Covid-19 will undoubtedly change the world profoundly. Some annonymous FaceBook poster said it well when they said we have learned a lot, mostly how men can cook and more people than we thought can work from home.
The reality is that working from home is not a new concept. Tradition says we need to come into an office to collaborate, get work assignments and submit our work to our bosses. The year is 2020 and we just don’t need that in-person contact to achieve those work related activities, and we haven’t for a long time, again, it’s just tradition.
The phrase “digital workplace” is not new either, it’s just a lot more relevant that it was a few months ago. Let’s embrace this time of change, let’s make our work life better than it ever was before. The concept that we can’t be productive without being in a physical office is an obsolete concept.
Enter the Company Intranet, what is it and how does it help facilitate this new digital workplace? Think about it as the lobby of the office, the place you check in in the morning and check out at lunch. The place where you get the days gossip and find out who else is doing what. Sounds like fun right? That is a part of it, but it can be so much more. Imagine a page where you log in and see all of the relevant details of your days work, your companies announcements, the stock price, who’s birthday it is, who got hired and all of it in one glance at the screen!
Every company has different content they want to communicate and that again is the beauty of in Intranet. Pick and choose the information you need. I have examples of companies that put up bulletin boards so anyone can post personal items for sale or charities they support (love those Girl Scout Cookie Drives).
The company intranet is also the launching point into all of the systems that help collaboration, communication, tracking systems, documents, lists and specific work related software programs. It’s the place to start with HR questions, requests and issues. IT can have a corner where you can submit tickets and track them.
Security is the next big issue to consider, and with a modern SharePoint Company Intranet you have the best of class for security. Starting at the top with all company employees having access it narrows as you go down, depending on your structure. For example, the IT department staff may be able to see all IT requests or tickets, but each employee only sees their own.
Overall, the need for a solid company intranet has never been more clear. Covid-19 may be forcing many down a path, but it’s a path that has been a long time coming and is well developed already. The next step is up to each individual company, to find the things that make them succeed and act on it.
Lynch Interactive is a full service consulting and development company. Contact us to learn more about how we can help your company emerge stronger and more efficient from the current Covid-19 pandemic.
