The story of how NC State's OIT Design group built new positions, defined processes, and continued planning for the future in an effort to improve campus web services. Slide-only view: http://www.slideshare.net/ncsumarit/the-making-of-a-web-team

1. @ncsumarit @oitdesign
THE MAKINGOF A
WEB TEAM
Jen Riehle McFarland
#highedweb16 #mpd8

2. ▸ The Making of a Web Team
▸ The Positions
▸ The Processes
▸ The Planning
▸ No one has paid me for my
opinions
▸ I like to use Storm Troopers
to explain my points
ABOUT THIS PRESENTATION
st3f4n
flickr
#highedweb16 #mpd8
My goal is you leave with inspired and with ideas for how to get positions, how to improve your processes, how to make plans for the future of your team

3. 9/20141 full-timer
9/2015 3 full-timers
4 part-timers/interns
st3f4n
flickr

4. ▸Started in the NC State
Help Desk during undergrad
▸B.S. & M.S. from NC State
▸Self-taught in web design
▸Likes Star Wars
ABOUT ME
#highedweb16 #mpd8

5. ▸ Located in Raleigh, NC
▸ Land-grant college established
1887
▸ 34,015 students; 2,336 faculty;
6,733 staff
▸ 11 colleges plus the Graduate
School
▸ Go Wolfpack!
ABOUT NC STATE
#highedweb16 #mpd8

6. Major Campus
Multisites
Unit-level
Multisites
Stand-alone
Single Installs + Small Multisites
OIT
ORIED
DASA
OFA
HR
Free “Blogs”
Environment
Premium “Hosted”
Environment
Rest of campus…?
ABOUT NC STATE WEB
We are primarily a WordPress campus, but there is no mandate and plenty of other tools are used.
- Slide displays pattern of campus WordPress installs we manage

7. ▸Housed in central IT; part of Outreach,
Communications & Consulting
▸Maintain major campus WordPress multisite
environments
▸Build custom WP themes and plugins for campus
general use
▸Web design, development, support, & training for
campus-based clients
ABOUT OIT DESIGN
#highedweb16 #mpd8
- Many clients are in themes we did not develop
- We often take over some from old units, grad students and/or off-campus vendors
- For some we have a single, technically-literate point of contact; most client contacts are not “web” or “technical” staff

8. THE POSITIONS
PART ONE
#highedweb16 #mpd8

9. ▸ October 2009: Web Hosting Service rolls out to
campus
▸ 2012: Drupal & WordPress Services (free WordPress
“Blogs” and premium “Hosted” environments)
▸ July 2013: Nick “the Drupal guy” leaves
▸ July 2014: Ross “the other Drupal guy” leaves
A LITTLE HISTORY…
2009 2012 2013 2014
#highedweb16 #mpd8
- Web hosting cPanel interface means one-click installs of popular software: Drupal, WordPress, and others
- WordPress services in July; Hosted Drupal in the spring of that year

10. ADD REQUISITE 3 MONTHS…
…to re-write position, get it through HR, complete interviews and get someone approved for hire.

11. OCTOBER 2014
▸ HighEd Web Portland & Leadership Academy
▸ Perspectives on Leadership
▸ Being More Strategic
▸ Governance Planning
▸ What’s next for you?
▸ Here’s Brian!
▸ Two WordPress people, OMG!
#highedweb16 #mpd8
Other lessons:
1. Office politics
2. Everyone has more staff than you do
Also learned a lot about the differences in Marketing Web shop vs. IT-based web shops.

12. AND IT WAS GOOD
st3f4n
flickr
Amazing.
Joy throughout the land. The crowd goes wild.
Consistency. Redundancy. Collaboration.
But of course, you always want more…

13. FALL 2014
▸More work coming in all the time
▸Moving Drupal users to WordPress
▸New clients, including DASA (60+ sites)
▸New campus brand released
▸New OIT website
#highedweb16 #mpd8
Lots of work; > new clients; moving people from Drupal to WordPress.
40% increase in income.
More work than we can handle. Need more people.

14. HOW DO WE GROW?
We have the clients.
There’s a need for our services.
How do we get positions in an era of
hiring freezes and budget cuts?
#highedweb16 #mpd8
How many of you have this problem?
3 things that worked for us to get staff.

15. 1. INTERNS
st3f4n
flickr
- Had one part-time student position available but tough to transition when new staff came in.
- Spring of 2015, partially in response to us making noise about needing help, mandate from CIO to assist IT Club asking for an intern program.
- TOUCHY SUBJECT. Interns are not the same as staff. Source of frustration that this was seen as a “solution” for us when really it’s more overhead & more work.

16. 2. LEVERAGE
st3f4n
flickr
Example: Web team lead gets a job offer at a competing institution to run their WordPress shop.
I stayed, and was able to use this to finally convince my unit that we needed another position. Got 3/4 of a FTE/position. So…

17. st3f4n
flickr
3. PARTNERSHIPSWhere to find another 1/4 of a FTE/position?

