better governance, better workflows

Better workflows, stronger governance

Ahava LeibtagPresident

Aha Media Group

September 21 2016

Today’s Schedule1. Time travel2. Exercise #13. Break around 10:30ish4. Exercise #25. Exercise #3

Why do people just groan when they talk about content

governance?

@ahavaL #confabintensive16 5

Exercise:1. Gather in groups of 2 or 3 people

2. Discuss two governance problems that you may have under each category of people, process and tools/technology

@ahavaL #confabintensive16

You know you’re in trouble when: There is not executive or upper-level management support for

governance No one person is dedicated to being in charge Politics take precedence over expertise You have no documentation around governance You have no training programs around governance People are not held accountable for governance issues

After today…(hopefully)

A good governance plan: Has executive buy-in and support Identifies who is responsible for making decisions in various

scenarios Has documentation and training based on expertise, not

guesswork Minimizes politics Makes governance a part of people’s annual review process

Content strategy takes the guesswork out of execution so creativity around content will

flourish.

Workflow vs. Governance

WorkflowWhat processes, tools and human resources are required for content initiatives to launch successfully and maintain ongoing quality?

GovernanceHow are key decisions about content and content strategy made? How are changes initiated and communicated?

Content Governance• Content level (writing)• Structural level (models)• Reuse level

Process

To-do list: Process Map current workflow to understand weaknesses Design workflow based on roles and responsibilities, not

people Clarify roles and responsibilities, each and every time Choose technology that will support your process

Types of Content Teams1. Siloed2. Distributed3. Centralized4. Rogue

Types of Content Teams

Type of content team Pros Cons

Siloed A lot of content gets created because there is no over-arching

process to go through

Departments do not communicate with each other

The audience is confused

The Departments are confused

Distributed Can be useful in situations where you don’t have enough

manpower on your central content team to keep all of your

content fresh

For multi-national organizations, can deal effectively with

language, culture, and other differences

Difficult to govern

Difficult to achieve consistency

Need careful, thorough training

Centralized Have complete control over content Not enough resources or staff

Massive backlogs of content

Confusion over priority

Lack of clarity about ownership

Lack of subject matter experts

Rogue Are extremely motivated to converse with their target audiences

Understand the value of web content

Unhampered by political concerns

Almost impossible to govern

No interest in adhering to workflow

No stake in overall quality or consistency

SiloedPros• A lot of content gets created by different teams because there is no over-arching

process to go through

Cons• Departments do not communicate with each other• The audience is confused• The departments are confused• Executives have no idea what’s happening on the ground

DistributedPros• Can be useful in situations where you don’t have enough manpower on your central content team

to keep all of your content fresh• For multi-national organizations, can deal effectively with language, culture, and other differences

Cons• Difficult to govern• Difficult to achieve consistency• Need careful, thorough training • Accountability?

CentralizedPros• Have complete control over content• Not enough resources or staff

Cons• Massive backlogs of content • Confusion over priority • Lack of clarity about ownership• Lack of subject matter experts

RoguePros• Are extremely motivated to converse with their target audiences• Understand the value of web content• Unhampered by political concerns

Cons• Almost impossible to govern• No interest in adhering to workflow• No stake in overall quality or consistency

Map current workflow to understand weaknesses

Why workflow?• Break down the content process into manageable tasks• Identify each piece of content’s stage of development• Identify each step for the content to receive approval• Know who is responsible for each step and when

Why is workflow so hard?• Information flow• Misplaced talent• Lack of guidance and clear models• Lack of training

Work the problem.

Workflow Mapping: Phase IIdentify:• Why create the content (the business objective)?• Who is involved (the roles)?• What each role does (the tasks)?• When the tasks get done (the flow)?• How you will assess (the result)?

What are the steps?How is content:• Requested• Sourced• Created• Reviewed• Approved• Published• Analyzed

Requesters

Providers

Creators

Reviewers

Approvers

Publishers

Roles Definitions

Requesters

Providers

Creators

Reviewers

Approvers

Publishers

Distributors

Analysts

Questions to ask while mapping1. Who currently inhabits the above roles?2. What is the current process in place for that role?3. What happens when that person is unavailable?4. Who gets to make decisions about change in process?5. How does information flow from one role to the next?6. How does information get shared? (Files, shared drives,

project management software)

Roles Definitions

Requesters Creates Assignments

Providers Sources Content

Creators Writing & Sourcing

Reviewers Editors

Approvers Final Approval

Publishers Prepare content for distribution

Distributors Distribute content

Analysts Analyze content performance and behavior

Roles: Phase II1. Understand current workflow2. Write up or use current job descriptions3. Rearrange workflow to be appropriate for the end content

product4. Rewrite job descriptions5. Examine who is in those roles

Roles Tasks Who?

