5 types of work organization to manage your web strategy

I was explaining yesterday that  Web strategic planning  is not just a technical question, but also a question of work organization. Over the past few years, we have met several clients and partners who have very different work organizations. Often, it has been noticed that the structure in place influences the complexity of the website. The more the team is multidisciplinary, the more the Web offer is well defined. Here are the  5 typical types of organization of companies in the management of web strategies  .

1.  TOTAL AGENCY OUTSOURCING

The company does not have access to their CMS and a communications manager must make all minor update requests to their agency . This is often laborious and expensive. Otherwise, there is the company's techie who administers certain updates, in addition to managing all computer issues. However, as soon as it gets more complex, he goes through the agency. In the end, the company has a website because its competitors have one. It has no web strategy and invests little in marketing. This is the most listed organization among most SMEs. 

2.  MANAGEMENT BY THE IT TEAM

Business units must request any changes from IT to schedule it as a project to be processed sequentially. The CMS chosen was motivated by technological imperatives. If a development project is more important and it monopolizes the resources in place (eg implementation of a SAP module), a simple task will be postponed until they are available. This mode of operation imposes an additional planning effort. The various units develop parallel microsites with the agencies in order to monitor one-off marketing campaigns. We are in the era of the culture of the immediate and the improvement of Web presences is conditioned by advertising investments. All units (including IT) understand the value of the Web in their process, but they are forced to live with the wrong technology choice. This is the most frequent organization of informational or support sites.

3.  MANAGEMENT BY THE COMMUNICATIONS TEAM

She often acts as an internal agency that will advise her colleagues on good Web production practices in addition to other communication media. Updates are still centralized to one or two operational people (webmaster and editor) who follow the production plan produced by the person responsible for communications. When it has to develop complex functionalities or go beyond the framework, it is necessary to call on an agency. Internal applicants write a brief for this team to guide them in production.  There is still no web leadership, as the work remains fundamentally operational and centered on communications. On the other hand, we have more flexibility in terms of production, but the shortcoming comes from limited budgets. This is the most common organization of informational or support sites not constrained by an integrated management software package philosophy.

4.  PLANNING BY COMMITTEE

We see the birth of a Web committee when the requests multiply and the communication production plan no longer holds water. Each unit will elect a leader who will be the spokesperson for their needs. It is essential to invite all the units that are directly or indirectly involved in the Web strategy. The first meetings will be used to define the objectives and orientations in the Web strategic plan, in collaboration with their favorite Web strategy box. Then, each manager will collect the main needs of his team and mention them. A reduced team, made up of communications, IT and agencies, will prioritize the deployment in accordance with the defined plan. She will be responsible for monitoring production thereafter. This way of working is straightforward for planned demands, but can be cumbersome for unplanned demands.  It is enough, however, that the communications team is well-rehearsed with its agencies to respond quickly. This organization can be set up easily, regardless of the size of the company.

5.  WEB TEAM

It has organizational legitimacy, that is, it is a unit in itself. Web strategy is not just about operations. Investments are oriented to meet business objectives. It also acts as an internal agency and takes care of planning and operating the Web strategy. Depending on the size of the company and the consideration of the Web in the company's value chain, we will see specialized positions (SEO, ergonomics, social media measurement, Web writing, design) being added to more generalist positions (strategy, account management) and technical positions (programming, development). In fact, each unit will have a dedicated account manager who will advise it in its planning and monitor production according to budgets. He will then brief the necessary resources. These account executives have managed huge budgets annually. Planning is therefore essential. We must nevertheless favor planning by committee in order to maintain the link between internal clients and the team, otherwise it will lose the orientations of the strategic plan produced unilaterally .

In conclusion, each work organization has its strengths and weaknesses, you just have to find the one that best suits your needs. I am curious to know your experience according to the type of organization.