Improving our intranet

As I write this, I can tell that this blog post is probably going to be a two-parter (you lucky things), therefore this post will be more about scene setting and our aims and ambitions for now.

So I’ll start with the context part. Once upon a time someone coined the term the ‘digital workplace’ (basically all of the tools and technology provided by a workplace to enable its employees to do their jobs) and ever since ICT teams and Internal communicators alike have been grappling with how they can improve collaboration, employee engagement, communication, finding and sharing of information, business applications and agile working (being able to work from anywhere at any time).

This is supposed to represent the digital workplace, hopefully you get the picture.

An intranet is one of the key components of a digital workplace and here at the University of Bedfordshire a project to review of our intranet in.beds is in full-swing (and long overdue!). It is also particularly timely as improving the ‘staff experience’ is a key priority on our new strategic plan which launches in the summer.

As part of our digital workplace offering, we’re also looking at developing other tools and encouraging the use of Office 365 and Yammer (for which I have somehow volunteered to run a fringe event about at our annual staff conference – gulp!) among others, but I will come to talk about this more in a future post.

Why is an intranet important?

Personally, I don’t believe that having an outstanding intranet is the answer to great employee engagement- there are so many factors involved here. However, I do think that it plays an important role in helping staff to do their jobs more effectively and adds to a positive staff experience (if done well!). 

What makes a great intranet?

Ideally a good intranet should include:

• An engaging and dynamic homepage
• Interesting, useful and engaging content
• An opportunity for collaboration and sharing
• A useful and intelligent search functionality
• A quick way to find important things which make it easier to get things done
• A more personalised user experience

A journey to improvement

We want to make our intranet a useful tool for our colleagues and aspire to the best practice components listed above, whilst also being realistic at the same time- it can’t all happen at once. It is something that will require continuous improvement and we will constantly need to manage a cyclical process of review, development and measurement. 

I’m pleased to say that we’re on the first steps to understanding what our colleagues need and how we can support that. We recently ran an online survey (with the help of our fabulous Market Research Manager Andrew Kingston) to identify how colleagues use in.beds and their likes and frustrations among other things. Using this, plus analysing our intranet usage stats and conducting focus groups (to come in the next few weeks), we should have a pretty good idea of where the gaps are and where we can make an improvement.

Unlike some big corporate companies out there, we don’t have masses of money to spend revamping in.beds, but with the help of our talented digital marketing team, we can go a long way to contributing to a better digital workplace for our staff.

In my next post, I will reveal what our research found and what exciting plans we have for the intranet going forward.

Easter treats!

I hope you all enjoyed the Easter break and ate far too much chocolate! I was resisting but my willpower failed me on Sunday night when a friend and I had a go at baking some Creme Egg brownies! (They were delicious even if I do say so myself!)

But now we're back in the office and raring to go! This morning I've been prepping some open day invite emails, in preparation for our Luton and Bedford,  and Milton Keynes events. Attending an open day is a great way to get a feel for the campus you'll be studying at and gives you the opportunity to speak to both academic and support staff.

We've also been busy working on the PG prospectus for 2018. Draft copy has been sent to our design agency, and we're looking forward to seeing the first proof next week. The prospectuses are one of the bigger projects that I'm involved in, from assisting on photo-shoots, to writing copy and liaising with academics, to proof reading, so I enjoy seeing it all come together.

I've also been working on a report, pulling together stats from e-zines that both myself and Kylie have worked on over the last year, and analysing the results. It's great to see that most of our communications are performing above the sector average, and helps us to identify what content is the most relevant to our audiences.

I've also been filming around the campus lately, working on some videos showcasing the facilities available at Beds. It's been a great opportunity for me to nose around campus and see what our students are getting up to! Take a look at some of our sports facilities, and watch this space for more videos soon!

Team profile – Andy Kingston, Market Research Manager

An interview I carried out while I was in reflective mood, wondering what to write in this week's blog. A profile? I thought. That's usually the thing for when other ideas don't leap out and announce themselves. Everyone else was busy, so I interviewed myself.

Douglas Adams sponsored
Market Researcher work transport

When were you first aware of market research?

First exposure? Douglas Adams, who proposed market researchers be sent into space on a one way ticket. I had no idea what market research was, but laughed anyway. I was at an impressionable age and enjoying The Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy. My excuse and I'm sticking to it.

Fast forward 10 years and I was working agency-side. Bigger teams than I have now (see below); more rigorous, bespoke survey data . Usually the same result however: I was just able to more categorically report, mutter a few 'actionable findings' then offer soon-to-be-shelved recommendations.

The face of academic reasearch......

So what is this “market research”?

Most of us are familiar with the concept of  academic ‘research’. The Uni's work in Child Exploitation, Cyber Crime, Computing etc etc is globally respected. In cinematic terms, we’re talking Citizen Kane, The Battleship Potemkin, Reservoir Dogs or Moonlight.

And Market research?

Quick and dirty. Like shopping channels or infomercials. Less 'Champagne', more 'Pomagne'. Market research is a quick grab confirming something most already knew but needed to validate or quantify.

Err, ok. Isn’t this all a little self-deprecating and-WAIT…. hang on. Shopping channels fulfil a need. Their customers may be strange, but they’re out there. Same here at Uni. Sometimes I feel like a data gimp; an expert in ‘nothing much’, except making tea for the Comms team. I used to write considered reports; now outcomes are expected from two line briefs on two hour deadlines. Sometimes I'm asked for historical evidence for future initiatives - or it feels that way.

....the madness of market research-uh

But when work requests are structured, sensible and briefed - and sometimes they are - I get a grasp of what’s going on across the Uni. And I try to keep up with the sector. It can be pretty stimulating.

I’m a nail chewing passive aggressive spread sheet loner one day; a carefree existentialist the other.

Yes. Tell us about the team

I manage two entirely fictitious colleagues. Sadly, one is long-term sick. The other despises me. I sit within the Marcoms team and shrug when success stories, blue sky optimisation and other fancy terms for advertising are tried out on me.

Any nicknames?

Yes. Survey Kid. Cohort Bloke. NCP Boy.

But your work is important?

Yes. And I'm grateful to those colleagues who respect my professionalism and talk through objectives and results.

Are you growing as a professional?

I manage to do bits of staff development here and there. Last November, I attended an HE 'Market Researchers’ convention. Half the attendees – like me – were grateful to know that others share the pain of being the only ones to 'market research' in their organisations.Other delegates were escaping from vast teams for a couple of days and realised their particular uni was over-resourced.

PARTY TIME! LOL

Do you enjoy parties?

No. I prefer ‘outsider’ music, Russian novelists, chess and cinematic dystopias. Marketing sparkle, Recruitment have a tab behind the bar, Admissions keep things moving and Comms tell fantastic stories. Before I even order the first drink, I'm analysing the menu and team demographics before trying to recruit a group discussion. And then run a survey on the four or five possible choices that came out.

Special guy. Where can I find out more?

Well, you could look at my intranet pages. They're a lot of fun..

Thank you. It’s been a pleasure.

I’m sure it must have.