Riding the Gartner Hype Cycle: What It Means for Your Intranet
How understanding the maturity wave of technology helps businesses manage excitement and adoption on the microlevel.
If you have every been apart of a workplace-wide technology implementation — A new intranet, communication procedure, or collaboration platform — you’ve certainly noticed the emotional rollercoaster that finds it’s way through workplace culture.
There is excitement, then maybe some disappointment. Skepticism and resistance to change. Eventually, if managed well, the new tool becomes an integral part of daily work life; you can’t imagine how you all managed without it.
Whether it’s switching from MacOS to Microsoft, this pattern is so common that it was given a name: The Gartner Hype Cycle.
Understanding the Gartner Hype Cycle can help your organization 1. Set realistic expectations for new technology; 2. Know which technologies to adopt in the first place; and 3. Build a tech strategy that turns your internal communication systems into a lasting success.
What is the Gartner Hype Cycle
The Gartner Hype Cycle is a model that describes the adoption and maturity of new technologies. It identifies five stages:
Innovation Trigger: A new technology emerges and sparks interest
Peak of Inflated Expectations: Buzz is at a high, the promises of the new technology are optimistic; there are not yet enough use cases to diminish expectations.
Trough of Disillusionment: Reality sets in; use cases have increased with comes with the consequence of negative experiences. Adoption slows, early adopters complain, leaders will wonder if the investment was worth it.
Slope of Enlightenment: Practical use cases rise to the top, expectations are more realistic, and organizations learn how to make the most of the technology tool.
Plateau of Productivity: The technology finds its new home in organizations. It delivers consistent value as part of everyday business operations.
For intranets, this cycle consistently plays out time and time and time again. New launches will bring energy and sky-high ideas. However, without the right structure, support, and strategy, that excitement can quickly dissolve into frustration.
The Intranet Hype Cycle
Here is how this situation plays out often in the real world:
Launch Day: Employees are curious, and leaders are enthusiastic. The expectation is set that the intranet will solve internal communication struggles.
Three Months In: Content is not being consistently updated; navigations are difficult and not user friendly; usage is dropping. This is the trough of disillusionment.
Half a Year to a Year Later: Individual departments make the intranet work for them, while others abandon it. The organization as a whole sees uneven adoption.
What the real tragedy we see is that many companies never escape the trough of disillusionment. They never get to fully embrace the benefits that intranets can have in store.
How intranetValet Help You Skip The Through
Our goal is to guide organizations through technological adoptions more smoothly; and faster. Here’s how:
Clarity from the start
We help you set realistic expectations based on our years of professional experience. We define a clear purpose for your intranet, so it doesn’t become “just another platform”
User-facing Design
We structure content, navigation, and guidance with users in mind: this makes ease and intuitiveness top of mind in our designs.
Ongoing Support
Our team provides long-term content creation and strategy. We keep your intranet alive, fresh, and thriving.
Sustainable Success
By focusing on adoption and long-term value, we help your intranet reach productivity and stay there.
Turning Hype into Lasting Value
The Gartner Hype Cycle reminds us that initial excitement will always fade but that new technology doesn’t have to always fail.
With the right planning, structure, and support, you and your organization can manage the trough of disillusionment smoothly, or avoid it all together.
With intranetValet, we can help you facilitate a digital workplace hub that employees will use and will love.
We specialize in turning hype into productivity.
If you are ready to make your intranet a lasting success, contact us at 267-857-8066
Thank you @Jocelyn for raising the Hype Cycle in the context of the company intranet. So few recognize where we are and what we can do to navigate the intranet lifecycle effectively!