As delivered at ContentEd 2017 - London, England
Governance is all about creating structure and accountability to support your content goals. But in organizations where rigid hierarchies and legacy systems often still rule the roost, imposing new processes, roles, and guidelines (accompanied by new expectations and consequences) is much easier said than done. That’s why it’s important to prepare your internal community for governance through training and education, relationship building, and helping people understand the value and outcomes of their work on the website. Before implementing governance policies, find out how to prepare your community to embrace them more readily.
4. OHO INTERACTIVE
What is it?
Creating structure and
accountability to support
the achievement of your
content goals.
What is governance, anyway?
5. OHO INTERACTIVE
How do we get there?
Consistent process
Defined roles &
responsibilities
Empowerment via tools,
knowledge, and community
What is governance, anyway?
7. OHO INTERACTIVE
No, really. How do we get there?
Promote culture change via
sustained transparency,
open communication, and
strong relationships.
What is governance, anyway?
8. OHO INTERACTIVE
No, really. How do we get there?
Then set
realistic
and sustainable
expectations.
What is governance, anyway?
16. 85%
of U.S. college prospects cite the website as
their top method of seeking information
Source: OHO Interactive research
17. OHO INTERACTIVEHigher ed is… special
Factors Inhibiting a Strategic Website
Politics
Decentralization
Silos
Lack of nimble decision-making
Lack of accountability
Fear of change
18. Change is inevitable
Change ain’t easy. But standing still is not an option. If
our institutions don’t mature as digital organizations, we
risk losing our audience and failing to achieve our goals.
We can’t impose change overnight if we want it to last. By
priming our community to understand and accept change,
and in the process laying a groundwork for meaningful
web governance, we are investing in the long-term
viability of our website as a tool for strategic success.
Governance is cool
19. OHO INTERACTIVE
Change is necessary
If we don’t mature as
digital organizations,
we risk failure.
Higher ed is... special
20. OHO INTERACTIVE
But change can’t come overnight
We must prepare our
community to understand,
accept, and embrace
change for the long haul.
Higher ed is... special
21. OHO INTERACTIVE
Soft power vs. hard power
Education
Relationships
Culture
Community
Roles
Ownership
Workflow
Policies
Accountability
Higher ed is... special
24. OHO INTERACTIVE
The importance of transparency
Transparency flies in the face of silos, which are endemic to higher ed.
Silos seclude people from one another and disconnect people from streams
of information. This creates redundancy and inefficiency, inhibits the
ability to gain broad buy-in, and makes communication challenging.
But when you strive to foster transparency, the walls fall away. People
become humans, not just names on a list. Information becomes common
knowledge, not the stuff of legend. Communication and connections
become the currency by which things get done.
How can you foster transparency? There are a few simple things you can do
that will go a long way toward creating a more open (and more productive)
work environment.
Governance is cool
27. OHO INTERACTIVE
These early conversations may be
one-on-one, but they present a great
opportunity to begin making one-to-
many connections. As you start
talking to people, begin connecting
them to one another. Informally, at
first. (“Oh, you send a newsletter to
Relationship building
30. OHO INTERACTIVE
Identify & map
to institutional
objectives
Share your
process
Gauge savvy
& attitudes
toward web
Confirm goals,
audiences,
and messages
Audit, analyze,
test to gauge
effectiveness
Examine roles,
permissions,
and workflow
Gauge
support for
web tasks
Education &
training
Begin building
community
structures
Show your work
31. OHO INTERACTIVEShow your work
Identify & map
to institutional
objectives
Share your
process
Gauge savvy
& attitudes
toward web
Confirm goals,
audiences,
and messages
Audit, analyze,
test to gauge
effectiveness
Examine roles,
permissions,
and workflow
Gauge
support for
web tasks
Begin building
community
structures
Education &
training
32. OHO INTERACTIVE
Strategic Plan
Show your work
Map out how web
explicitly supports
defined priorities
Understand
executive priorities
at each level
33. OHO INTERACTIVE
Project alignment
“Prioritization is especially
important when the amount of
project requests surpass the
resources available to accomplish
the work. With this in mind,
WEB has made it our goal to use
prioritization in order to ensure
all aspects of website creation
and maintenance, including
content, graphic design, and web
development, are aligned with
strategic institutional initiatives
as outlined in Educating Illinois.”
