At Happeo, we get a lot of questions about intranet implementation. How long does the process take? What steps does it involve? What support can you expect from your provider? And what can you do in advance to prepare?
In this article, we’ll answer these questions and more — read on for all the information you need to get your intranet off the ground.
Let’s get started with the big one…
So, you’ve chosen your intranet provider, you’ve managed to get sign-off from the higher-ups in your organization, and your team is getting excited to start using their shiny new platform. How long do you have to wait before you can see your intranet in action?
Well, the slightly annoying answer is… it depends.
For a traditional, on-premise intranet (think SharePoint and similar systems), you could be looking at a ramp-up time of up to six months. That includes the time needed to design, deploy, and configure your intranet, thoroughly test it, and deliver training to your intranet admins and end users.
If that sounds like an awfully long time to wait, don’t panic. With a more modern, cloud-based intranet solution like Happeo, that timeline looks a lot shorter. In fact, for most customers, a Happeo intranet can be launched in around 10 weeks. We’ll go into detail about the steps involved in a Happeo intranet implementation below.
When you set up a new intranet, you need to be sure it will work smoothly alongside the other tools your team already uses. This can help you to increase intranet adoption — not to mention making your employees’ lives easier by giving them access to everything they need in one central location.
And here’s the good news: Happeo comes with a ton of useful integrations with tools that your team is probably already using, including Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, Slack, Jabber, and plenty more. That means Happeo is ready to slot neatly into your existing tech stack and bring all of the tools your team uses together in one place.
At Happeo, we’ve designed an intranet implementation strategy that will help you to get your intranet off the ground without a hitch. We call it the HAPPY method (because your intranet should make you happy, after all), and it’s divided into 5 phases:
This stage is all about us listening to you so that we can fully understand your organization’s needs. Together, we’ll confirm your vision and objectives and come up with a reasonable timeline for your intranet launch. This is also the moment to review any legacy systems you have in place, so that we can understand any features or functionality that you’d like to carry over to your new intranet.
Every organization is different. And in this next phase, we’ll advise you on the best approach for your situation. That means that we’ll work together to plan the structure and content of your new intranet, draft the design, and make plans for the change management measures you’ll put in place to ensure the launch goes smoothly.
This phase involves training your intranet admins so they’re ready to support your employees once the platform is launched. It’s also the time to create the content for your intranet and build out any custom integrations.
The last stage before fully launching your intranet is to pilot it with a select few early adopters. This allows you to collect feedback and make changes to ensure your intranet is as effective and useful as possible.
You made it! The final stage is of course to fully launch your intranet and deliver training to your end users. It’s also important to put in place a success plan for the future to ensure you’ll continue getting the most out of your intranet for years to come.
Your intranet isn’t finished as soon as it’s launched. In fact, ensuring your intranet is as effective as possible is an ongoing process that will continue throughout its lifecycle. That’s why our support program doesn’t stop once your intranet implementation is complete.
With every Happeo plan, you’ll get:
Want to get ready for your intranet implementation? Here are some things you can do ahead of time to ensure you’re set up for success:
Your intranet champions are the people who will take the lead on your intranet implementation — and appointing them early on helps to get them excited about the project. There are different ways of going about this: you might decide to set up a dedicated intranet team or ask key stakeholders in various departments to contribute to the project.
If you want to maximize intranet adoption and engagement once your platform is launched, you need to get your employees on board as early as possible. This means putting the word out about your new intranet and seeking feedback on the types of features your employees would like to see.
It’s also a good idea to set a timeline for your intranet launch so that everyone can prepare. At Happeo, we recommend a gradual launch, which gives your intranet team the time to iron out any problems before the platform is rolled out across the organization. If you go down this route, it’s a good idea to determine the dates you’ll roll out the intranet to each department or group of employees ahead of time — and ensure everyone is aware of the timeline.
Another important thing to remember is that you’ll need to leave time to train your intranet’s end users — your employees — on how the platform works. With a Happeo intranet, you have a few options: you could choose to deliver training internally or with Happeo’s support — or simply encourage employees to use self-service training tools like the Happeo Help Center to get up to speed.
Want to learn more about how your intranet implementation will work? Dive into our intranet basics guide to find out everything you need to know, or request an intranet demo to see Happeo in action.