Abstract
In many companies, employees and managers alike are critical about the quality of their intranet. Solutions focusing on technical and process improvements frequently fail to produce sustainable results because they ignore one key factor for the quality of written content: Amid the day-to-day business routine there are too many obstacles for doing good editorial work and acquiring writing skills. To encourage the production of quality texts, an environment must be created that encourages writing, a culture where editorial work is firmly established, trained and performed efficiently.
1 The core problem of intranets
Numerous companies deploy an intranet as a fast, digital information platform to ensure effective communication. While this is in essence a good idea, complaints about insufficient information are not subsiding, and the expected benefits often fail to materialise. These challenges are encountered by many companies, and they continue to resurface: poor intranet usage, content that is irrelevant or difficult to locate, and outdated information. In many instances a site relaunch project is introduced to remedy these issues. This may indeed revitalise the company intranet. Old stuff is thrown out, the design is overhauled and the underlying technology is upgraded. But experience shows that the problems will reappear since their cause lies elsewhere: Companies must provide the right environment to foster sustainable quality of written content.
2 Writing skills are taken for granted
As a medium for sharing expert knowledge, an intranet receives much of its content directly from the company's functional departments. This often leads to a typical conflict situation: While no employer would seriously consider asking, for instance, an insurance consultant to perform professional electrical installation work on the side, editorial and writing responsibilities in an intranet context are apparently viewed quite differently because... “Everybody knows how to write.” Investing in writing resources is not a common consideration. The existing means must suffice, and as a consequence, the affected employees place their personal emphasis on their “real” responsibilities. This makes it next to impossible for the – mostly “unofficial” – editor-in-chief to satisfy the editorial expectations which must be met to provide an effective intranet. Intranet editors often feel powerless, because the willingness of the employees of all the different departments to cooperate in the creation of quality content may be limited.
3 Core responsibilities take priority
Other companies take a more systematic approach to prevent such an unclear allocation of duties: They define roles and responsibilities, calculate expenditures, define positions in the company's official HR framework, and even assign a functional manager position to the person in charge of the intranet. All this, however, will not improve content quality, and collaborating with writers remains a tedious task. What is the reason? Even an official position will not be enough to bring about a shift of priorities towards intranet publishing as long as the daily business reality puts greater emphasis on, say, selling yet another car. Assigning someone a position does not enable the person to suddenly conceive of better content. This does not mean that taking a systematic approach is per se a bad idea. Rather, the idea is simply incomplete, and it is pursued on erroneous assumptions. The purpose of installing an official editorial office should not only be to legitimise its authority but also, and in particular, to underscore the importance of its work.
4 Creating an environment supportive of writing
To improve the results sustainably, a company must establish an environment that fosters good writing. There are five key areas which can help minimise obstacles to editorial success:
Embrace the intranet as a common project.
Give this common project a clearer definition.
Build a functional editorial team with clear responsibilities.
Train and coach the editorial team.
Hold regular team meetings, share ideas and information, and support the team.
Creating an environment conducive to good writing is neither a one-time measure nor a list of tasks to be performed in chronological order.
4.1 Understanding the intranet as a joint project
Making people view the intranet as a joint project can only succeed if all contributors are actively involved in defining its basic concepts. These include a joint vision, a mission statement, objectives and quality criteria, among other aspects. Having too many rules will severely hamper people's motivation to contribute. A handful of basic principles should suffice to define the framework. Contributing does not mean that all decisions will be made in a strictly democratic process. There is a method derived from software development whereby time windows are defined for team members to work on things that are not necessarily on the agenda but are in some way connected to the common project. At the end they must present a meaningful result with specific messages.
4.2 Giving the common project a clear definition and training the members
To be able to fulfill the common task, the editorial team must have a clear vision of the desired results. To some this task may be entirely new or at least, not as thoroughly studied as their previous main area of responsibility. Editorial work begins before you start writing, and it does not end when the result is published. Intranet editors have to know the ins and outs of their organisation and its structure. They must be well-connected within their company so they can easily discover topics of interest, plan them, find the resources to elaborate them, enrich them with pictures or other materials, get the results approved, publish them and keep track of them to implement necessary changes or delete them when they are obsolete. All these activities require training and support.
4.3 Supporting efficient processes
The editorial processes should run smoothly and efficiently. This is in the best interest of both, the writers and their audience. The most important driver of good results accomplished within a reasonable amount of time is having fun with this kind of work. It should not appear to be tedious and burdensome. It is therefore essential to arrange the materials and tools as well as the content management system in a way that makes it fun to work with them and produce results quickly.
For example, a topics & events matrix (http://www.text-gold.de/internes/der-themenplan-ist-tot), which comprises topics the editors should always keep on their agenda, defines events to publish on. Taking a look at the matrix will remind the editors what topics they should focus on, what content they should create, and what objectives they should pursue. Doing so will put them past one major initial hurdle in the content generation process.
4.4 Making good use of shared information and feedback
After all the dedication and work editors put into producing and maintaining content, the effects of their intranet content on the audience often remains concealed from them. This uncertainty associated with an activity still new to them may cause them to feel uneasy. A common challenge in professional writing is the fact that one's productivity is constantly being questioned. Feedback from the audience is extremely important to assess the effects of one's work in relation to the effort it has taken. Knowing how to handle criticism is essential: For example, adding the upward-pointing Facebook thumb or a click and page dwell time counter, when combined, can help an editor understand how his or her content has been received. Sharing specific results on a regular basis will enhance the sense of a common cause and mission.
5 What about the editorial team of the future?
The expectations placed in online information are certain to rise: Additional formats such as infographics, podcasts or videos are enabling even more up-to-the-minute communication and faster information processing. This increases the complexities involved in editorial activities, requiring a level of creative effort that cannot be provided by formalisms. They are useful at best for acknowledging the given task. What will truly drive personal involvement in intranet work is an environment which empowers editors to participate in the creative aspects of intranet design, learn about the effectiveness of their work, and grow in new and unexpected ways.
About the author
Heike Häfele works as a senior consultant for aexea GmbH Stuttgart. She supports medium-sized and large companies in the development and implementation of internet and intranet projects in the areas of newsroom organisation, quality assurance and controlling. She also coaches usability, SEO, and writing for internet and intranet applications to intranet and internet editors.
Acknowledgements
I am greatly thankful to Adela Schneider who keeps inspiring me to consider new ways of thinking through our many discussions, and who has actively supported my work on this article. I wish to thank my clients whose fascinating projects keep broadening my horizons; my mentor with the incredibly large shoe size, Saim Rolf Alkan; Severin Hoppmann who helps me acquire sound judgment and who gives me strength to face any challenge and of course my parents.
© 2015 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
