Compare today's Internet to the past, and there are many recognizable differences. How we use the web is far more "social" than before, as shown by the popularity of social media. Perhaps even more noticeable is that the Internet is larger than ever and constantly growing in size.
Imagine browsing the web for information without the help of a search engine like Google. You might find what you're looking for, but it could take forever. To help manage the amount of Internet content, search engines are always changing algorithms to help you find what you need.
You should use these same concepts to your intranet search engine.
When your social intranet software platform is first getting started, it's easy to find what you're looking for. As things progress, your intranet will get more difficult to manage. It will fill up with articles, forum posts, documents, conversations and more. That's why you need to pay attention to the performance of your search engine.
Here are some benefits you'll see with a great intranet search engine.
The faster employees can find the information they need, the more productive they'll be.
Productivity levels can grow or fall, but understanding the influencing factors is important. Often, it all boils down to whether employees have the right tools to find what they need. No employee can be productive if required to take many actions, jump through hoops, or ask their managers to locate a single file. This is the most important reason to improve search and reduce clutter.
Again ...
The faster employees can find the information they need, the more engaged they'll be.
Engaging employees isn't always easy. There will always be factors you can't change ... like things that happen outside of the workplace. But employee disengagement can occur when employees find themselves running with obstacles every day. Creating a community where employees can find information will ensure engagement levels don't fall.
Managers often spend a lot of time supporting staff members ... making sure they have what they need to get the job done.
Unfortunately, this also means answering a constant stream of questions:
Improving your intranet search engine equals more time for managers, making work easier for everyone.
When people can find what they need, fast, they won't need to sift through everything else to find it. The intranet search brings it right to them and makes it accessible.
If there's one negative part of the Internet, it's information overload. Every piece of knowledge known to man is available online, but not all is useful to everyone. You can apply this concept to departments within an organization. For instance, your sales team will not need to review materials reserved for accounting. Less information overload means fewer headaches.
A clean intranet is easy to navigate. More often than not, cleaning-up an intranet means deleting unnecessary documents, conversations, etc. You should organize things to make sense to the users. It won't happen overnight, but every effort to get there is important.
In all areas of business, it's important to understand what makes an audience "tick." This idea is often repeated in the world of marketing, and for good reason. Paying attention to an audience's needs and behaviors can help guide important decisions. And the same concept applies to how you approach communication with your staff.
A staff of employees is like a well-oiled machine. And in most cases, you can't create dramatic changes without causing some issues. This is important to remember when it comes to how your staff searches for information. It will help you make decisions that appeal to everyone who is using your company intranet. If you can tap in to how your staff thinks, you'll hold the key to accessing a good intranet search engine.
While everyone has their own way of searching an intranet, here are a few common techniques:
For the most part, employees use a "specific search." This means they know exactly what they're searching for. They have details such as file name, size, keywords, and tags to refer to. This form of search is the most common method of finding information.
Non-specific search differs from specific search ... obviously. In non-specific search, employees assume a document exists, but they don't have specific details. They may use keywords to find what they're looking for, but that's the extent of what they have. An intranet that isn't organized or searchable, or lacks a great search engine, can make for a frustrating search process.
In many situations, employees will at least have the name of a document's author. This might seem like an easy search, but when content isn't tagged, it becomes difficult. If they only know the author, they still have to sift through all content created by that person.
There will be times when employees want to find their own, self-created content. This is especially common among those who serve as primary content contributors. Again, if they don't have any specifics about the content, they will have to sift through the content to find what they're looking for.
Discovering how employees search for information won't happen overnight. There are many factors to analyze throughout the process. Once you have a strong handle on employee habits and trends, determining how to move forward becomes far easier.
Try the following methods to identify how your staff uses your intranet search engine:
One of the best ways to learn employees' intranet search trends is to observe what happens in the workplace. This is easy if you work in a physical office. You can stop at a person's desk and observe their work behavior. But don't be creepy about it. And don't disturb them in the middle of their work. Just ask them to search for something you need, and take note how they do it. Be casual.
Conducting an interview can be the best method of gaining valuable information from employees. The goal is to ensure your employees feel as if they're making a contribution to the intranet. Invite them to offer their feedback instead of sticking to a traditional interview format. Just ask them how they currently do it and if they have any suggestions. Individualized interviews will help you understand how employees use the intranet search engine. And it can also help create trust between employees and management.
Sometimes it's difficult for management to conduct individualized interviews with employees. Large organizations, for example, can't interview every employee. There's just no time for it. In this case, employee surveys can be useful. You can conduct surveys within the intranet itself. This means there's no need to be in the same geographical location as employees to get their feedback. When forming survey questions, avoid asking anything that might elicit "yes" or "no" answers. Keep things open-ended.
Use intranet "Spaces" to your advantage when determining search trends.
In Communifire, online workspaces, or "Spaces", allow administrators to create subsets that exist within the community. All "spaces" are unique to themselves. Think of the social intranet as a home, with each "space" as a separate room. This helps with intranet search trends because employees should be searching specific spaces for information.
There are many other uses for "spaces" too, but knowing where to start is the key to finding success. Here are a few tips to get you moving:
Spaces are effective when used in your intranet, but there are more ways to ensure you have a great intranet search engine. You don't want employees wasting their time with guesswork when finding the right file or document.
Here are some more tips that are best employed after you've configured spaces within the community:
A great intranet search engine is one that can be tailored to meet the needs of your organization. You aren't likely to find one in a "one-size-fits-all" social intranet platform. Customizable intranet software ensures that search doesn't become more difficult than it has to be. If you're just starting out with a social intranet, or looking to make an upgrade, make sure you check out the options with intranet search engines.
As your social intranet grows, so does the importance of tagging each document. The more documents within a space, the more difficult it will be to find something when browsing. This is where tagging comes into play. You can recall well-tagged documents with a simple search. You don't need to know the specific details of the document. Keywords become a big part of how you tag things; ensuring consistency on your intranet.
A well-maintained intranet is devoid of useless information. Searching for useful and relevant content becomes far easier for everyone. Ideally, your intranet should have an administrator who regularly maintains your site. Get rid of what isn't needed.
You can teach employees about how to search your intranet in one training session. You can even conduct remote training. Consider one-on-one intranet training sessions with employees who just don't get it.
Just about every company has its own built-in language. This jargon may go overlooked and unnoticed ... but searching for content is easier if you establish company-specific jargon and acronyms. Use this language as tags.
Don't make it difficult for employees to find the information they need to do their jobs. Put in place the tips above, and finding content within your intranet shouldn't be a problem.
Tim is president and co-founder of Axero Solutions, a leading intranet software vendor. He's also a bestselling author of Who the Hell Wants to Work for You? Mastering Employee Engagement. Tim’s been featured in Fortune, Forbes, TIME, Inc Magazine, Entrepreneur, CNBC, Today, and other leading publications.
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