Proceed Until Apprehended!

I had many lucky breaks in my career; but one of the luckiest occurred back in 1993, when George Latimer - former Mayor of St. Paul, Minnesota - came to HUD to help new Secretary Henry Cisneros unleash innovation. George had been a very successful innovator as Mayor (you’ll see his name mentioned several times in David Osborne’s book, Reinventing Government) and had a strong track record. He was in charge of the Secretary’s “Special Actions Office,” a small staff to the Secretary that served as an incubator for new ideas.

Lucky me…George plucked me from the rank and file to help him navigate the government bureaucracy and keep things organized. Like the obedient public servant I had been trained to be, I waited for George to tell me what he wanted me to do. And the very first lesson George taught me was this: don’t make your boss do all the thinking. Figure it out. Make it happen. If there’s something you need the boss to do, bring in the options – along with the memo to sign; and we’ll make it happen. But don’t sit around waiting to be told what to do. And while you’re at it, be a little gutsy. Remember: it’s often easier to ask for forgiveness than permission.

Whew! George’s philosophy opened a whole new world for me, as a public servant. What a terrific atmosphere for me to work in, as I became HUD’s first web manager and went through those first months of trial and error, growing a new form of service delivery. George taught me if you see a void that you think you can fill - in a right way - go for it. Proceed until apprehended!

I was reminded of George when I read a quote by White House New Media Director, Macon Phillips, at last week’s Government 2.0 Camp. When someone suggested to him that agencies will look to the White House for direction on innovation, he replied, “Go! Do it! Don’t wait for the White House to solve your problems. Learn, evangelize, and implement yourselves.” If George Latimer had been sitting in that audience, I can tell you he would have jumped to his feet and cheered loudly!

We who were the first government web managers learned quickly that, with no path to follow, you pretty much were on your own, figuring out what to do with government websites. As long as I based my actions on doing the right thing for the American people, I was OK. No one had a better answer, so I just proceeded (and I seldom was apprehended!). But now, government web managers often are shackled by bureaucracy that has become much more web-wise and cautious.

A new wind of innovation is blowing in government. But innovation only succeeds to the extent that people at all levels feel free to be innovative. That’s what George Latimer taught me, and that was Macon Phillips’ message. Figure it out. Make it happen. Involve the bosses when they’re needed to give an order or break down a barrier (and don’t forget to bring along that memo to sign!), but don’t wait for them to tell you what to do.

Whenever I speak to a group of government web managers, the last thing I say is, “Proceed until apprehended!” Thank you, George. Thank you, Macon.

Worried About Too Many People In the Sandbox? Governance to the Rescue!

This week, we learned that agencies are hiring “new media directors.”

As one who held a “web manager” job description for 10 years, I can tell you that I was a bit alarmed when I saw the new media directors’ duties that would include:

• “The overall technical performance, maintenance, and development of websites outreach platforms
• Interpreting and reporting various site statistics on a regular basis, and using these results to improve traffic and the effectiveness of the agency's content and outreach efforts”

Hey – those were MY duties! If I were still a web manager, I’d probably be more than a little concerned.

And then I heard that some CIOs are holding “social media” briefings in agencies. Hey, there’s a whole sub-group of the Federal Web Managers Council who thought they were the champions for social media! What’s the deal here?

Well, there’s good news: there’s plenty of room in this sandbox for everyone – web managers and new media specialists and CIOs. In fact, we need them all. But – and this is so critical – each of them needs to understand and respect what the others bring to the sandbox so they can work together, and not at odds. After all, we all want to build the same thing – an open, transparent government that delivers the services that its citizens want and need. We just need a governance structure to keep us organized.

So – let’s sort this out (and I’m writing this to web managers because…well heck, that’s what this blog is about). Web managers – new media directors will help you market the services you work so hard to provide through the web. They’ll open up new ways to carry the message that government has something for every citizen, help the public see what’s going on in their government (transparency), and help engage the public in the way their government works.

The CIOs will continue to evaluate and bring in new technologies to accomplish agency mission and management goals and to solve management problems. And the new emphasis for CIOs is to figure out how the often atrocious legacy data systems can be coaxed to spew out something that might be useful to the public, to use in ways they want to use it.

You need these folks. And they need you, web managers. They need you to do what you always have done so well: serve as editor-in-chief of websites that exist to deliver government services to citizens as effectively and efficiently as possible. You need to keep identifying “top tasks” – the cream of government services that citizens use most - and working with program managers to make those top tasks as easy to use as possible. You need to continue to look for content that is obsolete and redundant and little-used, so you can strip away clutter that makes top tasks hard to find and use. You need to make sure that the words on the website are words that citizens understand, and you need to organize content in sequences that are logical to citizens. You are the communication and service specialist. You make sure that government websites communicate effectively, so they serve citizens effectively.

Together, new media directors, CIOs, and web managers can be a powerful team. There’s plenty for everyone to do. But here’s the key: you need structure.

You need to figure out – right from the start – how you’re going to work together. Pin down those 5 “R’s” of governance I always talk about: Roles, Responsibilities, Relationships, Rules, and Review. Who does what? How/when will you relate and coordinate? Take a look at your rules (policies, publication procedures, and operating procedures) and see where they need to be adapted to incorporate new media, transparency, public engagement, and public access to data. Make sure everyone knows and understands them. And bosses – make sure you review performance and hold all the players accountable for doing what they’re supposed to do.

Beware: governance can’t be left to happenstance. It must be planned and communicated to all the players. In the absence of governance, you risk misunderstandings, inefficiency, and even chaos. Who has time for that? It won’t just “all work out.” When you have so many players, working for different bosses, you must have a governance structure.

Who should create this governance structure? Well, I have been a proponent of a top level Web Policy Council... But absent that Council, I’m thinking Macon Phillips, New Media Director at the White House; Vivek Kundra, Chief CIO at OMB; and – ut oh…there’s no one at that top level to represent the Web Managers. Hmm… Well, thank goodness - GSA’s Office of Citizen Services and Communication has stepped into that void. So GSA, with representatives of the Federal Web Managers Council, can front the web manager community.

This can be sorted out. It’s a big sandbox – everyone can fit. Get the governance in place, and we’re going to build an awesome open, transparent government that delivers the services that its citizens want and need (and pay for!).

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It's Time for Governance

A Shout Out to Rachel Flagg – Headed to the Web Best Practices Team at GSA

If you’ve never met Rachel Flagg, you’ve missed something.

I’ll never forget the first time I saw her…we were doing a web clinic in Seattle, and Rachel was one of the Seattle staff who attended. She stood in the back of the room and beamed the entire time. After the session, I walked back to her and asked her why the big smiles. She said she was just so excited about what we were doing with the web. I liked her immediately.

Her rise in the web manager community has been earned. In 2001, Rachel became one of HUD’s first class of regional web managers (she manages web content for 5 HUD offices in 4 states); and she quickly proved herself to be a great leader and an outstanding web manager. She got involved in the work of the government Web Managers Forum, helping develop – among other things – a list of best practices in web management from other nations’ governments. In 2005, Rachel was chosen to be one of the first field representatives on the Federal Web Managers Council. In 2007, Rachel became Co-Chair of the Council, partnering with Sheila Campbell to lead this great group of government web managers in producing some excellent work, including the recent white papers on transforming online government and social media.

Now, Rachel is going on detail to GSA’s Office of Citizen Services and Communication to work with Sheila on Government Web Best Practices. There’s no doubt in my mind that Rachel will be a great asset to GSA. She’s a master strategist, a terrific writer, and a born leader. Her passion for serving citizens through the web is unmatched, and her enthusiasm is contagious. Now that she’s able to devote all her time to the web manager community, like Sheila, watch out! This dynamic duo will do even greater things.

If you don’t know Rachel Flagg yet – believe me, you will. And you’ll be as dazzled as I was!

Congratulations, Rachel (and Sheila)!

Reach Out to Web Managers in the Field

In the past month, I’ve taught two courses for government web managers. I learned something important from those courses: there are still government web managers working around the country who are operating in a vacuum. They don’t know about webcontent.gov or the government Web Managers Forum or all the requirements and best practices for government websites.

