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By Judith Glaser
In the 90’s, Textron -- a very large billion dollar company -- chose to use the Intranet to help coalesce an organization around its key business challenges. Every month, the CEO would post a challenge for employees to respond to. Everyone, in all of the business units, could see what other employees were thinking and respond. Soon, this incredible medium became a way for employees to connect and communicate around key issues facing the company. All of a sudden, the large, multi-location company became a small community where hierarchy did not matter any more. Everyone read the challenges irrespective of title, and soon there was a dialogue that engaged people in thinking as one mind. The result: an incredible commitment to the evolving corporate goals and challenges, and an incredible surfacing of new ways to win in the marketplace.
In 2003, IBM chose to use the Intranet for what they called a World Jam, where employees could post, over a 72 hour time frame, things that they felt were important to the future success of the organization. The company’s Intranet thus offers an alternative to the informal communication channel. It’s a way for people to connect on issues both important to their success at work and to their fulfillment at work.
Though these two examples are about large companies, they serve to highlight the diverse uses of an Intranet. Whether it’s a need to give everyone an ongoing voice in meeting a company’s challenges, to capturing ideas that enhance your business’ sustainability – all businesses face these challenges and the Intranet is one of the most vital tools a company of any size can use.
However, “there is a caution” warns New Wave’s Clow. “It is important to ensure there are policies in place on its use that respect appropriateness, and measures of accountability and responsibility.” It is also important to take into account the time that may be required for its creation, ongoing evolution, and training people to use it -- though these days technology is getting more user friendly and simple to use without too much technical understanding.
The beauty of an Intranet is that it offers a way to circumvent complexity and create connectivity at the touch of fingertip. Many companies are turning to employees to find out how they want the Intranet to serve them. Pose a challenge and ask people in your business what they would use it for; allow them to evolve it to accommodate their needs; ask employees to share their ideas and vision for the companies future – and you will find that the result is a ‘call to leadership,’ and a way to empower them to participate more deeply in the business.
Inclusion is one of the most powerful equalizers and organizers of human dynamics, and with the Intranet, companies of all sizes, from any industry can create a sense of community where sharing, dialoging, innovating, and expressing all come together to create a sense of shared ownership of the future. Perhaps it is time your business capitalizes on an Intranet? Adds Michael Clow, “I don't think we could have done what we have done so successfully without it.”
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