Show your work
34. OHO INTERACTIVEShow your work
Identify & map
to institutional
objectives
Share your
process
Gauge savvy
& attitudes
toward web
Confirm goals,
audiences,
and messages
Audit, analyze,
test to gauge
effectiveness
Examine roles,
permissions,
and workflow
Gauge
support for
web tasks
Begin building
community
structures
Education &
training
39. OHO INTERACTIVEShow your work
Identify & map
to institutional
objectives
Share your
process
Gauge savvy
& attitudes
toward web
Confirm goals,
audiences,
and messages
Audit, analyze,
test to gauge
effectiveness
Examine roles,
permissions,
and workflow
Gauge
support for
web tasks
Begin building
community
structures
Education &
training
40. OHO INTERACTIVE
Key areas
Show your work
Awareness of brand,
style, goals, audience
Content decision-making
& planning process/roles
Content quality
assurance
Measurement strategy
CMS pain points and
workflow effectiveness
41. OHO INTERACTIVE
Knowledge v. attitude
Show your work
Understands
value of web as
communication
tool
Sees full value More work to do Great opportunity! Great opportunity!
Sees some value More work to do More work to do Great opportunity!
Does not see
full value
Problematic More work to do More work to do
Uninformed Partially informed Well-informed
Understands needs and requirements for web
45. OHO INTERACTIVEShow your work
Identify & map
to institutional
objectives
Share your
process
Gauge savvy
& attitudes
toward web
Confirm goals,
audiences,
and messages
Audit, analyze,
test to gauge
effectiveness
Examine roles,
permissions,
and workflow
Gauge
support for
web tasks
Begin building
community
structures
Education &
training
47. OHO INTERACTIVE
It is unlikely that you single-handedly
can determine what the
communications goals, top audiences,
and key messages are for your
institution, but you can begin to
consider the possibilities and create a
working draft to guide subsequent
Goals, audience, message
48. OHO INTERACTIVEShow your work
Identify & map
to institutional
objectives
Share your
process
Gauge savvy
& attitudes
toward web
Confirm goals,
audiences,
and messages
Audit, analyze,
test to gauge
effectiveness
Examine roles,
permissions,
and workflow
Gauge
support for
web tasks
Begin building
community
structures
Education &
training
52. OHO INTERACTIVE
Analyzing the results
Governance
solutions
Website issues
(e.g. content
training, access
to guidelines)
(e.g. inconsistent
content quality)
Show your work
53. OHO INTERACTIVEShow your work
Identify & map
to institutional
objectives
Share your
process
Gauge savvy
& attitudes
toward web
Confirm goals,
audiences,
and messages
Audit, analyze,
test to gauge
effectiveness
Examine roles,
permissions,
and workflow
Gauge
support for
web tasks
Begin building
community
structures
Education &
training
57. OHO INTERACTIVEShow your work
Identify & map
to institutional
objectives
Share your
process
Gauge savvy
& attitudes
toward web
Confirm goals,
audiences,
and messages
Audit, analyze,
test to gauge
effectiveness
Examine roles,
permissions,
and workflow
Gauge
support for
web tasks
Begin building
community
structures
Education &
training
59. OHO INTERACTIVE
How are web responsibilities
accounted for in the job descriptions
of those for whom the web is a
measurable task?
Are the tasks explicitly listed?
Does the individual receive
reasonable time allocations to
complete them?
Do they get training, professional
Resource audit
Show your work
60. OHO INTERACTIVE
HR is your friend.
Learn how job descriptions are
written
Educate up about the true scope and
strategic value of web tasks
Discuss opportunities to sponsor or
institutionalize training sessions
Resource audit
Show your work
61. OHO INTERACTIVEShow your work
Identify & map
to institutional
objectives
Share your
process
Gauge savvy
& attitudes
toward web
Confirm goals,
audiences,
and messages
Audit, analyze,
test to gauge
effectiveness
Examine roles,
permissions,
and workflow
Gauge
support for
web tasks
Education &
training
Begin building
community
structures
65. “One thing I was struck with was
watching people interacting while
they were waiting. We are all
trying to do more with less these
days; any opportunity to get
strength and support from one
another is a bonus.
