Implementing a social intranet
Posted: Sat May 24, 2025 10:34 am
Social intranet is about connecting social, processes and information
Finally, on an intranet there is always the 'sending messages' part. But the power of a social intranet lies in connecting three components: social, processes and information.
Rules, procedures and processes: we love them
Next up is Mathieu Weggeman , professor of organizational science and author of the book Management of professionals? Don't do it! Mathieu addresses the question of how a social intranet can contribute to realizing organizational goals. He starts off with bad news. Managers try to keep control of professionals by imposing all kinds of rules, procedures and processes on them. And those are precisely the things that professionals don't like. Henry Mintzberg already investigated this in 1979 (!).
Do you want to inspire professionals? Then let them arrange the planning and control themselves. Nevertheless, in the Netherlands we are champions of bureaucracy. We are crazy about rules, procedures, processes, meetings and rankings. And yet most people don't cycle to work thinking 'let's see what I can mess up again today'.
Mathieu Weggeman during masterclass Social Intranet
Characteristics of excellently functioning organizations
Mathieu Weggeman talks about a study he did among excellent professional organizations : organizations where both productivity and job satisfaction are above the industry average.
If you look at the common characteristics of leadership, it applies to the managers that they:
develop a collective ambition together with employees;
inspire and involve employees in the strategy;
communicate in a timely and honest manner (be there and listen);
provide output clarity and feedback;
acting assertively towards people who are no longer good at their job;
function as a heat shield for noise from 'above';
and have an authoritative but serving and modest attitude.
Why a collective ambition is so important
If you work for an organization, you have certain shared values. And the more shared values you have, the fewer rules and procedures you need. Ideological organizations are examples where the overlap of shared values is very large. 'You finish the job because you believe in it'.
Apple's collective ambition
With collective ambitions you think of questions like: 'Why should the organization continue to exist?', 'If the organization ceases to exist tomorrow, what will we miss?' and 'What is special?'. A collective ambition is about something, it is meaningful and it must also be a bit exciting. The collective ambition, the word actually says it all, must be created and shared together.
Interesting work, appreciation, confirmation and involvement
In previous studies, managers were asked to indicate what they thought professionals would find important in their work, and professionals had to indicate what they themselves found important in their work.
What did managers predict? They thought that a good salary would be the most important motivator. However, professionals only put a good salary in fifth position. What professionals do find important is
interesting work
appreciation and confirmation
involvement
On average, a professional wants to hear from his manager when something should latvia phone number list be ready, what it may cost and what it should look like functionally. The professional wants to determine how he does this.
Mathieu Weggeman indirectly explains what social can add within organizations. Namely, ensuring that the professional can do his work well and bringing back passion in the work. Another important component that Mathieu points out is that employees benefit from horizontal contacts with colleagues throughout the organization. Traditionally, many communication flows are organized vertically.
But how do you ensure that a social intranet really works? How do you implement a social intranet? The implementation of a social intranet is fundamentally different from that of any automation system. Simply giving instructions is not enough, it is about being able, willing, daring and having to. Marcel Kuhlmann of Pentascope takes us through change processes in relation to the implementation of a social intranet in his presentation.
Marcel Kuhlmann during Masterclass Social Intranet
As an organization, you have decided that a social intranet should be introduced, but what happens next? How do you change a way of working? According to Marcel, if you want to bring about change, you tend to adopt a kind of balloonist position. You sit in the chair of others and think about what should work for them. But it is precisely that position that stands in the way of change!
Finally, on an intranet there is always the 'sending messages' part. But the power of a social intranet lies in connecting three components: social, processes and information.
Rules, procedures and processes: we love them
Next up is Mathieu Weggeman , professor of organizational science and author of the book Management of professionals? Don't do it! Mathieu addresses the question of how a social intranet can contribute to realizing organizational goals. He starts off with bad news. Managers try to keep control of professionals by imposing all kinds of rules, procedures and processes on them. And those are precisely the things that professionals don't like. Henry Mintzberg already investigated this in 1979 (!).
Do you want to inspire professionals? Then let them arrange the planning and control themselves. Nevertheless, in the Netherlands we are champions of bureaucracy. We are crazy about rules, procedures, processes, meetings and rankings. And yet most people don't cycle to work thinking 'let's see what I can mess up again today'.
Mathieu Weggeman during masterclass Social Intranet
Characteristics of excellently functioning organizations
Mathieu Weggeman talks about a study he did among excellent professional organizations : organizations where both productivity and job satisfaction are above the industry average.
If you look at the common characteristics of leadership, it applies to the managers that they:
develop a collective ambition together with employees;
inspire and involve employees in the strategy;
communicate in a timely and honest manner (be there and listen);
provide output clarity and feedback;
acting assertively towards people who are no longer good at their job;
function as a heat shield for noise from 'above';
and have an authoritative but serving and modest attitude.
Why a collective ambition is so important
If you work for an organization, you have certain shared values. And the more shared values you have, the fewer rules and procedures you need. Ideological organizations are examples where the overlap of shared values is very large. 'You finish the job because you believe in it'.
Apple's collective ambition
With collective ambitions you think of questions like: 'Why should the organization continue to exist?', 'If the organization ceases to exist tomorrow, what will we miss?' and 'What is special?'. A collective ambition is about something, it is meaningful and it must also be a bit exciting. The collective ambition, the word actually says it all, must be created and shared together.
Interesting work, appreciation, confirmation and involvement
In previous studies, managers were asked to indicate what they thought professionals would find important in their work, and professionals had to indicate what they themselves found important in their work.
What did managers predict? They thought that a good salary would be the most important motivator. However, professionals only put a good salary in fifth position. What professionals do find important is
interesting work
appreciation and confirmation
involvement
On average, a professional wants to hear from his manager when something should latvia phone number list be ready, what it may cost and what it should look like functionally. The professional wants to determine how he does this.
Mathieu Weggeman indirectly explains what social can add within organizations. Namely, ensuring that the professional can do his work well and bringing back passion in the work. Another important component that Mathieu points out is that employees benefit from horizontal contacts with colleagues throughout the organization. Traditionally, many communication flows are organized vertically.
But how do you ensure that a social intranet really works? How do you implement a social intranet? The implementation of a social intranet is fundamentally different from that of any automation system. Simply giving instructions is not enough, it is about being able, willing, daring and having to. Marcel Kuhlmann of Pentascope takes us through change processes in relation to the implementation of a social intranet in his presentation.
Marcel Kuhlmann during Masterclass Social Intranet
As an organization, you have decided that a social intranet should be introduced, but what happens next? How do you change a way of working? According to Marcel, if you want to bring about change, you tend to adopt a kind of balloonist position. You sit in the chair of others and think about what should work for them. But it is precisely that position that stands in the way of change!