“Managing a global team of intranet editors” by a major global company at KMWorld & Intranets 2006

A few selected comments from Andrew Sinclair-Pearson, head of internet and intranet communications for the Division of Vaccines and Diagnostics of Novartis:

(The following comments are paraphrased, and do not reflect the complete content of the presentation.)

• No one trains you or prepares you for working globally. It's something you have to learn.
• When an intranet gets too large, and out of control because of publishing issues, you have a choice : either get more IT people or find an easier CMS.
• In our case, we changed the CMS and simplified the workflow by finding editors who could make decisions on behalf of their bosses about content.
• Workflows are necessary for some content, e.g. when approval is required from legal.
• When migrating to the new CMS, we moved to a single global intranet (available in English, Italian and German)
• We designed a style guide, offered training to editors.
• It was a great success, but then some of the earlier problems began to crop up. This time it was business people providing content and not IT.
• The problem was that the real priority for people' time was not the intranet; their regular work had higher priority.
• The intranet was considered useful but staff have more important things to do - like making mone for the company or making sure products get to the market on time.
• We learned ways to bring value to the role of intranet editors. Built a community of editors in each country.
• we offered support and training locally.
• we talked to the managers of the editors, gained agreement for the amount of time they can dedicate to intranet work, and got it in writing.
• It was tied to their objectives and appraisals.
• Intranet responsibilities should be in the role;  when a person leaves, it should not be necessary to go to their manager to find a new person; it should be automatic, part of the process.
• It is important to communicate with the managers of the intranet editors, to praise them, to give them visibility via news stories and when talking to other departments - praise can trigger a perception of value locally.

My take on this talk: It was refreshing to hear an intranet manager in a large global company talk so openly and frankly about issues. So many global big brand companies feel they need to keep up a pretence - pretend they have no problems on the intranet.

I cannot tell you how many times I've read case studies about intranets, then had occasion to consult with the company and see the intranet. Or to read that an intranet I know well has won a prize for being a great intranet - when I know it from the inside, and am familiar with its problems.

Many thanks to Andrew, whose presentation included a number of tips for working globally that I have not summarised here. Once I find a copy of it on the intranet, I'll let you know.

Technorati Tags: KM2006