Donna has written the first CM Briefing for this month, discussing the issue of intranet "under construction" signs. To quote: In the early days of the web, it was very common to find entire websites marked as 'under construction', complete with animated roadwork icons. It was so common that there are a number of websites dedicated to the issue, highlighting it as poor practice. Although the practice is less common on websites than it once was, many intranets still contain a large number of sections 'under construction'.

Explores the advantages and disadvantages of using ‘under construction’ on an intranet.

Using a ‘strawman’ design in the early stages of a project can help to overcome many of the difficulties in the design process.

The first of the two CM Briefings this month is on choosing your information delivery channels. To quote: While the intranet is rightly positioned as the key delivery channel for information within most organisations, it must also be recognised that not all staff will be reached using solely the intranet. In many organisations, there are staff who have limited (or no) access to computers, or whose jobs makes the intranet less relevant to their needs. Focusing just on the intranet platform may mean that these staff are not provided with the information they need to conduct their jobs. It is

All delivery channels (not just the intranet) must be considered when planning an overall information management and communications strategy.

Leading ChangeJohn P. Kotter It is widely recognised that organisations are under greater pressure than ever before to adapt to meet new conditions and challenges within their marketplaces. This has spawned many change management projects, reorganisations and strategic realignments. Most of these have failed. This book takes a much-needed look at how the process of organisational change must operate if it is to have both short-term impact and long-term sustainability. At the core of the book, is a eight-step process: Establishing a sense of urgency Creating the guiding coalition Developing a vision and strategy Communicating the change vision Empowering broad-based

My second CM Briefing for August is on establishing an intranet community of practice. To quote: Many intranet teams have struggled with the role of 'gatekeeper', setting standards and attempting to enforce them on the intranet authors and publishers. An alternative approach involves establishing a 'community of practice' that involves all intranet stakeholders. This group then takes on shared responsibility for maintaining and improving the intranet. This approach has been used very successfully by a wide range of organisations, in both the public and private sectors. Indeed, establishing an intranet community of practice is now seen as one of the

The first of the two CM Briefings for August is written by Tina Calabria on improving your intranet, task by task. To quote: If a redesign is not feasible, what are the alternatives? There are a number of ways to incrementally improve an intranet, such as redesigning a particular section of the site, or adding a new 'killer application'. One method that is certain to provide immediate business benefit is to improve the way the intranet supports key tasks. In fact, by selecting only one task at a time, improvements can be made in a manageable and cost-effective manner.

A critical success factor for an effective and sustainable intranet is the establishment of an intranet ‘community of practice’.

By improving the way the intranet supports key tasks, immediate business benefits can be delivered in a manageable and cost-effective manner.