Building the right web team Matt Herzberger

The Goal Getting the right people in the right room at the right time

Define: team A unified group of people, intentionally working together to achieve a common defined mission.

Where do we start  This is about finding RIGHT team for YOUR institution  Similar to selecting a CMS, I can’t give you the answer. You must find what works for you I can give you advice on how to get there.

No plug and play  There is no off-the-shelf solution; you need to spend time really looking at the needs of your campus.  There is no “easy” button.

Look at your organization  Is there central web leadership?  Do you need a web service team?  Is there talent around campus?  Has organization leadership drank the Kool-Aid?  Do you have a governance model?  What skills are you needing / missing at your organization?

State your goals Based on your analysis, what are the gaps on campus? Your goals can center on a mission to plug those holes.

Mission Possible  Initiative-driven  Services-driven  Leadership/strategy-driven  Hybrid

Initiative driven  These teams deal with and build high-profile sites. Examples include:  Univ. homepage  Brand campaign sites  Capital campaign sites  Virtual tours  Social media hub  Feature based sites  Etc

Services driven  These teams tend to provide services to units across campus, including:  Web design  Web development  Editorial/ content strategy  System administration  CMS implementation

Leadership/ strategy driven  These teams tend to guide central standards and policies for the university at large; they may or may not have direct oversight:  create policies  provide templates/ web standards,  work on best practices/ governance  sit on and lead committees  provide campus wide communication about the state and direction of web  step back and look at the big numbers

Hybrid driven  These teams will work across all the above mentioned areas.  They tend to be the largest teams and have many roles and specialized team members

Funding needs  Many times the funding source or structure will directly dictate the types of services or function of your team

Central funded  These teams tend to be more initiative and strategy driven. They are there to focus on the big picture and provide other units with the tools to be successful on their own.  The centrally funded teams that do services tend to have oversight from a committee or leadership as to what projects are taken since they can’t expand to meet demand.

Revenue generating  These are teams that need to make money to pay staff, therefore most revenue funded teams tend to be services based teams.  Similar to how lawyers have to focus on billable hours.  They can grow whenever demand increases and provide more staffing flexibility.

Hybrid funding  Similar to the hybrid team, a hybrid funding tends to lead to a team that serves many purposes.  Hybrid funding may be a result of the hybrid team mission mentioned earlier.

Positions  Web designer – talent in web standards, graphic design, accessibility, interface design and usability  Web developer – talent would range from coding to basic sys administration, database administration and interface design  Content strategist – with skills in editorial, web writing, communications and information architecture  Project manager – ability to juggle all the teams projects and keep things on point as well as work with clients for the best outcomes, usually these are used for services driven teams or at times large initiative driven teams

Positions  CMS administrator – a person to lead and drive the CMS implementation across campus  Interactive web marketer – a person with a bit more of a marketing background not 100% from a technology background, many times the department leader fills this role, they tend to be involved in creating interactive initiatives  Support staff – these people provide support to all the moving parts of the web team, many times there are used on service driven teams. Tasks can include QA, production, support and maintenance  Others – here are some positions that may or maybe not always fall on the web team, but may be included based on your teams function sys admin, social media coordinator, photographer/ videographer

Right people  Talented  Happy  Helpful  Curious  Motivated  Courageous  Accountable

Governance, part of team success Establishes authority and accountability Defines the role of all campus units as it relates to the web and establishes how they will support web efforts Involves senior leadership Involves line management Is not a one-off process  Graduate from a production shop to a strategic shop

Challenges  Leadership  Accountability  Trust  Culture  Balance

The bigger picture  Align everything you do to business goals  Fit into the corporate culture  Have a champion for what you do  Plow around boulders

Be a leader  Be open and honest  Have intuition  Pay attention to people’s needs or concerns  Make sure everyone knows how to win  Be a good coach  Find consistent and clear communication plans  Measure performance not time  Set a vision and get out of the way

In the end  Be flexible  Have reviews and get feedback  Find the right people  Set them up to win  Bring people together  Don’t worry, be happy