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Collaboration Insights

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Why Your Business Should Use Intranet

In the most recent Social Media Fact Sheet published by Pew Research Center, seven in ten Americans are now using social media platforms for communication, engagement, and entertainment. That means 72% of the population of the United States are using some kind of social network for different purposes. Approximately 74% of the people surveyed who use Facebook use it daily at least once per day.

72% of Americans are now using social media platforms.

These numbers mean that social media is a pervasive thing and takes up a good chunk out of a person’s time every day. Social media use can even affect the behaviors of employees in the workplace. But instead of banning social platforms from an office, organizations can leverage it for productivity, research, and engagement.

That is where a social intranet comes in. This tool is an internal platform where employees connect with each other for digital socialization and for work. It has the trademark elements of a social media website such as profiles, news feeds, and online communities. However, what makes it different is the multifarious productivity tools it includes.

The different examples of social intranet out there mix and match these tools in their own way. But if you are thinking of signing up for one any time soon, you can consider the following reasons why your business should have a social intranet.

The Advantages of a Social Intranet

1. Develop an Engaging and Social Environment at Work

Intranets are not a new thing in the workplace but their use is mostly confined to tasks, meetings, and company events. But their use extends beyond that. For example, you can leverage a social intranet software to build and develop an engaging and social environment within (and maybe without) your work premises.

That is because a social intranet is an inclusive space where anyone, regardless of their department or role, can join in the conversation. This allows members of the organization to interact with people they do not talk to normally nor even see in the hallways.

By enabling your employees to build strong relationships, you strengthen the foundations of your organization as well.

2. Foster a Positive Organizational Culture

When the people that make up the backbone of your company are engaged outside of their normal work responsibilities, they can create a more cohesive environment where everyone is welcome. A social intranet can facilitate this because it allows every worker to post, to listen, and to respond. With this healthy discussion around different topics, such as your organization’s programs and social responsibility, you can foster loyalty and satisfaction.

Furthermore, employees can become more comfortable in the workplace because they know they have peers who share their likes, passions, and hobbies.

3. Uncover Actionable Intelligence

A social intranet platform can serve as a listening post for your administration. This means that you can see what is going on in the minds’ of your workers and use the intelligence you gain to enhance your processes and even products. Because apart from helping your company reach greater heights, these people are also consumers. By knowing what they think about certain topics, you can uncover market trends. Plus, you can elevate their ideas and use them to enhance your offerings and customer service.

4. Highlight the Hard Workers and New Members

There are social intranet providers that offer a wide variety of tools, including a spotlight board. This is where you can highlight the best members of a team each month and introduce new members of the organization.

When you apply gamification to several facets of the company, you can look forward to increased engagement and productivity. In fact, according to an article published on Medium’s The Startup, 90% of employees experience enhanced productivity because of gamification.

Moreover, the announcement board allows employees to learn more about their colleagues and be aware of the changes that occur internally.

5. Go Beyond Email and Phone for Productivity

Among the social intranet tools available on a platform are task management, project sites, and document repository. While the main purpose of a social intranet is to enable members of the organization to interact with each other, it can also serve as a digital environment for team collaboration.

Despite the ubiquity of communication and collaboration applications, many workplaces still rely heavily on emails and telephone calls. You can be revolutionary by implementing a social intranet within the workplace. This allows project teams to work on a single platform where they can also assign and keep track of their tasks as well as share information with each other.

What makes this advantageous is that you no longer need to have separate applications for streamlined work conversations, exchange of ideas, and distributing files. Thus, you can eliminate the trouble collaborating with your team brings.

Considering a Social Intranet for Your Business

The traditional social intranet is limited only to a few members of the organization, with authorship or administrative permissions further narrowed down. The modern take, however, makes the intranet a more open space to promote widespread interaction and exchanges between employees. This is something that you have to keep in mind when choosing a social intranet for your organization so that you can leverage it--and the minds of your workers--fully.

  • Bidyut Hota
  • Aug 7, 2019

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