Hanna P. Korhonen

What are digital workplace, intranet and ESN anyway? This is how I define them

Organisations assign different tasks and roles to their Intranet. Over the past few years, the addition of features that enable knowledge-intensive work and interaction have caused many of the originally mass-communication focused intranets to transform into versatile digital workplaces.

Currently, there are basically two types of intranet: the communicational intranet and the digital workplace.

In addition, the popularity of using enterprise social networking (ESN) software as a tool for shared learning and coordination of work is growing.

Continue reading “What are digital workplace, intranet and ESN anyway? This is how I define them” →

June 11, 2018 1

Content plan for an intranet – What does it include?

In addition to the technical requirements specification document, the content plan document is used to support the intranet implementation project. The plan can be also called content concept plan or content structure plan.

Continue reading “Content plan for an intranet – What does it include?” →

March 29, 2018 0

Content planning best practices for intranets and digital workplaces

Intranet is a service which essentially exists due to the information it contains. However, not all information is relevant for every user group. On the other hand, some of this information is relevant for everyone – oftentimes it is even “pushed” in front of everybody’s eyes. Then again, some of the content is utilized actively every day – and some of it only once a year. Moreover, keeping the content up to date should be super-easy.

Challenging requirements for intranet concept planning? Three-function framework for intranet content strategy provides a helpful tool for content planning and managing the explicit organizational information inside an intranet – or a digital workplace.

Continue reading “Content planning best practices for intranets and digital workplaces” →

March 29, 2018 0

How are the Swedish intranets doing?

Web Service Award has just published their yearly “Trend report – How are the Swedish intranets doing?” study for the tenth time. The study covers 274 responses from intranet managers in Sweden and brings out for example quality issues and intranet development plans.

Continue reading “How are the Swedish intranets doing?” →

January 11, 2018 0

Intranet, ESN, and digital workplace conferences this fall

24.10.2017

There are still excellent chances to get prepared for next year’s intranet, ESN, or digital workplace development or redesign. We picked up some tips on conferences in Europe. The following conferences will give you inspiration, ideas, hot new knowledge on the topics, as well as great colleagues to network with.

Continue reading “Intranet, ESN, and digital workplace conferences this fall” →

October 24, 2017 0

Case: Citycon – Yammer cleared the way for new communicative culture and made business visible

12.10.2017

Citycon is the shopping centre industry leader in the Nordic and Baltic countries. Citycon owns 50 urban, grocery-anchored shopping centres in Finland, Norway, Sweden, Estonia, and Denmark. In addition, Citycon leases and manages 13 shopping centres in Norway on behalf of other owners, and owns two other retail properties. They have 250 employees in five countries, total asset value of 5 billion euros, and market capitalisation of 2 billion euros.

Redesigning Citycon’s intranet had been on the radar for quite a while already. The old intranet, based on SharePoint 2007, surely served its purpose of distributing common policies and instructions, but it was neither social nor visual.
Continue reading “Case: Citycon – Yammer cleared the way for new communicative culture and made business visible” →

October 12, 2017 0

Finnish intranet products are conquering the world – introducing Valo

6.9.2017

Lately there has been a lot of talk about the competetiveness of the Finnish economy. One thing is for sure: in the intranet market we aren’t doing badly at all! Two Finnish products designed for intranet and digital work – Valo and Universe – are churning out outstanding sales figures around the world. In the spirit of our centenary year of independence, we decided to introduce these two top export products.

We interviewed representatives from both Universe and Valo, giving them the freedom to praise their own products as they see fit, but we also asked them to evaluate the competition and describe their product development philosophy. So, in this article we shall focus on Valo.

Continue reading “Finnish intranet products are conquering the world – introducing Valo” →

September 6, 2017 0

Finnish intranet products are conquering the world – introducing Universe

6.9.2017

Continue reading “Finnish intranet products are conquering the world – introducing Universe” →

September 6, 2017 0

Case: Paulig – Bold new intranet implementation supports culture development

27.6.2017

Paulig Group is a family-owned, international enterprise in the food industry. Their portfolio includes strong brands such as Paulig, Santa Maria, Risenta, Gold&Green and Poco Loco. The Group has about 1,900 employees in 13 countries. They are working in four business divisions and common functions.

Paulig has grown via acquisitions and they wanted to redesign their intranet structure to support productivity and their internal Paulig Way culture development towards ‘one company with several brands’ better than before.

