I enjoyed Steve Radick's blog post on Govloop about implementing the Plain Writing Act. Steve speculates that it will take years (actually, he says “decades) to implement the Act. He gives several reasons, and they’re all good.
I’ve read a number of opinion pieces about the new CustomerService Executive Order, saying, “Yeah, yeah, yeah – Clinton tried…Bush tried…what’s different now?” Good question.
The truth is this: no one is gonna make you do the right thing for your customers.
There are no OMB customer service police. There won’t be any budget consequences if you don’t write so your customers can understand it the first time. No programs will be cut or jobs lost. Indeed - we’ve had these initiatives before. We created plans. We posted reports showing how we’d completed our plans. No one cheated. We did what we were asked to do. We met the requirements. But those requirements didn’t change anything. These new ones won’t either. Only YOU can do that.
Government employees can create change, when they are passionate enough and courageous enough to figure out the right thing and do it. Just last week, Facebookers and Tweeters were all a-flutter about an extremely clever blog piece published by the Centers for Disease Control, Preparedness101: Zombie Apocalypse, written by Ali S. Khan. There you have it: a government employee in an agency willing to do something out of the ordinary, to serve their customers better. And it worked! Bravo to Ali Khan and the CDC.
Other examples are everywhere. Look at the government winners of the recent Clearmark PlainLanguage Awards (and use them as models!). Look at some of the fantastic mobile apps popping up like “Ask Karen,” where you can get advice on food safety, whenever and wherever you are. There is progress. We can serve our customers better.
So here’s the thing. It won’t be a law or an Executive Order that will create a culture of customer service in government. YOU have to figure out the right things to do and then do them.
You have to work together, across government…across governments. You have to find others who share your vision and your passion. You have to go to other agencies with similar or related customer tasks and figure out how to make it easier for customers to get great service across government, without having to know which agency provides it. You have to help one another, share strategies, find ways around obstacles, and prop each other up when the going gets tough. You have to be gutsy. And when something works, you have to replicate it…again and again…until it’s common practice. That’s how you change the culture.
The law and the Executive Order are important. They serve notice that Congress and the President care about great customer service. But don’t limit your efforts to doing what they say to do. That’s just a baseline. Focus on their intent. Seize the opportunity to change the culture.
No one’s gonna make you do the right thing for your customers. You’ll have to do that yourself.
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About 10 years ago, I helped a colleague build a case that managing government websites is “inherently governmental.” A-76 (OMB Circular A-76: Performance of Commercial Activities) was rearing its head again, and some agencies were asking the question: could web management be done more efficiently and effectively by the private sector? A few agency web managers were scrambling to justify their existence. In the end, I don’t think anyone lost a job; but it was a wake-up call.
As I looked at the recently-released “Alpha.gov.uk,” that fire drill came back to me.
Basically, a high level official the United Kingdom government got disgusted with the cost and inefficiency of government websites and asked for a study. An outside reviewer concluded that U.K. government websites were a mess, that they were organized around government agencies instead of customer needs, and that the best thing to do is dump them and start over. They concluded there should be a single domain – one website – where citizens could go to find the government services they need. Oh - and PS - eliminating all these agency sites should result in significant savings.
They hired a team of outside consultants to build the site – apparently didn’t even give govies a chance to redeem themselves – and “Alpha.gov.uk” is the result.
It’s not a perfect website – and they’re very honest about that right up front – but it’s a good start. Lots of positives. For example, I really like the box, placed in the top left quadrant of the screen so my eye sees it first, asking me where I am and then explaining that if they know where I live, they can tell me what services are available to me. Spot on. That’s what customers everywhere want – what’s available to me, where I live.
Then you choose a task (and I’m hoping the ones on the front page are their top tasks), and you go to a page that has nice big print and looks easy to use. The first task I tried was “calculate holiday pay,” and – what’s this? It actually tells me how many steps are involved and about how long it will take me to complete this task, before I start. Now these folks respect their customers. They know people want to get in, get it done, and get out. TIME is critical.
Next, I chose “pay your council tax,” and – oh, look…they tell me right at the top I have to have a credit card. I don’t have to waste my time filling out the form, only to discover I can’t pay by e-check.
There are just a few “related items” links on each page - they don’t overwhelm me with choices. Whew!
Best of all – it’s written in plain language. I understood every page I looked at, first time I read it. If I were a U.K. citizen, I’d be happy with this direction.
Don’t get me wrong – it’s not perfect. I’d like an option to browse topics. I don’t really like all that news stuff below the fold. It’s clunky going back and forth. And I really didn’t poke around beyond the front page tasks, so I’m guessing they have a lot of kinks to work out. But all things considered, I’m impressed.
And it’s got to be chilling for our colleagues, the U.K. government web managers.
So I’m thinking…could this happen in the U.S.? If the UK model turns out to be a success (or even just perceived as a success), will advocates or media or the public start asking, “why not us?” Could consultants come in now and do what we do, better and/or more cost-effectively?
I think we need to talk about this, as a community. We know our government is facing a huge deficit, and people are looking everywhere for ways to cut costs. 24,000+ websites…gotta be some savings there. So what’s our strategy? How can we make sure we’re more efficient and effective than the private sector could be?
Did you guess what my title refers to? John Donne’s “No Man is an Island.” Always a good reminder. Send not to know for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee.
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Yesterday, April 27, 2011, President Obama issued an Executive Order: Streamlining Service Delivery and Improving Customer Service. In a nutshell, it directs agencies to develop and monitor customer service plans and measures and to solicit customer feedback to improve service. It calls for agencies to use technology to streamline customer service and to emulate practices that have worked well in the private sector.
This isn’t the first Presidential customer service initiative - President Clinton issued an Executive Order in 1993, requiring agencies to establish customer service standards - but it’s a huge step at a time when public expectations of government service have never been higher. As a long-time advocate for great customer service in government, I’m turning cartwheels!
But, wait…can it work?
My good friend, Bernie Lubran - fellow government customer service passionista and Regional Manager for ForeSee Results (home of the American Customer Satisfaction Index) – sent me a link to a great article last week, “The Rise of the Chief Customer Officer,” by Paul Hagen, published in the Harvard Business Review. It talks about a new kind of executive at many top private sector companies: the Chief Customer Officer (CCO). If you care about customer service in government, read it.
