Better governance, better workflows

1. Better workflows, stronger governance Ahava Leibtag President Aha Media Group September 21 2016

2. Today’s Schedule 1. Time travel 2. Exercise #1 3. Break around 10:30ish 4. Exercise #2 5. Exercise #3

4. Why do people just groan when they talk about content governance?

5. @ahavaL #confabintensive16 5

6. 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 6 @ahavaL #confabintensive16

7. 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 7

8. After today…(hopefully) 8

9. 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 9

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12. Content strategy takes the guesswork out of execution so creativity around content will flourish. 12 @ahavaL #confabintensive16

13. Workflow vs. Governance Workflow What processes, tools and human resources are required for content initiatives to launch successfully and maintain ongoing quality? 13 Governance How are key decisions about content and content strategy made? How are changes initiated and communicated?

14. Content Governance • Content level (writing) • Structural level (models) • Reuse level 14

15. Process 15

16. 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 16

17. Types of Content Teams 1. Siloed 2. Distributed 3. Centralized 4. Rogue 17

18. Types of Content Teams 18 @ahavaL #confabintensive16 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

19. Siloed Pros • 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 19

20. Distributed Pros • 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? 20

21. Centralized Pros • 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 21

22. Rogue Pros • 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 22

23. Map current workflow to understand weaknesses 23

24. 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 24

25. Why is workflow so hard? • Information flow • Misplaced talent • Lack of guidance and clear models • Lack of training @ahavaL #confabintensive16 25

26. Work the problem. 26 @ahavaL #confabintensive16

27. Workflow Mapping: Phase I Identify: • 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)? @ahavaL #confabintensive16 27

28. What are the steps? How is content: • Requested • Sourced • Created • Reviewed • Approved • Published • Analyzed 28

29. @ahavaL #confabintensive16 29 Requesters Providers Creators Reviewers Approvers Publishers

30. @ahavaL #confabintensive16 30 Roles Definitions Requesters Providers Creators Reviewers Approvers Publishers Distributors Analysts

31. Questions to ask while mapping 1. 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) @ahavaL #confabintensive16 31

32. @ahavaL #confabintensive16 32 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

33. Roles: Phase II 1. Understand current workflow 2. Write up or use current job descriptions 3. Rearrange workflow to be appropriate for the end content product 4. Rewrite job descriptions 5. Examine who is in those roles @ahavaL #confabintensive16 33

34. @ahavaL #confabintensive16 34 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

35. Design workflow based on roles and responsibilities, not people 35

36. FOCUS ON THE ROLES. NOT THE PEOPLE. NOT THE TALENT. 36 @ahavaL #confabintensive16

37. Put the Right People in the Right Roles • Evaluate talent fairly • Structure for experience and personality (where possible) • Don’t be afraid to experiment @ahavaL #confabintensive16 37

38. May Need… • More guidance • More training • Different job • More documentation • Rewards @ahavaL #confabintensive16 38

39. Clarify roles & responsibilities 39 @ahavaL #confabintensive16

40. Who is in charge? 40

41. 41

42. 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? @ahavaL #confabintensive16 45

43. 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 46

44. Showing Workflow 1. Spreadsheets or editorial calendars 2. Content flows 3. Swimlanes 4. CMS 47 @ahavaL #confabintensive16

45. Identify potential bottlenecks NOW. 48

46. Document workflow clearly 49

47. @ahavaL #confabintensive16 50 • PLAN • CREATE • REVIEW • APPROVE • PUBLISH • MAINTAIN

48. @ahavaL #confabintensive16 51 Plan Create Review/Approve Assemble Publish/Distribute

51. @ahavaL #confabintensive16 54 Establish Content Governance Content Analysis Content Creation Establishing workflows Content Planning • Persona Development • Messaging Architecture • Identity Pillar Identification Build OR clarify the business case Content Auditing Discovery YOU ARE HERE

52. @ahavaL #confabintensive16 55 Writer Email web producer (builds it and puts in alt tags) 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

55. Reporting Structures @ahavaL #confabintensive16 58 Content Rep Sales Marketing Internal Comm PR Content Rep Product Engineering Service Engineering Customer Support Content Rep Finance Accounting HR Logistics Content Team

56. That’s how content strategy scales; it’s owned by everyone. 59 @ahavaL #confabintensive16

57. Exercise: Sketch your current workflow; just the highlights—not the details Notice the bottlenecks. 60 @ahavaL #confabintensive16