Continue reading “Case: Paulig – Bold new intranet implementation supports culture development” →

June 27, 2017 0

The intranet market in Finland

13.6.2017

Intranets in Finland are used for organizational, HR, and strategic communications, and to communicate company policies and guidelines. On top of these two traditional roles, most of the intranets are also tools to facilitate the forming of a common organizational culture and sense of community, our latest study on Finnish intranets reports.

Continue reading “The intranet market in Finland” →

June 13, 2017 0

Sustainable communality grows from the community itself – supported by the intranet

Nov 3, 2016

After organizational communication and work instructions, the third most important task for an intranet is “creating communality” (Intranet Services in Finland 2016 survey). In practice, this happens in two ways. Continue reading “Sustainable communality grows from the community itself – supported by the intranet” →

November 3, 2016 0

The three functions of an intranet

Sep 14, 2016

Intranet renewals typically involve pondering whether or not workspaces are part of the intranet, and should collaboration in the workspaces be implemented on the same technology platform as the communicational intranet . Yes and no – both are possible.

When we look at the intranet from the perspective of its communicational nature and communicational features, its functions within the organization fall into three main categories: Continue reading “The three functions of an intranet” →

September 14, 2016 0

The role of the intranet in the internal communications channel mix

Nov 25, 2015

An intranet is able to replace many traditional communications channels inside an organiozation: bulletin boards, weekly newsletters, email lists, and staff magazines. It may function as a channel for personnel briefings, or it can be a unofficial meeting place like a real-life lunchroom. An intranet harmoniously conveys employer’s strategies and instructions regarding off-duty periods, procedures for different processes and information on changes and successes in all levels, as well as offers a platform for the whole organization to discuss these. Continue reading “The role of the intranet in the internal communications channel mix” →

November 25, 2015 0

The future is mobile – a mobile strategy for the intranet

Sept 20, 2015

The internet is already accessed more by mobile devices than desktop computers. The increasing use of the internet is based on modern mobile service subscription plans. Continue reading “The future is mobile – a mobile strategy for the intranet” →

September 29, 2015 0

Intranet requirement specification – 10 tips for good results

Jan 26, 2015

As a result of the intranet concept design phase, a specifications document is created. This document is attached as a part of the request for proposals (RFP) for possible vendors. Carefully prepared requirement specifications function as a general guideline throughout the whole intranet implementation.

These tips will lead you to even better results when drawing up your own specifications
Continue reading “Intranet requirement specification – 10 tips for good results” →

January 26, 2015 0

International intranet competition—What are the differences between Finland and Sweden?

Nov 4, 2014

Finland and Sweden often arrange playful competitions between each other. We challenged both countries to an “intranet open” comparing the freshly published results of the Intranets in Finland 2014 survey with the corresponding survey in Sweden. The topics include intranet platforms, access to intranets, usage activity, content and functionality, and intranet governance models.
Continue reading “International intranet competition—What are the differences between Finland and Sweden?” →

November 4, 2014 0

First-ever intranet study in Finland reveals six megatrends

Sep 17, 2014

Intranets are rising in importance but still lack strategic management, the first comprehensive study on Finnish intranets finds.
The study, Intranets in Finland 2014, gathered responses from Finnish intranet managers. In addition to mapping the intranet technology, the survey studied the role and use of intranets and how intranets are managed, the typical content and features, as well as the role of the intranet managers and the emerging trends in the field.

The study found six emerging megatrends in Finnish intranets: Continue reading “First-ever intranet study in Finland reveals six megatrends” →

September 17, 2014 0

Confluence Challenges SharePoint as an Intranet Platform

Sep 8, 2014

It’s cheaper, it’s simpler, it’s more user-friendly. And its content editor might be the best on the market. It’s Atlassian Confluence.

Confluence is truly challenging Microsoft SharePoint, the market leader, as an intranet platform in Finland. SharePoint is still the king of the hill based on our latest survey on Finnish intranets: 51 % of intranets are running on SharePoint (version 2007 or greater), and only 7 % on Atlassian Confluence. Continue reading “Confluence Challenges SharePoint as an Intranet Platform” →

September 8, 2014 0

Buyer's Guide to Intranet Projects

Technology and vendor neutral advisor for digital workplace projects

Author