Why Does Your Intranet Need a Vision Statement?
We’ve all been there. Taking on a new project, gathering the troops and trying to define a common objective that resonates with everyone. Is your intranet project different than undertaking any other IT project? The answer is NO. And to successfully execute an intranet’s deployment, it requires the same structure and planning, alongside a solid vision statement..
WHY an Intranet Vision Statement?
Our friends at Prescient Digital Media define the need well: “Planning is critical for any intranet — without a thorough plan, an intranet is dead before it gets a chance at life.”
We couldn’t have said it better ourselves. Honestly, too many companies are laser-focused on their feature checklist during the intranet selection process and forget WHY they actually started looking for an intranet in the first place.
We get it. Many companies we talk to think vision statements are corny, an unnecessary burden. But ask yourself, if vision statements aren’t useful then why does nearly every Fortune 500 company still have one today?
An intranet vision statement provides each member of your team a:
- Chance to collaborate on the vision/future of your intranet.
- Common, agreed upon goal or end-state to strive toward.
- Direction when in the midst of minute decision making.
Every Project Needs a Vision
Whether you know it or not, your intranet project already has a vision. There may have been a single event or multiple events that triggered your search for an intranet solution, but out of that, a vision was born to find a perfect solution to the problem(s).
Having said that, this vision isn’t necessarily the same for all parties involved. Don’t let your stakeholders steer the ship simultaneously in different directions to reach their personal vision — that is how icebergs are hit.
Strongest Visions are Shared
Collaboration is essential to an intranet vision statement that is used and respected. Knowing this, you may be asking yourself how do I develop a usable vision statement?
Follow these 3 steps:
- Brainstorm & Diagram: showcase each stakeholder’s vision/dream for your intranet.
- Ask the Right Questions: To uncover the underlying business issues to resolve.
- Discuss & Consent: bottom line, every stakeholder must buy-in to the vision for it to be pursued.
Intranet Vision Statement Examples
If you are not sure where to start, review samples of other intranet vision statement to get a sense of the direction yours may go.
Here are a few good examples we have come across:
- “The Corporate Intranet is for easy access to internal information such as policies, forms and templates. Communication of non-time-sensitive information. Collaboration among project teams, functional groups and offices.” – Millie Francis, Diversified Search
- “The new intranet will make life easier for staff. It will help you easily find information that you need for your work. It will also be the resource to collaborate with your team and share resources throughout the organization.” – PebbleRoad
- (The intranet is)… “A friend you trust, who is always there to help you do what you have to do.”
- “To significantly improve our search results so employees can easily find what they’re looking for.” – Corey Lyons, Jupiter Networks
- From these examples you can see there is no set length or structure. It is whatever makes the most sense to you and your team. The most important part of an intranet vision statement is…the belief in it.
Your stakeholders’ belief in the vision is the only thing that will make the vision for your intranet a reality.
I’d love to hear your intranet vision statement examples and add them to our list above. Please feel free to contact us and share ideas!
