Mobile intranet apps - what are the 20 must-have features?
The chances are you have a mobile and you have an intranet but do you have a mobile intranet app? If you’re wondering what this is and why it’s any different from your traditional company intranet you’ve come to the right place. When we say traditional intranet we are sure you know the kind, it’s slow, clunky, only works on desktop and usually looks quite ugly. Sound familiar? If you’re looking to leave this neglected and outdated software solution behind but aren’t sure what your new mobile intranet app should feature, we suggest taking a look through this article to give you a solid understanding of what you should be looking for.
Why use a mobile intranet app?
No one can hide from the fact that mobile phones and apps have taken over the world. In fact, in July 2020, Datareportal recorded 5.15 billion unique mobile users, making up 66% of the global population. We are sure you wouldn’t disagree that mobile phones are our go-to source of support when we are looking for new information, help and guidance, connecting with friends or entertaining ourselves.
According to research from Rescue Time, people spend on average 3 hours and 15 minutes per day on their phones. Now whilst we are not encouraging people to be consumed with their phones, especially not at work, we are pointing to the facts which prove that we all love our phones. They’re small, compact, all-encompassing and just really helpful. So why wouldn’t you offer the same level of support at work?
Giving your employees a mobile intranet app empowers them to stay up to date with company information, carry out work-related training and feel connected with colleagues no matter where they are or what they are doing. They can open an app in a matter of seconds, which makes them more likely to engage with the content you are putting out. Other benefits include;
A mobile intranet app being more flexible. Employees can access it from wherever they are, they don’t need access to emails or a computer.
You are communicating with employees through a platform which they actually enjoy using.
A mobile intranet app allows your employees to have everything they need all in one place.
Your employees can turn to your mobile app in times of need making them more likely to learn on the job and strengthen their skills and expertise.
Employees are more likely to engage with what you are saying, making it easy for you to tailor your intranet content to what suits your employees best.
You no longer have to compete for attention with the big apps like Facebook and Instagram. If your employee is on the train home scrolling through Instagram, the chances of them having a quick look for any updates on your mobile intranet app are exceptionally higher.
As an employer, you can reach your employees no matter where they are or what they are doing.
Now we’ve cleared up why you should consider a mobile intranet app, let’s get into the 20 features your mobile app should have.
20 must-have features for mobile intranet apps
#1 Ability to upload videos and podcasts 🎤
A mobile intranet app should be modern, forward-thinking and flexible. It should cater to the way your employees like to learn new information which is exactly why it must offer the option to upload videos and podcasts. In 2020 over 155 million people listened to podcasts and people watch on average 16 hours of videos on their mobile phones per week. The way we consume information is changing and your mobile intranet should be up to speed with this.
#2 Mobile-first design which is engaging and seamless
Companies simply move their desktop-based intranet to mobile and do not change the design, they then market it as a ‘mobile intranet app’ simply because it works on mobile not because it was designed for mobile. We’ve seen it time and time again and every time the user experience is rubbish. When trialling your mobile intranet app really ask yourself, is this making my life easier or harder, is it exceptionally simple to use or does it take a lot of thought, do I feel engaged by this and compelled to use it again?
#4 Easy categorisation for effortless browsing
A great mobile intranet app should make it effortless for your employees to find the information they want when they need it. It should take no more than a few taps to get them where they want to be. Any more than that will discourage your employees from using the app to find what they need.
#5 Auto-suggest search functionality
Your mobile intranet app should have a search function built in to make it exceptionally simple for your employees to find what they are looking for. To make your mobile app even more helpful, you should make sure it uses an auto-suggest feature like what you find on Google. We’ve all been in a situation where we know what we want to search for but we can’t remember the exact name of the title. Auto-suggest means the search bar will show up queries related to what the user is looking for making it a breeze to find helpful content.
#6 An auto-updating news feed
The point of a company intranet is to make it simple for employees to catch up on all the latest company news. If your mobile intranet app hides this away or makes it a challenge to see the latest updates then it may be time to cut ties. Your mobile app should include a live feed which updates every time an author publishes a piece of content.
#7 Easy access to other apps and websites
We live in a world where we are constantly switching between different apps, websites and platforms to get the job done. Your mobile intranet app should facilitate this by making it easy for users to access these different places all from the intranet app home screen. This will create a seamless user experience for your workforce allowing them to seek new information more efficiently.
#8 A section dedicated to each individual employee
We like to think of an intranet as a place where your employees can come to feel supported, valued and connected. Not a place which is seen as an information dumping ground with no connection to your workforce. Make sure your mobile intranet app has a section dedicated to your employee. In this section, it may include features such as; rewards, recognition, what they need to catch up on, what training would be best suited for them, any tasks which they have to get on with etc. It should be a personalised place which helps each employee stay on track. Easily.
