The webmaster model is dead. Unless you’re a very small organization, argues intranet consultant and Step Two founder James Robertson, the intranet requires a team. Writing in his recent column Intranet managers must be managers James also argues that there has to be a dedicated ‘manager’ overseeing the intranet:
An intranet ‘team’ of one is not enough, unless the organisation (or intranet) is very small. In the earlier article Roles needed in an intranet team, a very wide range of skills and responsibilities were identified for a successful team. The article Intranet teams: survey results and key findings also highlighted that the average size of intranet teams is three, with the team size growing to match the size of the organisation and the intranet.
In practice, this means that an intranet team will need to consist of an overall ‘manager’ (or ‘coordinator’), along with several staff to do the actual day-to-day work on the site. Even then, the intranet team will have to collaborate very closely with other areas of the organisation to ensure that necessary skills can be obtained when needed.
The larger the organization, the more political the intranet becomes. In a medium to large-size organization, however, a steering committee chaired by executive level champions are almost highly recommended. This next generation model of intranet governance is collaborative, with committees representing the major functional stakeholders in Communications, Human Resources, Operations, IT and business units.
This model is most successful when the committee is championed by one or two key executives, often the CIO, the head of Communications, or HR. Instead of no owner, or one single owner, a collaborative team governs the intranet through the application of policies, standards and templates.
KEEP READING:
The Politics of Intranet Ownership
Collaborative Intranet Governance (Intranet Politics Part II)
Why is the intranet so political?