One class participant told me she doesn’t even know who else in her federal agency works on websites. Another one told me he gets no encouragement from his higher-ups to get together with other web managers and web contributors – even just in his own federal agency – to compare notes and collaborate. Web Managers Forum: you’ve got some outreach to do.

The Web Managers Forum has grown to more than 1,500 federal, state, and local government web managers from across the country. It truly is a community of practice success story and a tribute to the power of grassroots organization. This group, which is led by the Federal Web Managers Council, “meets” monthly on conference calls that often exceed 100 phone lines (with many people sitting in a room listening on one line) to discuss hot topics and best practices. They also communicate through a listserv and are moving to an online social networking site. This is all great news.

But think about it. If there are 24,000+ federal government websites out there, then there also must be a whole lot of people running those websites; and they’re not all sitting in Washington DC. There are many government “web managers” (including employees who may not have the title but still do that job) out in “the field" (the term used in Washington to describe everyone working for the government who is NOT in Washington). There are field web managers out there operating on their own, reinventing the wheel. You need to find a way to bring those web managers into your circle.

You need to get them up to speed with best practices and strategic plans and social media and other initiatives. You need to make sure their local perspective is integrated in the information and services you deliver to citizens. But most of all, you need to collaborate across government - and up and down, through the ranks - to improve the quality of all government websites and service to the public.

You need to advertise the Forum and webcontent.gov, through every federal agency, regularly. You need to get out of DC and organize training sessions and meetings in major cities across the country. It’s much cheaper to take a small training team out to local venues – places where field web managers can drive in for the day at almost no cost – than to bring them into DC.

You need to organize and nurture local and regional cross-agency web manager forums and groups, encouraging them to meet and compare notes regularly, in addition to becoming members of the larger Web Managers Forum. You need to identify and cultivate regional web leaders who can serve as conduits and local organizers. And – most of all – we need those at the highest levels (OMB, agency heads) to recognize and ensure that all government web managers (including those who work under other titles but who perform web manager functions) – at all locations – are properly trained and are encouraged to collaborate, both throughout their agencies and across government.

Reach out. Seek out your peers in the field. Bring them into the community. Government web managers serve the public best when they serve together. Inside and outside of Washington DC.

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Bring Government Home

Kiosks - An Old Program That Still Has Potential

I’ll bet you didn’t know this. The federal government has a small, little-known, kiosk program that has produced great results serving citizens, particularly low-income citizens. Maybe – with a little TLC – it could do even more.

More than 10 years ago, HUD rolled out its first citizen “ATM,” – a touch-screen kiosk that provided basic information about HUD’s programs. It was then Secretary Andrew Cuomo’s baby. He wanted to harness technology to deliver information to citizens where they lived, worked, shopped, and played.

Eventually, HUD placed more than 100 kiosks around the country in locations specifically chosen because they are frequented by low-moderate income Americans – shopping malls, grocery stores, libraries, community centers, and street corners. Four years ago, EPA, Education, IRS, and Labor joined the effort, turning the “HUD Kiosks” into “Government Kiosks.” At a touch of the finger, citizens get simple, basic information – in English or Spanish - about buying a home, getting rental help in the local area (including a searchable list of government-subsidized rental units), retirement savings, free tutoring, student financial aid, poison prevention, and earned-income tax credits. And they can print it all out and take it home.

Because the kiosks are web-based, content can be updated quickly and easily. They’re not intended to be internet workstations – you can’t use the kiosks to surf the web. Content is light – about 100 pages – because they’re intended for quick service. Stop by, spend 5 minutes getting what you want, print, and move on. The ATM concept.

But what’s really terrific about the Government Kiosks is that they actually help citizens improve their lives. How do I know? Well, when the Bush administration came in, they commissioned a study of the program to decide if they should continue it. The answer? You bet! The study concluded that 74% of the 1,500+ kiosk users across the country who were observed and/or interviewed in the study acted on the information they found on the kiosks – from talking to a housing counselor to visiting a HUD office to returning to the kiosk for more information. Those are pretty impressive results.

But I also want to tell you about a personal observation. While I was working out of HUD’s Tucson Office, 4 years ago, I noticed a young man standing at the kiosk that was located right outside the office door. He seemed quite intent on copying something he’d seen on the screen, so I decided to watch for awhile. I walked across the street and checked my watch. 17 minutes later, he left. When I walked over to the kiosk to see what had interested him so much, I saw a list of local homeless shelters. If the kiosk helped him - or someone he knew - find a place to sleep...well, isn't that what public service is all about?

But, you say, pretty much everyone has access to the internet these days. Why do we need kiosks? Well, they serve a different purpose. They reach people who might not think to come to a government website for help. Or maybe a person has tried to use a government website but found it too complicated. Or maybe they just didn’t know the government had free tutoring programs, until they passed by a kiosk and saw it on the screen.

According to the February statistics (which you can find on the HUD website, for those of you who care about transparency), 31,000 visitors stopped by one of the 64 Government Kiosks currently operating.

I’d like to see the Obama team look into this program – see if it could/should be expanded…more kiosks in more cities with state-of-the-art equipment and publicity to let citizens know about them. Deliver government to more citizens. Maybe add real-time chat or other interactive citizen support services. Or don’t add anything. After all, it’s working.

Kiosks aren’t a new idea – but sometimes, old ideas deserve a fresh look.

Take a Deep Breath – We’ve Got to Be Patient

Mea culpa. Like my fellow Web Passionistas, I am guilty of being terribly impatient for the Obama team to make long-awaited changes in the way government does business through the web. I've read a good number of blogs and tweets, sounding the frustrations many of us share. A few weeks ago, I even sent a whiny email to Macon Phillips, complaining about the introduction of multiple new websites around the economic situation (recovery.gov, financialspending.gov, usaspending.gov, economicrecovery.gov). Sorry about that, Macon (at least I didn’t use all caps!). I know a lot of us are so eager to see change…we idealistically thought these folks would walk in the door, wave their magic wands, and – poof! – all better. Well, darn it…I think we’re going to have to be patient.

I'm sure the Obama team is as frustrated as we are. They came in with the same high expectations, only to face a dearth of office space, lengthy staffing processes, complex procurement requirements, and other laws and regulations that have been making government employees groan for years. For example, I know the privacy and accessibility laws and regs complicate jumping into some of the new technologies that most of us agree will help government interact with citizens. But it’s the right thing to do to protect the privacy of citizens who use government websites – citizens hold government to a higher standard on this issue. And we must make our web content accessible to all citizens (and if it’s not important enough to make it accessible, then – gee – maybe it shouldn’t be there at all).

It’s gonna take some time to get over these hurdles. They have to sort through the laws and regs and figure out which ones have to be preserved and which ones can be modified. I worked for the government for a long time; and one thing I learned is that you can accomplish most anything, if you just keep looking for options. I think this team is up to the task.

Now, if we haven’t seen progress a year from now, we can – and should - really yammer. And, sure, we should keep reminding them about the things that are really important to us – making top citizen tasks as prominent and easy-to-use as possible, transparency, engagement, and (my own personal pet peeve) downsizing the absurd number of government websites (each with its own look and feel) and unattended government web content.

But for now, let’s be patient, fellow Web Passionistas. If the past is prologue, it will be another 3-5 months before they get all the people in place. Macon and his team are working hard at the White House. Vivek Kundra just got his foot in the door at OMB; and while I know we all have high expectations of him, even Gandalf himself couldn’t bring about change as fast as we want it. Everything we’ve seen indicates these folks are on the right track. So let’s give them a chance.

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It's Time for Governance

I just returned from DC, where I taught another Web Manager University course. I always love teaching and seeing my former colleagues. But this trip was especially interesting because government web managers are truly excited about the connections they are making with the executive (read: political) level of government. And why is that so important? Because that strong connection has not existed in the past 14 years. Because that connection is absolutely essential if the issues that the Federal Web Managers Council spotlighted in their recent white papers are to be resolved. Because it’s time to create a true “governance” structure for government web management.

Lisa Welchman wrote a terrific blog post a couple of weeks ago about the progress our friends in the United Kingdom are making in consolidating and focusing their government websites, largely because they have strong web governance. She calls for similar top-level support and direction in the U.S. I couldn’t agree more that the top-level governance void needs to be filled. But – as always – how we do it is as important as what we do. It’s got to be the right players at each level, and there have to be the right, formal, connections between levels.

