The story of how an intranet evolves to become part of a larger digital workplace.

1. From intranet to
digital workplace
Jane McConnell
March 2013
First published in 2010, revised several times since then.

2. The digital workplace is
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3. Here’s how it happened

4. 1
Authoritative,
stable managed
dimension
! Managed information and enterprise applications.
! Owned by Communication.
! At this stage, it is called the “intranet”.
! Structured according to the organizational structure with
control and clear, distinct “territories” and responsibilities.

5. 1 2
Authoritative, Structured
Authoritative, stable
managed dimension
stable managed collaboration
dimension dimension
! The arrival of digital platforms for structured project
collaboration brings “real work” to the digital workplace.
! Goals become productivity & efficiency.
! Business and IT work together to meet operational needs by
creating collaborative platforms.
! Competition starts between the “intranet” and the
“collaborative platform”.

6. 1 2 3
Social collaboration
Structured
dimension
Authoritative, stable Authoritative, stable
collaboration
managed dimension managed dimension Authoritative, Structured
dimension
stable managed collaboration
dimension dimension
! The arrival of “social media” in the enterprise brings
disruption.
! People are empowered, potentially.
! Traditional roles of management, HR, IT and Communication
are challenged as people begin to self-declare and self-
organize.
! However, social stays in its own corner, isolated from “real
work”.

7. 1 2 3 4
Social collaboration dimension
Authoritative, stable Authoritative, stable Structured
managed dimension managed dimension collaboration
dimension Structured
Authoritative, stable
collaboration
managed dimension
dimension
Mobile
dimension
! The convergence of the 3 dimensions goes beyond disruption
to transformation.
! Social collaboration impregnates the enterprise facilitating
visibility of work, openness, efficiency and accountability.
! The digital workplace mode requires leadership rather than
management. It is built on : “freedom within a framework”.
! Self-organizing communities have strong influence over work
and decisions.

8. “Digital Workplace
Trends 2013”
Purchase the report.
www.digital-workplace-trends.com.

9. Thank you.
jane@netjmc.com
twitter @netjmc
Join LinkedIn group: Digital Workplace
(co-managed with Sam Marshall)
Get in touch if you’re interested in a
management briefing, workshop
facilitation, coaching or just want to
chat.
References: Air Liquide, Paris - Amadeus, Madrid – ArcelorMittal, Luxembourg – Areva, Paris – Arup, UK – Alcatel-Lucent, Paris - Alstom,
Paris - AGF, Paris – Bayer, France – Boehringer Ingelheim, Germany – EDF, Paris – EDP, Lisbon - ERDF, Paris - Ericsson, Stockholm -
GDF Suez, Paris - Gemalto, France - GlaxoSmithKline, Belgium - IKEA, Sweden - Lagardère, Paris - Nokia, Helsinki - Novartis,
Switzerland - Océ, the Netherlands - OMV Petrom, Vienna - Pernod Ricard, Paris - PPR, Paris - RATP, Paris - Groupe SEB, Lyon - SNCF,
Paris - Suez Environnement, Paris - Telenor, Norway - Total, Paris - UPM, Helsinki