A new intranet for all of us
VCH Connect has been in its current state for 13 years and it’s time for big change. Our intranet hasn’t grown and matured into the tech-savvy teenager it could be, and it has come through loud and clear in the My VCH survey results that we need a place to share ideas, recognize each other and learn together.
That’s why the Communications & Public Affairs team—in partnership with IMITS and Employee Engagement—has stepped up to take the reins and create a new intranet that builds a sense of online community. And we’re going to call it My VCH as it was inspired by our survey results and will be a platform to support a new way of working together.
We’re tackling the project in a new, agile way
Traditionally, launching a newly redesigned intranet takes 12-18 months. But we want to use this tool to support our transformation efforts, as we act on our survey results, so we’re aiming to launch in April. How are we going to do it in only three months?
- We’re starting small. We’re launching a new intranet with only our most searched-for, high traffic content (spoiler alert: it involves employee information like scheduling, benefits and education), news and events.
- VCH Connect won’t be “turned off” at launch—don’t panic! Both sites will be live. We know it will take time to reach out to all departments to find out what information is still relevant, who will maintain it, train them to use the new intranet, and move the content over.
- We’re moving fast. For example, the communications team already has a plan for reorganizing information on the intranet based on best practice and a review of other health authority and public sector intranets across Canada. But now we need your help! Please spare five minutes to answer eight questions that test the new navigation/menu.
Our guiding principles
Did we mention we’re moving fast? Another step we’ve taken is to draft principles that will guide the content and development of the new intranet as it is re-imagined and renewed. They are not rules; rather they are parameters to guide decision-making. We want our new intranet to:
- Be your go-to source for up-to-date information about your work and the organization.
- Inspire pride and ownership in the intranet and in VCH.
- Be a safe place to build community between employees where we can engage in discussion with each other following caring, “people first” values.
- Encourage connections to information and between teams/departments.
You can read the full guiding principles document, and send any comments or ideas to webupdates@vch.ca.
Are you excited?
We know there are teams working to keep their information on VCH Connect up to date, but we also know there are sections that are seldom visited, with “authors” listed who are no longer maintaining their pages. One comment we often hear from staff is, “I can’t find anything on VCH Connect.” We want to change that. Let’s create an intranet that is useful for all of us, where we spend less time fruitlessly searching and more time connecting with each other.
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The My VCH intranet: ten reasons to get excited