I think there are three key issues here.

1. First (and I do mean in this order), top government executives need to recognize and declare that government websites (at least those in the Executive branch) are major assets for mission achievement and public service – not just a jumble of massive bulletin boards for the plans and achievements of whatever administration is in power – and they must be managed that way.

Citizens are the primary audience for most government websites. Web managers know that. They also know that citizens come to government websites to get the information or services they want and need quickly and easily and get out. They don’t want to waste their time wading through photos of agency heads, press releases on agency actions, and way too many home page links to esoteric content, put there to appease the egos of agency managers who think what they do is so important that it warrants front-page feature.

The problem is that top political and career executives – at least in the past – either didn’t know or didn’t care that taxpayers see our websites as service centers that should be focused on their needs. So we need that top layer to get behind the notion that government websites are about serving citizens and that they must be run as the critical products that they are, with appropriate resources dedicated to their success.

2. Which brings me to issue two: government websites MUST be run by web managers who have appropriate knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs). Fourteen years ago, when U.S. government websites were born, we didn’t have a cadre of employees with the KSAs to manage these assets. Now, we do.

Web managers must have 7 basic KSAs: leadership skills, communication skills (both writing and speaking), organizational skills, analytical skills, entrepreneurial skills, basic knowledge of the agency and its programs, and basic knowledge of web technology. Top agency web managers need experience in government web management, as well. Agencies need to hire web managers with these skills and train upcoming web managers to build these KSAs. They also need to be sure they have adequate numbers of skilled web managers to manage their websites.

3. Finally, issue three: we need a formal governance structure at the top that supports the wonderful and successful grassroots structure that already has emerged in the Web Managers Forum and the Federal Web Managers Council. That structure needs to address and coordinate policy-making and strategic planning for web content operations, across government.

So what do I propose? It’s pretty simple, really.

1. Create a governmentwide Web Policy Council, comprised (at least) of the Director of Communications at the White House (or his/her designees which could/should include the Director of New Media), the Director of E-Government and Information Technology at OMB, the Chief Performance Officer at OMB (and that might be someone who holds one of these other titles), the Director of Information and Regulatory Affairs at OMB, and the Chief Technology Officer (again, those duties may be subsumed by one of these other officials).

The Director of the Office of Citizen Services at GSA (or his/her designee) and the Co-Chairs of the Federal Web Managers Council should be participants in all policy discussions, so they can bring practical issues to light and carry back the thinking of the Web Policy Council to the web manager community. If there were a Director of Communications Policy at OMB (I so wish and believe there should be), that officer also should sit on this Council.

Each of these policy managers has a strong stake in the efficiency and effectiveness of government websites. In addition, it will be important for each of these players to coordinate his/her requests of government web managers with the others. The Policy Council presents the opportunity to establish priorities.

2. Sanction the Federal Web Managers Council as the implementation coordinating body for web policies. They already are empowered to develop and distribute guidance and directions on implementing OMB policies and to identify and publicize best practices. They just need public (re)endorsement. Further, the Federal Web Managers Council can raise issues to the Policy Council that need higher level guidance and/or support or coordination.

3. Take care of outstanding business. The Web Policy Council should do 3 things, right off:

• Prepare a memo from the Director of OMB to all Agency Heads, informing them that web management policy and strategy will now be directed by this Web Policy Council and will apply to all agencies; that agency websites are to be viewed and used as public service centers, focusing on using the best available technologies to deliver services – especially “top tasks” - as efficiently and effectively as possible; and that they are to review and assign appropriate resources – including web managers with appropriate KSAs – to managing government websites. This memo also should sanction the Federal Web Managers Council.
• Act on the White Papers prepared by the Federal Web Managers Council.
• Develop and publicize strategic goals for web management for the coming year(s) to guide the Federal Web Managers Council and government web managers in all agencies. Everyone – top to bottom – must have the same vision and path, to accomplish all that must be accomplished.

It’s time to fill this void. We need a strong governmentwide, top-to-bottom governance system for managing government websites as the critical citizen service products they are.

Related Posts:

We Need A Communications Czar!
As You Plan Ahead, Think What You Want to Leave Behind

Great News, Web Managers…You Have a Place at the Table!

I’ve wanted to write a blog piece about Bev Godwin for a long time. But now, I have a terrific excuse. Bev just announced that she’s gone over to the White House, on a detail, as the Director of Online Resources and Interagency Development on the New Media Team. This is unbelievably good news, not only for my dear and deserving friend, Bev, but also for the government web manager community. Why? Because – finally – you have one of your own sitting at the policy table.

I met Bev about 13 years ago when she was chairing an interagency group tasked to create a website that would help state and local governments work with the federal government. Bev was on the Vice President’s Reinventing Government task force at that time, and this was one of the first efforts to develop an interagency website. As you can imagine – there were a lot of opinions and a good deal of stumbling. But finally, we got the job done, thanks to Bev’s leadership abilities and political finesse. When Bev got the assignment to create FirstGov.gov (thankfully renamed “USA.gov”) as THE federal government’s online “front door,” I knew she’d do a terrific job and that agency web managers could count on her to include them in the process. That’s just the way Bev works.

In late 2003, Bev called to ask me to work with her on a new assignment: recommending policies to OMB for implementing the E-Gov Act of 2002, Section 207. Well, you know how that turned out (and if you don’t, just take a look at the report). Once again, Bev used her leadership skills, her political acumen and her plain ol’ smarts to guide an effort that resulted in creation of interagency web governance (the federal Web Managers Council), the first training institution for government web managers (Web Manager University), and the first website targeting government web managers (Webcontent.gov). Powerful achievements.

And now our Bev is at the White House, working with Macon Phillips and others to lead change in the way government serves citizens via the web.

It’s fun to watch the organizational and personnel decisions the Obama administration is making and to imagine how they’ll impact government web management. In addition to the New Media Team at the White House, we anticipate the new E-Gov Director at OMB (TechPresident and others are speculating that DC CTO Vivek Kundra will be named to that job. Vivek has been a superstar in using technology to inform citizens in DC, so this surely would be good news). And though I’m still not exactly sure what the Chief Performance Officer will tackle, an office that’s looking at improving efficiency and effectiveness in government surely will want to extend those efficiencies through web applications and content (maybe an advocate for “top tasks?”). So that’s three high-level operations that could – and probably will - play a part in setting the agenda for government web management in the next few years. It will take good coordination to head off the “too many bosses” syndrome.

But now you’ve got one of your own at the policy table, web managers. Bev knows the web manager community and its challenges; and she will be in a position to raise those issues when it counts – as decisions are being made. And if I know Bev, she’ll make sure that your ideas and concerns are considered in the discussion phase, rather than after the fact. You couldn’t have a better, more savvy and more capable advocate. This is great news.

Congrats, Bev! We’re all cheering for you!

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Start With the Problem - Not the Solution

I was quite taken with a recent interview with Vint Cerf, Vice President and Chief Internet Evangelist for Google, about what the new Chief Technology Officer might be asked to do. Instead of just being a super CIO, Cerf sees the CTO as a strategist, offering technology solutions to the range of government problems and challenges that the President has defined. It’s not technology for the sake of technology. It’s not solutions in search of problems. Just start with understanding the most critical management problems – the priorities - and then look at possible solutions, which probably will include technology in concert with other actions.

I’m a Facebook junky, a Twitter lurker, and – after all – I’m writing this for my blog. It’s very tempting to start looking around for management problems to solve with all the cool new things we can do with technology. But Vint Cerf has it right. We’ve got to keep the horse in front of the cart. Be strategic. Start with the management priorities. Then figure out the best solutions.

Related link
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Oh My Gosh…They’re Getting It Right!

I’m literally doing a happy dance (and no, that’s not something you’d want to see)! I just read in Nancy Scola’s blog piece on TechPresident that Google's Katie Jacobs Stanton will be joining the White House as the new Director of Citizen Participation. Now that, in itself, is very good news…that the Obama administration values citizen participation is huge. That he made such an excellent choice for that post is terrific. But what’s really got me excited was this: “Stanton, sources say, will be part of the White House New Media Team headed up by Macon Phillips -- putting ‘citizen participation’ under the White House communications umbrella, it seems.” Oh my gosh…they’re getting it right!

