Should a federal government agency move ahead with defining Web governance in a presidential election year? The unknown of McCain or Obama, which may bring with it not only new politically appointed leadership, but also a new Web strategy and presence, is a daunting prospect. I understand some of this angst, as I too used to be a government employee (albeit a very junior one) working on the Web in an election year.
But you can’t let fear of the unknown paralyze you any more than you can continue to justify the reasons you have yet to get your Web house in order. So here are some actions you should consider taking:
1. Develop Web guiding principles. The mission of your agency will not change just because of new leadership. While priorities and programs supporting that mission may shift, guiding principles are an interpretation of your mission into the Web universe and should remain consistent regardless of the election outcome.
2. Initiate Web governance efforts with a sense of flexibility. Treat it as you might a project, with its respective ups and downs, focusing not on the process but the end result. Even with changes and modifications, what matters is that you come to have a governance framework that can work for your agency, even if it is different from the one you originally propose. If you can keep this effort somewhat informal and not raise many brows at the senior most level (yet), you are likelier to encounter success. In essence – build the governance from the bottom up and look to build consensus around activities and goals, rather than committees and approving bodies (that you will need to do later).
3. Define Web policies. I understand that you may not be able to codify the policies you define, but there is a lot of homework that needs to be done before policies are recommended and adopted into the organization. Gather up volunteers interested in the Web governance initiative and begin collaborating on policies. You can immediately start to research OMB-mandated policies, those grandfathered by your parent department, what others are doing, as well as industry best practices. You can assess the risk presented by having a Web presence and determine what policies you need to manage that risk (example: loss of agency credibility through free-form blogging may be best addressed through a social media policy).
4. Inventory Web standards. You might not want to start creating standards yet because there is the risk of going down the wrong path. However, nothing prevents you from talking to subject matter experts within the agency to determine their views and thoughts on various standards (information architecture, taxonomy, browsers, Web servers, etc.). You can also perform an inventory of standards you already have at the agency and those you think may still be required.
Accomplishing these four things may not feel like a lot of formal progress, and it isn’t. But informally you will have done a lot of work, arming yourself and colleagues with information to proceed with the formalization of the framework.
So go ahead and start your Web governance work. Get your Web house in order. And remember to vote!
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