What really struck me was a quote from Roei Ganzarski, the CCO at the Training & Flight Services Division of the Boeing Company, "… in order to continue growing successfully, we needed to be more focused on our customers than ever before. Our organizational culture wasn't optimal to say the least. Our operations departments were focused on our products and services, our finance teams on collecting payments, and our sales and business development teams on meeting short-term revenue goals. But no one was looking at things from the customers' holistic perspective. We knew we needed to change our culture to better serve the one reason we all exist — our customers."
Does that sound familiar? How many government agencies are so wrapped up in carrying out mission that they fail to look at things from their customer’s point of view? How many agencies (and sub-agencies and divisions and officies…you know – all those silos) are so busy meeting those management goals that they forget their services may be just part of what their customers need to solve their problems and achieve their goals. Is achieving mission really the same as providing great customer service?
So back to President Obama’s initiative. Oh, I do so want it to work. I do. I do.
I remember when President Clinton’s Executive Order was issued. We knew it was the right thing to do. But – honestly – it asked so little of us. And we were so busy doing other good things. So while agencies met the letter of the requirements, there was no commensurate change in culture. And we didn’t have a leader dedicated to the effort – a Chief Customer Officer – to see it through. Leadership is oh-so-essential if you really want to create change.
So what do we need to achieve a happy ending this time? Real, comprehensive change to create great customer service from the federal government?
Well, we need to address the two problems. And do one more right thing.
- We need a real firm mandate to look at government services from our customers’ point of view. My one disappointment with the Executive Order is that it lets each agency do its own thing. I wish it said, “we need to look at things from our customers’ point of view and build our services in ways that make sense to them, even if – especially if - that means working across agencies to package a service.” Achieving your mission isn’t enough if the customer can complete only half the task. We need executives, managers, and employees across government to adopt “customer think.”
- We need a strong leader. We need someone to serve as our CCO – to inspire, excite, advocate for, oversee, coordinate, poke, prod, goad, and do whatever it takes to create great customer service across government. The Executive Order says the Office of Management and Budget, the General Services Division, and the Office of Science and Technology Policy will provide support and best practices. That’s great! And necessary. But we need one leader who really understands our customers (both individual citizens and other entities), who has the ear of the President, who will be at the table with all the other executives making decisions about how resources are handed out and what the priorities are, who can bring private sector customer service experts together with public managers to identify and adopt great customer service practices, who has the time and talent to cause the culture change we need, and – most of all – who has the passion to do this hard job because it’s the right thing to do.
- If we really care about open government and customer service, why not involve customers in this initiative? Establish a Customer Service Panel of typical customers – maybe at each agency, but certainly across government – to try out ideas, offer suggestions, and be partners in this whole thing.
Ok – and because I’ve been harping about it forever – suggestion 4 is to have a Customer Service Summit.
Are we ready to provide great customer service in government? Oh, I hope so. I believe so. I want it to be so. If not now, when?
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Metrics That Matter
In the beginning, federal government websites were published by IT staff or rogue tech-savvy employees who were fascinated by this new information disseminator, the internet. They taught themselves HTML, and they embraced new design tricks and emerging technologies with gusto. It was a new frontier to explore, and these Nerdies were scouting the wilderness!
But soon, we realized our growing web audiences wanted more than just a place to visit. They wanted to be able to do something. Nerdies could build the storefront. But we needed someone to create the product…someone with the ability to turn the agency’s mission into clear concise services that our audiences want and can use. And web Wordies were born.
I remember going to the first meeting of Rich Kellett's Federal Webmasters Forum, back in August 1996. From the very first meeting, it was clear that the people in the room had two distinct interests. The Nerdies wanted to talk about coding and software packages, while the Wordies wanted to talk about audiences and how to gather and organize content. Eventually, the Wordies broke off and formed the Government Web Content Managers Forum.
We got it that there are two critical tracks. We got it that our websites were growing so large and demands so strong that we need skilled specialists in both areas. And we got it that we are symbiotic – Nerdies and Wordies have to work together to succeed.
So what’s my point? Wordies need what Nerdies have.
- Being a Wordie, like being a Nerdie, is a job requiring unique skills. Nerdies have a job series. Wordies need one, too.
- Nerdies have a high-level advocate and leader at OMB. Wordies need one, too.
For the most part, federal government Wordies have written our own rules, defined our own jobs, identified our own best practices, and organized our own community. It's a real grass roots success story. And we’ve liked doing it that way – it mirrors the way the internet has grown.
But let’s face it: we've hit a wall. We need more authority to cause the cross-agency coordination and consistency that we know will improve government service. So we need more traditional legitimacy for Wordies.
We need a bonafide job series, with clearly defined knowledge and skills requirements, authorized by the Office of Personnel Management and consistent across government. We need a functional advocate and leader at OMB to help us create content strategies and preserve uniform standards and performance objectives across agencies and across administrations.
Wordies need what Nerdies have. They're both essential for great government customer service.
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What’s Next?
I had an interesting discussion with an esteemed colleague about my last blog post on making sure portal sites add value. One of my suggestions was to adopt a common design and publication standards across all agencies covered by the portal. He said, “Here's a fact...every government entity will do what is in its best interest...program, business unit, a bureau or a department will do what is in its best interest…there is no incentive for them to try to coordinate/manage.” Sadly, he speaks the truth. And though I’ve only worked in the federal government, I’m guessing that truth extends to state and local governments, as well.
In huge bureaucracies, the customer often gets lost among the competition for budgets, power, and prestige (which might lead to a better job). Both political executives and career employees – even web managers – thrive on doing something better than another office or agency. Normally, I think healthy competition is a good thing. But not in government, where great customer service often means bridging silos and cooperation is paramount. Self-interest – even if it isn’t personal…even if it’s for your office or agency – is the biggest barrier to great customer service.
So how do we overcome that barrier? How do we make it more important to serve our customers than to serve ourselves? The answer is both simple and horrendously difficult: change the reward system. Change both the tangible and intangible rewards for doing a good job. Reward government employees for cooperation and working together to produce the best customer service possible.
OK – so we aren’t the President or Congress or OMB. We can’t change things at a high level. But there are many things we can do to start changing that “me, me, me” culture.
