10 steps to salvation: creating digital governance that works
DESCRIPTION
For organisations to succeed in the digital age, they need to adopt new frameworks and ways of working. The key to doing this is to dust off and turn inside-out existing governance frameworks, reinvigorating them with more nimble ways of working. Governance is no longer a separate policy or individual decision maker. It is everyone working in digital. It is every digital touch point and policy. It is the digital strategy, the customer strategy, the media strategy, the KPI framework, analytics, and SEO. Twenty-first century governance is the supportive mesh of digital success. Presented 01 Oct 2014 at Confab Europe Barcelona http://confabevents.com/events/europe/program/10-steps-to-salvation-creating-digital-governance-that-worksTRANSCRIPT
10 STEPS TO S ALVAT ION: CREAT ING D IG ITAL GOVERNANCE THAT WORKS
C O N FA B E U R O P E 2 0 1 4
K AT E T H O M A S
What we’ll cover
• The governance problem
• What does good governance look like?
• 10 steps to achieve this
The governance problem
Governance is your life raft
Processes People Technology
Without it you’re lost.
Enterprise web governance
ensures the proper stewardship
of an organizational
web presence.
Lisa Welchman
Old style governance
• Fixed world of wires e.g. big mainframes, expensive technology suites
• Online was owned by the IT department
• Early online publishing not dissimilar to print
• Transferring old governance frameworks made sense
The governance group hug!
tech
people
process
This is digital
This is governance
Disruption! Challengers! Start-ups!
1998 2000
2005
2003
2005 2006
2009 20102010
And new ways of doing everything
New world order
Everyone is a publisher.
The digital-content-governance group hug!
content
tech
peopleprocess
This is digital
This is governance
The digital-content-governance group hug!
content
tech
peopleprocess
This is digital
This is governance
Alas, failures of governance abound.
Some tell tale signs of inattention to governance:
• Not everyone is on board the digital train
• Poor documentation and format
• No clear process for sign-off or approval
• No shared understanding of managing non-standard requests
With an impact on people building digital
Crazy workflows!1. Request to web team2. To and fro with client3. Upload to CMS4. Screenshots of CMS preview5. Copy into PPT6. Add narrative showing interaction7. Regs & Compliance review8. Two-week turnaround9. Back to web team10. Upload to live
And trying to use it
x x
Why is this happening?
No-one wants content to be wrong.
Or sets out to work crazy hours via a dumb workflow.
So what’s the problem?
It’s because the frameworks in place don’t work.
They’re:
– outmoded
– focused on print
– not agile
– typically convoluted
Governance needs a facelift
• Focus is analogue, not digital
• Websites are is now the shop front: don’t make it hard for people to see in
• This is all new; businesses didn’t have to do this 10, 15 years ago
• They now have to do their job AND do digital
How do we need to think differently about governance?
• It’s not what it used to be
• Governance isn’t a document, a committee, a gatekeeper– It’s a new way of working
• Twenty-first century governance is the supportive mesh of digital success
What does digital governance mean to content?
• It means content and context is mapped, prioritized and understood
• Teamwork!
• Content is – On-brand, correct– Compliant– Accurate– Measurable and working hard
What does good governance look like?
Digital governance: scope
Technology and operations
CMS set up, database configuration, infrastructure
Joiners, leavers, movers
Local ownership and control, training, access management
Workflow
Support requests, change requests, automated approval
Content
Content governance: the heart of any governance framework
• Text Sourcing, writing, translating, adding, editing, removing
• Images Picking images – library or photo shoot? Formats, sizes
• Metadata & taggingTechnical details count!
