Benefits of an Intranet
Workplaces across North America are changing. Working from home, transparent workplace cultures, streamlined communications, and efficient workflows are on the rise. This has resulted in municipalities and organizations searching for digital solutions to maintain efficient internal communication. Intranets (also known as staff portals or internal networks) are often the answer they are looking for, a private network used by internal employees to share company information in a secure way. Intranets have a wide range of capabilities all focused on communication and information efficiency.
There are many benefits to using an intranet, here are our top five reasons to implement one:
Improved internal communication
An intranet built with best practices will inspire improved communication throughout your organization. The CiviKit Intranet solution by Upanup is built on Drupal and focuses on user experience (UX) to ensure your team can easily navigate the site and find information which will encourage the following:
- Employees from any department or team to share their knowledge and relevant data. This will encourage employees to grow as individuals and act as an informal cross-training strategy.
- Employees can not only share information but also provide feedback. Ensuring communication goes both ways is extremely important for making progress in any organization.
- Centralized communication to reduce the number of emails and meetings making more efficient use of everyone’s time.
To learn more about what an intranet project looks like view our recent case study that outlines an intranet project with the Town of Oliver.

Streamlined access to information
Intranets provide centralized information for employees to access from anywhere. As working from home becomes the norm for many organizations it is more important than ever that employees are able to access important information and data remotely. This information can range from HR policies to strategic planning or instructional guides. Our intranets are equipped with search tools making it quick and effective for employees to find the information they are looking for, saving them large amounts of time that would otherwise be spent searching through folders.
Enhanced workplace culture
Intranets can be the perfect place for employees to recognize each other’s work and stay involved in company events and activities. An intranet can also help bring the organization’s culture into everyday tasks, reminding employees of company values, standards, and why they have chosen to work at your organization.
Engaged and connected workforce
The goal of employee engagement is to increase their happiness, improve productivity, and reduce your turnover rate. An intranet will ensure every employee, no matter where they are located has access to the same information and feels involved in the workplace happenings and culture that will be evident on your intranet. Promoting collaboration and teamwork by bringing everyone into the same virtual “room”, will result in employees feeling connected to their coworkers and comfortable sharing thoughts and ideas. Use this 5 step checklist to ensure your intranet's content is inclusive.
Simplified employee onboarding
New employees will have all the required information at their fingertips to get them up to speed quickly. Intranets will effectively organize your internal documents, resources, events, etc. in one place making training quick and easy for new staff. Features such as quick links for popular content and search functions will also speed up the process and create efficiencies for your team.
CiviKit Intranet Solution by Upanup
Intranets can have a wide range of functionalities and can look very different from one another, based on long-term goals. Upanup offers a templated solution, the CiviKit Intranet, as well as custom intranet designs to meet the needs of your organization. We have leveraged our experience facilitating user experience (UX) testing sessions, and designing and developing public websites and intranets to create a thoughtful template that meets the needs of internal teams and reflects their unique structure. The CiviKit Intranet includes the following features:
- News & Announcements
- Alerts
- Staff Directory
- Internal Events or Vacation Calendar
- Document/Forms/Media Library
- Classifieds
- Quicklinks & Content Spotlights
- Webforms
- Categorized Sections for Department-Specific Content & Resources
- FAQs
- Secure Sign-on and Editing Access
- Hosted & Maintained by Upanup
If your organization primarily communicates online and you have goals to improve your internal communication and workflows, it could be time to think about taking the next step and implementing an intranet.
If you would like to learn more about the CiviKit Intranet and Upanup's other communication tools, request a quote, or book a free demo, get in touch today.
"The Upanup team is a treat to work with. Their expertise in the digital and marketing domains have led to many creative solutions. They are professional communicators with their thoughtful and empathetic approach that makes you feel listened to. I’m always confident their work leaves a positive impact on our projects."
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Intranet Content Strategy
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