Start with ourselves. Take a look at your to-do list. How could your customers get better service if you picked up the phone and called that colleague at another agency to see if you could team up to do something together? Look for opportunities to cross those organizational boundaries and connect the dots to make it easier for customers to complete their tasks.
Then there are things we can do as a community. Some examples:
- Refocus awards to recognize groups of employees – not individuals - who work together to overcome barriers and improve customer service across agencies.
- Sponsor an “Innovation in Customer Service” contest, and challenge agencies to work together.
- Spotlight cooperative efforts in best practices and case studies used in courses and on How-to.gov.
- Invite conference and webinar and Web Manager Forum speakers who can relate real-life examples of customer service successes produced by employees working across organizations.
- Publicize good examples of team efforts to break down barriers and improve customer service. Success begets success.
I’ll bet you can think of other fixes. Let’s hear ‘em.
Look, we can be cynical and sit back and sigh and say government executives and employees are only human and will always be self-interested and government will never change. Or we can try to do the right thing and cause that change, one baby step at a time.
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I remember when I first heard the term, “portal.” The concept of a home page that would aggregate links to content from other sites around themes made so much sense to me. Indeed, it was a huge step in the right direction – more than 10 years ago.
Today – many years later – customers’ expectations are so much higher. And search engines are so much better. So if your portal doesn’t enhance our experience (make it faster, better), we’ll skip the intermediary. We’ll just use Google.
The other day, I visited a state government portal. Like most web customers, I’m in a hurry. I want to complete my task as fast as I can. So I land on the portal site – gee, it’s great! I figure out how to navigate, find the content I want…super easy! But then – what’s this? I’m linked to a site that looks completely different. In a pop-up window – which I hate. This site is a mess. Can’t find what I want. Grrr. That state portal set me up for disappointment. Bad portal! Bad state government! I should have used Google.
I started looking around at other government portals. Lots of examples. Go to Iowa.gov. Nicely designed portal site. I see the top tasks on the front page. Navigation on the left where I expect it to be. Yes – the governor’s photo is there, but it’s on the top right…it isn’t the first thing my eye sees. So I choose “Education,” and I go to a second level page that follows that same clean navigation. Yay! But – ut oh – when I choose “Department of Education,” I go to a different design. More complex. Harder to find what I want. Not sure I want to be here. And the only way to get back to the main Iowa page is through the “back” click (there’s no “home” button to get me back to the portal). Wait – it won’t even let me do that. I’m in one of those truly exasperating sites that won’t let me back out of it! Oh boy… now, I’m really a frustrated customer.
I love Texas.gov. Who wouldn’t feel at home with those four big ol’ customer-focused choices: Do, Discover, Connect, Ask? But I go down a click or two and end up on an entirely different looking site with that ominous “welcome to our website” greeting (whenever I see “welcome,” I pretty much know the rest of the site is going to be sub-par). I’m so disappointed. Why, beautiful Texas.gov? Why did you let me down?
Don't get me wrong. I think a front door to a state or city or federal government is a good idea. But you’ve got to add value to the customer’s experience. You've got to make it easy to complete our top tasks, especially when those tasks cross agencies or departments. You’ve got to show us where to start and what to do next and pick out the best choices among all the choices. You’ve got to give us something Google can’t.
So...two suggestions.
First, establish a common design with common navigation (so we learn it once and use it throughout all parts of the site) and – pay attention here – common publication standards, across all the subordinate sites. I’m talking about portals for units of government here: city, state, federal. Your customers think of you as a single entity. All of your components work under the same umbrella. You can do this.
You can let each agency run its site – but within a common design and common plain writing rules so it all works the same customer-friendly way. Then, if task-completion crosses entities, the customer never needs to know it. If you need to accommodate a unique mission or audience for one agency or department, you can still use common elements (header, general layout) and publication standards. I know it’s hard. But lots of cities and states and even large federal agencies have done it. Look at EPA.
Second - do the work. If you’ve got multiple sources on the same topic, take your customers to the ones that can help them complete their top tasks best. Analyze. Test. Make some judgment calls. Don’t list every single resource available – Google can do that. Choose the best. Yes, you might hurt some officials’ or web managers’ feelings. On the other hand, you might force them to step up and improve their content. The goal here is to help your customers.
Portals need to offer customers something they can’t get from search engines. They need to make the customer’s experience easier. If you don’t add value, then we might as well (and will) use Google.
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I just finished judging the web entries for the 2011 Clearmark Plain Language Awards. Much better entries this year. Some real models for government agencies to use as they implement the Plain Writing Act.
One of the benefits of the Clearmark Awards - in addition to the chance for some great recognition - is that every applicant gets critical feedback from the judges. My fellow judges and I spent a lot of time on those score sheets, pointing out both what works well and what needs to be improved. You know the one comment I made on almost every single entry? TOO MANY WORDS!
Yak, yak, yak. Government agencies just don’t seem to know when to stop, when it comes to websites. One of the most common problems is writing a website like you’re writing a print publication. Don’t do that, darn it. After all this time, you know better. Another common problem is redundancy. Say it once – we’ll get it. Use formatting tricks to help your readers. You write paragraphs when a simple bulleted list would make scanning and absorbing so much easier.
Web readers are impatient. They come to your website to do something – to complete a task. They might be using a cell phone to complete that task. They don’t want to wade around in the yakety yak muck to find what they want. They want to find it, use it, and move on with their busy lives, as fast as possible.
So let me give you an example (sorry to pick on you, Education…I could have found an example on just about any government website). Take a look at this paragraph on the Federal Student Aid website:
"We can help make your education affordable! The Department's Federal student aid programs are the largest source of student aid in America. If you're interested in financial aid for college or a career school, you've come to the right place. These programs provide more than $150 billion a year in grants, loans, and work-study assistance. Read on to find out more and to find out how to apply for this aid."
Yak, yak, yak. Your readers don’t care that you are the largest source of aid. They just want the money. So get to it – tell them what you’ve got and how they can get it.
"We provide more than $150 billion each year in grants, loans, and work-study programs. Find out how to apply."