• Tone of voiceIt’s not just what you say, it’s how you say it
• Visual styleStay on-brand: ensure the site perfects personalised experiences
• Content managementKeeping people and systems in sync
• AnalyticsYour compass of truth
Governance framework
Global Steering Guidelines ToolsPlanning Optimization
Global steering committee
Global KPI framework
Agency (and inter-agency) management
Global guidelines
Local guidelines
Global / localcontent
calendars
Tactical planning
Content updates
Digital asset
manage-ment
Evaluation
Optimization
Software / toolsProcesses / people Documents / policies
Content distribution
Analytics
Example of a digital-content workflow
Set-up PlanningSourcing
Creation.EditingFormatting
Reviewing and
publishing Monitoring Removal
And digital content deliverables
Content plan
Content KPI framework
Approval principles
Content briefs
Editorial guidelines
Content templates
10 steps to salvation
1. Strategy
• Start by defining a plan and a common vision for the organisation
• Align digital with strategic business goals– User centred strategy– User centred content
• Have an entrepreneurial information leader
2. People: you’re lost without leadership
• Your executive must be on board– If the head honchos don’t get digital and live and
breathe the vision, you’re wasting your energy – nothing will ever happen
– Your CMO and CTO must get on• CMOs will spend more on tech by 2017 than CIOs do now
• If you’re in a leadership role, employ the right people: trust them to do their job
3. Tech
• Hardware, servers, software, systems are tools
• Tech doesn't have to be big
• Start small, prove your principles, grow
Follow the leaders
Start small, prove your principles, grow
Like the Hearst corporation• Hearst magazines uses WordPress to
power their (corporate) website
4. Spring clean!
• By now you know – what you’re trying to achieve (strategy)– who’s leading on it (people)– the tools you’ll need (tech)
• Now it’s time to get rid of the dead wood– Small teams– Smart work practices – Begin as you intend to continue: it’s
happening – it’s no longer a project; it is/will be, your reality
5. Content
• Not all content is the same– Learn to spot the difference– Use insight to learn what’s important to
your users
• A content strategy frames all activity; no (strategic) ticket, no start– You need a content vision, to prevent a
whole world of wrongness
Just ask…
Who are all losing market share to digital disruptors
6. Workflows
• Workflows map dependencies and lays circuits that link relationships – Remove friction
• Design them to be inclusive, nimble, empowered, empathetic, smart
• Build with muscle and power so you can pull the plug before it’s too late
Great work flows = productivity!
Lessons from the public sector: • Transparency helps accountability• More at stake than the bottom line• Long term vision– efficiencies of investment in research, policy over
decades• Shared cultural understandings
Reflowing the workflow
Crazy Perfectly sensible workflow1. Request to web team2. To and fro with client3. Upload to CMS test server4. Send link to test site to Regs & Compliance for review5. One-week two week turnaround6. Back to web team7. Upload to live
Reflowing the workflow
Crazy Perfectly sensible workflow1. Request to web team2. To and fro with client3. Upload to CMS test server4. Send link to test site to Regs & Compliance for review5. One-week two week turnaround6. Back to web team7. Upload to live
7. Corridor chats
• Let’s get social: colleagues and higher ups• Create a framework everyone understands• Engineer corridor chats with decision makers
to keep the wheels oiled • Harness all resources you can: sell digital!
8. Your audience
• It’s time to check in with the people paying your salary: customers, students, clients:• Is your governance framework working for
them?• When they need to do something with you, to
find that phone number to keep their lights on, are you helping them?
• Is governance supporting the strategy, which is supporting users/customers
9. No rest for the wicked
• Not resting on your laurels:– Test always with data against smart benchmarks – How effective is digital? – How much have you spent? – Are people reading/doing/acting on your products?– Are you joined up.– What needs to change? – What’s working, what’s not?
• Everything today is measurable: make this a fundamental part of your framework
10. Yoga time
• Be agile, nimble, flexible• You’re not locked into anything• You need to be future prepared – Future proofing, but without the
expectation of perfection; you don’t know what’s coming, so set things up to be ready to move
10 steps
1. Strategy
2. People
3. Tech
5. Content
6. Work flows
7. Corridor chats
8. Audience
9. Data
10. Yoga
4. Spring clean
Take aways
Takeaways
1. Content - the heart and lungs of
digital; governance - the
muscles/ligaments and central nervous
system
2. Content strategists must own governance and lead
the conversation
Takeaways
3. Governance applies across the content lifecycle; it’s not a checkpoint before
launch
4. Embrace the new way of working in
digital – give governance a hug
Thank you
Acknowledgements!
A big thank you to Alex Papageorgiou for her hand-drawn graphics. (She saved you from death by PowerPoint and my slides from looking very boring indeed.)
And for ongoing inspiration, to members of the DigitasLBi content strategy team, past and present.