Do you realize how powerful this could be for those of us who champion providing good citizen service via the web? To look at citizen participation and new media as part of government communications, at the highest level…well, that is exactly what needs to be done to make major improvements in government web management. I was optimistic about the changes these folks might bring about for our community, but this is the first hard proof that it’s happening. Sorry – but I just have to do this: Woo Hoo!!!

I’d started working on a very different blog piece…about some things that have been worrying me. I’m concerned about seeing new government websites spring up that seem to duplicate existing sites…recovery.gov (mandated by Congress – which is a whole other problem) sounds very similar to usaspending.gov, for example. The new college.gov seems to replicate – at least in part – studentaid.ed.gov. Are people just putting up new websites rather than fixing the old ones? Are we so worried about having clever URLs to promote that we lose sight of the fact that we’re possibly/probably creating yet more duplication?

Then there are the brainstorming “camps” that seem to be springing up everywhere. Don’t get me wrong – I think bringing feds and advocates and experts and citizens together to brainstorm is terrific. Long overdue. But do we really need 3 different workshops that will/should talk about the same problems/issues/solutions? How will the results be synthesized? Who will have the authority and resources to implement anything that comes out of these “camps?”

Well, maybe we have an answer for my concerns. Maybe it’s this new team at the White House.

Now if the Web Managers Council – and, by extension, the Government Web Managers Forum - can just get plugged into this White House team (and I suspect they will!), then maybe – together - they can address those threshold issues and make the changes that are needed to make U.S. government websites the citizen service and engagement centers they should be.

You go, Katie and Macon!

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What’s missing from e-gov? A mandate to communicate
Are we ready for e-democracy?
We need a communications czar
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To Everything There Is a Season

I stumbled on an old memo, the other day. It was a July 2001 memo from the fledgling Web Content Managers Forum (with its 59 members) to Mark Foreman, President Bush’s first E-Gov czar. Though the Forum had formed only months before (October 2000), we hoped to get the attention of this new official, asking to engage in a discussion of web content management issues.

“We need to talk about content issues we are facing: how to assess what our customers want and need, how to generate and maintain content that is citizen-friendly, how to measure whether we’re delivering content in ways they find useful, how to promote and market our web sites, how to manage the ever-growing numbers of e-mails generated by our web sites, and how to overcome organizational cultures and values that inhibit our efforts to create e-government and e-governance.”

We hand-delivered that memo, but – alas – we never got a response.

Now, 8 years later, the Federal Web Managers Council – the leadership committee of the Web Content Managers Forum (now 1,500 strong!) has issued a White Paper that is getting top-level attention not only from the incoming Obama administration, but around the world. To everything there is a season.

The same month we sent that memo to Mark Foreman (July 2001), Sam Gallagher (HUD’s current Web Manager and my long-time associate) and I were asked to do a presentation for the annual E-Gov conference. We decided to end it with a “sky’s the limit” section, offering some of our ideas about the possibilities for the future. Honestly, I think most people thought we were nuts. The session wasn’t very well reviewed. Here’s what we projected:

"Possibility 1: One single government database; citizens go through one door; integration of all government levels; eliminates silos and layers

Possibility 2: Many/most government employees work from home or from cross-agency work centers; citizens want government services at all times - employees work non-traditional schedules to deliver; new job: “subject specialists” (knowledgeable about info from all levels of government) help guide citizens through options

Possibility 3: Online communities form and look for power; citizens find support from “virtual friends;” government will struggle with its role in these communities and the impact of these communities on bricks and mortar communities

Possibility 4: Citizens become government; citizens demand to be involved; virtual teams/work groups work together from legislation to implementation; government’s role: teacher/enabler (not parent/implementer)

Possibility 5: Nationwide access to internet; Federal internet centers in every community; public/private partnerships provide wireless access in remote areas; web access through TVs

Possibility 6: Consolidation of government programs; portals highlight overlaps/redundancies; public demands consolidation"

To everything there is a season.

Citizen Service – That’s What It’s All About

Wouldn’t it be great if the new administration made “citizen service” a real priority…treated it like one of the most important products of government? Wouldn’t it be wonderful if they issued a press release saying, “we’re going to embrace the 6 principles of citizen service identified by the Federal Web Managers Council in their white paper, 'Putting Citizens First: Transforming Online Government,' and make that our vision for citizen service in this country?”

When then interact with their government, every citizen should be able to:

1. “Easily find relevant, accurate, and up-to-date information;
2. Understand information the first time they read it;
3. Complete common tasks efficiently;
4. Get the same answer whether they use the web, phone, email, live chat, read a brochure, or visit in-person;
5. Provide feedback and ideas and hear what the government will do with them;
6. Access critical information if they have a disability or aren’t proficient in English.”

Wouldn’t it be great if they pulled service delivery functions (websites, call centers, publication centers, information centers) together, under one umbrella, making sure that citizen services are delivered as efficiently and effectively as possible? What a great message that would give the American people – to let them know that serving them really is what government is all about.

As You Plan Ahead, Think About What You Want to Leave Behind

I went through 4 Presidential transitions, as a federal employee; and there's one mistake that I've seen new administrations make too often: they fail to institutionalize their initiatives. They don’t create the infrastructure to make their good ideas permanent...to integrate them so well into everyday government operations that they can’t be undone (at least not easily). Thus, when the next administration comes to town, those changes can be wiped out with the stroke of a pen.

What does this have to do with web management? Everything. Government web managers are rejoicing that the Obama administration is not only web-savvy, but that it is listening to them. The transition teams have been spot on, asking the right questions about the use of the web in carrying out agency mission. They’ve been open and receptive to the ideas offered by government web managers, including the Web Managers Council White Paper. Hallelujah!

But here’s the caution: as you implement change, be sure you put in place the policies and organization and processes and people to make those changes last. In other words, as you plan ahead, think about what you want to leave behind.

So…specifics – right? Well, here are a few that come to mind.

1. Sanction the federal Web Managers Council as the official cross-government policy/procedure clearinghouse and coordinating body for web content (comparable to the CIO Council’s role in technology coordination), and (this is the really important part) establish policies and procedures to connect that body to the Chief Technology Officer and OMB. This group of federal web managers has done an exemplary job using grassroots organization and best practice to bring about improvement in all government websites. Give them the boost of official recognition and the ear of top executives, and watch out! They know what needs to be done – let them do it.
2. Designate GSA as the lead agency on web content management and give them both the mandate and the staffing to coordinate content management across government. That means staffing up the Office of Citizen Services with some agency web managers – either through hiring or extended details – to bring agency experience and enhanced credibility to the leadership effort. It also means hiring expertise in specific areas – like audience analysis – that agencies can tap into.
3. One of those areas of expertise needs to be plain language. Hire a plain language expert (I’d go after Annetta Cheek, who has been carrying that torch for a long time, but there are others) to the GSA staff (or as a consultant). Lead an effort to slim down and clean up the most used web content. Charge all Cabinet agencies, plus other agencies that interact with the public often, to pass governmentwide “plain language standards” (established by the Web Managers Council working with the plain language experts) for at least the 50 web pages most used by the public, within the next 6 months.
4. Charge all agencies to post a box with direct links to their 3-5 “top tasks” (those services that citizens want/need the most) on the front page of their websites. Have the Web Managers Council coordinate this effort. Come up with common language and common placement, so citizens will know exactly where to look, no matter which government website they visit. I personally like the “I Want to…” box on the USDA website, but there are other models. Where top tasks overlap agencies, establish links (or better yet, consolidate content…but that’s another blog post...). Publicize this achievement to the public so they know it’s there and so they know you care about their wants/needs. Once the public comes to expect this level of service, THEY won’t let it be wiped out with the stroke of a pen.
5. Establish a governmentwide web content review and certification process. Now. In 4 years, that will be just part of standard operating procedures. And it’s the right thing to do.

Change is good. Change is needed. The trick is to make it lasting. Make sure the good things you do will be there after you go. Institutionalize change, right from the start.