Here are the facts (right from our friends at the Plain Language Action and Information Network):
- 79% of web readers scan – they don’t read every word
- Web readers only read about 18% of what's on a page
- As the number of words on a page goes up, the percentage read goes down
- On average, web readers only read the first two words on each line
- Web readers can decide in as little as 5 seconds whether your site is useful to them
If you want satisfied customers – web readers – you’ve got to make it easy for them. You’ve got to figure out what they want/need to complete the task and then challenge yourself to convey it in as little space as possible. Limit the number of words. Use words your readers will look for and understand quickly. Use formatting (sometimes even graphics) to help convey meaning.
The Clearmark Award winners will be announced at the Center for Plain Language banquet on April 28. Go meet the winners in person, if you can; and hear how they made their websites “plain.” If you can’t go, check back on the Center for Plain Language website to see the winning entries. Then print out the Plain Language Guidelines on Plainlanguage.gov and go to work on your website.
I can’t say this enough. This is the most important thing you can do to improve your website. Fix the writing! Do your customers a huge favor. Cut out that yak, yak, yak.
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OK – you’re back from the Government Web and New Media Conference, and you’re sky high thinking about mobile apps and Facebook pages and “Meetups.” Gotta have all those channels. But where to start?
That’s easy. Start with your customers. What do they want and need? How do they want to get it?
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm a broken record. But this works, folks.
- Begin with top tasks. Go back to those very few services (transactions or information) that lots of your customers want, need, and use most. We’re talking 3-5 (no more).
- Assess what you’ve got. What content do you already have for each of those tasks – on your website(s), in your social media efforts, among your mobile apps, in your call centers and print publications? Take inventory.
- Assess your customers. Are customers able to complete their top tasks quickly and easily? Look at each of your delivery channels. What's working? What's not? If you don’t know, do usability testing. If customers aren’t using one of your channels, why not? Would another channel or additional channels help customers complete these tasks better/faster?
- Fix what you’ve got. If your content is bad, you don't want to give your customers more ways to get to it. So fix the content before you add channels. And don’t tell me you don’t have anything to fix because content is never perfect (and I've seen a lot of your sites!). Do a plain language review. Go to plainlanguage.gov, print out those checklists, and go after your content. Edit, edit, edit. Better yet, rewrite completely. Keep in mind that you want to create content once and use it – maybe in a boiled down version – on all your channels. See if you can cut steps, simplify, make it easier for customers to use your top services. Do more usability testing - and I mean test it on all channels.
- Now, open up new channels (if your customers need them). Don’t bite off more than you can chew. If you only put top tasks on your new mobile site, that's a great start. Get that right and then move on. Keep testing and improving.
Give your customers what they want, when they want it, in ways that make sense to them. Start your strategy with your customers.
PS - If you didn’t make it to last week’s conference, do yourself a favor - take some time to watch the videos and review the presentations. Read Dave McClure’s overview on transforming the customer experience first. Spot on.
This week – March 17-18 – is the annual Government Web and New Media Conference in Washington DC. This conference, which is sponsored by the Federal Web Managers Council and the General Services Administration, is THE event for web communicators at all levels of government. In addition to having great “how-to” sessions, you’ll hear inspirational speakers, form your own un-conference seminars, and – best of all – network with your colleagues. It’s an opportunity to restore your passion and energy for serving the public through the internet. And it’s a great chance to have some thought-provoking conversations.
If I were going to be there, here are three conversations I’d like to have with my colleagues.
- How can we use what we’re learning here to provide better customer service across government? So many terrific sessions on the schedule…innovation, new media, challenges, plain language, and more. GSA will share all the wonderful support and tools they have to offer the government web communications community to help you make your customers’ experience better. But what will you do with all that good stuff? How will you – the people who are on the line for great customer service – bundle the ideas and new skills you gain into action? What are you willing to do – on your own or as a group – to improve the way government serves its customers?
- What’s next? Where are we going as a community? Where’s our niche in government? Do we want to stay what we are – a grassroots collective that’s been pretty successful by building critical mass and adopting common best practices? Or do we want/need to be something more formal to accomplish what we want to do? Do we need a Chief Web Officer at OMB? Would that help us or hurt us? What role do we need GSA to play to help us move forward? Is the Federal Web Managers Council an adequate governance group or do we need something else? What are the pros and cons? How can we cause the changes we want?
- How can we expand the knowledge in our community? When you leave this conference, I guarantee you’ll be flying high. So many new ideas…things you want to try…new strategies…new skills. So how can you take that energy and knowledge back and share with others who work on your agency’s website? How can you get them excited? I’m not just talking about your web team members. I’m also talking about all those people – probably hundreds of them – who contribute content to your website and social media efforts regularly. How do you pass along the training and synergy of this conference? How do you bring others into the community?
This conference is the place for some great “big think.” Brainstorm, try out new ideas, and test your “out there” concepts. I wish I could be there to start conversations…light some fires, spark some spirited discussion. Since I can’t go, maybe you’ll have them for me. Have fun!
PS – If you can’t attend the conference in person, follow it on Twitter #govwebcon.
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I’ve told this story before, but it bears repeating.
Many years ago, my good friend Phyllis Preston (currently at the Federal Aviation Administration) introduced me to her father, Ed Preston. I knew Ed had worked for the federal government for many years; so as I shook his hand, I asked, “Ed…where did you work?” He replied, “I served at the IRS.” Did you catch that? He used the word, “served.” Not “worked.” Ed served.
Honestly, I had to catch my breath. It was one of those life-altering moments when things just snap into place, and your vision becomes clear. An epiphany. That one word – served – defined Ed Preston…what he did and how he did it. It said, “I chose a proud profession – public service.” It said, “service is a mindset, as well as a mission.” It said, “I never forget who I am and why I’m here.” Ed Preston set his compass on service, and throughout his long and honorable career – at IRS, the Office of Management and Budget, and the White House – he stayed the course.
I wanted to be just like him. I want all public servants to be just like him.
One of the hardest parts of being a government web manager – heck, being a government employee – is remembering why you’re draining the swamp, when you’re up to your neck in alligators. Too much to do. Too many demands. Not enough time or resources. New ideas. New technologies. New administrations. Changing priorities. Pretty soon, you find yourself so caught up in what you’re doing, you forget why you’re doing it.
