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March 01 2010
Try a self-managed intranet
In BT I lead a small central team. I’m responsible for the strategy, governance and standards and how they are applied to content published on BT’s intranet using a menu of templates that I manage.
So who is responsible for publishing, reviewing, updating and removing content?
“You!” is the answer to any publisher in BT. There is NO central publishing team to do this on behalf of anyone.
Publishers are responsible for any content they own meeting our standards based on business, legal, regulatory and users’ needs.
They are trained on awareness of publishing standards and how they apply before they publish choosing from a menu of templates that already meet standards.
Automated tools will check content weekly and remind the publishers who own it if it doesn’t meet our standards what needs to be done. If no action is taken it is escalated to the publisher’s line manager and if action is still not taken, it will be removed from use and deleted. This avoids users making decisions on out of date content or because it is too difficult to use.
So, the content is owned and managed by every publisher with templates, training and automated tools to make it as easy as possible to meet the standards all users expect so they have a great overall experience.
My team can concentrate on what we can add most value to for BT and our intranet.
Tagged: bt intranet, content, governance, homepage, plan, standards, value
December 21 2009
BT Homepage: agreed by users
After testing with users on the changes to BT Homepage I have been able to launch it with the changes to some sections of the top page and site.
While some users when asked for their views wondered what all the fuss was about for the small changes proposed, most appreciated being given the chance to give their views and liked the changes.
I have greater confidence that I’ve made changes which users want and need to give them an even easier way to find what they need for their work.
A lesson I have learned is to try to make changes small rather than keep them back until a major change is needed. It avoids users being disorientated with all the changes. Of course keeping the number of times changes are needed to a minimum helps too.
Testing with users involves them more and suggestions made will help me make further small changes in 2010.
Here is the final version in normal colours and in Team BT/2012 Challenge colours when quarterly updates publicising progress and how people get involved are made.
Tagged: 2012 Challenge, beta testing, bt intranet, homepage, user testing
December 15 2009
BT’s intranet is 15 (yes, 15) years old
Just before Christmas 15 years ago a few grey pages appeared and flickered away on a computer screen in BT for the first time.
What began as a small pilot project to look at the problem of “information overload” has led to being one of the best intranets globally with everyone in BT using it.
It’s now such an intrinsic part of the way that the company does its business that it is hard to imagine business life without it. A BT person now uses the information network for a variety of tasks at work and also works with processes and systems which are intranet based.
These include ‘killer applications’ at the start of our intranet that I have posted about before – BT Homepage, Directory, BT Today and more recently social media tools like Blog Central, BTpedia and Podcast Central.
Information and activities supported by the intranet include sales and marketing data, fault resolution, service planning and provision, facilities management, human resources support, senior executives’ sites and business intelligence.
All our key BT-wide applications most people need to use are online – whether booking a room, claiming expenses, ordering a PC, performance marking or training – saving time, paper, effort and transforming costs.
So what about the future? I can’t predict for the next 15 years but I’ll post about the next 15 months soon.
Tagged: blog, bt intranet, BT today, directory, homepage, intranet applications, social media, wiki
November 19 2009
New BT Homepage – what’s your view?
In the last BT Intranet user survey I carried out earlier in 2009 I asked people in BT if merging information and applications into logical groups based around activities/functions would help them. The majority answered ‘Yes’.
I am now testing the new version that tries to do this with users and asking for their views.
The last major change to the BT Homepage was at the beginning of 2009 with a recent change in some of the colours when the 2012 challenge countdown began earlier this month.
I’m sharing the proposed changes and how we are testing these with users in these slides.
What do you think of the changes and how we are testing with people to make sure they are right or be able to make further changes to get it better?
PS I’m on holiday for the next two weeks. My blog decided it wants a break too 
. So, my next post will be in December.
November 05 2009
BT today – BT’s great intranet news site
I’ve mentioned in previous posts BT today as BT’s main intranet news site for the latest news affecting everyone in BT. But I don’t feel I’ve given it full justice until now. The problem is where to start as it has so much to offer!
BT today was one of the first sites on BT’s intranet when it was launched in 1994. It meant people could find out the latest news, whenever they wanted to and reduced the overload (and cost) of information being sent to everyone each day.
Since it’s launch BT today has been one of the most popular sites on BT’s intranet. BT raises several tens of thousands of pounds from digital advertising on the site. It has now grown to include:
- Up to 10 news stories published each day
- PDA version available for mobile users
- Subscribing to different RSS news feeds
- Raising issues that people across BT contribute to
- Sharing important events like birthdays, anniversaries, etc.
I’ve shared some examples of BT today for you to see these.
Along with BT Homepage and Directory, the BT today news site is one of the key sites that encouraged people to start using the BT Intranet. Offering a wider range of news services has encouraged people to use it more, and more frequently.
Future plans include more use of photos for each story, larger photos where suitable for stories and people able to comment on each story.
Tagged: bt intranet, BT today, homepage, money, rss, social media, users, value
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