…… Part of The Basics series. First published in February 2011 ……

• Are you an intranet practitioner reporting to the communication function?
• Have you been producing content for the intranet based on corporate strategy and messages?
• Is your intranet owned by communication?

If so, you risk being commoditized. I mean sidelined into a web services role as business takes more and more responsibility for the digital workplace.

What does this mean…for you and for your organization?It means several things:

• The digital workplace is becoming a business tool, as it should be.
• Business is therefore taking ownership.
• Intranet practitioners need to evolve, work hand-in-hand with business, forget the old ideas about the intranet being an internal communication tool.

The intranet is a business tool. The term “digital workplace” conveys that idea. That in itself is a reason for using the new term. Digital Workplace (ex-intranet) practitioners need to:

• Let go. See yourself as an enabler rather than a doer.
• Facilitate direct communication and collaboration.
• Provide a governance framework that supports both entrepreneurial networking and corporate goals. They rarely differ.