So here’s my message - what I learned from Ed Preston. Set your compass on “service,” and use it every single day - not just in what you do, but how you think and how you act. When you find yourself lost in the swamp of “to do” lists, stop and consider why you’re doing it. When you go to the annual Government Web and New Media Conference on March 17-18 (follow on Twitter - #govwebcon) and get all excited about those great “how-to’s” on plain language, social media, searches, and usability, step back and make sure you know “what-for.” And next time someone asks you what you do for a living, I hope you’ll say – because it’s true - “I serve.”
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Hope you didn’t miss this. In his State of the Union speech, President Obama talked about reorganizing government to consolidate programs/services.
“There are 12 different agencies that deal with exports. There are at least five different agencies that deal with housing policy. Then there's my favorite example: The Interior Department is in charge of salmon while they're in fresh water, but the Commerce Department handles them when they're in saltwater. I hear it gets even more complicated once they're smoked…In the coming months, my administration will develop a proposal to merge, consolidate, and reorganize the federal government in a way that best serves the goal of a more competitive America.”
Woot! He’s absolutely right. The overlap and duplication is daunting. Consolidating is a huge challenge – and absolutely the right thing to do. But how?
Start online!
This is low-hanging fruit. This is not that hard to do – with a top level mandate and ongoing support.
- Put the Federal Web Managers Council, working with GSA and the USA.gov staff, in charge of convening topic-based groups. Make sure every agency that has a program or stake in a topic is included. Involve program experts.
- Charge agencies to work together around topics. Give these task groups reasonable deadlines and adequate support.
- Consolidate content among agencies. Eliminate duplication. Show the audience where to start, where to go next, and what else they should consider. Make it easy to find and use top (most requested) tasks.
- Bring in plain language specialists. Bring in usability specialists. Bring in customer service experts. Bring in citizens (great opportunity for open government).
- Designate a lead agency to interface with citizens for each topic so customers don’t have to bounce around (and Mr. President – make them play by the rules).
- Post it on USA.gov (like they do in the United Kingdom with their DirectGov website).
Bingo – citizens see a more efficient government!
Citizens never need to see those agency silos. They don’t need to know you sit in different buildings, all over the country. They don’t even need to know you’re still working with Congress to consolidate programs. Aggregate the advice and options. Post it on one website and – viola! – the government looks like it’s got its act together.
The Pew Internet and American Life folks tell us Americans access their government through the internet more than any other way. So if you want to reorganize and make government more efficient, why not start online?
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I never had a favorite national pizza chain until recently, when Dominos Pizza rolled out one of the best customer service campaigns I’ve seen. Have you seen the commercial where Dominos CEO, Patrick Doyle, displays a photo that was posted on Domino’s showusyourpizza.com website showing pizza toppings horribly stuck to the top of the box? Patrick looks at the camera and addresses Bryce in Minnesota, who posted the photo, telling him “we’re listening…this isn’t right. We’ve got to fix it.”
It’s part of their “Dominos Pizza Turnaround” effort, where they really pulled out the stops to LISTEN to their customers (focus groups, online surveys with every order, etc.), respect what customers told them, and make changes accordingly. I’ll tell you – they convinced me. I tried their products, and I do think they improved. This is a smart company. They know if you want satisfied customers, you’ve got to keep listening to them and do something about it when they tell you what needs to be fixed.
That brings me to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Have you looked at http://www.epa.gov/ lately? You should. They are making terrific changes, based on what their customers want. For one thing, they now have a single design for the entire site. No more different designs for different sub-organizations. A common design makes it so much easier for customers to use the site.
But the feature I’m most excited about is the local information. Go to the EPA home page, find your state on the US map, click, and – bingo – you’ve got easy-to-use information about what’s going on where you live…things you and I actually care about. Or you can put in your zip code, and – presto! – you get info about air, water, and pollutants in your community.
Citizens want that local connection. Heck, we started hearing that back in the 1990s. They want to know what you’re doing to help them in their states and communities. They want to know what services you offer them where they live – not in Washington, DC.
EPA listened and gave their customers what they want. Believe me, I know it wasn’t easy – it took a ton of work (and it will continue to be a lot of work). But they did it because they care about customer service, and it’s what their customers want.
There’s more. On EPA’s front page – right in the middle – are “popular topics.” And you can find top tasks – those things their customers want most – at the top right of each of the three major sections of the site (Learn the Issues, Science and Technology, Laws and Regulations). Helping customers find what they want as fast as possible is a huge part of providing great customer service.
Too many times, federal government agencies force customers to go on a treasure hunt through their huge websites. EPA makes us feel that this big government agency cares about what we want, and they’ve taken steps to make it easy for us to find it and use it. Kudos to Jeffrey Levy, Karen Reshkin, the great EPA web communications team and the EPA executives who are making customers a priority! That’s great public service.
It takes real effort to listen to your customers AND make the changes customers want. And here’s the key - it’s not a one-time thing. It’s an ongoing, iterative process. Dominos and EPA are doing the work, and they’ll be rewarded with satisfied customers.
Dominos nailed it: “We’re still listening. We’re gonna learn. We’re gonna get better.”
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I haven’t talked about leadership for awhile. So let me beat that drum a bit.
Web managers/editors/innovators (I’m still searching for the right moniker) have always been – and must always be – leaders to be successful. We have no delegated authority over all the people we need to get the job done. So we have to rely on our leadership skills to get everyone on the same page. And maybe the most important aspect of being a successful leader is being a successful communicator. You have to be able to motivate, inspire cooperation, persuade, convince, and – sometimes – badger people into seeing what you see and marching to your tune. You have to be a great communicator. How do you do that? Here’s what worked for me.
Start with your bosses.
Who are your “bosses?” I know – you think, “duh!” But guess what…when you’re an agency web manager – and relying on/accountable to an entire agency – you have a ton of bosses. Who are they?
- Your direct supervisor. Of course.
- Managers and executives above your supervisor.
- The top management official at the agency.
- Maybe some top aides or special assistants. Hmm. Had you considered that? Sometimes, special assistants or top aides represent your boss's interests. Or sometimes they are in a great position to influence what your boss does. Never, ever underestimate the power of a special assistant or top aide.
Here’s the thing. Know who your bosses are! It’s better to treat someone like a boss who isn’t than to assume someone isn’t a boss who is.