Requesters Requests content

Providers Sources Content—could be multiple subject matter experts

Creators Writing & Sourcing Video editing (if necessary) Photographic editing (if necessary)

Reviewers Edits Legally approves Approves for messaging and branding

Approvers Final copy editing

Publishers Prepare content for distribution

Distributors Distributes through different digital channels

Analysts Analyzes the content over time to see if it is performing well

Design workflow based on roles and responsibilities, not people

FOCUS ON THE ROLES.NOT THE PEOPLE.NOT THE TALENT.

Put the Right People in the Right Roles• Evaluate talent fairly• Structure for experience and personality (where possible)• Don’t be afraid to experiment

May Need…• More guidance• More training• Different job• More documentation• Rewards

Clarify roles & responsibilities

Who is in charge?

Examples: Define roles and responsibilities• Project Manager: What is your job? Explain it to the content

people.• Content Strategist: EXACTLY what are you in charge of doing?• Writers/Content Creators: Who is responsible for each of the

steps?• Quality Assurance: Who performs and to whom do they give

that information?

Who is a part of each process?• Project managers• Content strategists• Writers• Graphic designers• Subject-matter experts• Marketing managers • Business owners• Reviewers (legal, HR, department heads, etc.)• Developers

Showing Workflow1. Spreadsheets or editorial calendars2. Content flows3. Swimlanes4. CMS

Identify potential bottlenecksNOW.

Document workflow clearly

• PLAN• CREATE• REVIEW• APPROVE• PUBLISH• MAINTAIN

PlanCreateReview/ApproveAssemblePublish/Distribute

Establish Content

Governance

Content Analysis

Content Creation

Establishing workflows

Content Planning

• Persona Development• Messaging Architecture• Identity Pillar

Identification

Build OR clarify the business

Content AuditingDiscovery

YOU ARE HERE

Writer

Email web producer (builds it and puts in alt

Writer (looks at it in staging for QA)

Publisher

Writer/Project Manager

Program Director and Interviewees (for comments)

Project Manager (collates comments)

Publisher

Extensive changes

Go back?

Non-extensive changes

Push to go live

Announce to reviewing staff

Chooses photos

Reporting Structures

Content Rep

Marketing

Internal Comm

PR Content Rep

Product Engineering

Service Engineering

Customer Support

Content Rep

Finance

Accounting

Logistics

Content Team

That’s how content strategy scales; it’s owned by everyone.

Exercise:Sketch your current workflow; just

the highlights—not the detailsNotice the bottlenecks.

Choose technology that will support your process

Discover where breaks in governance can be automated

Where can we automate this?• Understand what your CMS can do• Create authoring tools that provide guidance• Create content models that only allow certain inputs• Show the ROI on tagging and proper authoring• Select tech tools to evaluate that might help you• Use technology to remind you to archive

Don’t be fooled. Technology is not governance.

It’s a part of your toolbox.

To-do List: Tools Create or modify style guides, playbooks & templates

Content workflows Editorial guidelines Style guides Business rules Page tables Taxonomies Playbooks and checklists Archiving standards Reporting

Create cheat sheets for meta data and some basic style issues

The right tools for your organization are rooted in your

culture and attitude.

Create or Modify Style Guides, Playbooks & Templates

Common governance tools1. Content workflows2. Editorial guidelines3. Style guides4. Business rules5. Page tables6. Taxonomies7. Playbooks and checklists8. Archiving standards9. Reporting

Workflows

Style Guide

Business Rules

What happens when: Decision

A source component is changed by someone other than the owner?

The changed component becomes a derivative.

A source component that has been identically reused changes?

Authors who reused the component are notified of the change to determine if they want to make change to their usage of the component.If they choose not to use the changed component their version of the component becomes a derivative.

New content is created? It is not part of the source until approved.Authors can resume unapproved content which is in progress, but their information product cannot be published until all components are approved.

