Securing engagement (with no ring)

I work in, on, around and for web at a district council in Suffolk. Late last year, we welcomed the news that we would be replacing our website with two, new websites. (We, as one workforce, serve two councils. It was aptly decided that each council should be granted its own individual website.)

The content on our previous website was a little dilapidated and in need of some reconstruction. How do you manage your website content? is a point of serious contention in the interesting world of local government. Some web teams take an approach that could be described as ‘gently totalitarian’ and prefer to exercise control over what gets published, by way of writing it themselves. Other web teams open their doors — often tentatively — to the rest of the organisation and ask (beg?) them to contribute.

Each direction has its own merits and challenges. If you take the first route, you risk alienating the rest of the organisation. If you take the second route, you risk alienating the rest of the organisation.

We decided to take the second route. We ‘recruited’ 55 content authors (fondly named our ‘Champs’) from across every service area to help us refresh, rewrite, reorganise our new websites’ content and corresponding architecture.

Within the average local authority, there is generally a chronic shortage of the spare time that needs to be given to projects such as this one. There can also be a lack of enthusiasm toward any project which has an element of IT involved. (The phrase ‘system migration’ can be a turn-off for people. And who would have guessed?)

This project also fell beyond the realms of people’s job descriptions, which can also make it difficult to enforce the work needed. Is it possible to truly manage a group of people on an ‘informal’ basis?

With all this in mind, we boldly confronted the challenge of making the ask an appealing one.

Over the ensuing months, we (in sweetened, condensed summary):

• provided Champs with training on how to write accessible, web-friendly content
• provided Champs with training on how to use our shiny new CMS
• asked the Champs to review their respective web content, before we then proofread and published it. Does it need to be revised, deleted or kept as is?
• worked with the Champs to rebuild the architecture of our sites from the ground upward

Engagement throughout was outstanding and we managed to build good working relationships with multiple service areas.

So, how did we achieve this?

1. We nurtured a sense of community amongst the Champs. We created a dedicated Teams channel, we hosted weekly drop-in surgeries, we referred to them as Champs at every available opportunity (and I should probably apologise for that last one)
2. Communication is key: We notified the Champs about every milestone, development and update. This also kept the momentum alive and well (basically, the Champs couldn’t forget about the project. We haunted them about it)
3. We worked in collaboration with the Champs wherever possible. We made it clear that they — as the subject matter experts — were needed
4. Enthusiasm is absolutely contagious and it drives productivity. I know there were times where my enthusiasm toward the project was a little insufferable, but it did always spread. I think that some people even enjoyed the work, due to this

There were other factors at play, but those would be my headlines.

What did I learn?

I’d like to provide ‘So much’ as an answer and leave it be, but I will try my best to protrude some detail:

1. Ironically, some of the best work you will do when building a new website will be conducted offline. Meet up with people face-to-face to discuss your ideas
2. Don’t be afraid to take that enthusiasm to embarrassing extremes. If you can fashion yourself as a self-aware David Brent (this is the only way I can think to describe it), you will be memorable — but more importantly, you will be approachable. And this will matter more than most other things
3. If you need to chase for a piece of work, rebrand it as an offer to help. This is probably a textbook management technique — but for me, it was a revelation. It also removes the discomfort you may feel whilst ‘informally’ managing
4. Remember your worth. When it comes to web, you will know best (this is, after all, the subject matter of which YOU’RE the expert). There were times where I forgot this. It’s ok to be assertive, when needed!
5. When you are helping to spearhead a project of this breadth, there will be members of the team who are less engaged than others. They will have their reasons, and it’s not for you to try and doggedly learn what they are, or might be. You can’t win everyone over, so focus on those who are engaged — they are so valuable. I gave praise to engagement and enthusiasm as I did to good pieces of work. Content writing is a skill that can be honed with time, but you need interest in actually doing the work first. And if you’ve managed to stir that in someone, then you’re doing something right

And as a final aside… Collaboration is important, always, but it needs to be administered appropriately. You can collaborate too little (and bypass valuable insights and wisdom) or you can collaborate too much (and end up achieving nothing, due to an intoxication of differing opinions).

Navigating those particular waters requires diplomacy, which is a skill I’m still learning.

I would like to end this piece of reflective writing with a few thank yous…

• Thank you to the Champs who entered this project with discernment, alacrity, and unprecedented levels of patience
• Thank you to my colleagues (both from the Council, and from our fantastic supplier) who banded together to get this project live. What a great height we reached together — and no-one fell to their deaths, either. (I, of course, took care to note this down as a #win)
• Sharna Baldwin, who kept me sane and brought new and beautiful meaning to the word ‘helpful’. I never once felt like I was placing burden on her (even when I quite obviously was)
• Samantha Lake, who also kept me sane and who went above and so far beyond, that no-one has actually seen her since. She is an exceptional person, and a source of inspiration to me. She also placed trust in me to help deliver this project, which I can’t thank her enough for
• Neil Lawrence, who accepted my insanity during the times where sanity did briefly disappear. He gave me confidence in my ideas, which is a gift you can’t really repay