Related link: So Many Possibilities...But Where to Begin?

Dear Santa…Here’s My Christmas List…

Santa...I know you’re really busy trying to offset this worldwide economic crisis and all…but I’ve been a really good citizen this year, and I’ve trimmed my Christmas list to 5 items. Five is a good number, don’t you think? So here goes...

1. I want to go to USA.gov and type in my zip code and pick a couple of topics – housing and health – and find out everything the government (federal, state, and local, if possible, please) has to offer me. Then I want to click on a link and have an online real-time chat with a knowledgeable government employee who can answer my questions and give me objective advice about my options, even if that means giving me information from multiple agencies. And I’d like to be able to do that day or night, any day of the week.
2. I want to go to Facebook (because I spend time there every day) and - if I choose to be a “fan” – see “status” reports (NOT spin-ettes put out by Public Affairs) from agencies that interest me. Like “today we’re thinking about new public policies on student loans.” And I can choose to “comment.” Or not. Or enter an online discussion with agency experts, outside experts, and other citizens. If I do comment or offer an idea, I’d like to trust (that’s an important word) that a government employee actually will read it, consider it, and – hope springs eternal – take it into consideration. And if it’s not too much trouble, I’d like to know what happens to my comments and ideas.
3. I want to be able to call a government agency and get the same answer that I get from a government website...and I want to be confident enough that there actually is some internal coordination that I (as a citizen) don’t have to a) check to be sure it’s the same and b) write to that/some agency to tell them they aren’t the same so I need to know which is right.
4. I’d like to read 10 simple words instead of 100. I’d like to have the 3 best options instead of 20. I’d like to know where to start the process, instead of confronting 25 links listed in alpha order. I’d like some help – like a decision tree – so I can figure out what government program might be best for me. I’m not stupid. I just don't have time to read a library of government information from umpteen agencies, sort it out, analyze it, and try to figure out what the heck it all means. I’d rather have expert government analysts do that. I paid a lot of taxes last year…I think I deserve that service, don’t you?
5. I want all government websites to look alike. I honestly don’t care which one is prettiest. I honestly don’t care if one is an award winner (I'd like all government websites to be "award-winning" quality). I just want to figure out where the topics are and what the words mean one time, and I want to be able to navigate all over the government with that knowledge. I want to be able to recognize a government website in one quick glance – because it looks like all the other government websites I visit. Then I know I can trust (there’s that important word again) it.

I’ll understand if you can’t bring me everything this year, Santa. If you could bring one or two, I'd be really happy. And whatever you can’t get me this year, that’s OK…I’ll just put it on my list next year. I figure if I keep asking, maybe I'll get what I want, one day. Thanks for listening (there's another one of those important words), Santa.

So Many Possibilities…But Where to Begin?

I’ve been doing a lot of treadmill thinking about what I’d suggest if I were advising the Obama team on government websites. So many exciting ideas floating around - great ways to improve public service via the web - and they all require resources. So I think I’d suggest that the Obama team start by getting a handle on what they’ve got to work with. Then they can make good strategic decisions about how and where they can re-direct resources to these new initiatives. Here are three ideas:

1. Do an inventory of all government websites. Yes, count them. Find out what purpose each plays, who the audience is, how much traffic they’re getting, and what they cost. What do they contribute in terms of mission achievement and/or service to the public? I’m guessing you could make some decisions right off the bat about eliminating redundancy, closing obsolete sites, and targeting consolidation. See where you can free up resources to do other things better, faster, smarter.
2. Do an inventory of “top tasks.” Find out what the public really requests/uses/needs most often, across government. Agency web managers should be able to list their top 3-5 tasks by looking at their data and email, over time. Pick ten or so of those top tasks; and use the Web Managers Council to convene cross-agency working groups of web managers, content experts, usa.gov staff, and maybe even citizens, for each of those ten. Have each working group look at the content currently available across government (usa.gov’s topical links directories should help). Figure out how to eliminate duplication, consolidate where possible, and – this is something we just haven’t done well across government – put the content in some logical order (maybe it’s steps…”start here;” maybe it’s decision trees…if this, then that; maybe it’s categories) so the public can use it more easily. Target these top tasks for web 2.0 applications - maybe how-to videos; maybe outreach through social media. Get a plain language expert to work on the project. Then put all this on usa.gov. If this works, do more.
3. Start a governmentwide web content certification process. Some agencies do this already. Bring discipline to content management by putting the onus for quality on the right players – the organization managers who create and own it. Require managers all the way up the chain to certify to the agency head – on some regular basis – that the content their organizations have posted on their websites is current and accurate. Hold them accountable. There’s nothing like telling managers that their performance ratings will be affected if their web content is wrong or outdated, to put focus on the importance of quality. Chances are this also will help keep web content to a manageable mass.

A good baseline is a good place to start. It should help identify the resources needed to turn some of those wonderful possibilities into reality.

Related links:

USA.gov Shines The Light On a Big Problem: Redundancy

Forewarned Is Forearmed

Transition Tests Leadership

Ah – I remember it well…during the last transition, new requirements for our website were coming from all directions. Web managers and team members all over the Department were being urged by the new political team to do this, that, and the other. Many of the new political staff didn’t give a hoot that the Department had policies and procedures for what goes on the website and how it gets there, nor did they care about making sure we retained our goal to look like “one HUD.” It was every branch/division/office for itself.

Transition was a great opportunity for rogue web team members, itching to do their own thing, to go off in their own direction. All they needed was the ear of a new political aide (who probably was unaware of Department web policies), and they had their sanction. Indeed, we eventually saw a major section of the Department break off and create its own website. That we were able to retain as much stability and make as much progress as we did was a minor miracle. And HUD wasn't the only government agency facing this phenomenon.

The last transition was a huge challenge to the leadership abilities of government web managers. This transition will be no different.

How do you keep a web organization together and on track, when you have no legitimate (delegated) authority over all the players? How do you show the incoming political executives and aides the value of a unified strategy across the agency and across government, to improve government websites? How do you keep all you’ve accomplished from falling apart? You have to lead!

It’s as simple (and challenging!) as this: you have to get in to see the new team; and you have to articulate what you want to do and where you’re headed, in terms that this political audience understands. You have to persuade them that it’s the right thing to do for the American people. You have to show your passion for, and conviction in, the strategic direction of the web manager community. You have to know your message and stick to it. You have to repeat it over and over, like a broken record. And you have to make sure that your entire web team can articulate the same principles and direction.

You must be a strong leader to be successful in managing government websites - always. But your leadership abilities have never been more critical than they are now. Hold your team together through your leadership. Inspire them – and your new bosses – to work together across the agency and across government to create websites that provide first-class service to the public. Speaking as a citizen, we are counting on you to do that. Lead!

Ready, Set, GO!

Finally, the Presidential election is behind us! We have our new President-elect, and the very good news for government web managers is that President-elect Obama is web-savvy and very ambitious about using technology to make government more open and transparent to its citizens. So…are you ready?

The transition teams are moving into your agencies right now. You’ve been planning for months. But just in case you still need some pointers on strategy, here are three.

Make an appointment to meet with the transition team TODAY! Find out the name of at least one person on your agency’s transition team and call or email that person, asking for no more than 30 minutes to brief him/her on the agency’s web plans. Go to that meeting well-rehearsed.

Plan a 20-minute presentation, leaving 10 minutes to answer questions and to ask how you can help them succeed. Give them just 3 pieces of information:

• Who are we serving? Describe your web audiences and what they want/use most (top tasks). Use a few stats, and explain why those stats are important to the new administration. Don’t overwhelm them with “what is” because they’re going to be more interested in “what will be.”
• What are the goals for improving public service via the web? Give them a copy of the Web Managers Council White Paper, and describe how the web manager community is working together to improve all government websites. Again, make sure they understand how this will help them implement their objectives.
• What help do you need from the new administration? Tell them what policy changes you need to improve service to the public. If your governance structure needs to be fixed, that should be one of the first items on your agenda. Talk in terms of the value of these changes to the new administration. Keep it short; keep it positive.

Make sure your name and contact info is on each piece of paper you leave behind. Offer to meet again to discuss specific goals and strategies.

Tip for success: take a member of the Web Managers Council with you to this briefing. Show that the community stands together.

