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Businesses are perpetually on the hunt for the next big thing to advance their internal operations. Enter the dynamic realm of company intranets, where innovation meets necessity in the quest for seamless communication and collaboration.
Today’s intranets offer an array of tools and functionalities designed to propel your organization to new heights. Gone are the days of mundane interfaces and clunky systems — today’s intranets are sleek, intuitive and packed with features designed to meet the diverse needs of any workplace.
Let’s take a look at the top intranet features available today.
8 Essential Intranet Features for 2024
“For the best part of 20 years, I've talked about the five fundamental purposes of intranets: content, communication, culture, collaboration, and social and activity,” said James Robertson, owner of Step Two Designs and author of “Essential Intranets” and “Designing Intranets.”
Two of these aspects we can almost take for granted, he said. “Intranets will always be the primary source of information for employees, and will play a key role in delivering internal comms.”
So, he continued, what does that leave in terms of top features for modern intranets?
1. An App Launcher
One key feature in intranets is an app launcher, said Robertson — a “set of links to key applications, which can be personalized by each user.”
An app launcher acts as a gateway or starting point for employees to navigate and launch different software applications, tools or resources they might need to perform tasks. This type of feature offers a more user-friendly experience compared to having to remember multiple URLs or search for the applications they need.
2. Artificial Intelligence
In many industries, AI is front and center — and intranets are no different, said Dori Gray, director of strategy at Social Edge Consulting.
“Intranet platforms are incorporating AI in numerous ways, from improving search to chatbots that can answer employee questions to content creation and much more. Any intranet worth considering will have AI on its roadmap.”
Anna Kaley, senior user experience specialist at Nielsen Norman Group, emphasized the importance of search that works, something that artificial intelligence can bolster.
“Many employees in our research often say they expect the intranet's search to work like Google, but it often falls short of meeting that expectation. Teams can use AI to improve search results, with some using natural language processing to understand employees’ search intent before displaying results.”
3. Personalization
“Personalization is a key feature in improving the employee experience, and intranets are incorporating it more than ever,” said Gray.
Employees can log on and see only the news and information relevant to who and where they are, she explained, rather than having to sift through irrelevant content.
“Companies are looking for intranets that can not only personalize and target employees with the right information, but can also broadcast that information to them at the right time.”
Related Article: Having a Single Source of Truth for Internal Communications Helps, But Don't Stop There
4. Meaningful Integrations
According to Robertson, intranets are finally delivering meaningful integrations with key business systems, such as HR tools. These integrations have the ability to streamline workflow processes and improve user experience by offering a seamless transition between different applications.
“Whether this is displayed in a ‘card’ interface or presented as a ‘digital assistant,’ the surfacing of personalized tasks is a game-changer for firms and a real value-add for intranets,” he said.
5. Colleague Contact Information
“A recurring top task in our intranet research employees mention initiating from the intranet during their workdays is finding colleague contact information,” said Kaley.
Regardless of remote, hybrid or in-person work, employees still need to easily and efficiently connect with co-workers, she added. The most sought-after contact information includes:
- Titles
- Email addresses
- Phone numbers
- Supervisors
- Org charts
“Features like employee profiles that include a consistent photo and prioritize the right types of details, as well as being indexed and ranked in search results for relevant keyword searches, help to satisfy this need.”
6. Cultural Purpose
It’s great to see intranets convey a real passion about the purpose of the business and the role of employees in it, said Robertson.
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“Focusing on the culture purpose, intranets can do a lot to foster a stronger culture, whether via tailored branding, engaging content or peer recognition.”
By providing a platform for sharing company values, celebrating achievements and facilitating open communication channels, intranets serve as a virtual hub for building and sustaining a positive organizational culture.
7. Clear Tool Labeling and Context
Employees often keep track of multiple digital workplace tools, software applications and links, said Kaley. And many intranets only post the jargon-filled name of the tool rather than a plain-language label. Instead, modern intranets need clear, consistent labels for everything from navigation to tools.
“Additionally,” she added, “providing context for the tool (what it's used for, when employees might use the tool, VPN requirements, etc.) is also important as new employees won't always know what tools are used for what purpose and when (when we use Slack versus use Teams?).”
To help achieve this, Kaley said, intranets can offer the ability to save links to tools, which allows omnichannel access. They can also give employees the ability to edit the names of tools and links without changing the URL.
8. Single Pane of Glass
In the past, said Gray, intranets tried to be everything to everyone — and it never worked. “Employees use different tools for different purposes, and one single intranet couldn’t do it all.”
Fortunately, she added, the best intranet platforms realized this and function as a “single pane of glass.”
“This means that employees can view and access the many apps and tools they need to do their jobs directly from the intranet. Another benefit of this approach is that the intranet can provide context for these tools, informing employees what each tool does and who it is for.”
Related Article: Your Intranet Is the Core of Your Employees’ Experience. Build It Right
The Biggest Emerging Intranet Trends in the Next 5 Years
AI is the number one biggest emerging trend, said Gray. “Five years ago, people weren’t talking about incorporating AI in intranets, and now every major intranet platform is incorporating (or planning on incorporating) AI in some form. Intranet partners are also investing in the growth of AI to supplement what the platforms are offering.”
Over the next five years, she added, she expects to see major changes in how intranets support the way we work. “The digital workplace landscape as a whole will look drastically different thanks to AI.”
Robertson added that we’ll also be seeing an emergent understanding that different tools suit different information seeking behaviors.
“If you're looking for a specific document,” he said, “you search; if you want an answer, you'll ask a GenAI-based solution; but if you don't even know what to ask for, you'll browse the intranet. What will become increasingly apparent is that all three experiences will draw on the one structured, managed repository of content — the intranet.”
Another big shakeup coming to intranets? Collaboration moving away due to the increasing popularity of tools like Slack and Microsoft Teams, explained Gray.
“Because these tools make it so easy for employees to share knowledge, they stopped using their intranets for this purpose. As a result, companies are now focused on providing that single source of truth amongst the noise of Slack or Teams. While it might seem like a loss, this shift has made these platforms stronger by eliminating the noise and providing the most accurate and relevant content.”
