1 Just thanks

You’ve described my new job – I was a coder, now I’m heavily involved in business strategy as the website reflects the purpose and objectives of the business and it’s directors. As the business strategy shifts and changes, so does the website. And interestingly, I’ve been noticing minor decisions I make as lead developer actually effecting the overall business strategy.

posted at 05:28 am on August 9, 2011 by bozkay

2 Thank you for this great article

This article addresses a lot of issues I’m very familiar with by personal experience. It’s breath of fresh air for my motivation. Yes change is painful for some, so people resist it. I totally agree with this paragraph:

“You might be thinking: “There’s no way I can do this. I’m a designer, developer, or copywriter, not an organizational change maker!” But we can do it, and we should. Because nobody else will do it for us, and if nobody deals with the problem, we won’t be able to do great work.”

“…and if nobody deals with the problem, we won’t be able to do great work.” Exactly!

posted at 11:29 am on August 9, 2011 by Osvaldo

3 Yes, we are doing real change management!

Thank you for your article. Understanding that we as designers and strategists are in the business of changing organizations is essential and you’ve done a great job of explaining this. The only hitch I have found in the article is that building “a business case” is often not enough to cause an organization to change.

While I used to think that “Organizational change happens when people build a compelling business case”, the identification by individuals with the processes you are trying to change can lead very reasonable people to subvert you. While you may have a mound of concrete stats proving your point, an executive who identifies himself with a solution he rolled out or a role she has had for years, can up-end solutions driven by seemingly unassailable facts.

So may I make a recommendation? “Men, Machines, and Modern Times” by Elting E. Morison illuminates this issue beautifully through fascinating case studies and shows a way out. I can’t recommend this book enough. The wisdom within the first story (about a failed attempt by a naval officer to change how American ships aimed guns while at sea) on its own was enough for me to change how I now approach my projects. So consider adding this to the stack of books on your night stand.

Best – Mark

posted at 04:00 pm on August 9, 2011 by Mark Waldo

4 Excellent article, bumpy road to implementation

Great article that crystalizes some very important points that I wish were more widely appreciated. As someone who has been pushing the centrality of web strategy for nearly a decade in various non-profit organizations, I’d like to sadly confirm your point that it’s not at all easy to “swing the oil tanker around”, especially given the management structures of larger organizations, but also given the lack of resources and skill sets in small organizations. One of the major impediments I’ve run into several times is that the “web governance evangelist” is usually pigeonholed as being “from IT”/“a web person”. This has all kinds of ramifications in terms of instant barriers to other parts of the organization being willing to listen at all, let alone change. There are ways to combat this resistance — for instance, by developing good personal relationships with key people elsewhere in the organization who can champion the centrality of the web — but these can be time-consuming and politically fraught.

posted at 04:05 pm on August 9, 2011 by Catherine Williams

5 Finally the process has a name

I agree with the other comments expressed here – thanks for a great article on clarifying and defining the role that many of use who have worked there way up or on through any organisation from a developer, designer etc, and who are wondering – what’s next?

No longer can strategy and execution be done in isolation from each other, a cohesive end to end oversight (as opposed to management) of the process from inception to delivery, setting the tone, ensuring the quality and delivering the value – all these require more than just project management, because they require the umbrella skill-sets that each facet touches upon.

posted at 05:24 pm on August 9, 2011 by seriocomic

6 Terminology

Good read and I very much agree to the points you’re making.

Curious why you choose to use the term governance as the umbrella term. It’s a bit confusing in the sense that it’s also part of the list of terms you name underneath it: strategy, governance, execution, measurement.

I’m aware you’re not adding much value to the term as you state: Today we’re calling it web governance. But I do think terminology matters if you want to start a movement.

Lisa Welchman uses Web Operations Management as the umbrella term, which doesn’t sound very pretty but is more consequent with the rest of the naming scheme where she uses WOM- Strategy instead of web strategy.

To stay in line with her naming scheme you could choose to use Web Management as the umbrella term. But that might sound little inspiring.

As I understand it, the essence of the story is to close the circle of business objectives and user goals in such a way that the organization and its web presence are able to deliver 1 coherent and effective user experience. And that for this to be possible the whole organization needs changes on different levels. With your final point being that we as web designers owe it to ourselves to be the people who incite these changes. ‘Web governance” seems a bit of a small word for such a big story.

Of course, here is where I drop a superb alternative term. Alas, I think I would stick with Lisa’s term or simplify it to web management.

posted at 07:42 pm on August 9, 2011 by Thomas Maas

7 A long row to hoe

Your call to action isn’t falling on deaf ears, but one challenge I see is that executives/decision makers have a set idea about what web professionals do, and governance isn’t usually one of them. So in order to be effective, we not only have to carry this message, but also change ideas executives may have about the messengers.

Our roles are changing and I think people who make websites have some critical perspectives to bring to the table. And after all, if we’re the ones who see the problem but aren’t willing to do anything about it, who will? It will take a little time and a lot of work to get a spot at the table, though.

Thanks for writing this – a great piece and something we all need to be talking about a lot more.

posted at 07:52 pm on August 9, 2011 by john.hannah

8 Overcoming (internal) resistance

The painful process of moving from a bookshelf online to a strategic communications tool requires openness to influencing the organization’s culture (change management) and critical view of our own’s performance (iterations and more iterations) and sense of humor (it has to be fun). Thank you for weaving it so nicely in this article!

posted at 10:56 pm on August 9, 2011 by Alejandro Gomez

10

J, this is a terrific article.

We need more people— be they designers, developers, users, managers, or executives — to recognize the organizational change opportunity that social media systems offer.

The challenge (and path forward) is not so much about pressing for changes so that work systems fit the new technology, but rather about recognizing that technology can be a much needed scaffolding and facilitator of new working relationships.

Most people aware of the tensions for organizational change tend to assume that ‘what technology can now do’ should be what directs the change. That’s the wrong approach.

The better approach is to look at what organizations can be, who we can be individually and collectively, and what we can do with our work.

Purpose, organizational and individual purpose, should drive organizational change.

This has always been the case. What’s different now is that we have technology tools that make it possible to create new/improved/better kinds of work and relationships.

Folks might want to look at the work of DebLavoy and Drmcewan for insights on purpose-driven technology. Also, I write about this at AuthenticOrganizations.com, and would love your thoughts.

cvh

posted at 01:02 pm on August 10, 2011 by cvharquail