There is a good number of social intranet platforms to choose from. People say that social intranet platforms have divided the intranet community. The reality is that intranet users find socialization an important part of the intranet. When done right, socialization makes collaboration and business more efficient and succeeds.

It is a powerful platform that eliminates the need for using multiple online collaboration tools. Social intranet software is an essential tool that your employees need for day-to-day work.

Your intranet serves the following five purposes:

• Content delivery
• Communication
• Collaboration
• Promote company culture
• Support for business activities

Content Delivery 

An intranet allows your employees to create, manage, share and delete content. Your cloud-based intranet solution is a dedicated resource for content management. Content planning is important as the organic growth of content can go out of control. There should be no untrustworthy, poor quality and out of date content. Creating and delivering up-to-date, accurate and reliable content is important for people who need the information to do their jobs. Before they make any decision, they need to find answers to some questions. Creating good quality content requires time and other resources. Keep the language simple and consistent. Make the content accessible in an interactive way. Quality content should be rewarded.

• Have a decentralized authoring model for content.
• Address the needs of the user.
• Make it easy to read and understand.

Communication

Email is not an outdated tool. It is still relevant and useful. However, managing email can be an issue. Communication has to be quick and consistent. Modern businesses need instant messaging. Email cannot be your primary communication channel. Social intranet platforms come with special features for communication. Your employees can quickly send messages and share files. Whether the employee is using a computer, laptop or other handheld devices such as a tablet or smartphone, the employee can send instant messages and files anytime and from anywhere. Most social intranet platforms are cloud-based. One-way communication does not send a good message to teams that actually work on projects.  Your social intranet platform must support two-way communication.

Collaboration

A workplace has people from diverse backgrounds. They have different levels of skills. Good collaboration ensures project completion on time, and within budget. In team-based collaboration, a group of people shares information and documents to work on the same activities.

Collaboration supports the creation of opportunities for creating and sharing new ideas. Employees can use social intranet solutions to connect and create or improve networks. It is important to avoid confusions and fragmentations. Anyone in the team can share valuable insights. So, there should be one space, not multiple isolated spaces. Your intranet collaboration solutions should be aligned with the way your employees collaborate. When companies have employees working from different locations, collaboration should happen in a virtual way as well.

Culture

There is no physical interaction between employees when the organization has people working from their homes or any other remote locations. Every organization has a culture. People working from their homes need to be a part of that culture. Choose an intranet solution that you can tailor to reflect your culture. Company culture plays an important role in building trust and culture. Both words and actions should reflect your culture. Your intranet should not be all about reading. Your intranet should be doing things as well.

Consider the features and functionalities you need and choose one of the best social intranet platforms.