Of all the internal communications tool available in the market today, there are very few solutions that genuinely make your organisation more effective and efficient. Solutions like corporate messengers, chat rooms, forums, and video conferencing platforms make everyday business communication simple, safe, and enjoyable.
But where do intranets fit in in terms of other collaborative technologies? Why are they necessary for enterprises, and why has SharePoint been the go-to platform for intranets since the early 2000s?
Let’s find out.
Answering the two big whys
a) Why do companies need an intranet solution?
Although a wide variety of collaborations and internal communications tools are available in the market, intranets have a unique advantage. They consolidated all communication avenues and tasks under one virtual roof. Organisations can maintain a unified communication environment and assure information consistency through a collaborative synergy with the help of an intranet.
Some of the key benefits of a corporate intranet include:
- Centralised multi-level communication
- Seamless content management and workflow
- Coordinated internal and external communications
- Improved workplace security
- Centralised information and content access
- An integrated work environment
b) Why build an intranet with the help of SharePoint?
Today, businesses have various intranet platforms and solutions to select from. So why is SharePoint regarded as the best among them?
SharePoint’s versatility, flexibility and customisability make it the most preferred internal communication tool for businesses across the globe. The platform has many pre-installed features that one can customise to produce a wholly original solution. A SharePoint intranet can develop into a comprehensive enterprise system that addresses numerous functional areas thanks to its customisation flexibility.
Why do businesses use SharePoint for their internal communications?
To build on their Microsoft 365 investment.
Microsoft products, including Outlook, Teams, Yammer, and OneDrive, are natively linked with SharePoint, a vital component of the Office 365 suite. Like many other firms, you’ve probably already adopted Office 365 for business purposes, making it much more alluring to use the SharePoint platform.
Due to these integrations, many businesses decide to use SharePoint to create their internal communications platform and intranet. A seamless digital experience, therefore, is possible due to the close integration of the intranet solution and the Office 365 suite. Additionally, it gives the employees more opportunities to improve their productivity by saving them time while working together on projects.
Designed for top-down communications
Business executives use SharePoint because it allows them to communicate with different teams of employees within the company. SharePoint enables the company’s top executives to broadcast critical changes or updates to the entire organisation without hassle.
Not only that. Thanks to SharePoint, employees can organise and share documents in a single location. One can choose who has access to papers, collaborate with others, and communicate information. Features like metadata and tagging make it easy to find documents.
Anyone within the company can find what they’re looking for as long as their organisational structure is sound.
Ability to access information from anywhere
As with SharePoint on-premise, many firms keep their documents on their servers, but the drawback of this strategy is that it makes them difficult to access outside of the office. SharePoint Online, a cloud-based platform, aims to address this issue. With SharePoint Online, employees can access files from anywhere while their data is kept secure, thanks to the platform’s strong data encryption.
Improved security
Any internal communications tool is worthless if it falls short on security features. Today’s workplace software needs security, and SharePoint doesn’t lag in this area. Advanced security mechanisms implemented across the system lessen the likelihood of unauthorised outages and access to files and sensitive information. It has multiple settings for limiting access, storage, and shareability.
Improved content management
SharePoint excels at content publishing because it provides features that let users produce and submit material for review in a few clicks. SharePoint is also capable of handling multilingual information if your business is global.
Enhanced productivity
For a straightforward and uniform user experience, users can integrate SharePoint with client apps, email programmes, and web browsers. This ultimately translates into better productivity, morale, and revenues.
So does your company need a SharePoint Intranet portal?
Every organisation has six essential components that you must seamlessly communicate to ensure the business runs like a well-oiled machine. Components like:
Vision
Put the founders’ vision into practice by effectively communicating it within the organisation.
Data
Get the correct information to the right people to take the right actions at the right time.
Process
By setting goals within the organisation, you may document the processes to give them a clear direction.
Execution
An intranet gateway should provide seamless and efficient collaboration.
Issues
We are working together on various problems, assisting employers and employees in taking preventative and corrective measures.
People
To ensure productivity, establish expectations, process documents, and follow policies. To improve employee happiness by offering employee self-help portals.
Organisations can use SharePoint Intranet to seamlessly integrate all these components to collaborate, source information, address potential problems, and make well-informed business decisions.
A SharePoint intranet can serve as a platform for today’s workforce by strengthening employee engagement. It is an effective platform that can boost output and enhances communication between your internal and external teams.
Features that you must include in your intranet portal
Every organisation must include some essential features in their intranet portal or internal communications tool.
Employee List & Organisation Chart
Employees needing assistance or recommendations can contact the organisation by using the organisation chart to understand their roles and responsibilities better. Therefore, a business manager can locate any personnel operating on the ground and can gather information from them with the help of an organisational chart. Once the person has been identified, your manager can use the personnel directory to determine how to reach out to him for more information.
Repository and Sharing of Documents
Your organisation’s employees will easily access essential papers like corporate policies, a code of conduct, and any other document they may require at any time, thanks to a well-maintained document repository and sharing system. Information can now flow within the organisation more efficiently as a result.
Forums for Discussions
Discussion forums are a valuable tool for cataloguing organisational knowledge. A skilled curator can eventually turn the content creation volume within your company into a knowledge base. Businesses can analyse discussion boards to gauge employee morale within the organisation.
Integration Functionality
A good intranet portal should communicate with other organisational programs, such as ERP and HRMS. The integrations make sharing and displaying KPIs and corporate data collected from these systems more manageable.
Employee self-help portals can benefit from integration with the HRMS system, which promotes employee convenience.
Process Automation
Manual data input procedures are error-prone. By monitoring the human tasks associated with these processes and guiding them through various steps, workflow automation can help businesses automate functions like documenting expenses, project approvals, and document reviews. This saves the staff a tonne of time in addition to eliminating errors.
Chat, Direct Messages, and Notification
Improve internal communications within your company by implementing the intranet’s built-in messaging system. Features like chats, personal messages and notifications can help the employees collaborate seamlessly and stay on top of things.
Calendar
The company’s calendar serves as the standard calendar for the entire organisation. These calendars are incredibly helpful for planning events, remembering birthdays and anniversaries, and keeping track of critical business goals.
Data Discovery & Search
A good intranet portal is, by default, a good employee communication tool. It should enable the employees to look up various information related to the company, such as policies, procedures, etc. This in-house search engine should be simple to use and intuitive.
Simple & Clear UI
It’s crucial to have a straightforward and clear design. This will make it simpler for the staff at your company to accept the intranet. There is a danger that your employee’s reliance will decrease the intranet’s adoption if they become puzzled by its non-user-friendly design.
Build your SharePoint Intranet with Neologix
We have understood the various benefits of SharePoint as an intranet solution in this article. That said, its implementation will vary depending on the needs of each business. To successfully implement an intranet solution, companies must overcome an assortment of obstacles, including:
- Integrating the intranet into the company’s operations and work culture
- Encourage its adoption throughout the organisation
- Publishing the latest information and updates on the intranet
The success of your digital workplace depends on your intranet becoming a go-to place for information, communications, tools, and apps.
With every passing year, the bar for improving SharePoint keeps getting higher. SharePoint intranet is the most promising option for your business because of its modern features, customisability, and functionality, making it one of the best internal communications tools you can find today.
With over a decade of experience, Neologix specialises in developing intranets for SharePoint. Get in touch with us immediately so we can assist you with your unique intranet needs. Our team of skilled professionals will evaluate your existing infrastructure and build your organisation a personalised intranet solution to help you achieve your business goals.