18. NEW POSITION
▸ Joint position with Office of Research, Innovation &
Economic Development
▸ “Lives” in our unit and reports to me
▸ Primary on ORIED projects, but Design team shares
support
▸ Here’s Chris!
▸ We have three people!
#highedweb16 #mpd8
- This was ideal for ORIED who have dozens of sites but their only web staff was a 3/4 FTE (with some outside vendor support).
- Only costs them 1/4 FTE but gives them three more people.

19. 9/20141 full-timer
9/2015 3 full-timers
3-4 part-timers/interns
st3f4n
flickr

20. THE PROCESSES
PART TWO
#highedweb16 #mpd8

21. INTERNS
st3f4n
flickr
First things first: have to “pay” for these interns. Part of responsibility with interns is to train them.

22. THE INTERN PROGRAM
▸ Unit 1 Topics (Fall)
▸ Introduction to the NC State Web
and WordPress (Sept)
▸Communications and Customer
Service
▸Branding
▸ Security (Oct)
▸CyberSecurity Awareness
Month
▸WordPress Security
▸ Advanced WordPress
Administration (Nov)
▸ Unit 2 Topics (Spring)
▸ Data Security (Jan)
▸Campus rules
▸ Crisis and Change (Feb)
▸Communications
▸Project Management basics
▸ Accessibility & Usability
(March)
▸ Documentation &
Communications (April)
#highedweb16 #mpd8
- Has this always gone to plan? Oh, no way. But we have done training on most of these topics, had campus communications staff present, or trained one-on-one.
Sticking to the schedule is a challenge.
~50% of interns leave after one year
- Year two: some stay and help train those incoming

23. TEAM BUILDING
st3f4n
flickr
Concerns about bringing all these people together, training them, getting them used to working together

24. TEAM BUILDING: FRISBEE GOLF

25. TEAMBUILDING:BOWLING!

26. TEAM BUILDING: HOCKEY!

27. TEAM BUILDING: COWORKING
st3f4n
flickr
OFFICE HOURS
- Work in our own offices. Co-working is in one shared space. Good time for joint work efforts, mundane tasks
- Co-working also with other campus developers. Concept we’ve had in place on campus for several years.
- Added office hours to this time so clients can come ask questions in-person

28. ▸ Client information
▸ Meeting notes
▸ Project status updates
▸ Incoming help requests
▸ Known issues
▸ Awesome new ideas!
▸ Personal schedules
SHARING IS CARING
#highedweb16 #mpd8
Two people can yell info at each other pretty quick. Three people (plus interns) exponentially increases need for interactions.

29. TOOLS: SLACK
- The answer to our organizational needs.
- Started using in March of 2015; paid version in Oct 2015, for integration and records retention.
- Custom Integrations: WP theme/plugin updates, new sites created in MU, run commands on managed environments, LDAP campus directory lookup, forms that dump
into Slack, etc.

30. TOOLS: SERVICE NOW
Not everything goes into SN. Client emails still come to our own Google Group (also feeds into Slack).
Working on creating with other SN integrations.

31. TOOLS: GITHUB
We use WP Github Updater plugin to push our updates to Github to our WordPress environments

32. TOOLS: GOOGLE DOCS
Google campus. Notes in Google can be shared into Slack for record-keeping.

33. TOOLS: ASANA
Primarily used for PT-er projects.

34. TOOLS: WUNDERLIST
Create lists that match Slack channels. Use Stars to help “manage” daily to-do lists and export to Slack.

35. TOOLS: SLACK
So while we still use other tools - sadly still need email - Slack has become the home base for sharing and collecting info.
Can’t just improve processes by technology alone…

36. MEETINGS
st3f4n
flickr
- 30-minute meetings. I hate 60-minute meetings. They are a self-fulfilling prophecy.
- 1 OIT Design team meeting weekly; 1 Design/ORIED meeting

37. MEETING SPACE
Rearranged office. Always at least 4 chairs in there. Maximized wall space for on-going planning and info-sharing.

38. JUST SAY “NO” TO TECHNOLOGY
First rule of meetings: nobody talks about Fight Club.
Second rule is no tech.
Slinky is there because people like to have something to play with.

39. THE WHITEBOARD
- Post-its added during the week for items to discuss. Review “action items” and “ideas” each week.
- “The Thing” is our monthly maintenance task: user, plugin, theme, security, analytics, accessibility reviews, and other maintenance items that arise (not doing a great job
with this).

40. THE CLIENT BOARD
- Index cards for each client moved between “Upcoming”, “Current”, and “On-going/Maintenance”
- Details on the back of the card: contacts, URLs, curiosities, etc.

41. DESIGNATED DISSENTER
This is the person responsible for unconventional thinking. Pushing us to reconsider the obvious answers. Hard to do - we take turns.

42. THE PLANNING
PART THREE
#highedweb16 #mpd8
The requirement of leading a web team is that you always have to have the added joy of thinking about what’s next.

