Hey Reader,

Each week in this newsletter I answer a question from a reader. This week, our question comes from a member inside The Curious Tribe. Let's dig into her question and give you a flavour of the kind of support this member is getting inside the community.

She asks:

What happens in the tribe when you post a question like this?

The tribe shows up.

Here's an extract of what she learned from tribe members.

Lessons from someone who’s just been through it

One member shared his experience of searching for a new intranet earlier this year for a global workforce. He shared three key lessons he learned through the process:

1. Be really clear on the problem you’re trying to solve. Lots of platforms have impressive features you’d never even thought of, and it’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of a clever widget, so a core shopping list keeps you focused.
2. Make sure your IT or digital workplace team is involved, but be clear from the start about who owns the final decision. Is it you or is it them?
3. Omnichannel is the future. When your people are spread across the world, no single channel reaches everyone, so the most impressive suppliers can publish the same content to the intranet homepage, the app, collaboration tools and email at the same time.

An honest review of her experience with Workvivo

Another member shared her experience of using Workvivo successfully. She finds it user-friendly and a real step up from what they had before, and the vendor’s help in migrating content across from the old site was one of the main reasons it was chosen. This kind of advice is helpful so you can think about what you need your vendor to be able to do for you as part of the process.

A warning worth listening to

One member gave a clear warning what can happen if your IT team picks the intranet platform. You could end up with a situation where the platform selected is really not up to scratch. For example, it can result in a bad experience both for the comms team who are creating content and also for employees trying to find information, leaving you with a clunky interface with limited features. From an IT perspective, maybe it looks fine, but from an employee experience perspective, it's a different situation.

Remember to get clear - who makes the final decision? Is it you or is it IT?

You can negotiate on price

Another member chimed in to say she switched to a new intranet 18 months ago and it's been going really well. One thing she learned through the process was that vendors will often be open to negotiating on price, so if cost is a concern then keep this in mind. This member got her shortlist down to two intranets and at the final hour, one vendor slashed their price and she went with them. Her experience shows that vendors will often negotiate on price.

Don't be shy to negotiate, ask for a discount or a better rate. The vendors want your business and they know they'll have you as a customer for years. So shoot your shot!

This is what the tribe does

Look at what happened there. Candid, honest answers from a global network of peers who have faced the same challenge and can share their experiences. The conversation also included reference to specific vendors who were either recommended or warned against. I'm not naming them here but you can expect candid sharing inside the community.

What else can help you make your decision

There are also some great resources inside the tribe video library to help you make an informed decision about picking your next intranet.

First up we have an in-depth session with Suzie Robinson of ClearBox Consulting. Suzie spends her working life reviewing intranet and employee experience platforms and is, in my view, an absolute expert in what's available on the market.

Some of the key takeaways of her session include:

• A good intranet is defined by how well it serves the business and makes employees’ day-to-day easier, so start with your digital workplace strategy rather than the technology.
• SharePoint has improved, but it still has real gaps around frontline and mobile, campaign management and analytics, and the extra licences for Copilot and Viva can make it quite expensive.
• In vendor demos, insist on seeing the admin screens, and think about whether you could work with that vendor for the next five or ten years.
• If the budget isn’t there yet, document real examples of what goes wrong without a better tool so the evidence is ready for next time.

You can also use ClearBox Insights to search through Suzie's independent, expert reviews of intranet and employee experience platforms. It’s free, and it’s the resource I’d start with if I were shopping for an intranet tomorrow.

Learn from case studies inside the tribe

You can also learn from case studies in our tribe video library, hosted by members who successfully picked and launched a new intranet in their company.

• Hear from Laura who had 94% of employees activated in the first week and 95% of employees active on the platform weekly within a few months. The launch of their intranet reduced the volume of all-employee emails by 50%.
• And hear from Heidi who shared the business problem she was solving with a new intranet and what she did to achieve 85% adoption within three months, many months ahead of schedule.

The tribe helps you tackle topics like this without having to rely on shiny vendor websites or time-intensive vendor demos. You simply ask your peers for advice and recommendations and get real-time, specific, helpful answers from people who have tackled this project before.

Is 2027 going to be your year?

If you want to become a truly strategic communicator in 2027 and feel less alone in your role, come join us.

The Curious Tribe is my professional development community for ambitious, curious internal comms pros who want to achieve more in their career and have more impact in their job. 85% of members renew their membership for a second year or more and most members get their place funded by their learning & development budget at work.
​
If you work in internal comms, the tribe was built for you. We've got 106 members across 17 countries and an NPS of +81.
​
Are you the next member of The Curious Tribe? 👀

Thanks for reading and stay curious,
Joanna

Find me on YouTube, TikTok, LinkedIn and check out my book​

Want to work together?

• Join The Curious Tribe. This is my membership community for ambitious, curious communicators who want to achieve more in their roles and have fun at the same time. Membership allows you to work directly with me for 12 months, make deep connections with other communication pros who 'get it' and improve your skills through training and learning. More info here.
• Ready to review your channels and content but don't know where to start? Download my practical Internal Comms Audit Playbook to guide you through a DIY audit - no expensive consultant needed.​ This has ready-to-use templates and checklists to give you a systematic way to do your own audit which you can repeat every single year. Get it here.
• Take a shortcut. I've developed a collection of tried-and-tested templates, checklists and how-to guides for the key processes you'll need in your role as an internal communicator. You can download my Internal Comms Cheat Sheets here.​

This newsletter is not written with AI. It's a joy to write this with my human brain every week. I love writing it and I hope you enjoy reading it.

If you're not getting value from this newsletter any longer, you can unsubscribe anytime.