24 Oct Intranet Profile: Setting Guidelines for Profile Photos
Community managers of a company’s intranet or Enterprise Social Network can spend countless hours answering the same questions around profiles when rolling out a new platform. Believe it or not, one of the most challenging parts of getting employees to fully complete their intranet profile is uploading a profile picture. Depending on the size of the organization, following up with people and asking them to either upload a photo or to modify their uploaded photo can be a huge time commitment.
Having a current photo connected to each profile is important. The common practice of using a default profile photo, a photo of an inanimate object, a favorite animal or family pet, or a photo that is low quality or is 20 years old must be avoided. Establishing clear guidelines from the start is key to minimizing policing down the line and setting expectations.
Provide size of the profile photo for the intranet profile.
— Giving users the exact size/dimensions required for the photo before they upload their image will help alleviate frustration or frequent questions to community managers if they run into difficulty.
Provide image file formats for the intranet profile photo.
—Some ESNs restrict the type of format of the uploaded photo. Providing the type of photo your ESN supports will help alleviate frustration when uploading the photo and minimize questions for the community managers.
—Specify to users if they should be uploading JPEG, GIF, BMP, TIFF or PNG.
List expectations for what community managers expect from the intranet profile photo.
—In addition to sending out the format of the profile photo, it is also important for community managers to highlight and outline specific expectations for the photo that align with the company’s culture. While some environments encourage whimsical and playful photos, others are more traditional. Is the expectation a professional headshot or will a selfie suffice? The more information people have at roll-out, the better.
—Some people are camera shy and maybe hesitant to upload a picture of themselves. It is important that the uploaded profile photo be uniform and fits company standards. When community managers clearly outline the reasoning for wanting a crisp, clear headshot of each individual, people become more comfortable and less self-conscious. Sending out these request prior to people uploading photos is ideal.
—Common guidelines to highlight are:
–Recent photo (head & shoulders)- Uploading a headshot helps people more easily recognize you. Having a profile of you that is over 5 years old or far away is not helpful when trying to put a name with a face.
–Subject of the photo should be only you- Having multiple people in a profile photo makes it difficult to identify who the profile belongs to
–Work appropriate photo – Wear professional or business casual attire
–Making a list of don’ts is also helpful. Some common ones are:
—No hats
— No pets
—No sunglasses
—No automobiles
—No tank tops or sleeveless shirts
–Specify a specific background for the photo if desired
Once guidelines have been created, store the profile photo help guide on the company’s Enterprise Social Network or intranet. Adding these guidelines and similar help resources to the FAQ section of your ESN or to the the support section of your intranet helps to build the best practice of using the platform as a resource. While many companies have employee handbooks to establish clear guidelines, it is always beneficial to have guidelines specific to your intranet as well.
What recommended guidelines do you have for your intranet profile photos?