Is Social Intranet Software Still The Right Platform?

Businesses have been looking for a single entry point into the digital workplace for a long time. However, do intranets focused on being really social actually gain from collaboration and employee self-service, which are generally better serviced by independent platforms?

What Happened to Intranet Social Software?

Due to the fact that collaboration and knowledge sharing were key features of social intranet software, security and reach issues arose. Similarly, social intranet adoption has struggled for the same reasons that traditional intranets have. They were desktop-only gateways to a slew of completely useless data with no practical application.

In the interim, stand-alone collaboration platforms have grown in popularity and use. As a result, a once-central function of the social intranet began to take place elsewhere, further diminishing its overall attractiveness.

1. Collaboration technologies like Slack and Microsoft Teams have made the social intranet paradigm outdated.

These widely used commercial communication tools demonstrate how collaboration may benefit several parties. They not only cut internal emails by a large amount, but they also provide users the option of integrating additional technologies. Users may also choose how thoroughly they wish to be informed about various topics.

The COVID-19 crisis in 2020 boosted the usage of these techniques even further. MS Teams usage increased as whole corporations transitioned to remote work overnight.

As a result of the increased use, some businesses are wondering if platforms like Teams can completely replace social intranet software and tools for internal collaboration. However, there are several reasons why this is not a good idea. (The same argument can be made for why Yammer will not succeed as your exclusive internal communication platform.)

2. Outside of the digital workplace hub or employee experience platform, Workday and other HCM solutions are in use.

The concept of a “front door intranet” or “digital workplace center” inspired the idea in part. This would provide employees with a single location to go for everything they need to complete their jobs. Isn’t it fantastic? Regardless of how appealing the concept of a digital office center may appear, reality, as it often does, has had other plans. A hub does, in fact, provide a simpler approach to managing the rising number of digital tools that today’s workers utilize. Employees have chosen ways to access digital resources based on their unique working techniques or the devices they regularly use, much like “do-it-all” intranets have failed to attract users as a hub for knowledge-sharing.

3. A multi-channel intranet delivers communications-related information to employees in the channels where they spend the most time.

Taking a multi-channel approach to intranet strategy has various advantages:

1. Employees may find news and information where they are, not the other way around.
2. All touchpoints across all channels can receive communications.
3. It is possible to “push” communications to certain channels.
4. All news and communications may be created and managed in one spot.

In conclusion, yes, social intranet software still makes sense when used in conjunction with a multi-channel strategy.

Other tools and platforms can be utilized in conjunction with social intranet software. For example, your social intranet can serve as a publishing platform for communicating with your company’s numerous channels. As a result, it can coexist with collaboration tools like Slack or Microsoft Teams, as well as an employee app for reaching out to non-desk workers.