Michelle Tarby, Le Moyne College, Syracuse, New York
66. OHO INTERACTIVE
Pre-training
Invite people from across campus to listen to webinars from
industry experts, or even invite a local professional or alum in
the field to come and speak.
Check if your institution offers free access to Lynda.com online
training, and hand-pick relevant modules to promote.
67. OHO INTERACTIVE
Pre-training
Invite people from across campus to listen to webinars from
industry experts, or even invite a local professional or alum in
the field to come and speak.
Check if your institution offers free access to Lynda.com online
training, and hand-pick relevant modules to promote.
68. OHO INTERACTIVEShow your work
Identify & map
to institutional
objectives
Share your
process
Gauge savvy
& attitudes
toward web
Confirm goals,
audiences,
and messages
Audit, analyze,
test to gauge
effectiveness
Examine roles,
permissions,
and workflow
Gauge
support for
web tasks
Education &
training
Begin building
community
structures
71. OHO INTERACTIVE
Maintain regular meetings and active
lines of communication
Model effective site governance
Preview upcoming changes and get
early buy-in and/or feedback
Content communities
Show your work
74. OHO INTERACTIVE
xx
Content communities
“As a ‘one-man’ team, I wanted the
opportunity to share ideas and ‘talk
shop’ with other web professionals
on campus but, desiring more than
just a community, I also saw an
opportunity to crowdsource
resources and professional
development for all web
professionals on campus.”
Rachel Carden, University of
Alabama
75. “While we as web professionals
can know best practices and try to
add value to our colleagues’
content, we can’t be everywhere at
once. Through thoughtful and
intentional governance, we can
add more value to more content.”
Nicholas O’Brien, Bates College, Confab Higher Ed 2014
Governance ensures you can apply your content strategy effectively by extending it to all the people charged with helping execute it, at every level in the organization.
But getting there requires significant cultural change, and you can’t achieve that overnight.
We can’t just draft well-meaning guidelines, hand them down via memo or edict, and expect everyone to embrace them with open arms.
We can’t just draft well-meaning guidelines, hand them down via memo or edict, and expect everyone to embrace them with open arms.
You know you want it. - But your organizational culture isn’t ready yet.
Don’t force it. - Let’s chart a path forward.
By doing the legwork in priming your organization and massaging your culture toward an understanding and acceptance of the value of the website (both at lower and executive levels of the organization) and fostering clearer and stronger internal communication and relationships, you can set yourself up for a greater likelihood of success.
Hard to pivot - Hard to steer the ship - where rigid hierarchies and legacy systems often still rule the roost, imposing new processes, roles, and guidelines (accompanied by new expectations and consequences) is much easier said than done.
Service v. strategy model - Traditional print-based, service-driven marketing operations ruled the roost for decades. When the web emerged—somewhat abruptly, as far as these things go—departments and FTEs sprouted up to support it. - leads to an undefined sense of ownership and accountability around the website
But without fundamentally revisiting overall communications workflow, priorities, or needs, many of these new units and employees were essentially stranded somewhere between IT and print marketing, resulting in a wild west of web.
It is 73-77% from Noel Levitz
As the web has arguably become the most important marketing platform for colleges and universities...
As the web has arguably become the most important marketing platform for colleges and universities, it has also become the least strategically managed
Change ain’t easy. But standing still is not an option. If our institutions don’t mature as digital organizations, we risk losing our audience and failing to achieve our goals.
We can’t impose change overnight if we want it to last. By priming our community to understand and accept change, and in the process laying a groundwork for meaningful web governance, we are investing in the long-term viability of our website as a tool for strategic success.
By the same token, there is a lot of “soft” work of education and relationship-building to be done across the organization before introducing the “hard” work of governance
Silos disconnect people from each other and from information - creates redundancy and inefficiency - inhibits the ability to gain broad buy-in - makes communication challenging.
By being transparent - People become humans, not just names on a list - Information becomes common knowledge, not the stuff of legend - Communication and connections become the currency by which things get done.
I always compare it to landscaping - We understand that - we can appreciate how much effort it takes to plant flowers, mow giant lawns, etc.
BUt How long does it take to update content? 5 minutes? 5 hours?
All of these tactics really boil down to just being a better, more real human.
Own up to mistakes when we make them
Apologizing when we offend
Acknowledging when we’re wrong.
