Why intranets fail #10: Ownership and governance are unclear

If no one is responsible for maintaining the intranet’s integrity, it can quickly become cluttered with outdated, duplicate and conflicting information. The result? A slow death of the intranet that once had so much promise.

Intranets that lack clear ownership and governance are likely to fail. According to Simpplr’s 2024 State of the Intranet report, 11% of intranet failures stem from unclear ownership and governance. Lack of proper governance leads to disarray and neglect, which makes the intranet less credible and reduces user engagement.

Organizations that see sustained intranet usage often cite governance structure as a key reason for that success. From outlining a governance framework to cultivating a culture of distributed ownership, companies that prioritize these activities see continued value from their intranets.

What is intranet governance and ownership?

Intranet governance establishes who manages what and how decisions get made. It creates a framework of roles, responsibilities and processes that keeps your digital workplace functioning properly.

Effective governance ensures your intranet remains valuable by keeping content fresh, resources relevant and goals aligned with your organization’s direction. Without clear ownership, intranets quickly become digital graveyards filled with outdated information that employees learn to ignore. When this happens, even the most powerful collaboration tools go unused, and your investment provides diminishing returns.

3 critical intranet governance mistakes

Investing in an intranet requires more than just a financial commitment — it takes buy-in and ownership. Ineffective intranet governance can cause significant hurdles in the adoption and usage of the platform. Without a defined and strategic governance plan, organizations are unknowingly sabotaging the success of their intranets.

Here are the three most common intranet governance mistakes:

1. Absence of clear purpose

Organizations need to define and communicate the purpose of their intranet to maintain focus and authority. Without a clear purpose, you risk departmental biases and competing priorities. 

A well-defined purpose might include specific goals like centralizing company knowledge, streamlining internal communications, or connecting remote teams. When this clarity is missing, departments often pull the intranet in different directions — HR wants it for policies, IT prioritizes technical resources, and Marketing focuses on brand consistency.

This lack of purpose cascades into unclear processes and decision-making structures. Who approves new content? Who retires outdated information? Without these responsibilities clearly tied to your intranet’s core purpose, irrelevant and outdated information accumulates rapidly.

Without a defined purpose, measuring success becomes impossible. If you don’t know what to track or how to measure it, you can’t evaluate or prove your intranet’s effectiveness.

2. Set-it-and-forget-it mentality

Many intranets fail because organizations see its implementation as a one-time project. The initial excitement can sustain use and personal accountability for only so long post-launch. If ongoing ownership and governance remain undefined, the intranet is likely to fail. 

Treating your platform as a completed project rather than an evolving resource leads to sporadic content updates. This creates outdated and irrelevant information, causing users to gradually lose trust in the intranet as a reliable source.

For example, a company’s employee directory becomes outdated when it isn’t regularly maintained. New hires remain unlisted, departed employees still appear, and users quickly learn they can’t trust it.

3. Isolated purchasing decisions

Many organizations fail to recognize the value of organizational input when implementing intranets. An isolated stakeholder making all the decisions can breed resentment, resistance to implementation, and lower adoption post-launch. By excluding departments during the planning process, you may unintentionally signal that the intranet is not critical to their role or leave out functionality because you lack relevant expertise.

Overlooked stakeholders might include frontline workers who need mobile access, legal teams with compliance considerations, and regional offices with unique information needs. Without their input, the selected platform may lack critical features like robust search capabilities, language support or integration with essential tools.

Successful intranet governance involves engaging a cross-functional team from the onset. This ensures the intranet meets comprehensive organizational needs and gains widespread acceptance.

By mitigating these critical governance mistakes, organizations can enhance intranet effectiveness and boost employee engagement. This alignment brings intranet usage more closely in line with strategic objectives.

Building an effective intranet governance structure

To counter the common mistakes above, be sure to prioritize the factors of effective governance structure. These core principles are often found in organizations with successful intranets.

47% of digital workers struggle to find information or data needed to effectively perform their jobs (Gartner).

Executive sponsorship and visibility

Intranet governance hinges on the support of those at the top. When leadership is visibly engaged and supportive, employees follow suit. The intranet is a critical business tool, and having executives treat it as such signals its value to the rest of the organization.

Executives should be involved in planning, implementation and ongoing support. They set the strategic vision, and aligning intranet usage with these goals is essential. When leaders share important updates and information through the platform, they reinforce its value. With executive backing, companies like Datto have achieved 100% intranet adoption rates by creating dedicated positions focused on managing their digital workplace.

Core governance committee roles

Selecting a diverse, cross-functional committee to manage the intranet provides comprehensive governance. Stakeholders from HR, IT, internal communications and leadership offer balance, unique perspectives and expertise. Each member advocates for their department throughout the decision-making process.

One key committee responsibility is developing decision frameworks and user roles. This includes creating content ownership models with clear guidelines for publishing, reviewing and updating information. 

According to Simpplr research, defined governance roles with content guidelines reduce redundancies while increasing employee engagement and productivity.

Quality control processes

Effective intranet governance structure requires ongoing maintenance and quality control. Developing a strict process for upholding the standards of intranet content may be tedious but is necessary.

These quality control strategies keep your intranet accurate, relevant and trusted by employees:

• Regular content audits identify outdated, inaccurate or redundant information that can be archived or updated.
• Role-based access controls clearly define responsibilities to content owners and editors, reducing unauthorized changes. 
• Content templates ensure consistency and make it easier for contributors to create content that meets organizational standards.
• Approval workflows route new or updated content through designated reviewers before publication, maintaining quality and accuracy.
• AI-powered content moderation scans the intranet checking for compliance or branding issues and flagging those issues for manual review.
• Real-time analytics tracking monitors user activity and identifies opportunities and issues based on data.

