SharePoint Online is a huge platform inside of a gigantic platform, (Microsoft 365). Businesses planning on using SharePoint Online as the technology base of their intranets need to consider the active management of the platform.

In medium to large sized businesses (let’s say over 100 people), it will take the role of a dedicated Intranet Manager to successfully navigate and guide the platform properly. These are not roles that are traditionally in an organogram. However, with the need for technology to scale and manage large businesses, this role needs to become the norm.

Here’s some considerations for the role :

Workload

This is a full-time job in medium to large businesses. There is a lot to learn, manage and develop. It is extremely challenging to be an Intranet Manager as a side hustle to a main job. Things will fall through the cracks and move at a snails pace.

Who Is Suited

You can’t just make anyone an Intranet Manager. It takes a specific aptitude, attitude and personality type to make a good Intranet Manager. They need the following attributes:

• Positive outlook on life
• Friendly and approachable
• Go-getter and self-starter
• Does not need to be micro-managed
• Curious and loves learning
• Innovative mindset that sees opportunities everywhere
• Knack for technology and likes to tinker with it
• Superior communication skills
• Trustworthy, honest and responsible
• Extremely high level of integrity
• Passionate about sharing knowledge
• Understands your business very well
• The patience of a saint
• Humble and kind
• A sense of humour is invaluable

What Are They Managing

To be clear up front, Intranet Managers are not managing people, they are managing information, and lot of it. The are also improving the digital literacy standard across the business with the role they perform.

That being said, in larger businesses, one person in this role will not be enough. It may require an extended team when there are upwards of 1000 users in the business. That team needs to report to the Intranet Manager.

Who Do They Report To

This is always an issue for companies. Intranet Managers span all areas of the business and people struggle to decide where to put them into the hierarchy.

It comes down to ownership – who owns the intranet? Business or IT? The answer is always business. It is not IT responsibility to manage company information. It is their job to ensure the internet is ok, Active Directory is up to date, there’s licenses, security is in place, the overall tech stack strategy aligns to business goals, hardware, software, etc. They often choose the M365 platform in the first place..

But all the collaboration and document management spaces need to be owned and managed by business.

So the Intranet Manager role should preferably fall in business.

In our consultancy over the past 15 years, the most successful intranet projects have been run by the Finance Department. The least successful intranet projects have been run by Marketing, (with one exception). The Intranet Manager role could slot into Finance because there are a lot of financial decisions to be made in this space. Training and consulting fees, third party tools, licensing costs, extra storage – all needs to be budgeted and paid for.

It could also fit into the Compliance space. There are always policies and procedures that need to be managed. If the business is certified in any industry standards like ISO, the whole intranet should be structured around the audit findings and requirements to meet those standards.

It could still sit in the IT structure, but as the business liaison. They need to be in constant communication with IT and business to manage Microsoft 365 end to end.

They need to have access to senior executives to be able to report to that level, and have any issues cleared up. Intranets are long and expensive projects that need to be managed properly. The Intranet Manager needs to be mandated to run the project independently and empowered to make decisions.

This decision making doesn’t happen overnight, so start the planning process early on. Do what works for your business.

Where Do You Get One

Your best bet is to recruit from inside your company. The technology can be taught, understanding the business properly and all the other attributes list above, not so much. Having someone who already knows how your business roles saves a lot of time when it comes to the analysis side of this job.

Or hire externally. Make sure the candidates have minimum of 5-years full-time experience specifically managing a SharePoint Online intranet in a business of your size or larger. And preferably at more than one company. SharePoint on prem is not the same animal at all. Experience is key here, not certificates.

What Will They Do

This is a multi-faceted role with every day presenting a different challenge and opportunity. High-level, here’s some of what they are expected to do:

• Strategic Planning: Develop and execute a strategic plan for the intranet, aligning it with the overall business strategy. The intranet must become a strategic business enabler and effective digital workplace.
• Governance: Establish governance policies for the management of the intranet including user access, naming standards, content management, what tech will be used when and why, and site hierarchy. These must align to compliance, data security and privacy regulations.
• Design and Usability: Design an intranet that is user-friendly, aesthetically pleasing, and aligned with the company’s brand.
• Content Management and Architecture: Oversee the creation, publication, migration, structuring, and maintenance of all types of content. Work with departments to ensure their content is current, relevant, and engaging. Design the hierarchy to ensure it can scale in any direction.
• Maintenance: Review and tweak settings regularly to ensure the platform is running smoothly and being used effectively in all areas of the business.
• Training and Support: Provide training and first level support to business users to ensure they can effectively use the intranet. This includes creating training materials, conducting workshops, and providing one-on-one support.
• Research & Development: Staying ahead of the technology stack, understanding what is available out of box, and keep abreast of what is on the roadmap.
• Business Analysis: Meet with departments and stakeholders to unpack their business requirements and effectively map them to the technology.
• Usage Monitoring: Use usage stats and feedback to monitor the intranet’s adoption and user engagement. Make adjustments based on this data to continually improve the intranet.
• Change Management: One-on-one engagements with business users to guide them on best practices and how to do things better using the technology. It’s a shadowing, stop doing start doing exercise on an ongoing basis.
• Project Management: Manage projects related to the enhancement and upgrade of the intranet, including setting timelines, budgeting, and resource allocation. Give feedback up the reporting line as required.

Special Aspects of This Role

Being an Intranet Manager is a demanding role that requires dedication, concentration, attention to detail and the ability to multitask.

Microsoft 365 and SharePoint Online are enormous, highly complex, ever-changing platforms. It is exhausting. Staying ahead of the technology has become basically impossible with the speed the Cloud moves at. It’s about being able to choose your battles wisely and move at a pace that the business can handle, whilst also not keeping them back.

This is not a junior role. You need someone responsible who takes their life and career seriously to do this job. The things they build will last many many years in a company. It becomes their legacy and affects the performance of the business.

They will be privy to every single document ever created in the company, so a high level of trust is involved. Make them sign new NDA’s if required.

They cannot be micro-managed. They often work on very complex systems and problems that require no interruptions. They must be allowed to work from home to get their jobs done in peace.

They must be highly adaptable and able to communicate effectively with everyone from the tea lady to the CEO. They will be engaging on a one-on-one basis with people from every single department.

It is a massive opportunity for one of your staff members with the right stuff listed above. They will however, also then become very marketable. You need to look after your Intranet Managers or they can be easily poached. This is a specialized, highly sort-after role.

What If Getting an Intranet Manager is Not an Option at Your Company

Then you need to hire a consultancy specialising in those services to fulfill that role for you, (like us, hehe). This model works just as well in the meantime, it just comes with a price tag.