Which 5 internal apps do staff actually use?

Staff use internal apps that make a process they already have simpler. An app that invents a new process has to fight for its place first.

The five examples here are kinds of apps we have built. Each replaces something that used to run on paper, Excel or email. We don't name clients.

1. The onboarding checklist

New colleagues often don't know what to expect on their first day. And nobody on the team knows exactly what has already been done.

The onboarding checklist creates a list for each new person, with start date, team and contact person. Everyone involved sees what's still open. Nobody has to ask whether the laptop has been ordered.

2. The editorial calendar

Whoever looks after an intranet plans topics. Often that happens by email or in an Excel file that someone else has open right now.

The editorial calendar collects every topic in one place, with topic, date and owner. The editorial team sees at a glance what's coming out this week and who is working on it.

3. The news editor with approval

In many organisations only communications writes the intranet news. That's a bottleneck.

With the news editor, anyone can write a post, with title, image and text. It's only published once communications approves it. More topics reach the intranet, and nobody loses control.

4. The request

"Just email IT" works until the email lands in the wrong inbox.

A request app gives every request a fixed format: subject, team, what's needed. The responsible team sees all open requests in one list. And whoever asked can see where their request stands.

5. The people directory

"Who's actually in charge of the canteen?" A people directory answers that faster than any phone list.

Strictly speaking it's a web part on the intranet, not a separate app. For staff that makes no difference: they search for a person and find their team, role and contact details.

The five apps at a glance

What these apps have in common

None of these apps is big. That's exactly the point.

• One purpose. Each app solves one task, not ten.
• Few fields. Whatever nobody fills in gets cut.
• No new login. Staff sign in with their Microsoft account. No extra password.
• Where the work happens. The apps live in the intranet, not in yet another program.
• Permissions by group. Your existing Microsoft 365 groups decide who approves or edits.

How to tell an app is missing

The need usually shows up in daily work long before anyone says "app".

• The same Excel file goes round by email every week, in ever newer versions.
• The same questions keep coming up: "Has this been approved yet?", "Who's doing this?"
• One person keeps a list, and when they're on holiday everything stops.
• A form gets printed, filled in and scanned back in.

If any of that sounds familiar, it's a good candidate for a small app.

How quickly an app like this is up

First you send us a sketch or a few sentences. The first clickable version takes us about 10 to 14 hours of work.

After that we work in weekly sprints. Every week you see what's done and tell us what should change. Most change requests take 2 hours or less.

Starting small pays off. Once the first version is in use, it quickly becomes clear which field is missing and which one nobody needs.

When we are not the right choice

If there's off-the-shelf software that covers your process, look at that first. HR software with an onboarding feature may be enough.

A simple form in Microsoft Forms or Power Apps can also do the job. You don't need us for that. Where the line lies is covered in Power Apps or a custom app: which fits when?

And if the process itself is still unclear, no app will help. First settle who does what and when. Then we're glad to build the app for it.