Have you got an award-winning intranet?
One of the best things about this year’s Digital Workplace 24 was being able to see so many great intranets and social platforms in action. From Virgin Media’s integrated deployment of CISCO WebEx Social to IBM’s bold new homepage design to AMP’s great welding together of social and content, we were treated to 24 hours of excellent and innovative intranets.
Unsurprisingly some of the intranets on show have won awards in the past, and hopefully some will go on to win accolades in the future. International Enterprise Singapore was a winner in DWG’s own My Beautiful Intranet contest, XL Group won a Nielsen Norman award, while three other tour hosts have been winners or commended by the judges in Step Two Designs’ annual Intranet Innovation Awards.
Coca-Cola Enterprises’ iConnect impressed last year’s IIA judges with its combination of rich functionality and striking design, as well as an energetic but focused launch campaign. Russian retail start-up Enter stood out for its bold use of gamification and vibrant design to help drive through a unique company culture, and Weston Industries showed us Knowledge Management in action with an excellent “lessons learnt” system.
Why DW24 and IIA are important
Events like DW24 and competitions like the Intranet Innovation Awards are important. I’ve probably got a somewhat biased view of this, as I am lucky enough to be heavily involved in both DW24 and the IIA. Not only do they showcase inspiring examples which can spark ideas for other organizations designing and implementing intranets, but they can also provide some recognition for the intranet teams involved.
Of course part of this is external and having an award-winning intranet is good in the marketplace, but often the main benefits are internal. Designing and managing intranets can be a very difficult and sometimes lonely job, and to get some external validation can demonstrate to both users and stakeholders just how much good work is being done.
What other intranet delights are out there?
Of course, what intrigues me is the intranets that we haven’t seen. What are the innovative features, designs and approaches that have been implemented in the past few months? With the Intranet Innovation Awards I always find it exciting to read the entries as they come through. Each year there are some mind-bending ideas and great implementations that get submitted.
The IIA Awards are a little different from other awards in that they celebrate individual intranet improvements and functions, and not necessarily an intranet as a whole. We also look at “intranets” in the wider sense to include social business and collaboration platforms, as well as efforts around enterprise mobility.
So if you’re reading this and have done something that you’re proud of on your intranet I urge you to consider entering this year’s Intranet Innovation Awards. We’re accepting submissions until 31 May, so you still have time to get your entries in. You can find all the details (and the entry form) here. And if you have any questions or want guidance on what to submit, you can always email awards@steptwo.com.au.
About the author
This is a guest post by Steve Bynghall. Steve is a research associate and benchmarking evaluator for DWG, and regularly blogs for DWF and IBF. Steve is the founder of Two Hives Ltd, a consultancy specializing in KM, collaboration and intranets. Steve previously worked at accountancy firm BDO in a variety of knowledge roles, including managing its global extranet programme. He has co-written a book on crowdsourcing with Ross Dawson titled “Getting Results from Crowds“.
Categorised in: DWG24
