In the article Why your business needs an intranet, Maciej presented many practical advantages of a company intranet. What do they translate into? The platform will help to ensure employee involvement, development of organisational culture, and constant improvement of everyday communication. Now it is time for some hard facts. What exactly can your intranet system consist of? Below is the list of the most common and desired intranet functionalities.
1. Knowledge database
This module is very valuable, especially for new employees. Thanks to storing all the knowledge accumulated by the company regarding the processes and its functioning, onboarding will be easy and very efficient. New employees will be able to use the accumulated knowledge at any time in order to find the information they need.
A knowledge database is a useful functionality — not only for new employees but also for the current ones. It is a place where you can store all the documents necessary in the company. The freedom in adding them is quite high thanks to the possibility of creating categories. The module is connected to an authorisation system — you can restrict access to specific documents or particular categories.
The form of the knowledge database can be freely adapted to the company’s profile. It is a place where, in addition to storing standard documents, you can share knowledge — e.g. interesting links, presentations, books, e-books, etc.
The knowledge database kept in an intranet is maintained in a clear and organised way so that it is easy to find the desired materials.
2. News module
This next module is the perfect place for sharing information about the events happening in the company’s life. You can use it for:
- publishing the current information about the company,
- providing the information on what is happening right now and what the company needs (e.g. it is looking for new employees — and the current employees may be willing to recommend someone),
- praising and honouring the achievements of employees — both professional and private ones,
- publishing the changes concerning the ongoing projects or the positions being filled within the company,
- adding photos from company events,
- sharing individual employee achievements,
- presenting the people working in the company if interesting projects are being carried out by a specific team,
- sharing cool moments in the company’s life (it is even better if the employees publish such content themselves),
- publishing the information about birthdays and name days of the employees automatically. This data can be automatically downloaded from the employee database,
- reminding employees on an ongoing basis about essential issues and deadlines.
3. Project management
The project management module enables such activities as setting up projects in the system, keeping a calendar or schedule of the task being carried out.
It is possible to schedule meetings (including group meetings) and to enter notes. The module can also have an integrated calendar and allow you to view the schedule of everyone in the company, including the superiors. The module is also connected to the leave of absence module, thanks to which when someone is on leave, such information can be automatically obtained from the system.
The module also allows you to manage tasks and create reports. An unlimited number of tasks, priorities, statuses, assigning responsibilities make it easier to systematise the work of even the most complex project and a distributed team.
Thanks to the reports, you will be able to track the progress and timely implementation of individual tasks.
Working time records facilitate control over the use of working time by every team member.
Monitoring work progress
The performed work effectiveness monitoring module enables the assessment of the effects of the project team’s activities. It allows managers to analyse the effectiveness of individual project activities, the entire specific department, or the company as a whole.
In addition, in the work progress monitoring module, you can include such functionalities as:
- managing the team members’ work,
- monitoring the employees’ activity and their progress,
- efficient flow of information,
- setting priorities,
- delegating tasks,
- receiving task reports (at any frequency).
Monitoring the work of the entire team is a big challenge. Especially now, when we are forced to work remotely, it is a very important issue for companies.
Supporting communication and teamwork
The issue of communication in the company is a crucial element. Thanks to the intranet, the flow of information between employees becomes very simple and clear. This can apply to company-wide communication, but it can also be divided into specific projects within a given team. Thanks to this, you gain:
- effective flow of information within the project,
- development and sharing of knowledge,
- remote access to documents and information,
- improvement of the implementation of tasks and processes.
4. Social Networking
Employees can post official documents in the intranet, but it is also possible to create a place where they can discuss less formal and non-work-related topics. The intranet offers many functionalities that easily support team integration.
The ability to create both public and private channels:
- @marking,
- sharing photos, links,
- support for internal links,
- comments and likes.
5. Finances and HR
The financial module allows for such improvements as:
- electronic register of invoices,
- electronic management of business trips, including their settlement: the module allows for the circulation of business trip information between the employee, the superior and the accounting,
- execution of orders by employees: these can be orders such as advertising gadgets, office supplies, etc; in the panel, the authorised persons have access to detailed information on the orders.
6. Employee profile and competences development
The employee profile may contain information about the employee, such as:
- description of duties and competencies,
- documents and notes,
- list of tests, certificates and completed courses,
- contract register and reminders,
- employment history,
- organisational structure
- integration with the payroll.
Development adequate to the profile
Everything, starting from planning, scheduling and delivering training courses can be carried out within the intranet. You can embed text, photos, slideshows, and movies in the intranet. As the training materials are no longer in physical format, at the same time, they are available to users.
The intranet system can also be automated in terms of informing about the need to carry out specific training courses, certificates or tests concerning the status of individual information in the employee profile.
The intranet also makes it easier for HR staff to monitor the completion of training courses, answer questions, and assess knowledge.
7. Creating innovations
The constant company development and joint creation of innovations is an essential aspect of every company. The module allows for submitting ideas from the entire company while the employees are responsible for their evaluation. The possibility of commenting on the entries is a practical and essential element of the intranet. You can also create discussion groups there, encouraging employees to share their knowledge and opinion. Thanks to this, the employees will continuously communicate with each other and have a sense of their own contribution to the company’s development.
Summary
The above-described functionalities are just a few of the many intranet features. Modules can be freely adjusted and changed according to the needs of individual companies. At Droptica, we adjust every implementation to the individual needs of the client. The client can choose from a comprehensive offer of available modules or order a dedicated module to be designed and implemented. In this way, we are able to create a platform compatible with other systems owned by the client that meets their expectations.
