A Four-Step Guide to Spring Cleaning Your Intranet
By Molly Soto,
Senior Account Supervisor
April 14, 2023
I’m drawn to quirky history, specifically the origin of common cultural traditions in the United States, like egg hunts, yard sales, and spring cleaning. Although bargain hunting and searching for hidden eggs are intriguing activities, for now, let’s take a closer look at spring cleaning. If you are anything like me, the thought of spring cleaning is both overwhelming and refreshing. So, how did it become a thing? And how can the principles behind it help you spruce up your intranet?
If you are curious…the origin of spring cleaning
This yearly tradition is rooted in multiple different cultures, from a Middle Eastern practice called khaneh tekani or ‘shaking the house’ to the yogic tradition of saucha, meaning cleanliness of body, mind, spirit, and surroundings. These traditions all have one thing in common: they help ensure clarity with fewer distractions.
Spring cleaning your intranet: the time is now
Now that you understand the purpose, you can tap into this tradition for inspiration and apply it to spring cleaning your intranet by de-cluttering, re-organizing, and giving it a fresh look!
Managing an intranet can be a challenging feat. An intranet exists to inform while engaging, motivate while supporting, and sometimes entertain while uniting. We know that you work hard to ensure employees remain supported and up to speed, with little time to ‘clean the cobwebs,’ so here are four steps to help you tidy up your intranet (no bleach required!).
A four-step guide to spring cleaning your intranet
1. Visually assess the situation.
An easy way to determine if employees are satisfied with your intranet is to ask for feedback. Talk to employees and have them show you how they navigate and what they use consistently on your intranet. Viewing your intranet from a new-employee lens can help you update the user experience and navigation to make it easier for workers to readily find specific resources. Getting feedback from employees can help you understand ongoing needs regarding content organization, topics, and cultural understanding. Think through the following questions:
- What does the homepage communicate about my company and its culture?
- Are current company priorities and business objectives clear and easy to find?
- Are headlines understandable and intriguing? Would I click on them?
- Is it easy to navigate? Specifically, to content that applies to me?
- Does it look and feel like other visual representations of our brand?
Once you’ve assessed the homepage and gathered feedback, you can find simple ways to refresh the page, such as:
- Remove outdated banners or stories
- Eliminate or enhance the content that hasn’t gotten much engagement
- Improve the navigation by simplifying it, using drop-down menus, and organizing links
- Incorporate interactive elements like quizzes and polls; make them short, concise, and fun
- Spotlight a great new video (Here are some video idea tips. On a tight budget? Check out this option.)
- Refresh your primary images (avoid stock images if possible!)
- Be mindful of accessibility; image alt tags, accurate transcriptions, color contrasts, and captions
2. Look at the details.
Study comments from employees on the site. Are your employees engaging in the content? What is popular? What are they saying? Are there common themes and personal passions evident in the comments? What are the topics that are driving the highest and lowest engagement… and what does that tell you? Spring often brings renewed energy, so it’s a great time to invigorate your intranet with some engagement-driving ideas:
- A photo submission series
- A fun, social poll (e.g., employee hidden talents or pets)
- An employee wellness contest or initiative
- A series of self-care tips for Mental Health Awareness Month
- A contest for cleaning up litter to celebrate Earth Day
3. Check your metrics and prioritize your efforts.
According to a recent Gallup study, most employees either work remotely or follow a hybrid work schedule. That means intranets continue to be a primary platform for informing workers and building a healthy and inclusive company culture regardless of geography and work schedules. Your intranet can help bridge that gap, so take some time to understand how your employees are using it and what story that tells you about changes that can be made to enhance resonance and drive your communications strategy forward. Here are some metrics to consider:
- What are the most visited pages? Has that changed over the last few years?
- Are there certain time periods or content types where engagement declines? Could it be information fatigue?
- Look at search terms: What are people trying to find? Bring commonly searched content to the forefront.
- Go beyond views and look at the time spent on your intranet. How does this fluctuate throughout the year? Use this insight for internal campaigns and initiative planning.
- How are employees interacting with the content? Consider additional features to increase interaction like chat, messaging, and forums.
4. Conduct a flash spring survey.
Check in with your audience and ask questions that will help you obtain actionable feedback. Host a survey form on your intranet and use your internal communications channels to drive employees to the form. Ask them how it’s served them over the past year and what they’d like to see in the year ahead.
We hope that this mini guide helps you spruce up your intranet and that it becomes an annual activity. Remember, your intranet should be a ‘home base’ for your team, helping them do their jobs, stay connected, and feel like their work – and voice – matters.
Need some help with your intranet clean up? Click here to talk with us about tapping our expertise and extra hands to do the work!
