I have been gathering facts and thoughts on pitfalls for web strategy work through our Community of Practice and the research we did earlier in the year on Best Practices for Creating a Web Strategy.
So far, I have come up with 9 common pitfalls:
- Speaking “web” – instead of speaking a language that management can relate to
- Trying to solve too much at once – instead of dividing your strategy work into manageable phases
- Not involving stakeholders – and realizing too late that you are lacking necessary input and buy-in
- No user documentation – which could lead to you pursuing the wrong objectives
- Poorly defined success criteria – having no meaningful way of knowing if you’re making a difference
- Becoming operational too soon – focusing on technology before defining goals
- Not becoming operational at all – creating a strategy that’s too abstract to leave the desk drawer
- Not addressing your audience properly – writing boring documents that no-one reads
- Wasting your efforts – when a strategy is not what will solve your problems
I will be presenting on these pitfalls (and how to avoid them) next Wednesday at our Aarhus 2009 conference on the web strategy track. Joining me on the track are Bob Boiko and Martin White – internationally renowned experts on strategy and governance – and some great case studies from Cambridge University Hospitals, EUMETSAT and the National Trust UK who will discuss the ups and downs of their strategy projects.
Have I missed any important pitfalls? What dangers would you avoid to stay clear off? I’m still missing one to make it 10, so feel free to make suggestions.
Hannu Vangsgaard October 30th, 2009 11:24
Letting the wrong people make it. Way too often the strategy is born on too low a level in the organisation, hence #1, #3, #5, #6, #8 and #9.
Mark Morrell November 4th, 2009 11:24
Dorthe,
This is what we have found works well in BT on intranet planning which may help others http://markmorrell.wordpress.com/2009/03/19/6-simple-steps-for-a-good-intranet-plan/.
I hope your presentation goes well.
Mark
Kerry Ann Christelow November 11th, 2009 11:24
Your 9 pitfalls made me laugh (based on experience)!
I have a10th one – don’t let your communications people lead a web project that has a business goal. Sadly, they tend to let the latest trends in web development and pretty colours take precedence over the need for the right content. Hannu has a point but I don’t think it’s the low level that’s the problem; it’s more to do with understanding of what the business is trying to achieve that is.
Caroline Coetzee November 13th, 2009 11:24
Oh Kerry, you have a low opinion of comms people
)
(alright, alright I know lots of people like that and not just in comms either)
I do think the point about letting the latest trends in web development rather than business needs push your strategy is well made though. I look at sites now which demand that I comment on, digg or tweet about every page and most of them make me thing ‘why?’.