Can I get 5 minutes?
I’ve talked a lot lately about SharePoint assessments. At some point, of course, you need to build something. Taking the data you’ve gathered through the assessment and incorporating it into your design is a good start… but what about all the other users?! How can you be sure that you’re not “missing something important”?
One method I like to you use is the “hallway conversation”. This is a brief (5 minutes, tops!) conversation with (7-10) representative staff; done informally. It’s a good idea to find varied skillsets and tenure (especially seek out recently hired staff). Below are some sample questions I typically track if redesigning an intranet. I’ve even had data collection done by an internal resource (e.g. help desk person) so the discussion is kept casual. Once completed, I look at the results and search for trends. What are the top 3 or 4 pain points (examples – “current intranet has awful navigation”, “there is no way to search for content”, etc.)? For each, let’s craft a specific project statement that articulates how the SharePoint implementation will make each scenario better.
We haven’t started building yet so it’s too early to bring everyone together and demo SharePoint (no!) or set false expectations. Polish, polish, polish… until the plan (and outcome) is clear.
1. What do you use the current intranet for? (looking specifically for use cases and tasks)
2. What do you think is hard to do or missing from the current intranet?
3. What would be the top 3 (useful) functions of a new corporate intranet?
4. Do you have content that is not included on the intranet today but should be (because it might be useful to others)?
5. If our new intranet were to be deemed a “success”, what type of comments would employees give (in feedback) that would make us think it was indeed successful?