Linchpin: KIWI First: And the Winner Is – a Social Intranet!

At CAS AG, everything revolves around KIWI, which is CAS AG's social intranet. Strictly speaking, it is an implementation of Linchpin Intranet Suite from Seibert Media, which is built upon the knowledge management system Confluence from Atlassian. The company organized a naming competition among its employees and "KIWI" turned out to be the winner. The acronym stands for Communication ("Kommunikation" in German), Information, Knowledge ("Wissen" in German) and Innovation. By using that name, it includes several goals that are promoted by a social intranet.

Personalization in the Linchpin Intranet Suite

In addition to advancing digitalization, new working models were also a reason for CAS AG to provide their employees with an innovative and digital platform that they could use to communicate and collaborate with each other. "We were looking for [...] a solution that allowed us to provide personalized information in Confluence. And that's when our decision fell relatively quickly on Linchpin from Seibert Media", Ariane Kohs, responsible for Relationship Management Financial Services at CAS AG, who supported the process from the start, recalls.

At Linchpin, personalization is the main focus: for example, the company's own corporate design can be transferred down to the last detail – and it can even be given its own name and logo. In addition, the dashboard can be personalized for all employees so that they see the information that is relevant to them. For Jürgen Werner, responsible for the Retail department at CAS AG, this means, for example, that he sees all News articles about retail topics and always has an eye on retail customers. KIWI also provides him with an individual overview of his tasks. This way, Linchpin Intranet Suite supports all employees with their self-organization by linking information, departments and tasks.

KIWI First principle

At CAS AG, a new way of working has been established: KIWI First! This means that the social intranet should be the central place in the company where important information and data from other systems are collected. For example, KIWI offers a link to Jira, allowing smaller Jira projects to be shown on a Kanban Board. Bye-bye annoying tool hopping!

At the same time, KWI is the first stop for all questions: When employees can't find an answer in the wiki or in a "How-to", they can very easily find a co-worker who has the relevant skills that can help them with their issue through the intranet. This is because every employee has their own profile, which contains not just important contact details, but also an overview of the skills and knowledge that the person in question possesses. The profile also lets employees add some personal information, like whether they have a superpower or like hotdogs.

However, the KIWI First concept doesn't only apply to internal communication within the company - it also applies to exchanges with CAS AG customers: KIWI also includes an extranet, i.e. a closed area for working together with customers and partners. Here, for example, it is possible to exchange project documentation or communicate with a subsidiary of CAS AG - all in one place.

KIWI at T4AT 2020

Have the requirements for the CAS AG intranet project and Linchpin been met? That's exactly what our colleague Daniel Roller asked Ariane Kohs and Jürgen Werner from CAS AG at Tools4AgileTeams 2020. "No," Jürgen Werner answered dryly, then added with a laugh, "They were exceeded." Find out why he thinks so and what other features KIWI has in store in this Linchpin Talk video (English subtitles are available):

Linchpin: The social intranet with added value

Seibert Media wants to create real added value with the Linchpin Intranet Suite - the social intranet is designed not only to facilitate internal corporate communications, but also to encourage employees to communicate with each other. As you've already seen from the example of KIWI, even communication with customers and partners can be handled via Linchpin. The various tools and features can be combined and adapted to suit you and your company.

Are you in the cloud? Then we have a solution for you, too: Linchpin Hey! It's our brand-new social intranet for the cloud that focuses even more on your employees and the social interaction within your company. That's why Linchpin Hey offers in-depth profiles, news, events and posts, complemented by features you're familiar with from other social media platforms: Profile widgets that remind you of anniversaries or birthdays, the "HeyFives" that display nice greetings, plus compliments or well wishes that you might give to a colleague on their dashboard. All of this for better communication and effective cooperation (even if not everyone is at the office)! Click the button to learn more and see for yourself:

Further Reading

7 Benefits of a Social Intranet in your Organization

Linchpin Intranet in Confluence – The key to keeping the balance between engagement & information overload

Linchpin Hey – A new name and the path to a personalized social intranet