58. 61

59. Choose technology that will support your process 62 @ahavaL #confabintensive16

60. Discover where breaks in governance can be automated 63

61. 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 64

62. 65@ahavaL #confabintensive16

64. Don’t be fooled. Technology is not governance. It’s a part of your toolbox. 67

65. Tools 68

66. 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 69

67. The right tools for your organization are rooted in your culture and attitude. 70

68. Create or Modify Style Guides, Playbooks & Templates 71 @ahavaL #confabintensive16

69. Common governance tools 1. Content workflows 2. Editorial guidelines 3. Style guides 4. Business rules 5. Page tables 6. Taxonomies 7. Playbooks and checklists 8. Archiving standards 9. Reporting @ahavaL #confabintensive16 72

70. Workflows 73 @ahavaL #confabintensive16

73. Style Guide @ahavaL #confabintensive16 76

74. Business Rules 77 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

75. 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 78 @ahavaL #confabintensive16

76. Page Tables 79 @ahavaL #confabintensive16

77. Page Tables: 2 80@ahavaL #confabintensive16

78. Page Tables: 3 @ahavaL #confabintensive16 81

79. Word with Character Limits 82@ahavaL #confabintensive16

80. Excel with Character Limits 83@ahavaL #confabintensive16

81. 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 84 @ahavaL #confabintensive16

82. 85

83. 86

84. Your goal is to have a shared and controlled vocabulary. 87 @ahavaL #confabintensive16

85. Playbook and checklists 88@ahavaL #confabintensive16

87. 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 90 @ahavaL #confabintensive16

89. Reporting • Non compliant pages • Spelling errors • Dead links • References to out of date info • Improper keywords • Bad metadata 92@ahavaL #confabintensive16

90. Create cheat sheets for meta data and some basic style issues 93

91. 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 @ahavaL #confabintensive16 94

93. People 96

94. 97

95. To-do list People  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 98

96. Gain executive buy-in by emphasizing business goals 99

97. Convince them 1. Sell it to them 2. Show the mistakes 3. Find a head cheerleader 4. Advise that it’s a process; not an overnight change 10 0

105. Create multidisciplinary governance bodies 10 8

107. @ahavaL #confabintensive16 PRITUX Executive LeadershipMarketing Customer RelationsVisual Design Sales 110

108. Content Councils 11 1 @ahavaL #confabintensive16

109. 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 @ahavaL #confabintensive16 112

110. Who to look for? • Executive sponsor • Product management • Business intelligence • Creative/editorial • Information technology • UI/UX • Legal • Training 11 3 • Marketing • Taxonomy manager • Content creators/editors • Content managers • Regional representatives • Search specialists • Business line owners @ahavaL #confabintensive16

111. Option #1: Create two teams 1. 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. 11 4

112. Option #2: Create three teams 1. 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 11 5

113. Assign decision makers 11 6

114. Pick a Captain Content (or a few of them) 11 7

115. Somebody has to be the final say on each and every content project. 11 8

116. Train people how to use governance documentation and who to contact when there are questions 11 9 @ahavaL #confabintensive16

117. Training 1. 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 12 0

118. 1. Model Good Governance @ahavaL #confabintensive16 121

119. 2. Invite to training meetings • Writing workshops • CMS workshops • Updates to governance standards @ahavaL #confabintensive16 122

120. 3. Send out reminder emails @ahavaL #confabintensive16 123

122. If you have a distributed content team, you should hold 4 trainings a year and make at least 2 mandatory. 12 5 @ahavaL #confabintensive16

123. Make governance a part of people’s annual review process (seriously) 12 6 @ahavaL #confabintensive16

125. Measure how you are doing; not just in reporting metrics but in organizational commitment 12 8 @ahavaL #confabintensive16

126. Measurement 1. Look at reviews 2. Create personal case studies 3. Use software to show decreases in mistakes 4. Track workflow to find ways you’ve shortened time to publication 5. Show how often tools are being updated or used 12 9

127. Exercise: What’s three ways you could measure how you’re doing with governance? 13 0

128. In reality, these activities are part of a continuous life cycle that repeats and repeats and repeats. 13 1 @ahavaL #confabintensive16

129. Remember!!!! • The law of tiny changes • If you can affect 10% of change in behavior in a year, you’re doing great! @ahavaL #confabintensive16 132

130. 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. 13 3 @ahavaL #confabintensive16

133. Questions? Ahava Leibtag Aha Media Group, LLC ahava@ahamediagroup.com @ahavaL @ ahavaleibtag @ahavaL #confabintensive16 THANK YOU! 136

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