The First Step: Realizing that you are powerless over your Web presence and that it has become un-manageable

Setting: Lisa's neat and tidy office at WelchmanPierpoint, Baltimore, MD USA

The WelchmanPierpont Office Phone: Ring Ring

Lisa: Good Morning, WelchmanPierpoint

Web Manager: I want to talk to you all about your services

Lisa: OK, what do you want to know?

Web Manager: Who is this?

Lisa: Lisa Welchman

Web Manager: You answer the phone?

Lisa: Yes, there are only four of us here. Everyone else does actual work and I sit around all day answering the phone and writing annoying blog posts and presentations.

Web Manager: Wow, well I liked your last post on (fill in the blank).

Lisa: I didn’t write that one.

Web Manager: Oh, well...

Lisa: So, how can I help you?

Web Manager: (taking a deep breath) Well, we're kind of in an unique situation here.  We need to redesign our Web site, implement a new CMS, integrate 8 sites into 3 and roll out 15 new social media applications before (pick a completely irrational, un-doable date).

Lisa: (trying not to choke on her gluten-free cookie) Oh. That’s sounds
interesting.

Web Manager: (nervous laugh) Yeah.

Lisa: So, do you think you can actually get it done?

Web Manager: Well, we could except that (pick one or more: my integrator sucks, marketing sucks, IT sucks, my CMS sucks, my manager sucks, the lines of business suck).

Lisa: (listens for 30 minutes about why they all sucks and can't get anything done and then says) Sounds like you really have a Web Operations Management problem. You need to:

1. Get your CEO to pay attention to your work in a strategic way and empower you with money and head count and reasonable expectations;
2. Put some accountability, policy and standards around your Web presence development;
3. Produce your site in a mature non-knee jerk, mature manner;
4. Prove your Web presence’s value to the organization by establishing key performance indicators and then measuring against them.
   

Web Manager: Don't you say those same four things over and over again to everybody? I heard you give a talk once. It sounded really good but we've got a special situation here...

Lisa: Well, I believe in those four things....

Web Manager: (cutting Lisa off) Yeah I know. And you're a genius. But I’ve got to get this Web site fixed by (date). After we do that we can fix all that other stuff. Plus, we’ve already tried to do this (pick a number from 1 to 5) times and never works. So, it’s crucial that it gets done this time (read, or I might lose my job).

Lisa: Well, I don’t think you can fix all that other stuff without doing the
stuff I said first because, blah, blah, blah (fill in the blank with 30
minutes of Lisa's Web operations management lecture).

Web Manager: Well, that sounds great but I’ve got a real job. Do you know anybody else who can help us redesign our Web site, implement a new CMS, integrate 8 sites into 3 and roll out 15 new social media applications before (pick a completely irrational, un-doable date)?

Lisa:  Well, given the dynamics in your organization, I can’t really think
of anyone (...that I’d want to put in that position). We don't design or implement anything, we just fix Web teams.

Web Manager: Yeah, well we'll get to that at some point. And, thanks for your time! You really know a lot about this stuff and I read your blog posts all the time. They're right on target (but I'm not going to really do what they say because it sounds a little scary).

Lisa: Good luck! Call us if you can think of a way we can help.

Fast forward two years:

Phone: Ring ring

Lisa: WelchmanPierpoint

Web Manager: Is this Lisa?

Lisa: Yes.

Web Manager: You probably don’t remember me but my name is Well Meaning but Overambitious Web Manager #5645 and I talked to you a few years ago...

Lisa: Ah yes,I remember you well. You were the one who wanted to redesign your Web site, implement a new CMS, integrate 8 sites into 3 and roll out 15 new social media applications before (pick a completely irrational, un-doable date). How did that work for you?

Web Manager: Well, we’re kind of stuck. We picked a CMS but it doesn’t really work that well with the Web site we designed and the Web teams of three of the organizations didn’t want to do the site consolidation. So, we’ve kind of scaled back on that. But we did roll out all 15 social media applications. Three of them are great. One of them kind of got us mixed up in a lawsuit and the other 11 no one uses.

Lisa: Hmmm. Sounds like you have a Web Operations Management problem.

Web Manager: Yes, it does.