There has been an increasing demand expressed by Australian franchisers in recent months for more effective online communications within franchise networks. Many are now looking to develop their own internal website but don’t know where to start. So what does it take to build a successful intranet?
First off, your intranet should serve as a ‘source of truth’ for your audience. If you want your franchisees to check in with you online, you need to make your site a ‘must read’ part of their day. Ask yourself, what are the crucial updates they need? Make sure they get it first on the intranet. It will soon become the ‘source of truth’ in your organisation. Content must be updated regularly. There is nothing that turns people off faster than an intranet that looks like it never gets updated. If your home page features new content at least once a week, franchisees will be motivated to log on regularly and get into the habit of checking for news.
A vital mistake that many organisations make when developing and updating their intranet is how they piece together and structure content. Writing for the web and writing for print are two completely different kettle of fish, and a different set of rules will apply to each. Content for the web must be presented in a simple way that makes it easy to read and understand. Keep paragraphs short, use bullet points and ensure the layout is user friendly.
The next thing to consider is if the content is actually relevant. If your franchisees are not using your intranet you must question why. Perhaps there may be crucial information you’re not providing which means they’re resorting to more expensive and time consuming ways of contacting you – like picking up the phone and sitting on hold. It is vital that not only is your information fresh and easy to read but relevant to your audience. There has to be that incentive there for your franchisees to read what you are uploading. A way to add value to your intranet and ensure your franchisees are paying attention is to automatically pull in relevant news via RSS feeds and linking to interesting articles. Your franchisees will appreciate it.
There is the classic old saying, “build it and they will come.” But in the online space this could not be further from the truth. It is one thing to build your intranet, update regularly with relevant content that is easy to read and understand, but it is another to actively engage with your audience and keep them coming back again and again. There are certain “rules of engagement” that you must stick to, in order to ensure a loyal following. These include:
- Give your audience ownership of the intranet by encouraging them to participate. Run a survey or poll to find out what they like or don’t like, or provide a forum for them to make suggestions for the broader business (eg: what new flavour of ice cream should we launch next etc?).
- If you ask for feedback from your franchisees, make sure you respond. Publish the results of the poll you ran (ie: you voted peach rumba was the #1 choice for an ice cream flavour – it’s launching in January!), or if you publish an email address for people to send feedback, set a realistic timeframe for when they’ll receive a reply – and make sure they do!
- Write down some simple communication guidelines so participants know the rules of engagement, but also point them to the areas where they can contribute – for example the notice board where they can buy and sell things, advertise a room to rent, or engage socially by posting up photos, comments etc. These features are always very popular.
So you’ve got the tools, the only thing left to do is build it! Here are 10 simple steps to help you build a successful intranet from start to finish.
1. Develop a strategy, have a plan and define KPIs for your intranet so you can measure success and continue to make improvements.
2. Appoint a person or team to oversee the development and ongoing publishing and management of the intranet.
3. Take a phased approach for launching your intranet – an intranet is an evolving and ever changing environment.
4. Ensure it is the main place to access information – the source of truth. Upload all key company documents and ensure all appropriate content is transferred from the server or directory on to intranet. Do not make it a dumping ground – ensure it is relevant content.
5. Usablity is your key to success and audience usage. Ensure your intranet is engaging – use attractive design, intuitive navigation and clearly defined layout.
6. Invite users to offer feedback and suggestions – an effective intranet is constantly developing to suit the needs of its end-users.
7. Ensure search works! Effective search functionality is integral to building trust and faith in your intranet.
8. Encourage franchisees to contribute content – user-generated content encourages development and contribution, while features like footy tipping help keep things fun.
9. Keep the intranet up to date – all information should be current and accurate.
10. Promote the site internally – put a change management strategy in place so that franchisees know it exists, how they can use it and most importantly, the benefits it can offer.
– Connie Pandos is co-founder and co-director of Melbourne-developed software solution Intranet DASHBOARD (iD) and newly developed iD Franchise, a purpose-built intranet software for the franchising sector (www.idfranchise.com.au)
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