Today, the difference between business culture and business digital culture has completely disappeared for most organisations.
The reality is, if your organisation isn’t fostering its digital culture - there’s a good chance it’s failing to build culture at all.
We have developed our District Intranet with government organisations in mind - it’s a catch-all solution to all the information, communication and cultural needs of your digital workplace - whether remote or traditional.
Our development goal was to offer simple solutions that enrich daily workplace experiences, in one centralised platform. And we are pleased to be sending a product out into the world to do just that.
District Intranet is built on Drupal, an open-source platform. This means we have been able to draw on a multitude of community-developed modules and integrations to build custom solutions that positively impact our clients’ organisations. In the development of District CMS, and District Intranet, we have focussed on dramatically improving the standard Drupal user admin experience; as we know this has been a pain point for some.
Every feature of District Intranet has been created to help you build your digital culture.
Here we’ll show you how:
Modular User Dashboard
Users are greeted by a customisable dashboard that can present a myriad of relevant information. What they will find on this dashboard can be controlled at either higher admin level or individually.
How does it contribute to building digital culture?
The dashboard allows company leaders to present the information that they believe serves their culture, front and centre. From project updates to organisational announcements - quotes and jokes to weekly goals. The simple visual design can be used to provide a snapshot of current focusses or priorities, helping to keep your teams on task and moving in the right direction.
This creates a unified workplace experience that easily reaches all staff members, whether they are in office, remote or deskless roles. Customise dashboards via groups, individually or for your entire team - depending on the current cultural needs of your organisation.
Seamless integrations
We have made seamless integrations our priority. District Intranet interacts with social media platforms, third party apps and business intelligence platforms straight out of the box. There are also a range of inbuilt widgets for news, events and other popular info streams. Plus, because it’s built on the open-source platform, Drupal, the integration possibilities are not only endless, but super fast too.
How does it contribute to building digital culture?
If all the information your team needs is in one easy location, over time it will naturally become the main place they head to. The option to curate relevant external information (like company social media posts and news updates) reduces your team members’ need to head elsewhere online. This can minimise their exposure to internet related distractions, and the time-sucking rabbit holes those distractions can lead to.
User authentication
With single sign-on and trouble free access, District Intranet integrates with Active Directory providers and Google Workspace - providing seamless user integration. This means you can continue to use existing user directories to control intranet permissions, synchronise user groups and manage staff directories.
How does it contribute to building digital culture?
Are you familiar with the concept of ‘flow’? It’s the state someone is in when they are fully immersed in an activity. Clunky technology that requires a high level of admin does not tend to go hand in hand with a state of flow.
By ensuring your staff’s technical experiences are efficient and functional, you’re removing a huge element of workplace frustration. Ensuring that everyone can easily access the (correct and updated) information they need contributes to team productivity. Put simply, when things work well - people work more efficiently.
The ability to synchronise directories also means updating staff information (and staff access to said information) is simple and instant. In dynamic workplaces with high staff numbers, this saves time, alleviates misinformation and eliminates the chances of incorrect access permissions.
One study by the Gartner Group found that each time a staff member needs to reset their password, it can cost the organisation 70 USD. Having single sign on access means your staff will only have to remember one password.
Content Types
With the choice of news feeds, directories, vacant positions, events listings and more - there’s a huge selection of content options for creating and sharing information efficiently and effectively.
How does it contribute to building digital culture?
When information sharing is simplified and hassle-free, a culture of communication and collaboration is fostered. Our user-friendly templates empower all staff with the tools to easily publish to the intranet. This can minimise frustrating bottlenecks that occur when one department is responsible for internal comms. These simplified communication processes naturally lead to more frequent and effective team communications.
Custom page builder
Build custom designs with our drag and drop user-friendly page builder. Edit in-line and instantly publish to configurable widgets. Or, choose from premade templates including maps, forms, carousels or charts. Ensuring it’s easier to create, manage and share content. District Intranet’s page builder is a vast improvement on what many users may be used to, we believe it’s superior to most everything else in the market in terms of user experience and variety of options.
How does it contribute to building digital culture?
When it’s easy to build beautiful, dynamic and rich content, it encourages more information-rich writing and more enjoyable reading - leading to a more positive and engaging user experience. With our page building options, all you need to focus on is crafting the perfect messaging to amplify your organisation’s cultural narrative.
