Building an Intranet Business Case: Outlining the project

We’ve analyzed the opportunity, examined risks, identified stakeholders, and learned how to measure success. Now it’s time to outline your intranet project plan. 

An intranet project plan is a formal document designed to guide the control and execution of a project, outlining the scope of work, schedule, and responsibilities in a single place.

If you have already determined a potential vendor, now would be a good time to inquire about their proposed project plan. For example, do they offer professional services? If so, you will need to include that within your intranet project plan. Some vendors even offer plan templates based on their experience working with clients.

It’s easy to get stuck at this stage of the process or to assume a project plan is a complex document, but ultimately, it will help you identify the milestones, tasks, and other things that are critical to your project’s success.  

Your project plan will also reveal the necessary resources, budget, and a timeline of measurable goals. It aims to answer important questions such as: 

• Can it be done?
• How much will it cost?
• Is it viable?
• Will it work?
• How can we be sure if it will deliver the right benefits?

If started early enough, project planning will support an assessment of value and the overall business benefits. Your intranet project plan acts as the basis for communication and is important in gaining senior management support. 

Your plan should consider:

• Scope 
  • What are the requirements for a successful project?
    (In the early stages, it’s important to have an intranet strategy workshop so the team understands the main objectives. These objectives will align with future KPIs.)
  • What is in scope for this project?
  • What is out of scope for this project?
  • Are there any timeline constraints that will impact the amount of work that can be completed?
• Tasks and milestones 
  • What are the phases and deliverables of our project? 
  • Is each phase and deliverable broken down into manageable tasks?
  • What resources are needed internally for each phase/activity?
  • Have you included milestones for your team to work towards and to celebrate wins during the project?

• Labor and Resources  
  • Whose labor hours are required? What departments do they impact?
  • How many people are involved? 
  • What is their availability to work on the project? Does this change over time?

• Scheduling 
  • What is the proposed timeline/launch date?
  • Are your estimates achievable? Have any team members confirmed these estimates?
  • Does your project plan account for dependencies? 
  • Have you completed critical path analysis to determine the tasks that cannot be delayed without impacting the completion date?
  • Are there any tasks that can be completed in parallel?
  • Have you considered the time required for time-intensive tasks such as the content inventory, content audit, and content migration? 

• Training
  • Will training be remote? Or will it be offered onsite? 
  • Have you included the necessary product training to ensure that your team is ready to use the new intranet software?
  • Does your team have the skills and expertise needed to launch the new intranet? (IA, content, launch, and communications planning). 

• Costs
  • Will there be hourly costs? 
  • Will there be any travel expenses?

While it isn’t necessary, it is certainly advisable to create your intranet project plan within a spreadsheet or a specific project planning template. This will help you assign accountability and keep tasks and people on track. We recommend using Smartsheet, an application for collaboration and work management. 

An intranet project plan requires low-level effort, but it’s a necessary document to keep your intranet implementation moving forward. It will keep your stakeholders happy because they understand the scope and you can feel good knowing you’ve done your due diligence.