Build a Microsoft 365 intranet that helps employees find information, share updates, access resources, and work from one connected internal hub.
Microsoft SharePoint Intranet Design Services
Build an Intranet Your Team Can Actually Use
A good intranet should make work easier. It should give employees a clear place to find news, policies, forms, training materials, resources, department updates, and the documents they need to do their jobs.
Lai and Associates helps organizations design and improve SharePoint intranets inside Microsoft 365. Our team can help plan the structure, organize content, configure access, connect communication workflows, and support adoption so the intranet becomes part of the way people work.
Whether your organization needs a new staff hub, a refreshed SharePoint intranet, a resource library, a learning hub, a policy centre, or a practical starting point like The Wave, Lai and Associates can help turn scattered information into a clearer internal experience.
Why Intranet Design Needs a Clear Plan
Many intranet projects start with good intentions but become hard to use over time. Content gets spread across shared drives, Teams channels, SharePoint sites, email attachments, old portals, and department-specific folders. Employees may know the information exists, but not where to find it or whether it is current.
An effective intranet design needs to account for both the organization and the user. It should answer practical questions:
- What information do staff need most often?
- Which departments, locations, or roles need dedicated areas?
- Which files, policies, templates, or forms need stronger control?
- What should be searchable by everyone, and what should be permission-restricted?
- How will news, updates, and announcements reach the right people?
- How will the intranet connect with Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive, and Microsoft 365 governance?
- Who owns each section after launch?
The goal is not only to create a polished homepage. The goal is to build an internal hub that supports communication, knowledge sharing, onboarding, collaboration, and secure access over time.
Discovery and Intranet Strategy
The discovery phase is where the intranet plan is shaped. Lai and Associates reviews the current Microsoft 365 environment, existing SharePoint sites, Teams usage, file locations, permissions, content ownership, staff needs, and the business functions the intranet should support.
This phase may include reviewing:
- Existing SharePoint sites, communication sites, Teams, OneDrive, and file storage
- Current staff portals, policy libraries, forms, resource folders, and department pages
- Content ownership, update responsibilities, and approval needs
- User groups, permissions, roles, and access restrictions
- Search needs across sites, libraries, and resources
- Branding, navigation, homepage structure, and mobile access
- News, events, announcements, and employee engagement workflows
- Training, onboarding, and adoption requirements
- Related migration or digitization needs before content is moved into the intranet
For organizations with scattered file shares or outdated document locations, intranet planning often pairs naturally with data migration or document scanning and digitization work so the content going into SharePoint is organized from the start.
SharePoint Architecture, Hubs, and Governance
SharePoint intranets work best when the structure is clear. Lai and Associates can help plan hub sites, communication sites, document libraries, navigation, permissions, search, and content ownership so the intranet is easier to manage after launch.
Common architecture considerations include:
- Staff homepage and organization-wide news
- Department hubs for HR, operations, finance, clinical teams, leadership, or board resources
- Policy and procedure libraries
- Forms, templates, and request areas
- Learning hubs and onboarding resources
- Resource libraries for guides, brand materials, and internal documentation
- SharePoint hub-site relationships and shared navigation
- Permissions and document controls for sensitive content
- Search and metadata planning
- Governance for who can publish, edit, archive, and approve content
This structure helps the intranet stay useful as the organization changes. Instead of burying everything in one large site, SharePoint hubs and connected sites can organize related areas while still supporting shared navigation, branding, search, and ownership.
The Wave: A SharePoint Intranet Starter Framework
The Wave is Lai and Associates’ SharePoint intranet framework for organizations that need a practical starting point instead of a blank build. It gives teams a structured way to launch core intranet functions such as staff news, resource hubs, document access, department areas, and collaboration spaces.
The Wave can help organizations get started with:
- A central staff hub for news, updates, and resources
- SharePoint-based resource and policy areas
- Department or role-based content sections
- Document libraries and searchable resources
- Microsoft Teams-connected communication patterns
- Permission-aware access to sensitive content
- A foundation that can be expanded with custom features
For organizations that already have an intranet, The Wave can also support add-on solutions for teams such as HR, operations, finance, clinical staff, leadership, and board members. These SharePoint-based additions can live inside the organization’s Microsoft 365 environment and use the access controls already available in Microsoft 365.
Common Intranet Features and Hubs
Every intranet is different, but most successful projects combine communication, knowledge access, governance, and staff support.
News and announcements: Publish updates, events, leadership messages, and organization-wide communication from a central location.
