Content Governance Framework
Content governance is the plan for keeping your intranet accurate and current after launch. Without governance, intranets decay. News articles from three years ago sit at the top of pages. Policy documents with "Last revised 2021" remain the only version available. The IT helpdesk page still shows the phone number of someone who left two years ago.
A minimal governance framework requires: a designated content owner for every page and document, defined review intervals (6 months for policies, 3 months for news, 12 months for reference content), and an automated reminder system using Power Automate to notify owners when content passes its review date. The reminder should link directly to the content and include the current metadata — not a generic "please review your content" message that everyone ignores.
Adoption and Change Management
Adoption is not a launch event — it's a sustained programme. Successful intranet adoptions typically run for 6 to 12 months post-launch, with structured activities at each phase. The most effective tactics are champions networks (enthusiastic employees in each department who advocate for the intranet), quick wins (make the most painful current process noticeably better, then tell people about it), and executive visibility (senior leaders who post news to the intranet signal that it's the official communication channel).
Measure adoption through SharePoint analytics (page views, unique visitors, search queries with no results), Microsoft Viva Insights if licensed, and qualitative feedback from periodic user surveys. Review metrics monthly for the first six months and act on what you find — don't let the data sit in a dashboard that nobody reads.
The Complete 40-Point Checklist
Use this checklist at the start of every SharePoint modern intranet project. Every "No" is a risk that needs to be addressed before the project moves forward.
Information Architecture (10 items)
Card sorting exercise completed with at least 15 representative employees
IA wireframes created and reviewed by business stakeholders
Hub site structure defined and mapped to org departments
URL naming convention documented and approved
Metadata taxonomy defined (content types, managed metadata terms)
Document libraries planned per site (no more than 5 top-level libraries per site)
Content migration plan documented (what migrates, what gets archived)
Search configuration plan created (promoted results, verticals, result types)
Audience targeting strategy defined for personalised content
Mobile experience requirements documented
Permissions and Governance (10 items)
External sharing policy defined and approved by IT Security
Sensitivity label strategy aligned with Microsoft Purview configuration
Site owner responsibilities documented and agreed
Guest access policy defined per hub and site type
Site creation policy agreed (self-service vs. IT-provisioned)
Content review intervals defined for all content types
Power Automate reminder workflow built and tested
Site lifecycle policy defined (when to archive, when to delete)
Quarterly site owner review process scheduled in calendar
DLP policies reviewed for SharePoint scope
Technical Readiness (10 items)
Hub sites registered in tenant and associated correctly
App Catalog set up in tenant for SPFx deployment
Custom SPFx web parts tested in hosted workbench
Application Customizer tested and deployed to staging environment
Microsoft Search crawl completed for all hub-associated sites
Promoted results configured for top-50 employee queries
Performance tested: Lighthouse score above 80 on home page
Mobile rendering verified on iOS Safari and Android Chrome
Accessibility checked: all images have alt text, headings are structured
Power Automate flows tested end-to-end in production tenant
Adoption and Launch (10 items)
Champions network identified (1 per department minimum)
Champions trained on intranet features and content management
Executive sponsor secured and committed to post content
Launch communications plan approved (email, Teams, all-hands)
User guide / "Getting Started" page live on intranet at launch
Feedback mechanism in place (survey, SharePoint feedback form, or email alias)
Analytics baseline established before launch for comparison
30/60/90 day adoption review meetings scheduled
Old intranet decommission plan agreed and communicated
Success metrics defined (target page views, search success rate, employee satisfaction score)
Key Takeaways
Intranet failures are almost always organisational, not technical — invest more time in planning and governance than in web part selection.
Information architecture should reflect how employees search for information, not how leadership thinks about the org chart.
Content governance — designated owners, review intervals, automated reminders — is what prevents the decay that kills intranets within 18 months of launch.
AT
Akshara Technologies Team
Microsoft 365 Development Experts
The Akshara Technologies team has planned and delivered modern SharePoint intranets for organisations from 200 to 15,000 employees across India, UAE, USA, and Australia.
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