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Keeping with their record of quality intranet related content, Intranet Life recently published an article about "7 techniques to improve your intranet". The blog post basically summarizes a webinar hosted by Intranet life which had as guests Ragan Communications CEO Mark Ragan, SAS Internal Communications Manager Becky Graebe, Socialcast CEO Tim Young and IKEA Intranet Manager Linda Tinnert. The 7 techniques are as follows:- 1. Bring what’s outside in. Include the "best of the internet" in your company intranet. Facebook or Twitterlike tools in the intranet will reduce adoption friction as users are already familiar with these tools in their consumer behavior. 2. Shorten it. Lengthy and long winding content is never going to be consumed by its intended users. Content should be short and crisp, and if it is too lengthy, it should be broken down into parts. 3. Make things easier to find. Discovering relevant content is one of the primary obstacles intranet users face. The webinar guests suggested a number of techniques to make content easier to find. One company archives recent versions of the intranet homepage, so that users can go back and find recent content they may be looking for; and makes news searchable by location and recency. 4. Consider the effects of main-page news. News heavy intranets may not be suitable for all contexts. Assess the relevance of news to your intranet. 5. Break the fear barrier. Most companies dont make their intranets too open - for example, allow comments and user generated content. The reson is simply fear, and apprehending that users will submit negative content. Most intranets which have opened up that these fears are unfounded, and user generated content actually helps an intranet thrive. 6. Don’t rewrite the rule book. Don't introduce earth shattering changes. Introduce new tools and functionality in your intranet software gradually. 7. Broaden your horizons. Don't be fixated with "social tools", as the intranets of 2011 are likely to be about collaboration software.
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