In today’s modern and social digital workplace intranets are integral to business communication, productivity and success for an increasing number of businesses across a range of industries. From internal collaboration across multiple departments and locations, to information management and enabling your entire workforce to stay connected using social tools, a business intranet serves a range of functions.
A key aspect of successful intranets is the ability to support mobile users. With the growing number of people telecommuting, traveling for business and working from remote locations, a mobile-friendly intranet is integral not optional. Here are eight reasons why you must adapt to the changes introduced by the mobile friendly intranet:
1. Sales Success Out in the Field
A sales or service worker out in the field needs fast, efficient, easy and accurate access to customer details like order history, contact information and account summary. This is essential to providing a premier level of customer service and driving sales. While not every piece of content on an intranet needs mobile access, key information, data points and resources that benefit workers on the road, in the field or working remotely should ideally be right at their fingertips.
2. Efficient File, Document Sharing and Updates
Another key benefit of a business intranet is the ability for all members of your workforce, full time, part time and contract to have access to relevant information stored as files and documents. Centralised mobile access to a single source of information guarantees your workforce is always working with the latest version of each file or document. With easy publishing and remote access content owners and creators can make or change information on the go, from an airport terminal or while waiting to meet with a client. Take advantage of your intranets mobile capacity so that accurate information and documentation can always be updated and accessed easily.
3. Key Data and Business Intelligence Always at the Fingertips
Efficient access to the right information is key to improving productivity. Whether you are on client premises looking for a critical piece of data to close a deal or trying to find the expert in your organisation to help make an informed decision, mobile access to your intranet can be critical to success.
Enterprise search, best practice use of meta-tagging and complete staff profiles, are just a few ways to assist workers to find and connect with the information or people they need to perform the task at hand.
4. Building and Maintaining Staff Connections
Features like blogs, forums and social tools that provide the ability to share ideas and participate in conversations are some of the unique features of modern intranets. Social intranet features contribute to team building and creating personal connections within and outside of the workplace. Studies have shown that employees who feel they are part of a team and who have a personal bond with at least one colleague in the workplace are far more likely to stay than those who are lacking this connection. Mobile access to a social intranet will further enhance this natural and positive behavior to connect, collaborate and maintain personal connections, improving staff retention and team culture.
5. Fosters Creativity
When it comes to innovative, creative ideas, speed, efficiency and feedback are key. When an idea strikes people need the ability to express, share and receive collaborative energy right away. Ideas are not bound to business hours and so a mobile intranet can help to foster creativity, and encourage new ideas, fueling innovation and collaboration across your workforce around the clock.
6. Enhances User Efficiency
A streamlined mobile user interface to your intranet can be highly effective in fueling productivity, enhancing performance, increasing user job satisfaction and ultimately improving business results. The mobile intranet user experience should include easy to use buttons, drop-down menus, a clean, streamlined layout and other key features. In order to effectively measure mobile intranet success, remember that the right design for mobile will increase workforce engagement and enhance productivity. Conversely, no mobile access or poor design will have a negative impact on your workforce.
7. Contributes to Positive Company Morale and Culture
Current and future workforce generations expect employers to share values and support quality life work balance. Any organisation that provides the flexibility that comes with mobile access to people, data, information and documents, with tools for communication and collaboration 24 hours a day, seven days a week, is contributing to a positive work culture. A mobile intranet demonstrates a company’s commitment to making the work experience as positive and efficient as possible for its workers. This in turn fuels appreciation, higher morale and reinforcement of the company as a desirable place to work.
8. A More Connected and Successful Workforce
An intranet solution with mobile access supports a more connected workforce professionally and personally. This fuels the success of a business by removing any impediments to 24/7 productivity.
Enabling flexibility of workplace and hours results in a substantial amount of work happening when people are most productive, often after hours at home using their own tablets or smartphones. This trend justifies the need to ensure mobile access to your social intranet is seen as an imperative to intranet engagement and effectiveness with all workers. The ability to access files, people, information and key data points is crucial to staying competitive and in touch with business flow functioning in real time.
The Evolving Digital Workplace
The digital workplace is the future of business, and one of the most vital components is intranet connectivity company-wide. With a growing focus on work life balance, flexible hours and choice of location to work from, the need to provide a social intranet with mobile access is no longer optional. Enabling your workforce to engage with people and information where and whenever they choose is a point of differentiation in a growing competitive market to attract the talent you need for your business to thrive.
Don’t lose your competitive edge by missing out on all the features and benefits of mobile. Your productivity, company morale and business success may depend on it. A mobile intranet can drive every facet of your organisation in an effective and efficient manner. Location should not prevent workers from being able to access key data, stay connected and share their creative ideas.
For more information on how to ensure your intranet is a success, read our free guide on How to Plan, Deploy and Launch a Successful Intranet.
