Intranet Project Names - Some Ideas

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose By any other word would smell as sweet."

In this famous quote from Act II of Romeo and Juliet, Juliet tells Romeo that a name is an artificial and meaningless convention, and the fact he is a Montague and she a Capulet (warring families) means nothing to their love.

However, there is some strong evidence from the UK's Cranfield University - and elsewhere - that the name one gives a project does have a marked impact on the behaviour and motivation of the people involved. It may surprise you, but the name you give to your Intranet Project could well be the most important decision you make in the early stages of mobilisation!

The Direct Approach

There is an argument in faour of naming your Intranet Project the - wait for it - "Intranet Project"! Often, so-called "secret squirrel" names (where one has to ferret out from colleagues what Project Banana is all about) serve only to create an unnecessary air of mystique (fit only for secret M&A projects). They can also serve to be divisive, by separating 'people in the know' from people outside the immediate project audience.

The functional approach

A functional name focuses on what the intranet does (e.g. search, find, access). This enjoys the same benefits as the direct approach, but affords one a little more poetic license. What about names like "Project Connect" or "Project Gateway", which serve to signal the core "must have" requirements for the project?

The conceptual approach

There is a problem with the direct or functional approaches; Research from Cranfield has demonstrated that people on projects tend to be very heavily influenced in their actions by the name of the project itself. If you call your project the Intranet project, it is a working intranet (i.e. the technology) that you will get. If your ambition was something much more visionary, such as a wholly new way of working for your people, you are likely to be disappointed!

The conceptual name targets what is achieved by the functionality, rather than the functionality itself. For example, if your company name was BigCo and your purpose was seeking to get everyone in the company working together, you could call the project "Project OneBigCo" or "Project Unity". For the aforementioned new ways of working objective, you could use "Project Future Workplace".

The abstract approach

The abstract approach deals with how the project makes people feel. For example, "Project Bliss" (for happiness), "Project Wizard" (for magic) or "Project Pulse" (for fast-pacedness). Although one world usually fails to capture all you are trying to achieve with an Intranet Portal, this approach can prove highly effective (particularly where counter-cultural).

If all else fails

Nothing grabbed you so far? Well there is no saving you, then! I suppose there are always the standard fallback options: names of greek or roman gods, names of planets, names of birds and names of dances. These have the added value that - if you spawn follow-on projects in a sequence - you have ready-made logical follow-on project titles. Incidentally, "Project Mercury" would be my recommendation for planets or gods (as Mercury was the roman god of communications).

For more ideas on project names, why not check out my presentation in chapter 10 of my (free to access) Intranet Portal Guide.

About the author:

David Viney (david@viney.com) is the author of the Intranet Portal Guide; 31 pages of advice, tools and downloads covering the period before, during and after an Intranet Portal implementation.

Read the guide at http://www.viney.com/DFV/intranet_portal_guide or the Intranet Watch Blog at http://www.viney.com/intranet_watch.

---

Getting Started in ECommerce ? Part Two

In Part One we talked a little bit about what... Read More

Online Consumers ? What Are They Complaining About?

For many businesses, e-commerce represents a tremendous method for generating... Read More

Delivering Information Products Through Paypal Automatically

Paypal is one of the wonders of the web. Never... Read More

Choosing an Ecommerce Shopping Cart

Choosing an online shopping cart is a big decision. Unlike... Read More

The Ecommerce Business Plan

Simply put, business plans can make or break your business.... Read More

The Top 10 E-Commerce Ways to Follow up with Clients - Part 1

Did you know that 80% of all sales are made... Read More

Managing Project Risks and Issues

Inherent (or Business) RiskInherent Risk is the risk that exists... Read More

The House Of Print.Com

Publishing has always been a difficult business to promote successfully,... Read More

Online Business- What Makes It a Success!

Only a few manage to sell everything under the sun... Read More

Why Our Site Was Removed From The ODP

Our website, Best Of The Home, has been listed in... Read More

Excuse Me, Are You Wasting Traffic?

The largest cost and concern of an internet business is... Read More

Grow Your Business Using B2B Emarketplace - Part I

If you are a small to medium size company and... Read More

Credit Card Processing - 7 Things You Need to Know Before Opening an Online Merchant Account

When considering opening an online merchant account to accept credit... Read More

The Internet Challenge

In spite of the increasing attention on how the Internet... Read More

5 Powerful Ways to Make Money Online with a Website

There are many ways to make money online and the... Read More

10 Reasons Why People Wont Buy A Second Product From You

1. You didn't follow up after the first sale. After... Read More

12 Powerful Ways To Use Autoresponders That Will Take YOU To The Top

If only I had known that autoresponders are a necessity... Read More

Website Marketing: 10 Resourceful Things You Can Do With A Product That Doesnt Sell

Do you have any product that has not been moving... Read More

Leveraging Open Source Technology

Open Source applications can bring unique value to business owners.... Read More

How Measuring Key Performance Indicators Can Improve E-Commerce Strategy - Part Two

Why time spent on your site is importantAll websites regardless... Read More

The Plain Man?s Guide to Making Money Online

I'm a plain man who uses plain thinking in devising... Read More

The Origins of E-Commerce

What is the Internet?In order to provide a discussion on... Read More

Intranet Portals ? Search and Taxonomies

Knowledge Management for beginnersKnowledge Management (KM) can be defined simply... Read More

How Measuring Key Performance Indicators Can Improve E-Commerce Strategy - Part One

The problem with most e-commerce marketing strategy today is that... Read More

Online Shopping: Legal Challenges for Taxing Authorities

E-commerce offers customers the chance to eliminate many stages in... Read More

Intranet Project Names - Some Ideas

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose... Read More

Ecommerce Solution for the Big and Small Business

First off, you need to know what an ecommerce solution... Read More

The Check is in the E-mail

Have you ever had someone who owed your business money... Read More

Accepting Credit Card Payments Online

Being able to accept credit cards and other online payments... Read More

Leading eCommerce Consultant Admits You Should Only Listen to One Real Expert! (And its not him!)

Let me share with you a secret that most marketing... Read More

Make That 3 Billion

My previous article I wrote called "One Point Two Billion"... Read More

Is ECommerce Right for Our Business?

If your business features products or services for sale, undoubtedly... Read More

3 Powerful Concepts That Climb Marketing Mountains

You have probably heard many times how you should offer... Read More