Intranets are not information dumps

The above is a quote from the second annual Global Intranet & Portal Strategies Survey, published in late 2007. It’s a very interesting and solid report and well worth a read if you’re involved in running a large intranet.

There is something in the quote that I find particularly interesting, and it goes to the heart of why intranets are not taken seriously by senior management. It’s that awful word “information.”

According to the survey, “distributing information” is the essence of what intranets are about. But just why exactly do we “distribute information?” What is the underlying purpose of distributing information? It would seem that whatever vague purpose “distributing information” has, it has nothing to do with facilitating productivity or collaboration. Interesting.

Maybe we distribute information so that people can become better informed. But what are these things we want people to become better informed about? And why aren’t these things we want people to become better informed about connected with productivity or collaboration?