So…what do bosses want? Well, they want to look good, personally. They want their organization to look good. They want to solve problems. They want to be the first to know something. They want to be the first one to do something. They want public recognition. So, the key to communicating with bosses? Give them something they want...because when you do, they will want you.
Now…some other tips for communicating with bosses.
- Check your image! Your image – how you are perceived – is critical to your success. Do you look like someone your agency head would want to put on his/her team? Do you need to brush up on your presentation skills? Can you articulate – in words that are meaningful to your boss – what you do? Do your bosses see you the way you see yourself? Perception is everything. So manage your boss’s perception of you.
- Introduce yourself! See a boss in the cafeteria? Go meet him/her! Offer some great tidbit about one of your top tasks. “Thought you’d like to know that we reduced the time it takes to submit a change of address online by 10% this year!” Help them remember you as a can-do contributor. Be the first one in the door – new bosses look for allies.
- Make appointments with your bosses. Make it about them – not you. Show you understand what they want to accomplish. Tell them how they can save resources or work better, smarter, faster. Suggest ways to improve customer service, achieve management goals, engage the public, make the agency more transparent. Ask how you can help them. If they don’t know, offer some suggestions. But remember – make it about meeting their needs.
- Share information. Describe your customers. Tell your boss what most people looking for (top tasks). Tell your boss how much money or time are you saving on a particular process. Tell your boss about that idea you are working on that could make your agency look good. Inspire your bosses with possibilities.
- Listen to what your bosses say! Remember – you’re trying to sell them on you. And a key to selling is listening to what they want/need.
- Get yourself on the agenda of management meetings. Don’t wait to be invited – propose a briefing. Tell how you’re supporting their objectives and the administration’s goals. Show how you’re improving customer service. Facts and figures can dazzle! Offer additional briefings or brainstorm sessions. Show websites of similar organizations and challenge them to help you do the same. Suggest ways to use social media to further goals.
- Keep your bosses current. Write email/memos to follow up on meetings and briefings. Let them know that you kept your promises. Share “good news!” Bosses LOVE to hear good news. Do it routinely.
- Need their help? Tell them exactly what you need. Here’s the problem. Here are the possible solutions. Here’s the memo (or the phone call you need to make or the email you need to send) to deal with the problem. This is so important. Don’t leave it up to your bosses to figure it out. Do the staff work. Write the memo. Craft the strategy. Make it easy for them to do what you need them to do. Don’t delegate up.
- Volunteer. If you hear about a new initiative, let your boss know you’d like to help - there’s always a web angle. It’s so much better to be in on the planning than to be told what to do, after the fact.
- Make it fun! Boss has a negative attitude? Turn it into a positive. Talk about possibilities…not limits. Be grateful…not dissatisfied. Never, ever whine. Bosses hate whiners. Make it fun for your bosses to deal with you.
One more thing on bosses. In my experience, bosses want to - and will - make the right decisions if you have communicated with them effectively. So if you feel your boss isn't supportive, maybe you need to take another look at your communications strategy.
OK…more tips on communicating.
Be timely.
If you don’t communicate in a timely manner, then your organization can’t be effective and your credibility will suffer. Don’t put off to tomorrow what you need to do today! Start with your web team/web colleagues. Have you updated them on what you’re doing? Shared information that could impact them? Never, ever assume they know by osmosis.
Tell your agency what’s going on.
Use your intranet or your agency newsletter to inform and excite. Don't have one of those vehicles? Start one. Show mission achievement, service to citizens, accomplishment of the President’s goals. Document cost benefit/savings, improved timeliness, improved efficiency. Tell about upcoming initiatives and opportunities.
Reinforce positive behavior.
Call that staff member who reacted favorably to your suggestion at the management meeting. Tell your teammates when they do a good job. Let your bosses know when your team does well. Lead with praise. Share the credit.
Successful communication doesn’t just happen. You have to plan it. You have to do it effectively.
- With bosses…so you can help them and they can help you.
- With everyone in your web organization…so they know where you’re leading them, so they know the rules, and so they can carry out their roles.
- With everyone in your agency…so they know where you’re going, what you’ve achieved. So they know what you’ve learned.
- Across agencies…to share, to help, to learn, to collaborate.
Great web leaders communicate strategically and routinely. That’s how you spell “success.”
At long last, the customer service bandwagon seems to be rolling in government. The latest evidence: GSA just quietly unveiled a fabulous new website: HowTo.gov. It puts requirements, best practices, training, and tips for all forms of customer service delivery (web, call centers, publications, social media) under one customer service umbrella. Bravo! Finally, we can focus on what and why we’re communicating – not just how.
So now I’m thinking about what agencies might do to make great customer service happen. Step one is a strategy, and I still think we need a cross-government customer service summit to get everyone working together. But enough on that.
Step two: get organized for great customer service! Designate/hire, train, and empower a cadre of your best to lead, coordinate, and evaluate your customer service plan.
“So, what would you do, Candi?” I thought you’d never ask! Here’s a draft to start the discussion.
Establish a Customer Service Team.
Hire or designate an executive Customer Service Director – someone really skilled in analyzing customers and their needs and coming up with/implementing winning customer service strategies. Make sure that person understands the government customer (citizens and others).
Assign the agency web manager, the new media director, the agency call center manager, the agency publications editor/manager, the director of correspondence, the director of field operations (if field offices have any contact at all with the public), the Open Government manager, and the Plain Language Manager to the Team. Ex officio members (with dotted line relationships) include the Director of Public Relations/Affairs (press/news), the CIO, and the agency Contracting Officer (because contracts should adhere to agency customer service standards and requirements). Oh, and don’t forget to coordinate with the program officials – the people who actually manage the products and services your agency provides.
Put the Customer Service Team as close to the top of the agency as possible (report to head of the agency or his/her deputy), to make sure customer service gets the attention across the agency it deserves.
If there is a field component in the agency, set up Regional Customer Service Teams, reporting to the agency Team. Include regional representatives of the web, new media, call centers, correspondence units, and publications operations. Make sure they consult regularly with people who answer the phones and handle walk-in traffic in local offices to be sure we stay on top of trending issues.
