10 differences between an intranet and digital workplace homepage

As intranet managers, from time-to-time we all do it, despite bearing the scars from the last time. We decide to re-launch our intranet homepage. A triumph of optimism over experience. We know we’ll get hate mail from users the day it launches no matter how good it actually is … but we just can’t help ourselves. And so it is now in BT. We’re full speed ahead on developing a new intranet homepage site which will be launched before Christmas.

I won’t bore you with all the gruesome detail, but when the idea was first conceived, it made me think about what needs to be different this time around from what we’ve previously offered up to BT employees. How does the homepage need to be different to support the BT Digital Workplace rather than the BT Intranet?

Knowing that no one reads blog posts anymore unless they are lists of no more than 10 items and include a big image … I offer you my illustrated-10-differences-between-an-intranet-and-digital-workplace-homepage-listicle-blog-post.

1. My digital workplace homepage needs to be ‘useful to me’ rather than ‘good for me’ – by which I mean I get to decide much of what goes on the page rather than the company feeding me the stuff it thinks is good for me.
2. The content on my new page needs to be dynamic, driven by my needs.
3. We all need a bit of corporate news to feed our souls but, more importantly, we need information from our networks to feed our brains.
4. For this site to work, the content can’t be dominated by one person – I need lots of information from lots of sources.
5. I love reading, but I get paid to do stuff.
6. The person charged with managing my new homepage should spend their time hunting out useful sources of information and offering them to me as feeds to which I can subscribe if I so choose.
7. I choose … that is all!
8. More people access the internet via smartphone than fixed line … the digital workplace will be no different.
9. The digital workplace is an ever-changing and flexible ecosystem – my front door into it needs to be too.
10. Sticking content in little boxes piled on top of one other so I can see them all at once creates a horrible mess and gives me a headache. Layer the content and let me choose the top content card at any given time.

Thanks for reading … now get back to work! 🙂

Changing role of internal communications (#internalcomms)

Not sure if I ever shared this video taken after my presentation at the IntraTeam Conference in Copenhagen in February …

 

In conversation: social media and corporate culture

The fourth in the series of in conversation with Red Sky Vision talking about social media and corporate culture. It’s quite long (6 mins: 53 sec) but I think it’s quite interesting (I would wouldn’t I 🙂 ).

In conversation: the impact of social media on internal comms #internalcomms

The third in the series of in conversation with Red Sky Vision talking about the impact of social media on internal communications. The conversation weaves around the changing role of internal comms and how and why internal comms people can thrive in the social space.

In conversation with Richard Dennison – Social Media and Internal Communications from Red Sky Vision on Vimeo.

In conversation: social media and the BT Intranet

The second in the series of in conversations with Red Sky Vision – this time a short sound bite or two about why we introduced social media onto the BT Intranet (this one is much shorter … only 1 min 20 sec 🙂 ).

In conversation with Richard Dennison – Social Media and the BT Intranet from Red Sky Vision on Vimeo.

In conversation: the importance of social media in a business context

Following the great feedback received for Red Sky Vision’s fantastic Social Media @ Work video, I was looking through the interview footage of me which didn’t make it into the final film (there was quite a lot of it because when you get me started on social media it’s impossible to shut me up!) … and wondered if it might be possible to make these cuttings into a series of short videos – it seemed a shame to waste them and recycling is so important these days!

So, Red Sky worked their magic and the result is six short films entitled: In conversation with … in which I get to stand atop my soapbox and spew forth on various topics. The films vary in length and, because they are swept up from the cutting room floor, they are a bit bitty at times. Nonetheless, I hope you find time to watch and enjoy them … 🙂

The first video is some of my random views on the importance of social media in a business context.

In conversation with Richard Dennison – Why is social media important in a business context from Red Sky Vision on Vimeo.

[If for any reason you can’t see the embedded video above, you can view it on the Vimeo site]

IntraTeam reminiscences …

I’ve been following the IntraTeam conference tweets and remembering last year’s event and wishing I was there this year … when I came across this video on YouTube – it’s an interview I gave after my presentation at last year’s event … not sure I’ve ever posted it here so thought I’d give it a belated airing.

What goes around, comes around …

After careful consideration, I’ve decided to breathe new life into my lovely little blog … a kind of sad one-hit-wonder-comeback-type-thing – I’m sure my therapist would have a term for it. 🙂

Anyway, it seems ages since my last post and I’ve increasingly found myself thinking and finding stuff of interest which I would like to share in more than 140 characters but no longer have an appropriate vehicle to do it. I’m also amazed at the number of people who still drop by here everyday and can’t help feeling I’m doing them a disservice by not blathering on about stuff. So … I’m back.

As I’ve aged and wisened (… is that a word?), I’ve decided that I can afford to be a bit more relaxed in the style of my posts which will still be about social media and internal communications … plus some other stuff as it crops up. I’ve also changed the design to mark the new start …

Please drop in for a chat when you’ve got a spare moment …

They thinks it’s all over … it is now …

I’ve been wondering what to do with this blog for a few weeks now. I couldn’t make up my mind as it’s been a labour of love for over a year and I’ve picked up a fine following of interesting peeps along the way.

While I hope it will remain a useful resource for those starting their own corporate social media journeys, I’ve decided I’m pulling the plug on this blog and not posting here again 😦

My role at BT has changed and I don’t have the time to be clever anymore …

Also, while my back was turned my personality escaped and rushed off to the other side of WordPress Land where it’s calling itself: Richard Dennison Uncut. Frankly, I think it’s being very irresponsible and I wouldn’t go over there if I were you. And, if I catch anyone subscribing to its blog feed I’ll be VERY, VERY annoyed indeed. Enough said!