Meet with your web organization. You must keep your web team informed. Tell them whom you’ve met, what you’ve said, and what’s been said to you. Your team may be getting information, too. Pool your knowledge to get a better picture of the new team and what they want and need. Players and information will be changing quickly, so find a good way to communicate regularly with your web organization.

Stay plugged in to what’s going on across government. Don’t skip over that email from the Listserv or the Web Council leaders – you need to know what other web managers are learning. Listen in to all Forum calls. Check webcontent.gov frequently. We serve best when we serve together. So keep alert to information your colleagues may be getting or giving – it could really help you be successful with the new team!

It’s an exciting time! Change is good. You’re prepared. Be steady. Ready, set, GO!

Work Together Through This Transition

It’s just weeks away…the both longed-for and feared “T” word: transition! It doesn’t matter where your politics lie…when you’re a Fed, you psych up for this event. New bosses. New initiatives. New energy. New challenges. And a new opportunity to show how government web managers are working together to improve public service.

The federal Web Managers Council has crafted a strategy for achieving cross-government goals. They based it on ideas from the web manager community. It’s all right there. Now you have to sell it to the new administration. You have to tell them why it’s important to your agency, to all agencies, and – most of all – to the public. You have to convince them that it’s critical and worth their attention and support. So here’s a thought: if it’s a web community plan, why not do your briefings in web community teams?

How you convey a message often is as critical to success as what you say. If your message is "we have a cross-government strategy," couldn’t you underscore your point by having 2 or 3 web managers from other agencies with you? It's that whole actions speak louder than words thing.

Be strategic. And remember: we serve best when we serve together.

Related links:
5 Things Government Web Managers Should Do Before Transition
Three Wishes

Leading Strategically

Gwynne Kostin, web manager at Homeland Security, jumped right into a leadership role after Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005. A member of the federal Web Managers Council, Gwynne marshaled government web managers into information “lanes” and managed a governmentwide effort to provide consistent, concise information for hurricane victims, relatives, and friends. It was a real milestone in the government web manager community –the first time we really worked together to create and manage content on a specific topic, across government websites. Gwynne recognized a management problem and stepped in to provide a strategy and the leadership to solve it.

Since then, Gwynne has led subsequent disaster responses, improving the process each time. She doesn’t wait to be told what to do. She just does it. That’s real leadership.

Now, Gwynne has done it again. As part of the government’s most recent response to devastating hurricanes, Gwynne developed a “widget” – a piece of computer code – that shows 6 simple links:

Federal Hurricane Response

• Get Prepared
• Find Friends & Family
• Health & Safety
• Donate & Volunteers
• What Government Is Doing
• En espanol

This widget appears on the Homeland Security website and – from there - can be copied by other web managers and placed on their own websites, helping the public get the same consistent hurricane information from the government, no matter which website they visit. It saved time and effort for individual web managers because they didn’t have to replicate or create their own set of links; and it provides commonality across government, a bonus for the public. Once again, Gwynne identified a management problem – need for quick, consistent information across government – and used a web 2.0 technology to solve it.

One of my greatest concerns about the Web 2.0 revolution is that web managers will use these technologies and applications because they’re “cool” – not because they are the right solution to a management problem or goal. Gwynne Kostin has demonstrated the right way – the strategic way - to do it. That’s real leadership.

An Inventory Is A Place to Start

24,000 + federal government websites…where do you begin to address that massive amount of clutter (not to mention overlap, waste, vanity, etc.)? A good inventory is a place to start.

Federal web managers would be doing their new bosses – and all Americans – a big favor if they just simply count the websites. Collect basic data:

• Title
• URL (.gov, .mil, .fed.us, .com, .edu – come on…ferret out all those hidden sites!)
• Purpose (that should be entertaining)
• Average monthly visitors (unique visitors per month, over a 3-6 month period)
• Cost (ah-ha! No cheating. Count FTE – both full-time and at least half-time, contracts, and IT costs, at a minimum)
• Calculate a cost/visitor ratio

Put it all together (Web Managers Council) and see what you’ve got.

Want to help the next President (and his team) figure out what they’ve got and what they need to do next? Start with an inventory. I double-dog dare you.

Another Voice on Common Look and Feel?

Darrell M. West, formerly of Brown University and now of the Brookings Institution, has released his latest review of e-gov: “State and Federal Electronic Government in the United States, 2008.” Like most federal web managers, I have some concerns about West’s studies…how is it that an agency’s score can change so dramatically from year to year, when virtually no changes were made to the website? But that question aside, West’s reviews always are interesting reading.

One recommendation that West makes in this year’s report really jumped out at me. It’s way down on page 8, under “Policy Recommendations:”

“The most striking discovery while researching state and federal websites was the importance of consistency. States that had websites that were completely inconsistent from one agency to the next were harder to navigate, because each site seemed like an independent entity. Sites that were consistently formatted, however, were much easier to use because one knew where to find certain links with the prior knowledge of their relative locations on other state sites.”

And in a box on that same page:

“Agencies should have layouts similar to the portal page so that users can automatically identify that agency’s website as a government unit.”

On this concept, I am in total agreement with Darrell West.

Years ago, we figured out that if an agency used a common template for all of its component offices and divisions, it makes us look better to the public; and, more important, it makes it easier to use our website(s). I remember when I forced all of HUD’s field and Headquarters offices to move to a single template, back in the mid-1990s. I was nearly tarred and feathered. I was pulling all the creativity and fun out of web management. I was too controlling. I was hated. But you know what? It was the right thing to do. The public loved it. We immediately began getting email from our website visitors saying how much easier it was to use the site and how much it made us look like a single, unified agency, speaking with one voice.

Many federal agencies now “get it” and have pulled all (or most of) their component sites into a single look and feel. USDA did a dynamite job doing just that a couple of years ago. So if it’s the right thing to do across an agency or – as West suggests – a state, why wouldn’t it be the right thing to do across the federal government?

Further, I agree with West that agencies should have layouts similar to the portal page, so that visitors recognize us as a unit. The portal for the federal government is USA.gov. You’ve heard me harp on this over and over – it’s a great design, it’s been tested and tested for usability, so why not use it across the board?

Read Darrell West’s report. It’s worth it. And keep mulling over that idea about a common look and feel across the federal government. The time for tough love may be coming.

USA.gov Shines the Light on a Big Problem - Redundancy

USA.gov is a terrific website. I love the design – simple, uncluttered, pretty easy to use. The USA.gov team has done a good job sorting through and categorizing thousands (and thousands and thousands and…) of links to government websites. And in doing that, they have exposed one of government’s biggest problems: redundancy. Duplication. Overlap. Waste.

Go to USA.gov and pick any topic…let’s say “Family, home, and community.” That’s a category that touches all of us. Drill down through “Homes and housing” to “Home buying and financing.” On that list, you find 12 links that mention “loan,” “mortgage,”
“finances,” “down payment,” or some derivative of these terms. These links lead to information at or from at least 6 different federal agencies (some are publications posted on the Pueblo, Colorado site). One of them takes you to another page of links on mortgages, from even more agencies. Two of the links on that page go to mortgage calculators (one from Ginnie Mae; one from the Federal Reserve).

OK – I’m a citizen looking to my government to give me some good, objective tips on getting a mortgage. And you expect me to plow through all this stuff, sort the wheat from the chaff, and figure out where to start? Come on, folks. Don’t you people talk to one another? Can’t you pull this together in one easy, step-by-step guide? Don’t we pay you to make our lives easier – not harder?

There’s nothing like seeing these long lists of links, topic-by-topic, to recognize inefficiency. I didn’t take time to read through all this info (few would), but I’d be willing to bet there’s at least some duplication (duh) and possibly even some conflicting advice. After all, when you let that many different players publish without coordination or editing, you’re bound to find some conflicting opinions.

We who work(ed) in the federal government know that duplication and lack of coordination across government is rampant. But the internet has really exposed this problem to the public.

So how do you solve it? Well, we’ve already got a model in many agencies: distributed authorship. You create one template with a good set of rules, put someone in charge of enforcing those rules, and let many authors contribute to a single website. You make sure that each topic has a good editor who sees to it that redundancy is eliminated and conflicts are resolved. You scrap all (or at least most) of those individual government websites and use those resources to create content for that single site…content that incorporates all the facts, tips, and services from all the relevant agencies, content that leads the reader through the steps.

