Eric Sleeth / January 28, 2019As we are into the new year, we wanted to share some of the trends that we see taking place in intranet development for 2019. Before jumping into the 5 key trends, the common theme is Simplify.
In years past, organizations have been exploring and expanding the potential of what intranet portals can be. We have reached a point where productivity and user adoption need to be the key focus on the development and maintenance of any portal.
Let’s explore the top intranet trends for 2019, that when implemented correctly, will be extremely beneficial for the organization and its employees.
Content curation, not just content creation
Before looking ahead, it’s good to take a moment to react on where it all started. Thinking back to the first generation of intranets (and websites for that matter); they were clumsy and had poorly executed information architecture. There was experimentation and more focus and excitement on creating content. This was excusable back then, but with the massive amounts of information and data, information architecture has become a must.
The same holds true for intranets. When an organization’s content begins to multiply exponentially, grow into separate locations, you need a way to structure the internal information and to continue to optimize the structure.
Another consideration is segmentation and curation. There are two main reasons to control content access permission. The first is data protection; reducing the risk of exposing sensitive content. The second reason is to end-user experience; you don’t want to overload the users with information because this will waste productivity in navigating and trying to find the content.
When these factors, information architecture, and access permissions, are considered; the end result is a good intranet with easily accessible information presented in a clear and organized way. Without it, user adoption with decrease and your intranet will become a ghost town.
Mobile and Portable Device-Friendly Software
Most companies recognize the value of mobile for connectivity, product development, and marketing. However, intranets seem to be lagging behind. When you think of an intranet, the focus this year will (again!) be on optimizing intranet access and intranet features on mobile devices. This is naturally the next step for intranet technology.
Platforms are being used extensively in workplaces, however, remote team members and team members who are required to work while travelling without a desktop will benefit from improvements to intranet mobile integration. Intranets need to be user-friendly no matter the device, situation or location. Mobile-friendly intranet interfaces and features will mean optimized touch screen performance, fast implementation, and smart innovation. Introducing a mobile integrated intranet will also allow an organization to gather more data that can be used to optimize and improve mobile features in the future.
A Culture of Automation
When thinking of an intranet, traditionally people visualize a page that displays corporate content. But intranets are quickly evolving into dynamic platforms that can manage all kinds of business processes. Organizations do not need to look very far for repetitive processes that could benefit from automation, such as: On-boarding, data-entry forms, training, and performance feedback.
As more and more of these business processes are being hosted in a centralized intranet, the organization will need to examine how to increase productivity. One of the easiest ways to facilitate increased productivity is through automation such as creating workflow automation and notifications.
Integrations Get Deep
As previously mentioned, intranets have been evolving from a location to display corporate content to an integrated platform to manage business processes. As more and more processes can be handled within the intranet, soon organizations will realize that their enterprise infrastructure simply isn’t enough and there are gaps between multiple business functions.
As intranets continue to be a central hub in the digital workplace, employees will expect integrations with applications they frequently use (such as Microsoft Office and Google). A bonus benefit of adding integrations is increasing user adoption. The stronger the integrations are, the less likely users will navigate away from the intranet to access information elsewhere.
Too Many Passwords
While working with our clients, reports have shown that employees may need to access might believe a password management tool is a solution, however, it doesn’t really solve the problem as users are contently needing to go back and forth from the tool and intranet to find and enter the password. The real solution is Single Sign-On(SSO). SSO helps employees save time, prevent lost or forgotten passwords, and reduces the risk of phishing. This makes this trend a true win-win for both the employee and the organization.
Intranets can be a powerful tool to increase business productivity. However, portals are evolving beyond a simple content library. In 2019, we will see organizations, if they aren’t already, begin to implement these trends into their solutions. The organizations who lag behind or don’t implement them at all will see drops in productivity and user adoption. The worst case scenario will negatively affect profits and employee retention.
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