43. RETREATING
- OCC Unit retreat: April; if you have the ability to coordinate with you parent unit I support that. We’re working on better communication and collaboration between our
groups
- Design retreat: August

44. RETREAT
▸August, 2016
▸1/2 day; included Kim (ORIED) and David (PT-er)
▸Agenda
▸Myers-Briggs Test
▸Assessing the viability of our goals
▸Specific Fall 2016 semester goals
▸Evaluating our tools
#highedweb16 #mpd8

45. N (INTUITION) S (SENSING)
I solve problems by working
through facts until I understand
the problem.
I am pragmatic and look to the
"bottom line."
I start with facts and then form a
big picture.
Sometimes I pay so much
attention to facts, either present
or past, that I miss new
possibilities.
I solve problems by leaping
between different ideas and
possibilities.
I am interested in doing things
that are new and different.
I like to see the big picture, then
to find out the facts.
Sometimes I think so much
about new possibilities that I
never look at how to make them
a reality.
#highedweb16 #mpd8
It’s notable that we are ALL ‘N’s. This may account for some of our failures to do proper assessment, and our tendencies to jump into projects with both feet. We’re
dreamers. Every staff meeting we come up with another big idea.
None of us are ’S’ (sensing) so we need to make an extra effort to be more detail-oriented.

46. 1.) IMPROVE SOME OF OUR HABITS
2.) WORK MORE/BETTER WITH OCC
UNITS
3.) DEVELOP NEW CAMPUS
PARTNERSHIPS
4.) DEVELOP NEW TRAINING FOR
CAMPUS
5.) CONTRIBUTE TO THE WORDPRESS
COMMUNITY
GOALS
st3f4n
flickr
Other WordPress units, especially Outreach Technology (web applications and mobile development)

47. GOALS: NEW TRAINING
st3f4n
flickr
- New classes for campus, built in part from our intern training: WP Security, Web Content Strategies
- Dedicated training environment in development

48. GOALS: GROW THE COMMUNITY
st3f4n
flickr
- Lots of NC State developers. Continue to build and educate the web developer community, keep co-working running
- Encourage on-campus leaders/trainers
- Contribute beyond campus: WordCamp Raleigh and WP Campus

49. GROW THE COMMUNITY
https://wpcampus.org
#wpcampus
@wpcampusorg
#highedweb16 #mpd8
Check out the podcast!

50. Major Campus
Multisites
Unit-level
Multisites
Stand-alone
Single Installs + Small Multisites
OIT
ORIED
DASA
OFA
HR
Free “Blogs”
Environment
Premium “Hosted”
Environment
Rest of campus…?
GOALS: NEW PARTNERSHIPS
- Who else can we help? How can we continue to streamline campus web needs?
- Maybe we won’t get another position out of this but perhaps part of a position?
- Working more with the rest of OIT (people within even our own unit doing “their own thing” on the web)

51. GOALS: BIG PICTURE st3f4n
flickr
Improve habits. Get the “little” things done.
#yearofdocumentation
#yearofassessment

52. REMEMBER CHRIS?
YEAH, HE LEFT.
#highedweb16 #mpd8
He’s dead to us.
Just when you think you’re on a roll and ready to present on your success at a major conference… there are always challenges.

53. BACK TO TEAM BUILDING
st3f4n
flickr
In the process of hiring someone new (interviews at 9am Thursday morning). Will have to work them into the team - this time into a team that already exists, with
processes already in place.

54. GOALS: WORK WITH OCC UNITS
st3f4n
flickr
- Chris moved to OCC Outreach Technology… NOT dead to us!
- Actually makes some of our goals easier. We have an ally in that group who knows WordPress and how we work.

55. SUMMING UP…
1. Positions
2. Processes
3. Planning
office politics
office politics
office politics
human resources
training
campus policies
communication
management responsibilities
time-management
managing expectations
crises
turnover
project management
orientation
deadlines
requirements-gathering
funding sources
budgets
new technologies
new services
relationships
employee schedules
priorities
destroying dreams
the unexpected
scope creep
justifying stuff
#highedweb16 #mpd8
- You need these things to be able to build a successful web team.
- Am I over-simplifying? Oh HELLLLL YEAH.
- Are these three words alliterative and therefore hopefully catchy? YOU BET.
- These are the things that were critical to get US through the first year. But they’re the tip of the iceberg.
- And your experience may vary. WILL vary.

56. THIS IS MY STORY…
st3f4n
flickr
WHAT’S YOURS?
- It’s not all pretty. I don’t love how some of it went down. But I’m very proud of what I’ve been able to accomplish for my campus and I’m going to keep working on it
because I think we’re a huge asset to campus.
- I hope each of you got something out of this that will help you develop your web teams.

57. BIG THANK YOUS!
St3f4n (aka DocChewbacca)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/st3f4n/
My Team(<3)
#highedweb16 #mpd8
St3f4n (aka DocChewbacca)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/st3f4n/
My Team

58. QUESTIONS?
Jen McFarland, @ncsumarit
#highedweb16 #mpd8
OIT Design: https://design.oit.ncsu.edu
Github: https://github.ncsu.edu/oitdesign
WP Campus: https://wpcampus.org/
Slides: http://www.slideshare.net/ncsumarit/
OIT Design: https://design.oit.ncsu.edu
Github: https://github.ncsu.edu/oitdesign
WP Campus: https://wpcampus.org/
Slides: http://www.slideshare.net/ncsumarit/