Looking to set up an intranet or get some real value from the one you already have? Here’s how one company used its intranet as a path to success.
In a recent New York Times interview, Red Hat President Jim Whitehurst revealed a unique resource for rallying the troops and boosting revenue.
The idea came about as a result of the fact Whitehurst didn’t want to seek out new ideas using the same process most companies do (i.e., Putting the company’s most creative minds in a room and letting them brainstorm new ideas).
Whitehurst believed some of the best ideas and feedback came from employees on the front lines … staffers who were uniquely qualified to explain why a certain idea may or may not work.
So he worked with the Marketing/IT team at Red Hat to develop a “Memo List” via the company’s intranet. The Memo List was an online forum where any employee or manager with a password could log on, pose a question, and gain feedback from employees from several different departments, at every level of expertise.
Sometimes, execs would shoot a quick email, alerting employees tyhey had just posted a new question. But before long, Whitehurst found employees were logging on several times a day, to see what others in the company were saying, and perhaps even provide their own two cents.
In addition to helping the company sharpen its approach (and avoid bad ideas), the internal “Memo List” has also boosted satisfaction, loyalty, collegiality among the ranks, interdepartmental communication and retention.
Source: “The Memo List: Where Everyone Has an Opinion,” New York Times, 3/10/12.
