Laying the strategic groundwork for a dynamic, personalized intranet
A new intranet platform is the linchpin of a multiyear systems overhaul at the Mellon Foundation, the largest grantmaking organization in the U.S. dedicated to the arts and humanities. Through conversations and collaborative exercises with staff at all levels, I translated the project team’s priorities over eight months into a comprehensive content strategy that will guide and govern Mellon’s primary internal communication platform for years to come.
Understanding intent
“I need to share something.” “I need to find the source of truth.” “I need to enable others’ work.” I synthesized conversations with staff into a tight set of need states that the new intranet would have to satisfy. Conveniently, these also functioned as bars that every strategic recommendation had to clear in order to move forward into the project plan.
Drafting the blueprint
To set the working team up for a successful migration and launch, I crafted a painstakingly detailed content recommendation, comprising an intranet audit, content type library, sitemap, governance playbook, 12 department-level briefs and other vital documentation that distilled the project vision into an actionable plan.
Selling the vision
With executive sponsors spread across numerous projects, quarterly check-ins had to convey progress, but above all, process. Through informative presentations that revealed the texture of the working team’s thinking, I earned sufficient trust to capture what my day-to-day client called “the much-coveted but rarely granted EZ-Pass” to implementation.
