Principles of Web Management

By Sabelo Mapasure, SARDC
May 2001

Introduction

The greatest challenge facing Web managers is to educate and get the top management of the organization to appreciate the need for a Web site. When the CEO of the organization takes great interest in the Web site, it follows that other senior managers or directors will pay enough attention to Web issues.

Caution must be mentioned that the CEO should not become a bottleneck in the whole process of Web development and publishing. The Web manager should be entrusted to the Web site including management of the content in order to keep the Web site up-to-date and relevant. Thus micromanagers are not desirable in Web publishing.

Planning

• Use workflow chart
• Never over-promise and under-deliver
• Use time management principles
• Set realistic deadlines

Terms of reference – roles and responsibilities

• Some Web managers have many other duties
• Quantify workflow and time allocated
• Determine roles of Web manager in the organization
• Are all duties of Web development and management done in-house or outsourced?
• Document job specification for Web management

Team building

• Effective leadership requires team building
• Web development best achieved through teams with different skills, e.g., Web design, management, programming, communications, etc.
• Develop leadership skills

Committees

• Depends on size of organization
• Steering committee involves all those directly involved in development of Web site—technical, management and content editing
• Web liaison committee involves departmental staff who coordinate the submission of content to Web manager
• Meetings should be conducted regularly
• Members to visit the Web site regularly and give comments
• Web manager to motivate members, provide feedback and seek content and dependence on the members is unreliable

Communication skills

• Web manager should be assertive and provide feedback to staff and users regularly on Web site usage, statistics, comments, etc.
• Liaison with team members and providers of content on a regular basis

Eye for detail

• Web manager to have editorial skills
• Design not to over-shadow content
• Avoid unnecessary mistakes

Time management

• Do not over-promise and under-deliver
• Departments provide content well after printing and expect uploading instantly
• Do not over-work yourself
• Repeat jobs costs time and are a result of poor planning
• HTML coding to be done to edited documents after thorough preparation
• Web pages to be tested, checked before uploading
• Follow procedures

Human resources management

• Staff motivation—recognition of excellence, overtime and rewards
• Procedures manual and workflow to be understood and followed by all Web development team members
• Team building and maintenance a challenge for this fast expanding profession

Documentation and procedures

• Necessary as a management tool
• Software and hardware to be documented
• Procedure for uploading to be documented
• Hand over notes to be kept on file

Research and development

• Evaluate your Web site regularly
• Compare your Web site with other similar organizations
• Copy and improve from others
• Upgrade software and hardware before it becomes obsolete

Skills development

• Web manager to attend workshops, meetings and conferences as part of continuing education
• Online tutorials
• Further education to develop skills in communication, design, editing, programming, etc. as opportunities allow