Our smart form builders also make collecting and collating feedback easy - encouraging a culture of collaboration and needs-based evolution.
Bespoke intranet
Customisable navigation means administrators can set up the intranet to suit exactly how they want their members to move through it. The customisable design options mean you can also create your own theme - or have our user experience team come up with one for you.
How does it contribute to building digital culture?
A thoughtfully structured intranet can help you strategically direct staff to the areas, information and thoughts that are important to your organisation's priorities and values. We wanted to give our clients the opportunity to craft a platform that will serve as the ‘face’ of their business, so there are options to tweak design and structural elements to suit your brand. Chances are you have invested a lot of resources in creating that identity - so you should be able to reflect it in your intranet, just as you would with office layout and design decisions.
Fully responsive and accessible user interface
Know that your interface is fully accessible on all mobile and desktop devices - ensuring all the on-screen elements work correctly in a range of browsers and devices. District Intranet meets all WCAG 2.0 AA standards. And because it’s built on Drupal, adaptation and development possibilities are endless and fast-to-market.
How does it contribute to building digital culture?
Arming your remote and in-house teams with the tools and access they need to do their jobs efficiently, no matter what device they are using, makes for smooth running.
We also believe in future proofing all our products, because the last thing we want is for our clients to be painted into a corner (technically speaking) when the time comes to update hardware. When you know your intranet will easily adapt, it encourages a culture of dynamic evolution, ensuring you can move with the changing needs of your team or industry.
Notification engine
Our notification engine features customisable alert setting, so you can notify certain groups, or the entire organisation with instant announcements. There are also a range of notification types (from email to banners) to choose from.
How does it contribute to building digital culture?
Whether you set up your communications channels as global news or local storytelling hubs, the practical benefits of customisable notifications as a cultural amplifier are numerous. You can share news readily and easily, while enabling individuals and teams to gain the information they need in a fast-paced environment. Alternatively, change the settings to encourage minimal disruption to workflow.
Regardless of their location or time zone, your team members can simply and collaboratively manage and review your organisation's updates, in the manner you choose.
Powerful search engine
Our intuitive and user-friendly search engine means users can get what they want, quickly.
District Intranet is powered by Solr Search, a state-of-the-art search engine with various configurations and search parameters for advanced keyword matching. Fuzzy matching or misspelled words are not a problem. Features include active search suggestions, rapid indexing of new documents, real-time availability and high performance. Everything a complex intranet needs.
How does it contribute to building digital culture?
Efficiency breeds efficiency. Let District Intranet empower your employees to access what they need, regardless of their research or grammatical prowess.
Digitising the indexing of documents frees up time and alleviates the possibility of user error - minimising stress so your staff can focus on their priorities.
Content workflow
Give your staff collaborative content publishing abilities with built in moderation and revision options. Granular permission controls mean you can decide who can create, edit, approve and publish content to your pages. A dedicated content workflow dashboard provides users with a clear view of content statuses and helps manage the entire process.
How does it contribute to building digital culture?
Keeping all content-related communication and workflows in one place improves efficiency, creates transparency and alleviates communication breakdowns that can cause conflict or slow down your processes.
The granular permission settings mean staff actually can’t overstep the boundaries that have been established by management. Trigger happy characters are disarmed and you will have less fires to put out. Creating an environment with clear boundaries and lower levels of conflict contributes to an overall more positive culture.
Document management system
As document sharing is essential in every workplace - we have made sure our system is flexible, efficient and customisable. Being built on Drupal means the range of document types District Intranet is compatible with can be endless. And, due to the size of the Drupal development community, new integrations can be developed and seamlessly added quickly.
How does it contribute to building digital culture?
Managing all your organisation’s relevant documents from an efficient centralised hub is a game-changer in terms of efficiency. It empowers your team by giving them quick and easy access to everything they need. Staff directories, style guides, process maps and checklists – all made instantly available across your entire organisation with a single click.
Great communication isn’t only about relationship building – it’s also about timely access to the right information. And to ensure your team always knows which information is the most accurate and up-to-date, a central document repository is key.
Get on board with District Intranet today
If you’re ready to build a stronger culture for your remote team, it’s time to talk to us.