USA.gov has sorted out the topics. We know which agencies need to work together, to pool knowledge and resources. The next step is to agree on the goal. That will take courage and humility (it’s hard to give up autonomy). Would it be easy? No. Is it the right thing to do? Yes.

Related links:

• What’s Missing from E-Gov? A Mandate to Communicate
• Common Look and Feel – Why Go Further Than USA.gov?
• Three Wishes
• Follow Those Brits!

Today’s Government Web Team Needs to Cover the Bases

Government websites are evolving into service stations where the public can drive up, find and use the service they want, and drive away quickly. Government agencies are starting to use the power of “social networking” sites to deliver information and advertise services. Government web managers are paying more attention to what the public wants and are using sophisticated metrics and usability tests to make sure they get it right. And – more than ever – the public is clamoring for websites that talk their talk…that communicate. So what kind of web team do you need to handle this big job? You need one that has all the knowledge, skills, and abilities to cover the bases.

If I were creating my “dream team” today, here’s what I’d want (and let’s just pretend money is no object):

1 Content Manager (note: I did not say “Web Content Manager” – more on that later). GS 15.

• Major functions: Overall leadership and strategy for content management operations. Representative to agency executives and interagency efforts. Overall editor-in-chief.
• Why? There’s got to be one leader at the top.

1 Deputy Content Manager GS 15.

• Major functions: chief problem solver; chief surrogate for the Content Manager.
• Why? You’ve got to have a trained and knowledgeable surrogate. You’ve got to build redundancies. And you’ve got to create a training ladder so that, by the time you need a new Content Manager, you’ve got one ready. Oh – and you’ve got to have a chief problem-solver…someone who can really dig in on those complex problems, sort them out, and come up with the right answers.

1 Technology Analyst (OK – you could call this person “Webmaster”) GS 13/14

• Major functions: look for new technologies to carry out content goals; analyze how new technologies could be used to improve content; oversee technology contractors; liaison to CIO.
• Why? You no longer can dump all that tech responsibility on the CIO. You need to have someone on your own team who can be looking down the road, who understands the content goals and can bridge the gap between communicators and the CIO staff. Whether the next President has an E-Gov Director or a Chief Technology Officer or some other IT lead at OMB, you need to have someone on your team paying attention to that side of the house.

1 Audience Analyst GS 13/14

• Major functions: develop and analyze metrics; do usability testing; analyze email, correspondence, call-ins to determine what the public wants and what the agency is telling them; recommend new/revised content to meet audience needs.
• Why? No more guessing allowed. The public expects us to know what they want and give it to them efficiently and effectively. You need an expert analyst who can make sure your content does just that.

1 Director of Local Content GS 13/14

• Major functions: lead Regional Content Managers; develop local content; coordinate with agency program office outreach operations; direct marketing and outreach.
• Why? The public wants that local touch. Sure, they want to know how to buy a home. But what they really want to know is how to buy a home in where they live (or want to live). Most agencies have field operations – you’ve got the people out there who have that local expertise. Use it.

1 Intranet Manager GS 13/14

• Major function: manage the intranet.
• Why? Employees deserve to have someone paying attention to their wants and needs, someone who will make sure content up-to-date and served in ways that make sense to them. No more making this one of many tasks assigned to one of your team members. Give it the resources it deserves.

2-3 Project Managers GS 11/12

• Major functions: plan, coordinate, implement, evaluate specific projects such as training, management controls, quality control, documentation, quarterly certifications, foreign language pages, developing new content, editing, etc.
• Why? So many projects – so little time! You need skilled project managers to make sure none of those balls drop. And this is a great training opportunity for aspiring content managers.

5-7 Regional Content Managers GS 13/14 located in agency offices outside of Washington DC.

• Major functions: Lead content operations for an assigned geographic area; develop content by state (or city); direct marketing and outreach at the local level; editors-in-chief for local content.
• Why? Folks in the field know this stuff. And you’ve got to have someone on site who can lead the effort, who have personal touch with the public

5-7 Deputy Regional Content Managers GS 11/12

• Major functions: assist Regional Content Managers and act as surrogates
• Why? Redundancy and assistance

1-2 Staff Assistants GS 7/9

• Major functions: Assist in day-to-day operations of the content team, assist in project management
• Why? Someone’s got to keep you going…cross those ‘t’s,” dot those “i’s.” And it’s a great way to pull entry-level employees into your career ladder, train them for bigger jobs.

OK – so why “content” and not “web content”? Well, for a couple of reasons. First, I believe that “web” limits the thinking of agency executives. When they hear or read “web,” they think of a website and computers – not about the tasks being served or the words on the page. They pigeonhole the content manager into a “techie” slot, rather than in the more appropriate “communicator” slot.

More important, I think it’s inevitable – and right – that, one day, all communications operations will be put under one organizational umbrella…websites, publications, call centers, and any other methods of content delivery. Someday (hopefully soon), government leaders will realize that we need to create content once and deliver it many ways. So let’s get those leaders thinking of us in terms of “content” management – not just “web” management. And when they staff those umbrella organization jobs...well, there we’ll be.

It’s transition time – use it. Get your staffing plan ready. Let your new bosses know what you need to run a successful contemporary government web team. The next President is sure to know the power of government websites. He is sure to make new demands that will affect you. This is a great time to take a hard look at your web team and make sure you’ve got what you need to cover the bases.

Related links:

5 Things Government Web Managers Should Do Before Transition

Are We Ready for E-Democracy?

Steve Clift recently published a thought-provoking article called, “Sidewalks for Democracy Online,” part of the Personal Democracy Forum’s “Rebooting Democracy” series. Steve is a long-time proponent of “e-democracy” – creating government of and by the people – not just for the people, using the internet. I’m with Steve. Involving citizens in the work of government in meaningful ways is the right thing to do. We should have online forums. We should create online work sessions allowing citizens to interact with their government to define issues and solve problems. We should use social networking options and wikis to bring government and citizens together. We should draw on the energy and ideas and talents of the public to improve the work of their government. But I wonder…are we ready for e-democracy?

Is there enough real interest among citizens – beyond the advocates – in being involved in government to make it worth the cost? Is the government (at least the federal government) ready to take this on – to change its culture - even with a President who is behind it? Is Congress ready to fund it (because we all know that unfunded mandates never last)? Are we ready to do the kind of promotion that it will take to change the skepticism of the American people?

Let’s be honest - the current culture of the federal government – like it or not – is very authoritarian. It’s, “we know what’s best for you.” Come on, feds…when was the last time you were encouraged to go out and listen to citizens? Sure, we take comments on proposed rules; but don’t we sometimes put more energy into rebutting them than embracing them? Aren’t we more likely to pull out that regulation or handbook and tell a citizen, “no” than to talk with that citizen about options?

And on the other side...many citizens want their government to be all-knowing. They want to trust their government to give them the right answer. So – to some – creating e-democracy might cause dissonance. “I’m so glad you listened to and adopted my idea, Government; but that means you weren’t completely right in the first place. If that’s true in this case, is it true in others? Can we really trust you to be right? I thought we were paying you people our tax dollars so you can solve these problems.”

Actually, e-democracy is not a new concept for government. Many agencies made attempts in the past. In the late 90s, we jumped all over the online discussion possibilities at HUD. We had a number of discussion rooms, both for HUD partners and for citizens. Some were around specific topics. Some were pretty much wide open – “let’s talk about what citizens can do in their communities to make them better.” What we found – nearly across the board – is that we got very little citizen participation; and those that did participate often used the discussion rooms to ask specific questions about HUD programs. There really wasn’t much discussion.

The bigger problem was managing the discussion rooms. Though a HUD employee was responsible for each discussion room, too often they didn’t visit the rooms regularly. Thus, we’d see nasty comments from people who had asked questions that weren’t answered or discover other participants (non-government) giving wrong information. We also saw discussions going way off track; and in a couple of cases, we saw small groups of regulars basically hijack the discussion room for completely different purposes. Managing discussion rooms is a workload item that needs appropriate staffing. Without that staffing – we learned - they fail.

