Do you have an intranet or a frankennet?

At ThoughtFarmer, we’ve seen a lot of intranets over the last 18 years. Especially when meeting with some of our prospects for the first time, they often share their current solutions—or should we say, their stitched-together monstrosities.

These Frankennets (as we affectionately call them) were especially rampant during the early days of the pandemic. Much like Frankenstein’s monster, they were cobbled together from mismatched parts—just barely keeping the lights on, but lurching along without delivering what a modern intranet should offer.

Like any good horror story, Frankennets usually start with good intentions. But before long, they spiral into a creature of chaos—an unproductive, disjointed platform that haunts your business rather than helping it grow. Often, organizations begin with a simple need for document storage, only to realize that their creation lacks vital capabilities. In a frantic attempt to patch things up, they bolt on additional solutions, but this only results in a disjointed and clunky monster of a system.

Or perhaps an organization is haunted by an outdated SharePoint solution, too fearful of the time and resources required to breathe new life into it. The burden then falls on IT, who might not share the same priorities as HR and Communications teams, leaving everyone in a frightful bind.

Here are some of the most terrifying consequences of building and maintaining a Frankennet:

Outdated information

Corporate policies, guidelines, documentation, and other media files should be easily accessible and up to date. If you are juggling multiple communication solutions, ensuring this won’t be easy. For example, think about an important document like your company’s employee handbook. Do your employees know exactly where to find it? And, more importantly, is the most recent version readily available to everyone who needs it?

Employees aren’t using it

Adoption can be challenging regardless of the software or solution. However, if employees aren’t using your intranet it may be because it isn’t easy to use and additional training is required. Your intranet should be easy to use and keep employees wanting to return

No consolidation

Your intranet should serve as a central hub for productivity, news, and collaboration. This is why good intranets consolidate processes like project management and form submissions. Having this in a central location, doesn’t just save time, it saves money. 

Poor information architecture

If your intranet is beginning to look like it belongs in an episode of Hoarders, you might need a new solution. It’s always more comfortable and enjoyable to work in a clean environment than it is to wade through piles of information to find what you’re looking for. Poor organization heavily impacts intranet engagement, and unless remedied, can ultimately destroy it.

Ineffective search  

Your intranet depends on how fast users can find the information and people they need to be successful in their roles. Yes, as indicated above, information architecture matters, but equally important is search. Search allows users to find what they need without sifting through organizational structures. Frankennets often have weak search engines that lack capabilities such as “Did you mean?”, Best Bets, and find as you type. 

Ready to see some great looking intranets?

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Employees aren’t collaborating

Are your employees using their intranet for collaboration? Is there shared communication across teams and projects? Intranets lose value when employees don’t collaborate or are reluctant to do so. If this isn’t happening on your intranet, it’s not the right solution. 

It’s constantly crashing

When an intranet goes down, it can be crippling to an organization—especially if this is where critical documents and information are stored. A lot of people with frankennets experience more downtime than they would like to admit, which inevitably can get in the way of achieving success.

Scattered content and information

Scattered information may not seem like a big deal, but if your employees have to visit multiple platforms to find accurate and current content, it’s going to cost your organization a lot of money. 

You need a single source of truth, and If you’re using a variety of disparate tools, it’s going to be very difficult to make that happen. 

No integration

If you are using multiple solutions, then you likely have multiple data sources, which isn’t going to make data collection or analysis easy. If you are using a collection of disparate tools, you’ll need an integration budget and integration tools. Also, be aware that these integrations may need attention on a regular basis.

Unreliable metrics and reporting 

As alluded to above, if you have data in multiple systems, you are at risk for making decisions with incorrect metrics and incomplete reports. The data itself may be correct, but if it is in multiple places it might not be telling you the real picture. Good intranets have strong analytics and reporting capabilities, which will help inform ongoing action plans and produce updated results for all of your critical KPIs.

If you’re considering running multiple tools at the same time, or if you’re thinking about one platform vs. many, your first step should be to document all of your requirements and use cases across your organization. This will hopefully provide you with insight into data, integration, and collaboration requirements. 

From here you can begin comparing current solutions with potential concepts. Regardless of your requirements, you will likely discover very easily that a single-platform approach makes the most sense. 

If you’re still unsure whether you’re dealing with a true intranet or a Frankennet, ask yourself these haunting questions: “Is my intranet serving the needs of its users?” and “Is it helping to drive the business forward?” If your answer sends a chill down your spine and leans toward “no,” you already know what must be done—it’s time to lay your Frankennet to rest and bring your intranet back to life.