Technical and accessibility standards

Effective governance requires a technically sound foundation with strong accessibility standards. An intranet cannot survive if it’s not mobile-friendly and responsive. Today’s workers use various devices in multiple locations and need an intranet accessible across all platforms.

Accessibility must also be inclusive, ensuring every employee has equal opportunity to engage with the intranet regardless of ability. Guidelines on platform compatibility and proper training can reduce technical issues and minimize user frustration.

Implementation framework for sustainable intranet governance

Ownership and governance play a crucial part in intranet success or failure. Understanding and addressing this during implementation is key to creating a platform that delivers lasting value to your organization.

Assessment phase essentials

Successful implementation begins with thorough assessment. Evaluate your current intranet situation, identify pain points and map information flows. This phase realigns the intranet with organizational goals and creates governance that addresses actual user needs rather than assumed ones.

According to Simpplr’s State of the Intranet report, organizations that assess their needs at the onset have more successful intranets.

Structure development

After assessment, develop a structured plan detailing responsibilities, decision processes and escalation paths. Establish a governance committee with cross-departmental representation. Organizations creating clear governance structures report higher adoption rates, as employees better understand how to engage with the platform.

Role assignment strategies

Intranets with defined roles see less resource duplication and improved content quality. Clearly assign responsibilities to different users, empowering individuals to take ownership. Create roles for content owners, editors and technical support with varying access levels. Choose an intranet with role-based access controls for appropriate oversight.

Training requirements

New tools with robust features may overwhelm employees. Develop structured training covering navigation basics and governance practices. Create recurring sessions or on-demand trainings tailored to different user groups, ensuring each person receives instruction relevant to their responsibilities within the governance structure.

Handoff procedures

Include succession planning through documented handoff procedures that ensure continuity when roles change. This requires thorough documentation with checklists for transitioning responsibilities. Proper handoffs prevent information gaps, maintain integrity and reduce disruption during staff transitions.

Success metrics and monitoring

Define success metrics and assess them regularly to track effectiveness. Key indicators like content freshness, engagement and daily active users help signal success or flag problems. Regular monitoring allows governance teams to make data-driven decisions about improvement efforts as organizational needs evolve.

Best practices for long-term intranet governance success

Following the intranet implementation stage, there are steps you should take to ensure ongoing ownership and governance. Below are best practices to support the long-term success of an intranet.

Regular intranet governance meetings

Schedule recurring meetings to keep your intranet on track. Monthly or quarterly check-ins with your governance team work best for most organizations. Use these sessions to review performance metrics, discuss needed changes, solve problems and clarify responsibilities. These meetings build accountability and provide a space to discuss how your intranet can better support your organization’s goals.

Content audit procedures

Intranets naturally collect outdated and incorrect information over time. Regular content reviews help identify what needs updating or removal. Outdated content wastes time, may violate policies, and confuses users when multiple versions exist. These problems drive users away and make your intranet less trustworthy.

Simpplr’s auto-governance engine automatically scans content for outdated information and duplicates, reducing the manual work needed. 

As it scans your intranet, the auto-governance engine:

• Archives outdated materials automatically
• Alerts owners about expiring content
• Deactivates unused sites
• Maintains audit logs
• Prioritizes relevant information in search results

Performance monitoring

Track the success metrics you identified during setup as you make changes to your intranet. Modern platforms include built-in analytics that make this easier. With advanced reporting, you can measure user satisfaction, spot usage patterns and get specific data about how different departments use the system. These insights help you make informed decisions about improvements.

Feedback mechanisms

Listen to the people who use your intranet daily. Create simple ways for them to share what works and what doesn’t, and encourage honest feedback. Many intranet platforms include features like surveys, comment forms and rating systems that make gathering input straightforward.

Continuous improvement processes

Keep refining your intranet rather than treating it as a finished project. The best intranets grow and change as your organization does. Make regular updates to policies, user permissions, features and content based on feedback and changing needs.

Effective intranet governance is a shared responsibility

An effective intranet spreads ownership across the organization rather than centralizing control with a single communications or IT team. This distributed approach puts decision-making in the hands of department experts who understand their team’s needs. Instead of burdening one person or team with managing everything, responsibility is shared among many users.

Building this shared ownership model creates sustainable intranet governance. To support it, you need a clear framework, straightforward processes and the right systems. From assigning user roles to measuring success metrics, successful intranets recognize how important proper governance is and continuously adjust these activities to match organizational goals and ensure the platform remains valuable.

By following these governance best practices and creating a clear structure, organizations see real improvements in how employees engage with content, the accuracy of information and overall efficiency.

How Simpplr supports intranet governance

Simpplr empowers organizations to maintain effective intranet governance with an AI-driven employee experience platform designed for modern workplaces. Administrators can easily manage permissions and roles, enforce content lifecycle policies, and ensure consistent branding and messaging across departments.

 Automated content auditing and archiving keep information up-to-date, while intuitive dashboards provide real-time insights into engagement and compliance. Don’t let your intranet become a digital wasteland — choose a solution that prioritizes employee experience while giving leadership full control over content governance.

Ready to see how Simpplr can transform your intranet governance for a more effective digital employee experience? Request a demo today.