I’d charge the Customer Service Teams with 4 primary functions:
- Tell us about our customers: who they are, what they want, and how they want it (delivery channels)
- Tell us what we need to do to improve the way we deliver our services to our customers (including strategy, process improvements, quality controls, and evaluation)
- Teach us to deliver great customer service
- Work across agencies to make sure we all deliver the best possible customer service to the American people.
What would it look like? Try this.
OK – there you have it. Don’t like it? OK. Come up with your own ideas. But start thinking. You need to get organized for great customer service.
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Consistency is one of the building blocks of great customer service. Look at McDonalds. No matter where in the world you are, if you walk into a McDonalds, you know how it will look and what you’ll find and how it all works. You can complete your task quickly because you know exactly what to expect, from one McDonalds to another. It’s easy. It’s familiar. It’s predictable. Customers love easy and familiar and predictable.
How does McDonalds create that consistency? Well, part of McDonald’s success is its consistent design. You’ve got the golden arches, the big windows, the counter in the back, the seating in the front, maybe some playground equipment outside. Consistent design counts. And yes – I am an advocate for a consistent website design across government.
But that’s not what I’m focusing on today. Today, I’m thinking about people…the people who manage and operate the 31,000 McDonalds around the world. McDonalds ensures consistency because it has service standards and it trains its people to carry them out.
The U.S. government has an estimated 24,000+ websites. If you figure that each one of those websites has at least one federal employee in charge (even if it’s managing a contractor who actually operates the site) and most have many people who write and manage the content for the site, that’s a heck of a lot of people charged with delivering great customer service through government websites. I wonder – how many of them have been trained? How many of them know where to look or who to ask for help? How many of them are reinventing the wheel, or – worse – serving poorly?
How many of them are up to speed on the ever-changing requirements and best practices for federal government websites? How many of them not only know the principles of plain writing but can actually do it? How many of them know the principles of customer service and how to deliver it well?
And what about the turnover among all those feds who are working on government websites? People leave, move up, move on…new people come in…are they getting trained? Or do they start from scratch?
McDonalds’ service is consistent because the bosses require training and evaluation. If you don’t perform up to standards, you’re out. We don’t have those requirements in the federal government – yet. But that doesn’t have to stop us. The government web management community has caused change and improved customer service for 15 years through the power of critical mass. The more we come together and adopt common best practices, the more we create that consistency our customers love. We don’t have to wait for our bosses to tell us to do these things. We just have to find our colleagues and bring them into the fold.
So, what can you do? Reach out!
- Look at your own agency. Do you know everyone who contributes content to your site? If not, find out. I don’t mean just those people who have a position description that says, “will work on the website.” I mean all those hundreds of people who do it part-time or routinely, under that catch-all phrase, “other duties as assigned.” Network with them – offer support.
- Have a brown bag lunch and go through webcontent.gov together. Talk about specific sections that could help improve your site.
- Encourage anyone who contributes web content regularly to join the government Web Content Managers Forum. It’s free, and it is a great source for updates and best practices. You don’t have to have the title “web manager” to join.
- Encourage everyone to sign up for Web Manager University courses. Not only do you learn, you also get to network. You don’t have to be a web manager to attend. Many of the offerings are webinars (no travel required), and some are free.
- If you’re in Washington DC, reach out to all the people in your field offices who work on web content. I often hear from field web managers and contributors that they feel isolated and don’t get the word on changes and best practices.
- Establish an orientation program for new web managers and web contributors. Offer it regularly so all those who are new to their web duties get up to speed quickly.
- Organize an agency-wide web conference or a series of conference calls. Include all those key content contributors. Cover the regulations, rules, and responsibilities for great customer service.
- Find out who manages other websites at your agency. Encourage them to join the Forum, attend WMU courses, and visit webcontent.gov. Network with them regularly.
- Seek out web managers and contributors from agencies who are not participating in the community. Send an email to the web manager through the “contact us” link. Engage them in community discussions and activities.
Here’s the thing. Citizens tend to judge all of government by their experience with any part of government. That goes for our websites, too. If they have a bad experience with one of our websites, we all get the blame. So we need to do all we can to make all government websites the best they can be.
Consistency is critical for great customer service. It takes a community to make it happen.
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Ah, a new calendar year! A fresh start! Time to look at the year ahead and figure out how we can make the best of it.
So, what goals would I set as a government communicator? Three things jump to the top of my list.
Develop and implement a governmentwide customer service strategy
Most of us know that we need to make customer service our priority and that we need to work together to make sure customers are getting consistent answers/services, no matter how they access their government. OMB (Office of Management and Budget) is encouraging a customer service philosophy. GAO (General Accounting Office) issued a report last October, suggesting ways government could improve customer service. GSA (General Services Administration) is leading the way, turning the web best practices unit into a Center for Customer Service Excellence and incorporating all delivery channels. The customer service bandwagon is rolling, and everyone is getting onboard.
Next step? Get down to the nuts and bolts, with the nuts and bolts players. Get everyone together to figure out exactly what we need to do - at each agency and among agencies – to accomplish the changes needed. If ever there were an initiative that requires cooperation and coordination across government, customer service is it. Start with the premise that our customers don’t know – and don’t care to know – how we’re organized. They just want to get great services from “the government.” They see all of us as one. So this cannot be a competition. It has to be a group effort, and we have to get together and stay together to achieve success.
Start with those 6 simple objectives offered by the Federal Web Managers Council in their 2008 White Paper. See if they still make sense or need to be tweaked. Figure out steps that each and everyone can and should take. Form teams to help one another. Use ideas and help from customer service specialists and gurus outside of government. Create a communications plan (beyond a dashboard) to let everyone – inside and outside government – know what you’re doing and what you’re achieving. Invite customer feedback and ideas and involvement.
The upcoming Web and New Media Conference (is it time to change that title to “Customer Service Conference?”) in March would be a great venue for a strategy session. Or at least a good place to kick off the idea and build excitement.
Improving customer service should be the theme of the year. Let’s figure out exactly how we’re going to do it.
Make sure all top tasks are (re)written in plain language.
Oh, I am so hopeful! With the mandate we always needed (the Plain Writing Act), let’s really tackle that bad writing on our websites and in our government publications and documents. Start with your customers’ “top tasks” – that information and those services that your customers want and use most often. That’s only 3-5 “tasks” per agency. A very reasonable and doable first step.
