‘As far back as I remember, I always wanted to be an intranet manager’
My name is Dan Leonard and like most intranet managers, I didn’t start my career wanting to be an Intranet Manager. My first proper job was working for the local council whilst I studied. Then, when I’d finished my Master’s Degree and done some travelling, I still hadn’t decided what I wanted to do, so I took a job working for a bank. It seemed like a sensible, stable, but boring choice. This was when banking was sensible and stable and a little boring. This was before the financial crisis, this was before bankers became hated more than estate agents.
I spent a year working on mortgages in the bank’s service centre, then one day, I saw a job for an ‘E-learning designer’. That sounded fun, that sounded like something I could do AND would want to do. So I applied.
When I got the job I discovered that the E-learning I would be creating was hosted on this thing called an intranet. Which was like the web, but not as good. Thus began my life working on intranets. 12 years or so later and different intranet related jobs within Learning & Development, HR and Corporate Communications within the Financial Services sector and here we are.
So why the blog?
I realised Intranet Management and more recently, Digital Workplace Leadership are still in their infancy. Nobody left school with the intention to manage intranets and develop digital workplaces, we just kind of found ourselves doing it. But do we have the skills to perform these roles at the best of our abilities?
So I started this blog. To try and make sense of what makes a great intranet manager and digital workplace leader. Partly because I know my own limitations and I want to know how I can develop further. Partly because I guess others are on the same journey and it’s one I hope we can share. So please share your intranet development stories below. How did you come to be working on intranets?