RINK OWK is a temporary joint venture consisting of five construction companies with more than 200 employees, active on the Oosterweel junction construction site across different work chains. Due to this dispersion, internal communication is a constant challenge. A year and a half ago, RINK OWK started rolling out a new intranet to better centralise information and reach employees more effectively.
Olivier Daveraet manages the intranet and guided the entire trajectory. In this interview, he explains how he worked step by step together with Involv Intranet to build a central communication platform, and what impact this has today on engagement and collaboration within RINK OWK.
Need for central and clear communication
Before we started working with Involv Intranet, internal communication mainly took place via email. In an organisation with employees spread across different locations, this quickly became unmanageable. Information was scattered across mailboxes, was difficult to retrieve and did not always reach everyone at the same time.
We therefore looked for one central place where all internal communication comes together and where employees can find the right information at any time, regardless of where they work.
Because I myself have a lot of experience with SharePoint, it was logical to choose a solution based on that platform. We did not want an additional standalone system, but something that feels familiar and integrates smoothly with our existing environment.
More possibilities than standard SharePoint
The choice for Involv Intranet was partly determined by experiences from colleagues at ROCO and Lantis, who were already working with Involv and were very positive about it. In addition, we noticed that Involv goes much further than standard SharePoint.
The different content blocks make a big difference. Quick links, news, activities, analytics and the who-is-who function ensure that information is not only available, but also actually seen. I personally find dynamic elements such as banners and carousels very important. When there is movement, it stands out more quickly and people keep looking.
Building a flexible intranet together
For me, an intranet is not a fixed given. We continue to experiment with new features, layout and colours. Soon, we also want to use the newsletter functionality, so employees can see which news they have missed and to bundle frequently asked questions.
The nice thing is that this room to experiment really exists. Feedback is listened to and ideas are taken on board.
For me, Involv is a partner that is open to dialogue, thinks along, works along and truly listens. As a result, the intranet does not feel like a standard tool, but like something that is being built to measure for our organisation.
Olivier Daveraet
Intranet Manager at RINK OWK
Smooth implementation and broad adoption
The implementation went very smoothly. Of course, such a trajectory takes time, but today everyone is comfortable with it. We receive a lot of positive reactions, both from colleagues and from management.
We organise a monthly staff information moment and there I often receive direct feedback. I deliberately try to keep the intranet accessible and not overwhelm people with communication. That is why I also regularly use polls, to check whether everything is clear and to understand what people expect.
Growing engagement and future vision
Since we started working with Involv Intranet, sharing information has become faster and easier. Where we previously mainly communicated via the monthly staff information moment or via email, we can now share information at any time.
Engagement has clearly grown. People approach me spontaneously with the question of whether something can be placed on the intranet, and they refer colleagues with “check the intranet”. That shows that the platform is alive.
In the long term, I want to let the intranet grow more bottom-up, so that teams also communicate with each other via the intranet. That is a process, but we are clearly on the right track.
Would I recommend Involv Intranet?
I would recommend Involv without any doubt. Not only because of the extra possibilities on top of SharePoint, but especially because of the support, accessibility and willingness to think along. It feels like a collaboration, not like using a standard product.
Would you like to discover how Involv can work for your organisation? Watch our demo video or schedule your advisory meeting.