Web Manager University is offering webinars and courses on plain writing, if you don’t have the skills in your own agency. PLAIN (plainlanguage.gov) and the Center for Plain Language have tons of resources, including experts who can help you.
Before, during, and after your re-writes, don’t forget to test with typical customers. Watch them try to find the answers to their questions. Listen to them struggle with wording and organization. Then fix it. Webcontent.gov and Usability.gov offer all kinds of support.
This is neither hard nor expensive. Test. Write. Test. Write. Test… If we don’t communicate effectively, we can’t serve our customers effectively. Write right!
Trim the fat. Lose weight. Get healthy.
I’m talking about all that content, friends. It’s killing you. It’s killing your customers.
In 2010, we saw the proliferation of “micro-sites.” Some folks got so frustrated with their behemoth agency websites, they just gave up and started rolling out theme sites. OK, maybe that’s a good strategy. Not sure. But the problem is they didn’t fix the bloated websites. They didn’t take down all that excess content. They just added more content to customers’ search results.
So it’s time for a diet. Time for tough love. No more procrastinating. No more excuses. It’s a question of will power. It doesn’t require years of expensive analysis. Look at your usage stats and just eliminate anything that hasn’t been used in 6 months. If there is an outcry for something you took down, put it back up. Want to start a pool on how often that will happen? Let’s help our customers and make our own lives easier. Trim the fat. Get healthy.
It’s a new year! Set just a few goals, get them done, and then move on to others. These would be my 3 goals for 2011. If they work for you, too, get going. If they don’t, pick 3 others. Shake off the old and start anew!
“Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities have crept in. Forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day. You shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense." – Ralph Waldo Emerson
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OK, holidays are nearing an end; and I’m back to thinking about government communications and customer service. What a year it’s been! Great progress in some areas, like social media. Modest progress toward our long-time goal to make top customer tasks easier to find and use. Not much progress at all (in fact, slippage) in reducing the volume of government content that customers have to wade through to find what they want. But hey – we’re about to welcome a new year, and I’d much rather focus on the positive outcomes of 2010. So, in reverse order (a la Letterman), here are my top 5 “Bests.”
Number 5: Web Manager University’s movement toward a certification program
For years, we’ve talked about needing a web manager certification program. The Federal Web Managers Council came up with a draft position description (with skills) years ago, and Web Manager University has offered courses in those skills areas from its beginning. But this year, we started seeing movement toward that certification program. Yay! Oh, it’s subtle. But look at the course titles…a number of them that include, “Essentials of…” A couple of those courses are already identified as “core” courses. Getting core courses in place is a critical step toward a certification program in government web management or – maybe – government customer service and communications. Looking forward to that next step…soon, I hope.
Number 4: Govloop
Govloop wasn’t born in 2010 – it’s actually a couple of years old. But it really exploded in 2010. Have you visited Govloop? If you’re a government employee (at any level of government) or interested in government issues, this social network is a terrific place to share your ideas, connect with like-minded people, find job openings, or just witness the truly “awesome” (a favorite word used by Govloop founder, Steve Ressler) passion for good government. This meeting place is a terrific asset, and I think its use (and power) will continue to grow in the coming years. Kudos to Steve, Andrew, Megan, Lauren, and Stephen (and the foresight of GovDelivery) not only for giving govies a place to convene, but also for nurturing the community with weekly email summaries and regular Tweets about new content and ideas.
Number 3: GSA’s leadership in government communications
I talked about this in my last blog piece, so I won’t spend a lot of time here. But leadership is essential for real progress, and GSA has to be commended for strong, sure, and visionary leadership. They are bringing the federal communications community together; offering tools and guidance to foster commonality across government (a huge plus for great customer service); and hiring, promoting, and turning loose some of the best communicators in the government to lead all these efforts. I look forward to great things from GSA, in 2011.
Number 2: Emerging focus on customer service
In the past year, many (dare I hope “most?”) in the government web communications community have made that leap from “web management” to “customer service management.” That may seem like semantics to you; but to me, it’s a big step toward better government service. When you stop thinking in terms of “the web” (which is really a delivery channel) and start thinking about “customer service,” you shift the focus to the result, the broader goal…instead of the means, the process. You think about all the ways we serve customers…through the web, phone, mail, email, in person, publications…and how important it is to connect those dots, to make sure that we’re delivering high quality, efficient, consistent service no matter how our customers find us. This is a very good thing for citizens.
And the Number 1 “Best of 2010:” the Plain Writing Act!
After tons of effort by the government employees in PLAIN (Plain Language Action and Information Network), by the members of the Center for Plain Language (whose motto is “plain language is a civil right”), and by many others, Congress passed – and President Obama signed – the Plain Writing Act of 2010. It requires federal agencies to provide “clear Government communication that the public can understand and use.”
I know…this should be a “duh!” But anyone who has ever read a government document or visited a government website knows that much of our writing…well, frankly, sucks. It needs to be simpler, more concise, and more clear. And it needs to be organized better. We need words our customers use and understand and better organization and formatting (things like headers and sub-headers and bullets and white space). Having a law that requires the federal government to improve writing is the boost we’ve needed to cause real change in this fundamental of customer service.
Web managers have been talking about better writing, better organization, “less is more,” knowing your audience, and all those great concepts, for years. But without the management mandate, we lacked the clout to make it happen. Well, now we’ve got it. Now, there’s no excuse for those bloated, convoluted, incomprehensible documents and websites that leave customers scratching their heads and turning away, disgusted that the government that should be serving them doesn’t seem to know how. Of course, it remains to be seen whether this law will have the desired impact. But it’s a great start.
And while I’m on the subject of Plain Language…another good thing that happened in 2010 was the first Clearmark Plain Language Awards, sponsored by the Center for Plain Language. Nominations for the 2011 Clearmark Awards are being accepted now. So if you think you’ve got a document or website that really hits the mark, nominate it for an award. Deadline is January 21. As govies work to improve writing, they need examples. As Mel Brooks puts it...If you've got it, flaunt it.
2010 was a pretty exciting year. Now, onward to 2011. Can’t wait to see what will happen next!
Happy New Year, everyone!
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