Five construction companies, one Oosterweel site, 200+ employees across different work chains – and one intranet to connect them all.
Olivier Daveraet, who manages the intranet at RINK OWK, explains how Involv brought their scattered internal communication together on one central platform.
RINK OWK is a temporary joint venture of five construction companies with more than 200 employees, active on the Oosterweel junction construction site across different work chains. Because of 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 – this is his story.
Need for central and clear communication
Before 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.
The organisation 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 Olivier Daveraet has a lot of experience with SharePoint, it was logical to choose a solution based on that platform. They did not want an additional standalone system, but something that feels familiar and integrates smoothly with their 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, they 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. Olivier Daveraet personally finds 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 Olivier Daveraet, an intranet is not a fixed given. They continue to experiment with new features, layout and colours. Soon, they 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 DaveraetIntranet Manager, RINK OWK
Olivier DaveraetSmooth implementation and broad adoption
The implementation went very smoothly. Of course, such a trajectory takes time, but today everyone is comfortable with it. They receive a lot of positive reactions, both from colleagues and from management.
They organise a monthly staff information moment, and there they often receive direct feedback. Olivier Daveraet deliberately tries to keep the intranet accessible and not overwhelm people with communication. That is why they also regularly use polls, to check whether everything is clear and to understand what people expect.
Growing engagement and future vision
Since starting to work with Involv Intranet, sharing information has become faster and easier. Where they previously mainly communicated via the monthly staff information moment or via email, they can now share information at any time.
Engagement has clearly grown. People approach Olivier Daveraet 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, he wants to let the intranet grow more bottom-up, so that teams also communicate with each other via the intranet. That is a process, but they are clearly on the right track.
Would I recommend Involv Intranet?
Olivier Daveraet 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.
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