The Intranet in 2024: Top 8 Trends Shaping the Future

The pandemic accelerated digital transformation timelines across organizations.

Intranets swiftly became critical hubs keeping dispersed teams connected, informed and productive.

As hybrid work environments become mainstream in 2024, intranets must continue adapting to support an increasingly distributed workforce.

In this post, we highlight the top 8 intranet trends organizations should embrace in 2024.

In this time of information overload where each employee has their own preferences and tools for efficient work, creating a personalized intranet takes center stage in 2024.

A common request among organizations is the ability to customize the intranet for users, particularly tailoring the intranet homepage for each employee based on their role, location, interests, language and preferences.

In this context, Involv, an intranet built on SharePoint, offers numerous personalization options:

• Target audience: Tailoring content (news, documents, notifications etc.) to specific user groups.

• Customizable quick links: Letting employees select which quick links are available on their home page.

• Content subscription: Allowing employees to subscribe to their preferred content types for a personalized newsfeed.

• Notification preferences: Enabling employees to select their preferred notification channels.

• Multilingual support: Displaying the intranet in the preferred language of employees.

Most big organizations adopt multi-channel publishing for flexible communication, enhanced engagement, and streamlined content distribution across different platforms.

We’ve noticed a growing interest among organizations using Microsoft to integrate their intranet with Microsoft Teams and Viva Engage.

Mobile apps, or employee apps, always grab attention because they’re great for reaching workers who are on the go. Beyond sharing news and updates, companies now want these apps to have useful features like instant messaging, an employee directory, a company-branded look and integrations with tools like payroll and HR systems, etc.

The use of digital signage for broadcasting intranet content across screens within offices and across different company locations is gaining popularity as an effective attention-grabbing tool. It helps amplify your message, facilitates communication across all locations and drives traffic to your intranet.

While email newsletters remain an inevitable channel for internal communications, companies seek email tools that seamlessly integrate with their existing intranet.

Involv addresses these needs by integrating channels for smooth communication and enhancing engagement across platforms and devices:

• Providing a full intranet experience within Teams.

• Offering a Involv mobile app for both IOS and Android.

• Introducing Involv Cast, a digital signage solution for Microsoft 365.

• Delivering customized Involv newsletters and email notifications.

As remote and hybrid work become the norm, organizations grapple with mirroring the social dynamics of traditional offices.

Transitioning beyond news sharing and document searches, many companies transform their intranets into dynamic hubs, fostering connection and idea sharing among dispersed teams.

In 2024, these features aren’t just extras; they’re indispensable for an intranet driving social collaboration!

• User profiles: Showcase team members with individual profiles.

• Intranet blogging: Share thoughts and updates in bite-sized posts.

• Instant messaging within the intranet.

• Create forum/groups: Create virtual hubs for focused collaboration.

• User interactions: Facilitating engagement through likes, comments, and @mentions.

• Ideation tool: Encouraging and capturing collaborative innovation and idea generation.

The focus on making intranets more user-friendly is a continuous priority. Today, employees expect their company’s intranet to be as easy to use, fast-loading and great-looking as its website.

So, when you’re selecting an intranet platform, think about how easy it is for everyone to use, how it fits everyone’s needs, and how it looks.

Involv, built on Microsoft 365/SharePoint, goes above and beyond, offering:

• Unlimited branding possibilities to reflect your corporate style and identity.

• An intuitive interface with a clean, website-like experience.

• Flexible navigation options: Easily edit and adapt with features like left navigation, mega menus and breadcrumbs, providing a dynamic and customizable navigation experience for all users.

• Accessibility tools for employees with disabilities (screen readers support, contrast palettes).

• Multimedia support for text, images, and videos.

• A drag-and-drop editor empowering admins to update the design without IT intervention.

• Ready-made templates for easy component integration.

According to Zendesk Customer Experience Trends Report 2023, only 22 percent of business leaders say their teams are good at sharing information. This lack of data sharing is a big deal, especially for sales-, product- and marketing teams who might be missing out on important customer insights.

That’s where the new focus lies – improving how teams share info, especially between different departments.

Social tools, groups and internal blogging can help break down knowledge barriers – connecting experts across locations and functions. Each person on your team has their special skills, expertise and ideas. Using this knowledge makes your workplace even better. Your intranet can facilitate this. Here’s how:

• Create a centralized data management system that allows everyone to have immediate access to important information when and where they need it.

• Crowdsourcing ideas and solutions: Provide a platform for employees to share their thoughts via forum posts, individual/group messaging, content creation and ideation.

• User Profiles: Encourage employees to complete their user profiles. This simple step helps colleagues identify experts with specific skill sets when needed.

Since last year, we’ve already seen the integration of AI into intranets. Many organizations are adopting AI to enhance content creation, boost employee productivity through IT and HR virtual assistants, improve search functionality, and drive personalization.

In the coming years, we can expect even more exciting developments in AI-powered intranet features. The focus is on making teamwork smoother, enhancing security, and using data more intelligently. Rest assured; AI is not here to replace jobs in internal comms. Its purpose is to assist, making your work simpler, more efficient.

At Involv, our AI-auto translation functionality is already providing a productivity boost for internal communications teams. It helps effortlessly translate content for employees across the globe. But that’s not all—we’re taking it a step further.

In our upcoming release, brace yourself for an enhanced AI experience, including:

• Content Creation: Assisting or automating the process of generating written or visual content, ranging from suggesting ideas to creating entire pieces.

• Writing Improvement: Enhancing written content, covering grammar corrections, style improvements, and overall clarity.

• Article Creation: Research, structure, and generate comprehensive articles based on a given subject or theme.

• Image Generation by Topic: Automatically generating images or graphics based on a given subject or theme.

As more people work from home or a mix of home and office, organizations are upgrading their intranet to better support distributed employees. Many intranets now have special sections like IT or HR, allowing employees to access crucial information, fill out HR forms, and request IT support without needing to contact the administration team.

Specialized HR intranet sections enable smooth onboarding and talent introduction. Built-in tools for time-off, lunch planning, expenses and more also reduce reliance on administrators.

Finally, understanding employees are using many platforms, tools and apps, many organizations aim to integrate their intranet with existing tools. Open architecture allows for connecting external apps and data into the intranet experience. This consolidation empowers users with the self-sufficiency needed in hybrid environments.

Organizations are increasingly recognizing the intranet as a valuable tool to strengthen cultures.

A majority of intranet owners are strategically planning to promote diversity and inclusion initiatives, share success stories and celebrate shared values.

Features like blogs, forums, and other types of user-generated content foster authentic connections among distributed teams by amplifying individual voices. Spotlighting wins, milestones, and events across the business also nurtures a sense of collective purpose and pride.

Additionally, highlighting company values, priorities and cultural pillars through multimedia content reinforces reasons why people do the work they do.

With remote and hybrid work on the rise, intranets will continue gaining importance as hubs that maintain bonds, meaning, and a common identity regardless of physical location. Their interactive channels demolish silos to curate an emotional, human culture even when teams operate at a distance.

The trends outlined above spotlight key intranet capabilities that will shape the future in 2024 and the coming years. With digital transformation only accelerating, companies need a modern, flexible and customizable intranet that evolves as quickly as the world around them.

Explore the future of intranet solutions with Involv. Learn how our team of experts can help you create an effective internal communications platform and tackle today’s business challenges.