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3 key takeaways from our webinar with Principal Financial Group

Yesterday afternoon, we hosted a webinar featuring Keith Kratochvil, Enterprise Architect over at Principal Financial Group. During the one-hour presentation, Keith discussed many of the benefits of a digital workplace, some of the ways Principal is using theirs to connect people and information, and a glimpse into their mission and roadmap for the future. Here are a couple of notable tidbits I gathered as I listened in.

Digital identities are critical

One of the limitations of an intranet is that, by definition, its content is internal-only. But very few projects include only internal participants. You're working with vendors, partners, contractors, etc. So it's super important to consider identity management when you build a digital workplace. If you want your graphic designers and digital marketing contractors to work together, you need to provide access to each player to get true, effective collaboration.

Personalization is required...to a point

I probably sound like a broken record when I say that personalization is absolutely necessary for a digital workplace. I've said it in blogs, papers, emails, everyday conversation... But Keith said it too, so it's valid. Vindication!

But back to the point, Keith had an interesting perspective on personalization, in that his team implemented a semi-customizable personalization methodology. Meaning that everything that an employee can see in their digital workplace is personalized to their role, geographic location, and so forth. However, employees have a say in what they actually do see.

For example, it might be relevant for you to see the weather in your area, but since that information isn't essential to your job, you can choose not to see it.

Training should NOT be required

When Keith said he told his colleagues that he wouldn't be providing training on the new digital workplace at Principal, my jaw dropped. But his logic makes sense. He explained, "If it's not intuitive, it's not the right fit, and it needs work."

If you've put the effort into researching and building a well-designed, personalized site, your users should instinctively be able to use it. (As a former technical writer, I can't believe I just said that documentation and training are sometimes unnecessary, but there you have it.)

I highly recommend listening to the on-demand version of the webinar, and downloading the slide deck. If you learn something that made your jaw drop, share it with us on social. We'd love to hear from you.