Collaborative Police Forces

Three leading Police Forces in the Home Counties have been collaborating to reduce costs and provide a better, more efficient public service.

Their intranet was key to this collaboration. Used to keep people informed and share critical information between the different forces. While functional, it was no longer fit-for-purpose. Staff, especially those on the frontline, were not engaging. Search and navigation was complicated and confusing. And many still relied on a high volume of email communications to digest information.

It was our job to come in and change that. Bringing everyone and everything across the forces together in one place. This was a project with employee experience truly at the centre.

Following workshops and recommendations, we began working on creating a modern intranet environment using SharePoint and Microsoft Viva Connections.

Marking the very first Viva Connections project within policing.

With employee experience being central to this migration and build, we prioritised the things that people would most want and need from their new intranet. We streamlined navigation, modernised the structure, and ensured the new environment was fully accessible across multiple devices.

All while running learning sessions across the joint Forces to improve understanding of SharePoint; both for admins and the everyday user.

Now, where staff once had an outdated and complicated intranet, they now have a slick, modern working environment.

We have introduced content targeting, ensuring forces and departments are only seeing the information most relevant to them. News, messages, and critical governance information can now be accessed on any device, wherever people are working from. Police Officers no longer need to trek back to the office to access these things. It can be done, seamlessly, and on the go.

“Audience targeting is very helpful in making sure people get the right, relevant information. And the integration of the other Microsoft 365 is a real plus point too."
- Stuart Luff, Principal Technical Architect

Most importantly though, the forces finally have an effective mechanism for getting mass messages out to everyone. The first ever post on Yammer/Viva Engage received 7,500 unique hits. The most they’ve ever had.