#9 Mobile training built-in
Staying informed and learning new knowledge should go hand in hand. If you post a piece of content around company values on your intranet, don’t you want your employees to learn and remember those values? Your mobile app should offer short learning courses such as microlearning so that your employees can choose to test their knowledge about the information that you are posting. This is essential for two reasons.
1). It allows you to effortlessly embed new knowledge in your employee’s mind, meaning that every piece of content you post on your intranet will be remembered and understood.
2). It means you don’t have to upload separate pieces of information for internal comms and learning and development. You can simply add questions to anything you publish on the mobile intranet.
#10 Rewards and recognition
A lot of intranets run the risk of making businesses appear too self-obsessed. They waffle on about themselves, posting updates and announcements whilst never taking the time to show appreciation to their staff.
Your mobile intranet app should house rewards and recognition features within the platform, this will drive maximum engagement to the app as employees will want to know when they have been rewarded and what for. It also means you can send these tokens of appreciation when your staff have been logging on every day, reading the updates you publish and carrying out the necessary learning. Make your employees feel good every time they use your mobile app.
#11 Two-way communication
Following on from the point above, your intranet app should give your employees the opportunity to voice their thoughts, opinions and ideas on what you post. This is crucial because it stops your intranet from being a place where you drown employees with new information and instead it becomes a community where they can go to chat and engage with their colleagues. It also allows you to tailor your content to be more engaging when moving forward with the feedback which you have received.
#12 Acknowledgement of articles
When posting updates about policies, procedures or mandatory training you need to be sure that your employees have read and understood them. It’s no good just blindly publishing content without knowing whether it has been read or not. This is why it’s crucial that your mobile intranet app should let you know who’s read what. This is so you can ensure that employees are reading what they are meant to.
#13 Full content reporting
You should be able to see the full reach, engagement and viewing stats of every article and piece of news that you post. This will allow you to tailor your intranet content moving forward making sure it’s as helpful, relevant and as compelling as it can be. A marketer wouldn’t work without analytics so why should you?
#14 Engagement stats for everyone
For intranet communications to be effective, all managers, trainers and team leaders need to care about staff engagement levels – not just head office. A great feature to have on your mobile intranet app is a stats dashboard which all leaders can view, not just head office. By letting more employees see how engaged and active their staff are on your intranet app, it makes them more likely to encourage their employees to participate.
#15 Breaks down information in easy to read formats
A great mobile intranet should avoid big pages of text and deliver a more digestible and engaging format for articles. When searching for the best intranet solution, be sure it gives you the option to break down long pieces of content into bite-sized steps. For example, different sections which employees can jump to from the main navigation. This will make information searching more efficient and more relevant.
#16 Targeted content
Your business content won’t be relevant to all employees every time. Ensure that the right staff see the right content by making sure your mobile intranet app allows you to target your content to particular users. For example, you may have updated your cleaning policy which is helpful for your cleaning staff to know, but not so helpful for your receptionist. Ensure you have good targeting options when looking for your next intranet app.
#17 Exceptionally easy to use and update
At Ocasta, we say ‘if you can write an email you can upload content to our mobile intranet app’ and this should be the same for any other solutions which you look at. If you are required to have masses of training just to upload content to the app then you need to move on to the next one. It should be simple, quick and easy to update, you’ve got enough going on without having to jump through hoops just to post a few updates.
#18 Provides speedy access to company policies and procedures
Your mobile intranet app should allow one-click access to all your company policies and procedures. Make them any harder to find and guess what? They won’t get used! Your intranet app should bring these important compliance documents to the forefront making them impossible to miss.
#19 Empowers your employees to learn when they want to
Do you have an intranet that is focused on churning out company updates, encouraging chats between colleagues and that’s where it ends? This is not enough! You should be empowering your employees to boost their skills when they want to and where they want to. It should encourage connectivity, engagement and confidence. Confidence comes through knowledge, which is why it’s crucial for your mobile intranet app to feature some sort of knowledge base and quick training capabilities.
#20 Guides on your employees on what actions they need to take
Having an intranet on a mobile phone means you haven’t got a lot of screen space to work with. This means the layout has to clearly direct employees with what actions they need to take next. Having a screen full of text which you just expect them to scroll through is essentially pointless. Make sure your mobile intranet app has easy to see call outs, bright buttons, clickable banners etc. anything which makes it obvious what actions the employee needs to take next.
We hope this article has shed some light on what features a mobile intranet app should have. If you are interested in learning more about our mobile-first intranet used by Next, Virgin Media and Tesco Mobile take a look at the page below or get in touch and we’d be more than happy to help. Our app is suitable for small or large teams and can ensure a 99% usage rate across your entire workforce.
