.
The characteristics of a social intranet enable employees to foster a culture of information sharing among co-workers.
Furthermore, social intranet collaboration tools promote structured teamwork across departments. Its collaboration tools include the following:
- Workgroups
- File sharing
- Task management
- Employee directory
- Personalized newsfeed
2. Employee engagement
The primary objective of an intranet is to bridge the communication gap between employees, especially in large organizations.
Social intranet includes capabilities that simplify team interactions, like status updates and comment sections. It also has an instant messaging feature, so it’s easier for employees to communicate and reach one another.
3. Enhanced security
Employees who cannot contribute to their intranet must find alternative ways to share files. Unfortunately, other file-sharing sites are not secure.
Social intranet protects the company’s internal information and essential documents.
4. Increased productivity
According to McKinsey Global Institute, businesses may increase productivity by 20% to 25% by utilizing social collaboration platforms such as a social intranet.
Another great feature of the social intranet is private messaging. Users may connect and update colleagues privately, on their own time, while remaining focused on their responsibilities at work.
6 social intranet best practices
A well-designed social intranet platform helps in fostering a sense of unity among employees.
Besides providing an effective collaboration, it should facilitate conversations where an individual can get clear answers to specific queries.
Here are the best practices for a more organized social intranet:
1. Invest in an optimized mobile platform
Businesses no longer run from a single location. Frontline personnel and remote workers who contact clients may need a laptop or computer access in a hybrid environment.
An effective social intranet must be accessible to everyone in the organization, anytime and anywhere.
Invest in an optimized mobile platform that employees can quickly download to get the same online experience.
2. Make contribution easy
Ensure that everyone in your organization gets the opportunity to contribute.
Encourage your team members to share valuable insights by giving them content marketing tips or templates.
3. Look for an analytics provider
You will not know if your social intranet platform is effective if there are no appropriate metrics to measure it.
Marketers utilize engagement metrics to assess the effectiveness of each campaign. Apply the same strategy to internal communications.
Find an analytics provider who can provide information about your company’s digital workforce so you can decide what actions to take.
4. Encourage employees to share relevant content
Encourage staff to contribute only relevant information to ensure quality content immediately. The following can serve as a content template to ensure its effectiveness:
- A compelling headline
- A summary that facilitates comprehension of the content.
- Possibility to tag content
- A comment box
- The capacity to upload images and videos
A smart content template makes it easy for the team to produce readable content and immediately improve brand recognition.
5. Invite employees to give feedback
Invite the employees to provide feedback on their social intranet use, including the advantages and challenges they have encountered.
The placement of a feedback form or comment box on the intranet might allow employees to voice their concerns.
6. Provide a flexible hosting solution
If your business wants to host a social intranet, it must provide servers, hardware, and software, as required.
The hosting solution should be flexible and easily configured by the company’s IT personnel should a server malfunction arise.
Social intranet: Keeping teams connected in the digital workplace
Companies must adapt to the changing business landscape as the world becomes more connected.
Social intranet has become a vital part of today’s modern digital workplace and will be increasingly important in the future.
Whether your company implements a complete social intranet strategy or adds social features, these best practices will make your teams more productive and stay connected.
