I'm a sucker for "best of" and "top 10" lists. I enjoy them for the kernels of knowledge that I can file away for future reference. You never know when practical tidbits like, the Top 10 Herbivores You Probably Want to Avoid, may come in handy.
Recently I've been ruminating on one list in particular. The Harvard Business Review published their annual list of Breakthrough Ideas and, true to form, the list has some great insights. The first breakthrough in particular caught my interest. Contributed by Teresa M. Amabile and Steven J. Kramer, it challenges managers' perceptions about worker motivation. Turns out that the number one motivator for staff isn't recognition or incentives. It's progress.
That may seem counter-intuitive to some managers, but based on my experience talking with Web teams in every industry, the thing that seems to frustrate them the most is the inability to make progress. Unfunded mandates, lack of authority and disengaged management are the typical roadblocks that make life difficult for the Web team.
Just yesterday, I was talking with a gentleman who leads a three person team responsible for their company's global site, the employee portal and the customer portal. All three sites are considered "mission critical" by management, yet there is no central budget or strategic plan for the Web. Sadly, I find this to be the norm and not the exception. In organizations around the world, there are massive sites being held together by a handful of people who operate based on sheer will and bootstrapping.
Very often we find that the Web is off the radar screen of many senior executives. I was in another global organization that has a central Web team seated within Communications.The team manages a distributed publishing model with more than 300 contributors, yet the senior VP of Communications was under the impression that a single person updated the entire site. He couldn't understand why it took so long to update the President's photo across the site.
As a result of this disconnect, the Web team feels at best, misunderstood, and at worst, unappreciated and demotivated. No one wants to be in a situation where they're set up for failure, but that's exactly what happens when there is no legitimacy for the Web program. The Web team, rather than being viewed as subject-matter-experts and strategic thinkers, is perceived as "content putter-uppers." Attempts to improve the site holistically, like implementing a standard template or navigation, are often met with roadblocks because the team lacks the authority and resources to affect change.
The good news for managers is that boosting Web team morale and ultimately improving the quality of the Web presence is a relatively inexpensive fix. It doesn't involve investing in costly technology or incentive programs. It's a matter of formalizing your organization's approach to Web operations. Set a strategy by establishing guiding principles and key performance indicators for the Web. Then empower the Web team with the resources they need to execute in support of that strategy.
Managers who enable their Web team will get more value out of their Web products, which in turn enable the business.
29 weeks ago
It's really strange that in this days where internet is a very important marketing tool to attract clients, that there are still are companies who don't have a sufficient budget or strategy for there website.
29 weeks ago
It's common for each department to only consider their web needs and fail to see the bigger picture of the web experience. The result for the web team is that a lot of little things get done, but nothing substantial - nothing they'd add to their portfolio or resume, nothing to move the website to the next level.
Communication between all departments on web initiatives are key. And the web staff needs to communicate their ideas as well. They need a chance to see their ideas come to life and not just be in service to everyone else.
28 weeks ago
I am the manager of a 3 person (myself included) web team who is responsible for our portal and institutional website, and in some cases, marketing online.
While we are not in as rough a shape of some of the examples you shared, we are not without challenges. Our senior team has, to some extent, put a priority on the web. We have received one-time funding to facilitate a major redesign project. But once we have gone through this process and are done, where will we be? Eventually in the same spot we were before the project unless more of an understanding of the web and a priority-shift happens.
Even our external consultants have commented that our 3 person team is insufficient, based on the perceived need and priority the website has. It will be interesting to see where we go from here.
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