Collaborative Intranet vs Digital Workplace: what are the differences?
In order to create cohesion, a sense of belonging and to develop employee commitment, a company must put in place an internal communication policy as well as tools that promote collaboration at all levels (between employees, between departments, between different sites, etc.).
To do this, companies had the intranet, a private internal computer network, which only employees could use. In recent years, the intranet has evolved to adapt to new working habits and adopt an approach based on collaboration and exchange, this is what we call the collaborative intranet.
Following the pandemic and the rise of remote working, the business world is changing rapidly and collaborative platforms are gaining popularity because they facilitate collaboration and remote work. Now, a growing number of companies are adopting the digital workplace, a new collaborative and digital work environment.
However, it is not always easy to differentiate collaborative intranet and Digital workplace. To avoid confusing them, discover the definition of each term and their main differences.
Definitions
To find out more, let's start by looking at the definition of each solution.
What is the collaborative intranet?
Appearing at the same time as the Internet, the Intranet was formerly a simple website, only accessible to company employees and which met two main objectives: content and communication.
The communication department or the human resources department published information for employees, company news as well as internal documents (internal regulations, job descriptions, leave requests, etc.). It was essentially one-sided and top-down (or top-down) communication.
In recent years, the Intranet has evolved to become a social and participatory network on which more horizontal communication is deployed, even if it always comes from the hierarchy. Now, employees can participate and express themselves, including by leaving comments or participating in discussions started by administrators/editors. We then talk about a collaborative intranet.
What is the digital workplace?
The digital workplace is a vast all-in-one platform, a secure virtual space, based on the cloud, and on which are grouped all the tools and applications that a company's employees need to work and communicate with each other, but also with their partners, suppliers and customers.
A digital workplace is therefore a digital work environment that is much larger than the intranet. Moreover, the intranet is generally one of them. Thus, in addition to meeting content and communication objectives, the digital workplace also makes it possible to achieve two additional objectives: the activity (the realization and the managing daily tasks) and collaboration.
What are the differences between the two?
To avoid confusion, here are the three main differences between an intranet and a digital workplace.
The digital workplace, a more global solution
The digital workplace is a digital work environment that is accessible to all of your employees, regardless of where they are.
To summarize, the digital workplace is like a big box in which all the tools, applications and digital platforms that your employees use to work on a daily basis are found: instant messaging, videoconferencing, mailbox, shared agenda, shared agenda, word processing software, company social network, project management software, intranet, etc. Everything is just a click away, saving time and improving employee productivity.
Thus, the intranet is integrated into this global solution. However, it is also possible to have a digital workplace without having an intranet.
The Intranet as a gateway to the digital workplace
Generally, in any organization, the home page of the Internet browser opens on the intranet. This is where employees can consult the latest company news, and where they can access the digital workplace and all their work tools. The Intranet functions as the gateway to your digital workplace.
A tool vs a work environment
Today, the intranet is a tool that is constantly evolving and integrating new functionalities in order to meet the changing needs of businesses and their employees. Formerly a simple static internal network, it has become social and collaborative in order to encourage interactions and exchanges between employees and with the hierarchy.
As for the digital workplace, it is a work environment that was developed in order to integrate all digital tools (including the intranet) and to find new ways to take advantage of them. It thus offers concrete and practical ways to improve efficiency, productivity, engagement and employee satisfaction.
In this new digital workspace, collaboration and communication are combined. Your employees can do everything: organize their schedule, manage their tasks, communicate with the members of their team, but also with their suppliers, customers and partners by instant messaging or video conferencing, and have easy access to all their usual tools and apps.
Conclusion
Today, collaborative intranet and digital workplace are two essential elements in a company because they allow employees to carry out their daily tasks, communicate, collaborate and find the information they are looking for in order to make the right decisions at the right time.
It is therefore important to fully understand their usefulness and differences: the intranet is a tool while the digital workplace is a digital workplace that brings together on a single platform all the digital tools essential to your employees, who can access them regardless of where they are located.