Easier said than done, but not only will that vulnerability engender good will with those around us, but it will probably result in better work being done.
relationship building! - Reach out and get to know people - Create opportunities to connect - Be transparent about your intentions - Be inclusive in working toward solutions - Be vulnerable in sharing your own challenges and pain points - Ask thoughtful questions, and carefully consider the answers.
What transparency really does is cultivate trust.
When you open up and share your process, people can react to a reality instead of a theory (or a fear).
Then you can have far more productive conversations and constructive relationships than you would otherwise. And that’s when special things (and real progress) start to happen.
By doing the legwork in priming your organization and massaging your culture toward an understanding and acceptance of the value of the website (both at lower and executive levels of the organization) and fostering clearer and stronger internal communication and relationships, you can set yourself up for a greater likelihood of success.
Strategic plan
Even if the website is not called out as a priority within the strategic plan, map out the role the website may play in achieving the other defined priorities. Drill down to the college, school, or unit level and determine what the executive priorities are.
Let your campus community know where initiatives stand. Be as open as you can about the status of various digital projects. Illinois State has a remarkable online project status tracker, accompanied by an explanation of its project planning process, but even a simple page on your website can suffice.
By doing the legwork in priming your organization and massaging your culture toward an understanding and acceptance of the value of the website (both at lower and executive levels of the organization) and fostering clearer and stronger internal communication and relationships, you can set yourself up for a greater likelihood of success.
In the same vein, sharing the big picture of what you’re trying to do and help people across campus better understand the communications function of the university.
For a highly political digital property (for example, your homepage), sharing your rationale and plan for what you publish there and why can both demystify your process and help people feel invested and aware. Your plan isn’t top secret, so why not share it? The University of Texas at Austin did a great job of defining and sharing the content plan [PDF] for its homepage, and Fairfield University provided some insight into what content they plan for their homepage.
For a highly political digital property (for example, your homepage), sharing your rationale and plan for what you publish there and why can both demystify your process and help people feel invested and aware. Your plan isn’t top secret, so why not share it? The University of Texas at Austin did a great job of defining and sharing the content plan [PDF] for its homepage, and Fairfield University provided some insight into what content they plan for their homepage.
Let your campus community know where initiatives stand. Be as open as you can about the status of various digital projects. Illinois State has a remarkable online project status tracker, accompanied by an explanation of its project planning process, but even a simple page on your website can suffice.
By doing the legwork in priming your organization and massaging your culture toward an understanding and acceptance of the value of the website (both at lower and executive levels of the organization) and fostering clearer and stronger internal communication and relationships, you can set yourself up for a greater likelihood of success.
Are individuals aware of institutional brand, style, goals, audience, etc.?
How are content decisions made? Who is doing the work, overseeing the work, or influencing the work? Does this work well?
Is there any content planning process in place, through editorial calendars, editorial meetings, or other tactics?
Is there any ongoing content quality assurance, via audits or other means?
Do editors and site owners consult analytics? How are they referencing analytics data? Does measurement inform content decision-making?
What are the pain points for CMS editors? Is there an effective workflow? Are roles, responsibilities, and timeframes clearly defined?
Beyond documented strategy, try to gauge general attitudes around the web. A helpful matrix may entail plotting web knowledge and web attitude:
Champions: These are the folks who get it, a/k/a your new best friends. They understand the value of the web, ask thoughtful questions, and want to help in all the right ways. While it is great to have these folks as allies, it is important to convert them into evangelists. As your relationships with champions evolve, encourage them to speak up and down the chain about their experience and perspectives in thinking about the website.
Threats: There are always going to be people who don’t get it, or for unrelated reasons will be obstacles toward achieving a more strategic, accountable website. Knowing who these people from the outset are will make it easier to figure out how to navigate the process, and come up with a game plan for how to get them on board.
Guinea pigs: These individuals may or may not overlap with champions, but you will hopefully come across an individual or unit who is willing to let their website be your living laboratory for governance. No matter how small, any digital property presents an opportunity for more effective decision-making and higher content quality. With these small wins, you can create and socialize mini case studies of how implementing web governance helps a website function more effectively as a strategic tool.
