The concept of stress testing banks is much in the news at present as a way of ensuring that they are able to withstand the pressures of the current financial environment.  For my recent Intranet Roadmap Workshop I developed a stress test for intranet managers along the lines of the Holmes and Rahe Life Events Scale.  Each of the situations below has a points score which has absolutely no research basis at all, so please treat this as a very informal assessment.  I’m sure that there will be many different views about how appropriate the scores are for each issue. However going through the scoring may help you think about just how many items there are in your in-tray, and the value you will add to the organisation if you complete them to schedule.

Add up the points for all the issues that you face. Multiply any of the points scores by 1.5 if you are not working on the intranet on a full time basis.

• Develop a new intranet in SharePoint 2010 when you were not involved by IT in the selection process (200)
• Develop a new intranet using SharePoint 2010 on the basis of good IT/business decision-making (150)
• Migrate a MOSS07 intranet into SharePoint 2010 (130)
• Migrate the current intranet into SharePoint 2010 (120)
• Migrate content from one CMS into another CMS (110)
• Specify, select and implement a new CMS (100)
• Specify, select and implement a new search application (95)
• Manage an intranet without a proactive intranet sponsor (90)
• Manage an intranet without an appropriate level of financial and other resources (85)
• Redevelop an intranet and also continue to manage the current version (80)
• Manage an intranet without an effective governance structure (75)
• Manage an intranet without effective search (70)
• Manage an intranet without a strategic plan (60)
• Manage an intranet without a job description (55)
• Manage an intranet without a career development plan (50)

If you score more than around 400 then you should be having a serious and constructive discussion with your manager about work load and support from your organisation.  Of some concern was that some of the attendees on the course had scores above 600, which in my view are not sustainable for even a few months.

You are most welcome to add in other issues and change the scoring to suit your own career needs!

Martin White