May 2009
Good Governance in the Online World
"I have lost count of how many times I've used the "G" word in workshops with clients who are either thinking about a new public website, a new intranet or who are upgrading their current sites. My first question at such workshops is always "Who is in charge?." On the face of it, it is an obvious question, but I rarely get a straight answer. There are a number of reasons for this, but the number one is usually because nobody really knows, or has ever been told!
It is easier to believe that technology will solve all your business problems, and it is far easier to blame a faceless piece of software, than to actually face the facts about human behaviour. We are often a disorganised bunch; we leave things to the last minute, we forget to plan, we are scared to assign responsibility, and we are simply too busy doing our "real" job to worry about the website. Sound familiar?
The truth of the matter is that many companies neglect their website and their intranet, as they have grown organically and silently in the corner; it really is the 800lb Gorilla that nobody sees or talks about. This is often down to the fact that the person responsible for maintenance has another role that they, or their manager, deem is more important. I don't know about you, but I can't think of anything that is more important than keeping your staff or customers informed, yet this basic hygiene factor is often neglected. The ownership of sites is also often shrouded in mystery, and so finding the person that is both responsible and accountable is quite hard work! In my experience, the web often falls to a blend of marketing and sales, but no one person, for whatever reason, feels wholly responsible.
So, the first job in planning governance is simply finding out who is actually going to be, or is, responsible and accountable for the site in question. Shouldn't be hard eh? You'd be surprised how much time it takes to work out who is going to deal with the gorilla. Once you know who the owner is, it is only then that you can start to plan good governance and begin the task of defining an overall governance plan. Every company needs a leader, and every site needs a general."
John Robson, Manager, Strategic Consulting
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