By doing the legwork in priming your organization and massaging your culture toward an understanding and acceptance of the value of the website (both at lower and executive levels of the organization) and fostering clearer and stronger internal communication and relationships, you can set yourself up for a greater likelihood of success.
Guide stakeholders to define these fundamental building blocks of digital governance and content strategy.
More importantly, you can create frameworks for getting other people to decide upon them. Meghan Casey’s 2015 A List Apart article “Creating a Content Compass” suggests some excellent frameworks for developing these core elements.
By doing the legwork in priming your organization and massaging your culture toward an understanding and acceptance of the value of the website (both at lower and executive levels of the organization) and fostering clearer and stronger internal communication and relationships, you can set yourself up for a greater likelihood of success.
Do more than just generate reports; train content owners to understand what the numbers mean and how to apply them to content decision-making
website usability and effectiveness.
What motivates users to take action?
What is the customer journey?
How is the brand coming across?
Consider what elements of governance (e.g. training around institutional style or web writing, access to clear content guidelines, etc.) could help address these issues, and map it out. Draw a clear line between website issues and governance solutions.
By doing the legwork in priming your organization and massaging your culture toward an understanding and acceptance of the value of the website (both at lower and executive levels of the organization) and fostering clearer and stronger internal communication and relationships, you can set yourself up for a greater likelihood of success.
You may even begin to be able to complete a RACI (Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed) matrix, identifying the various roles and tasks associated with the web. From here, you begin to see where there are potential gaps or vulnerabilities in the publishing workflow. This is the homework for creating a more effective governance model.
By doing the legwork in priming your organization and massaging your culture toward an understanding and acceptance of the value of the website (both at lower and executive levels of the organization) and fostering clearer and stronger internal communication and relationships, you can set yourself up for a greater likelihood of success.
for many of the people entrusted with managing some portion of the website, these responsibilities are not an official part of their job description. - not allocated dedicated time, training, or resources to do that job effectively, not by any fault of their own.
Begin surveying how web responsibilities are accounted for in the job descriptions of those for whom the web is a task. Are they specifically called out? Do they receive a percentage allocation of time? Are those tasks supported with training and professional development opportunities or budget? Do individuals with web responsibilities have a corresponding budget?
While doing this, begin talking to human resources. Find out how job descriptions are written, get their take on how communications tasks are accounted for in job descriptions, particularly with those individuals for whom communications is a task but not a profession. Begin helping HR understand the scope of web tasks and their importance to the institutional mission. This will be an important relationships in thinking not just about potentially rewriting key job descriptions, but also future training programs and offerings.
By doing the legwork in priming your organization and massaging your culture toward an understanding and acceptance of the value of the website (both at lower and executive levels of the organization) and fostering clearer and stronger internal communication and relationships, you can set yourself up for a greater likelihood of success.
University of Mary Washington has an outstanding training model, taking a page out of the online learning playbook by developing a suite of on-demand training modules covering CMS how-tos, basics of content strategy, web writing, and other relevant topics. Site administrators must complete a prescribed set of courses to retain website editing privileges.
As you begin to understand where knowledge gaps and pain points exist, you’ll know what sort of education people need most.
Check if your institution offers free access to Lynda.com online training, and hand-pick relevant modules to promote.
Invite people from across campus to listen to webinars from industry experts, or even invite a local professional or alum in the field to come and speak.
By doing the legwork in priming your organization and massaging your culture toward an understanding and acceptance of the value of the website (both at lower and executive levels of the organization) and fostering clearer and stronger internal communication and relationships, you can set yourself up for a greater likelihood of success.
These early conversations may be one-on-one, but they present a great opportunity to begin making one-to-many connections. As you start talking to people, begin connecting them to one another. Informally, at first. (“Oh, you send a newsletter to alumni using platform XYZ? So does Sally at the music school.”) But let people know that they are not alone in doing this work, and that others across the institution share similar challenges. If there are broader meetings or discussions they are not aware of, invite them. If there are relevant resources that they don’t know about, share the links.
All of these tips and connections help lay the groundwork for eventually creating a more formalized campus content community
Connect individuals doing web work within your institution to best practices, institutional standards, guidelines, process, and most importantly, to each other.
Especially given the limited resources of most central marcom or web teams, enabling both peer support and relationships up to the central team through regular meetings and active communications channels can help keep the governance engines humming.