From: Managing Enterprise Content, Ann Rockley and Charles Cooper, pg. 242

Business Rules• Govern your reuse• Implemented in your CMS• Controlled by CMS or by staff (manually)• Develop the business rules before they are implemented• Once you know what they are you can implement them

Page Tables

Page Tables: 2

Page Tables: 3

Word with Character Limits

Excel with Character Limits

Taxonomies• Identifies content• Defines metadata• Manages the relationships between those pieces of content

and metadata• Manages the organization of information so that people can

find the information they need

Your goal is to have a shared and controlled vocabulary.

Playbook and checklists

Archiving Standards• Use your CMS• Use your content models• Have people be in charge quarterly• Create digital handshakes and handoffs—If this happens…that

happens

Reporting• Non compliant pages• Spelling errors• Dead links• References to out of date info• Improper keywords• Bad metadata

Create cheat sheets for meta data and some basic style issues

LINKS add depth to your site. Here’s how to use them:

Use action words Match links to the page title (H1 tag) as much as possible Link 3-7 words only Label links if they don’t jump to a web page (example: [PDF]) Ensure active and visited links use consistent colors (i.e., blue and purple, respectively) NEVER: use “click here”, put links in places where you’ll lose the reader in the

conversation, or make headlines links

People

To-do listPeople Gain executive buy-in by emphasizing business goals Create multidisciplinary governance bodies Assign decision makers Train people how to use governance documentation and who to contact when

there are questions Make governance a part of people’s annual review process Measure how you are doing; not just in reporting metrics but in organizational

commitment

Gain executive buy-in by emphasizing business goals

Convince them1. Sell it to them2. Show the mistakes3. Find a head cheerleader4. Advise that it’s a process; not an overnight change

Create multidisciplinary governance bodies

PRITUX

Executive LeadershipMarketing

Customer RelationsVisual

Design

Content Councils

Why multidisciplinary teams?• Adapt to changing technologies• Break down silos• Better ideas• Look at things from different perspectives• See problems and solutions in a variety of ways• Have different kinds of political connections

Who to look for?• Executive sponsor• Product management• Business intelligence• Creative/editorial• Information technology• UI/UX• Legal• Training

• Marketing• Taxonomy manager• Content creators/editors• Content managers• Regional representatives• Search specialists• Business line owners

Option #1: Create two teams1. Strategic authority: bird’s-eye-view decisions like site

objectives, resources and budgeting, audience definition and annual planning.

2. Implementation authority: decisions related to day-to-day operations (requests for the home page, new content, content maintenance, editorial oversight.

Option #2: Create three teams1. Steering Committees: they make business decisions about

priorities and allocation of resources (they get the final say when politics or conflicts amongst different groups arises)

2. Work teams and working groups: Day-to-day implementation authority; report to the steering committee on a regular basis

3. Task forces: Groups that focus a unique project for a limited duration

Assign decision makers

Pick a Captain Content (or a few of them)

Somebody has to be the final say on each and every content

project.

Train people how to use governance documentation and who to contact when there are

questions

Training1. Model good governance (show people what it really means;

either with mistakes or best practices examples)2. Invite to training meetings (serve food)3. Send our reminder emails

1. Model Good Governance

2. Invite to training meetings• Writing workshops• CMS workshops• Updates to governance standards

3. Send out reminder emails

If you have a distributed content team, you should hold 4

trainings a year and make at least 2 mandatory.

Make governance a part of people’s annual review process

(seriously)

Measure how you are doing; not just in reporting metrics but in organizational commitment

Measurement1. Look at reviews2. Create personal case studies3. Use software to show decreases in mistakes4. Track workflow to find ways you’ve shortened time to

publication5. Show how often tools are being updated or used

Exercise: What’s three ways you could

measure how you’re doing with governance?

In reality, these activities are part of a continuous life cycle that repeats and repeats and

repeats.131

Remember!!!!• The law of tiny changes• If you can affect 10% of change in behavior in a year, you’re

doing great!

Content guides the interactions between customer and vendor. And it’s [our] job to orchestrate these content assets—these

touchpoints across the entire customer life cycle—to deliver a winning, high-growth customer

experience.

Questions?

Ahava LeibtagAha Media Group, LLCahava@ahamediagroup.com

@ahavaL @ ahavaleibtag

THANK YOU!

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