Employee resource hub: Give staff one place to find commonly used forms, templates, guides, and internal links.
Policy centre: Organize policies and procedures with clearer ownership, search, and version awareness.
Learning and onboarding hub: Support new employees, internal training, role-specific resources, and adoption of Microsoft 365 tools.
Department hubs: Create spaces for HR, finance, operations, clinical teams, communications, leadership, or board resources.
Enterprise search support: Help employees find the right resources across connected SharePoint sites and libraries.
Teams-connected engagement: Extend important updates into Microsoft Teams where staff already communicate and collaborate.
If the intranet needs partner, client, or external stakeholder access, Lai and Associates can also review whether a separate portal or extranet is the better fit.
Security, Permissions, and Microsoft 365 Integration
Intranets often include sensitive operational information. HR documents, board resources, financial templates, policies, clinical resources, internal forms, and leadership materials should be easy for the right people to find and protected from the wrong audience.
Lai and Associates can help plan intranet access around Microsoft 365 security and administration, including:
- SharePoint site and library permissions
- Role-based access to sensitive resources
- Microsoft Teams and SharePoint relationships
- OneDrive, document libraries, and shared resources
- Microsoft Entra ID / Azure Active Directory considerations
- Ownership, publishing rights, and content approval workflows
- Licence and subscription readiness for the Microsoft 365 features being used
For organizations reviewing Microsoft 365 access, intranet planning can be a good time to complete a licence management review so the service setup matches the way the intranet will be used.
Adoption, Training, and Ongoing Improvement
An intranet only works if people understand where to go, what to use, and how to keep the information current. Lai and Associates can support launch planning, administrator guidance, content-owner training, and user adoption so the intranet does not become another forgotten portal.
Adoption support may include:
- Launch planning and communication
- Staff orientation for the new intranet
- Content-owner guidance
- Microsoft Teams and SharePoint usage support
- Governance documentation
- Training resources for key workflows
- Post-launch cleanup and improvement planning
For organizations that need broader enablement, Lai and Associates can also support Microsoft training services so staff and administrators are more confident using the Microsoft 365 tools connected to the intranet.
Our Clients
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a SharePoint intranet?
A SharePoint intranet is an internal website built in Microsoft 365 that helps employees access news, policies, forms, resources, documents, department information, and collaboration areas. It can connect with Microsoft Teams, OneDrive, SharePoint document libraries, and Microsoft 365 security controls.
Can Lai and Associates build a new intranet from scratch?
Yes. Lai and Associates can help organizations plan and build a SharePoint intranet, including discovery, structure, navigation, content organization, permissions, homepage planning, resource hubs, document libraries, and launch support.
Can you improve an existing intranet?
Yes. If your organization already has an intranet, Lai and Associates can review the current structure, content, permissions, search experience, staff needs, and Microsoft 365 setup, then recommend improvements or add SharePoint-based features where needed.
What is The Wave?
The Wave is Lai and Associates’ SharePoint intranet starter framework. It is designed to help organizations launch core intranet functions faster, including staff news, resource hubs, document access, department areas, and collaboration spaces. It can also be expanded with custom features based on workflow needs.
Can an intranet include HR, finance, clinical, or board resources?
Yes. SharePoint intranets can include role-based or department-specific areas for HR, operations, finance, clinical teams, leadership, board members, and other groups. Permissions should be planned carefully so sensitive information is available only to approved users.
Can the intranet connect with Microsoft Teams?
Yes. SharePoint and Microsoft Teams can work together. News, resources, documents, and collaboration areas can be planned so employees can access information through the intranet while continuing to communicate and work in Teams.
Do we need to migrate files before building an intranet?
Sometimes. If important content is spread across shared drives, old portals, personal folders, or other systems, a data migration or content cleanup phase may be needed before the intranet is built. This helps avoid launching a new intranet with outdated or disorganized content.
How long does an intranet project take?
Timing depends on the size of the organization, the amount of content, current SharePoint and Microsoft 365 setup, permissions, number of departments, and whether migration or cleanup is needed. A focused starter intranet can move faster than a large multi-department rebuild with complex governance.
Start With an Intranet Planning Session
If your organization is planning a new intranet or trying to improve an existing SharePoint environment, the first step is understanding what employees need, where content lives now, and how Microsoft 365 should support the future structure.
Lai and Associates can review your current setup and help define the intranet plan, content structure, permissions, and launch path.
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