E-democracy could work. What would it take?

• A change in culture. A President who makes it a priority, gets Congressional backing, creates the policies, dedicates the resources, and holds government employees accountable – from top to bottom – for results.
• A change in values. Government managers and staff have to be rewarded for listening and discussing alternatives with the public – involving them in the process. They have to value a new way to do business.
• Planning. Agency executives have to incorporate e-democracy in their management plans. They have to allocate appropriate (underscore “appropriate”) staff to engage in online forums, analyze and respond to citizen questions, take action on the solutions that are generated, and follow up to let citizens know what became of their ideas so they’ll want to participate again.

For our part, web managers need to think it through. We need to prepare. We need to use our experience to identify potential pitfalls and be ready with solutions. We need to develop practical implementation strategies based on a realistic assessment of resource needs; so if we’re asked, we can propose a sound, thoughtful, realistic method for ensuring success. We need to do this as a community - engaging those with knowledge, experience, and ideas - so we all can succeed.

E-democracy is a concept that is gaining attention from both parties. It’s a good thing. Are we ready?

Don't Make Your New Bosses Do All the Thinking

You’ve read their intentions, on their campaign websites. You’ve speculated and pondered what they may want to do, as far as the internet is concerned. But here’s the question: what should they do?

You’re the pros. You’ve been running government websites for a long time now. You know where the candidates are being idealistic and where they’re being practical. You know what policy issues will have to be addressed to make their promises come true. More important, you know what else needs to be done, to improve the way the government serves citizens. So what advice will you give them?

I’ve read a couple of interesting articles recently. Both got me thinking. The first was an article in the Wall Street Journal, “The Next American Frontier,” by Michael S. Malone. Malone talks about the change in America – especially in the behavior and expectations of young people. He describes many of them as “entrepreneurial” – wanting to work for themselves, do their own thing. How can we help our new bosses respond to this new generation of citizens? How can we help them use the internet to attract those young people to government service? Certainly work-at-home situations and virtual teams could help. What else could we suggest?

The second article was on Atlantic.com…an article called “HisSpace,” by Marc Ambinder. It’s specifically about Barak Obama and his intentions to seize the power of the internet to involve the public in government. But the author wonders if Obama can succeed, if he’s elected. Can he meet the expectations of the public?

Read both of these articles. Share them with your web friends. Talk about them. Look for more “think piece” articles. Throw what you read into the mix, along with your experience and knowledge; and really think seriously about what we can do to help our new President (whoever he or she is) succeed. What can we propose to our new bosses to help them (and us) move toward the future?

Don’t make your new bosses do all the thinking. All three of the Presidential candidates are outsiders – they haven’t worked in the Executive Branch (OK – you might say that Hillary has been close…but she hasn’t been where you are). Give them a break. Do the right thing. Give them some meaty proposals - some really forward-thinking ideas that are based in the reality you know - that could really improve the way the government serves citizens.

Good Things Do Happen to Good People

I was absolutely delighted to see Sheila Campbell chosen one of the top 10 innovators in government information technology this week, with the presentation of the 2008 Technology Leadership Awards. Bravo, Government Computer News! You got it right.

Being a web innovator is a thankless job. It’s tilting at windmills, rolling the stone uphill, and all those other old (but accurate) clichés. I don’t know anyone who has worked more tirelessly to make government websites meaningful to citizens than Sheila.

I first met Sheila as she was coming off maternity leave, in 2004. We were designated co-chairs of a cross-agency working group charged with developing policy recommendations for OMB, in compliance with the E-Gov Act of 2002, Section 207. Sheila was on the FirstGov (now USA.gov) staff and was not especially well-known in the web manager community. But she dug into that task like the dedicated pro she is.

We had a tight deadline (mandated by the legislation); and we had a geographic challenge – I was in Tucson, and Sheila was in DC. That meant that she had to do all the legwork in Washington. Sheila earned her place in the web manager community – and my trust and respect – by going way beyond the call of duty. She’s a born leader, and she was a great partner on a pivotal project.

Since then, Sheila created a website for government web managers (webcontent.gov), shepherded a new training academy for government web managers (Web Manager University), and – at the same time – served as a leader of the Web Managers Forum and Web Managers Council. Those are great credentials. But that’s not what makes Sheila such a deserving honoree, in my book. It’s her sincere passion for using the web to serve citizens that puts her on one of my pedestals. It’s how she puts her heart and soul into that goal. It’s how she worries about doing the right thing and how she pushes the web manager community toward better service. Sheila is a true “public servant.” She never loses sight of her raison d'être. She never gives up. She’s a true leader.

Way to go, Sheila! You definitely earned this affirmation.

When Web Managers Gather...

On Monday and Tuesday, some 450 government web managers from across the country will gather in Washington to hear new ideas, network, and - this year - build energy toward that action-packed time of change that comes with electing a new President. This annual meeting of the web manager community is perhaps the best use of their time all year, as far as the public is concerned, because – for a few hours – they are “government” web managers – not HUD web managers or State Department Web Managers or Indiana web managers or Chicago web managers. And when web managers start thinking and acting collectively, their power – and their results – increases exponentially.

For those couple of days, they raise their heads and look around at all that they have in common. They share ideas. They nod at common problems and common goals. They make notes about new ideas they want to try. They seek out one another at lunch or after a session to talk more about pet peeves or get more “how to’s.” They form alliances and talk about working together to make all government websites better. They take time to think about those they serve: the public. They get re-charged…they get excited. That’s a good thing for you and me, Citizen.

If you’re one of those smart web managers going to the Web Managers conference, have a great time! Soak it all up. Meet your colleagues. Seek collaboration. Get on board with the community’s plans for transition. Go home inspired!

(Oh – and if you aren’t going this year, be sure to sign up early next year. This is a “don’t miss” opportunity! It’s good for you. It’s good for those you serve.)

5 Things Government Web Managers Should Do Before Transition

A couple of weeks ago, I taught a Web Governance course for Web Manager University. To get ready for that class, I polled some of my former colleagues to see where web governance stands, across government. After all, we’ve been running government websites for 13 years now; so I expected that most agencies would have most pieces (roles, responsibilities, relationships, rules, and review) in place. Wrong! I was surprised to see how many lacked some of the basics.

With transition coming, web managers need to pin down their governance structures. Even if it’s not perfect, document what you’ve got – if only to show where there are holes. Find out what you're spending to run your website(s) and be ready to talk about return on investment.

Imagine a new boss walking in and asking you for your policies or procedures or management controls or strategic plan; and you reply, “I don’t have them.” What if your new boss asks what you're spending on the website and you say, "I don't know?" What if those new bosses walk in with a long list of ideas for using the web, and you don’t have a strategic plan and firm knowledge of your budget and resources so you can point out what trade-offs will have to be made to accommodate those new initiatives? You’d be putting your new bosses in the position of making a bad decision because you didn’t have the facts to help them make a good one. Not a great way to start.

Here’s my advice to government web managers. If you do nothing else, do these 5 things before the November election (and the arrival of those transition teams):

1. Document everything NOW! Write down your existing governance structure, policies, publication procedures/standards, and operating procedures. Have them ready for the new team. Identify deficiencies and plans to correct them.
2. Identify and document management controls (procedures) to prevent fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement of web content. Make sure you’re using them.
3. Find out how much you’re spending to run the website(s)! Include FTE (staff) – both full-time and part-time – and contract dollars spent on content support. If you can find out technology costs, that’s good, too. Know your budget. Be ready to discuss return on investment and justify costs.
4. Come up with at least one or two performance measures tied to mission achievement and/or public service. Traffic and customer satisfaction measures are not enough to justify a website.
5. Develop/document a strategic plan. Be able to show your new bosses where you’re going and explain why, in terms of impact on mission/public service. Incorporate governmentwide goals. Include goals to correct deficiencies in governance structures, policies, procedures, and management controls, as well as goals for progress. Be ready to discuss all your initiatives (including web 2.0 initiatives) in terms of the strategic goals they help achieve.

Do yourself a favor. Get these ducks lined up. You’ll look like an effective manager and be on much better footing when you talk to your new bosses. Tick, tick, tick.