Intranet Basics:
Intranet Advanced:
Intranet Tips:
Intranets and Google:
Creative Uses of Intranets
Intranets are famous for the common corporate tasks they have become so adept in improving. Email, news, portals, record databases, cutting jobs, and many other titles are given to the mighty intranet. But what corporations today aren’t fully aware of is just how creative you can get with an intranet - and we have just the cure.
Instant Notifications - on Your Employee’s Mobile Phones
An intranet can be configured to enable the administrator to send bulk text messages to employee numbers. If you think your employees are mature enough, you may also enable them to send text messages instantly to other employees over the intranet.
To save the intranet from abuse, it can easily be configured to only allow text messages to be sent to company phone numbers. What is even better is that a simple drop-down box can include the name and number of everyone in a department. This means that anyone on your staff can contact anyone else on your staff - instantly.
This will obviously be abused to a certain extent, but outgoing texts can indeed be monitored with the right programming intact. Not to mention that the benefits gained outweigh these small abuse issues. For instance - there may be a water leak, fire, or even an armed criminal causing chaos. With one simple click of the mouse, the administrator can warn the entire company.
The Holidays Just Got a Lot Merrier
Small and large companies both will attest to the fact that holidays, although exciting, can be more work than anyone is prepared for. This holds true for employees who politely request off certain days out of the year - since they likely have to fill out more paperwork than they’d like. And just how is one to keep track of all the days each employee requests off and still have a working staff each day?
The answer: make your intranet do the dirty work. Instead of vast mounds of paperwork, setup a simple submission form on your intranet. Employees can then use this form to request certain days off; including birthdays, holidays, and pre-planned absences. This information will then be forwarded to the manager who will of course deal with the requests and schedule the appropriate working hours.
Employees Actually Want to Work!
Another creative use of the intranet is a global incentive program. Each time an employee does something nice or helpful another employee can report this action, and submit it to a database controlled by the administrator. At the end of the month, the kind deeds are tallied and scored. Whoever gets good marks gets incentives - maybe an extra sick day or even cash prizes.
This kind of scheme is actually more common than you might think. It is a good morale booster for staff, not to mention it encourages staff to be as efficient and helpful as possible. Some of the more lavish prizes - maybe a plasma screen television just in time for Christmas - will be sure to turn a few heads.
One aspect of this scheme: be sure to leave out the negative responses. If employees are able to submit negative feedback, the whole point of the system becomes undermined. Instead, focus on the positives - and be sure to offer something that an employee would actually want. You can be assured the pens, erasers, and other cheap office supplies will go largely unnoticed.
Your Company’s Very Own CNN
If your company has a break room, odds are it is rather dull. Aside from a coffee maker, refrigerator, and a few cabinets - the place is bare. If you don’t have a break room television already, it’s time to invest in one! We can make our very own news channel for all the staff to marvel at.
On your intranet, you can setup an application to scroll through a slideshow. This slideshow can have pictures taken from around the company, news, events, and important dates can be listed. This kind of broadcast ensures a close relationship with employees, not to mention a safe-house from boredom in the break room.
Closing Comments
Expanding your intranet is vital when expanding the rest of your company. As your company infrastructure grows, the personality of your company will generally decrease. Keeping a close touch with employees becomes more of a concern, since technically there are more of “them” than administration.
Just remember to keep it creative - we already have enough of the boring corporate intranets to make us scream. And in the end, who is really going to use an intranet that isn’t the least bit exciting?
