MANAGING CHAOS
DIGITAL GOVERNANCE BY DESIGN
Lisa Welchman
Managing Chaos
Digital Governance by Design
By Lisa Welchman
Rosenfeld Media, LLC
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Brooklyn, New York
11215 USA
On the Web: www.rosenfeldmedia.com
Please send errors to: [email protected]
Publisher: Louis Rosenfeld
Managing Editor: Marta Justak
Interior Layout Tech: Danielle Foster
Cover Design: The Heads of State
Interior Line Art: Michael Tanamachi
Indexer: Sharon Hilgenberg
Proofreader: Kezia Endsley
©2015 Rosenfeld Media, LLC
All Rights Reserved
ISBN: 1-933820-88-8
ISBN-13: 978-1-933820-88-0
LCCN: 2014956861
Printed and bound in the United States of America
This book is dedicated to Rhys— a good son and a good person. It’s my good luck to be your Mom.
HOW TO USE THIS BOOK
Who Should Read This Book?
Anyone who has an interest and a hand in the strategic management of digital enterprise should read this book, particularly those who serve in bridging and management functions. This includes executive leadership, CIOs, and CMOs, as well as senior domain specialists such as user experience experts, enterprise architects, and content strategists.
People who work at interactive agencies and software integration shops that often have to execute projects amid digital chaos might also find Managing Chaos useful reading to help inform their projects and smooth the way for more streamlined project execution.
What’s in This Book?
Part I of Managing Chaos details a practical methodology for designing and implementing a digital governance framework.
• Chapter 1 gives a basic definition of digital governance and its core concepts.
• Chapters 2–5 explore more deeply each of the key aspects of a digital governance framework: digital team structure, digital strategy, digital policy, and digital standards.
• Chapters 6–8 discuss some of the dynamics around digital governance, including design factors, how to get the design job done, and what to do if your efforts don’t get immediate traction in your organization.
Part II of Managing Chaos highlights three different governance framework examples: a global multinational company, a government agency, and a higher education-type university. You can use these frameworks to understand some of the practical challenges inherent in designing and implementing your own digital governance framework.
What Comes with This Book?
This book’s companion website (
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What is digital governance in the first place?
Digital governance is a discipline that focuses on establishing clear accountability for digital strategy, policy, and standards. A digital governance framework, when effectively designed and implemented, helps to streamline digital development and dampen debates around digital channel “ownership.” (See Chapter 1, “The Basics of Digital Governance.”)
We don’t “govern” things inside our organization. Why should we govern digital?
I don’t believe you. Every organization governs something. What you are really saying is that your organization hasn’t decided to govern digital. That is one option, but it has consequences. Make sure that you are considering all the possible rationales for not governing digital before you default to this “easy-to-articulate but hard-to-live-with” conclusion. For more, see Chapter 8, “The Decision To Govern Well.”
We don’t need a governance framework. Can’t we just have the main Web team decide everything and run everything? After all, we know what we’re doing.
No, that’s not a good idea. Creating a digital production silo is not an effective practice. It doesn’t allow the digital team to understand the rich landscape of the business. And practically speaking, it’s very difficult to size a digital team when all the work is done in one place. For more information on a good digital team structure, see Chapter 2, “Your Digital Team: Where They Are and What They Do.”
We’re an agile shop, so do we still need governance? Doesn’t governance just slow stuff down?
No, governance does the opposite. It enables agility by clarifying roles and responsibilities and connections for a collaborative team. If you think about it, agile software methodology itself is highly structured with well-defined roles and responsibilities. That’s why it works so well in the right organizational applications. A digital governance framework, when properly designed, can enable not hinder agile development (see Chapter 1).
OK, I get all the digital governance stuff, and I’m a believer, but I have no authority to establish digital governance in my organization. What do I do