If you want to have a well-functioning intranet that employees like to use, it is a good idea to start by laying out a strategy for what type of knowledge is relevant for you to share. You can, among other things, do by asking the questions:

• What is important knowledge for our employees?
• How should that knowledge be used – and for what purpose?
• When should it be used?
• Who will use it?

Knowledge only becomes valuable when it is available at the right time to the right employees. If a clear knowledge strategy does not guide the development of the intranet, the company risks drowning in nice-to-know information, and the intranet becomes a burden rather than an efficient and targeted tool for sharing relevant and useful knowledge.

When you want to work purposefully with the sharing of knowledge, in larger companies it can be a good idea to divide the employees according to competences and knowledge in relation to the work areas they work with. Let e.g. each area of competence have access to a special intranet, where they can exchange knowledge and experience within their specific work area through chat functions and discussion forums.

Motivate employees

A fundamental prerequisite for knowledge sharing is that employees actually use the intranet. To have an intranet does not automatically equal use, and one must not think that the intranet creates knowledge sharing by itself. A good idea is also to let the intranet have a connection to activities that take place in the workplace, so that there is interaction between the different platforms. Development is needed for the intranet to be really good, and it is a process that takes place over time.

Work should also be done on the motivation to use the intranet. It is therefore important that purpose, goals and strategy are clearly defined. The employees want to know why they need to use it – and what they get out of it. The value of using the intranet can be, for example, that:

• All the company's information and documents are gathered in one place.
• Knowledge can be shared easily and quickly.
• Work routines can be made more efficient, as everyone can participate online.

The sum of the three values is quite clear here – namely that it saves time. So the intranet can rightly also be considered an efficiency tool, because important information can reach everyone in a split second.

Another way to motivate employees to use the intranet is, for example, to:

• Delegate responsibility for content delivery. It is a joint responsibility that the intranet is updated.
• Regular updating of documents and news information, as well as prioritization and selection of content.
• Involve the entire organization in the process and make it a common point of reference to visit to stay updated.
• Clear support from management. Lack of support and use from management can demotivate employees.

Focus on the content

The intranet should contain everything related to internal personnel information, such as:

• personnel handbook with guidelines, procedures and policies
• vacation plans
• job postings
• news
• course activities, education and training
• meeting minutes
• registrations for various
• calendar management of premises etc.
• customer database
• contact information for all employees
• time management in connection with projects

In practical terms, posts should be as short as possible and broken up into small text sections to promote readability on the screen. It is a good idea to post pictures together with the text, and remember to finish with contact information on the sender and options for action, so that your colleagues know what to do to show the behavior you want.

It is worth making an effort for a well-functioning intranet, as it creates unity and strengthens a shared culture in the workplace.