theCMSblog

Balance. It seems like everywhere you turn, there's an article or a workshop about achieving that elusive state called "work-life balance." I attended such a workshop last summer and the moderator introduced a really helpful exercise called the "Wheel of Life". The exercise helps you see where your life is out of balance, and it got me to thinking. Maybe the same principle of balance applies to content management projects...

Speaking of unbalanced content management projects, as some of you know, last month did a CMS Challenges Survey. The responses clearly indicated that it's rarely technology that makes content management project challenging. It's the people—their knowledge, their skills, and their intentions. The conclusion I drew from the survey is that there are some key factors that are critical to making your CMS project successful. If you're lacking in one or more of these areas, your project becomes unbalanced.

In the "Wheel of Life" exercise, you start with a page with circle broken up into eight segments, like a wheel with spokes. Each segment represents an area of your life—family and friends, physical environment, spirituality, health, fun, career/life purpose, money, and romance. Your task is to evaluate your level of satisfaction with each of these areas of your life. In doing this, you often find that one or more areas is lacking. This probably means that the "wheel" isn't turning smoothly, making for a less-than-happy experience.

After a dozen years in the content management field, it wasn't hard for me to come up with my equivalents for a happy CMS project. Here they are:

CMS Project Critical Success Factors

• Clear, Agreed-upon Business Goals
• Executive Sponsorship
• Committed Users/Stakeholders
• Realistic Timeline and Budget Expectations
• Solid CM Knowledge/Expertise (either internal or from outside)
• Experienced Project Manager
• Strong Technical Resources
• Good Communication between Business and IT

Now it's your turn. To do this exercise, draw a circle and divide it into eight sections, labeling each with the above critical success factors. (Or you can download this worksheet.)

Seeing the center of the wheel as “0” and the outer edge as “10,” rank your level of confidence in each area of your project by drawing a line, creating a new outer edge (as shown in the picture). The new perimeter of the circle represents your “Project Wheel”.

How bumpy is your ride? I'll leave it to you to draw your own conclusions about how to bring your CMS Project Wheel back into alignment. Good luck!

Rita Warren of ZiaContent, Inc. is a veteran of the software and digital media industries with more than 10 years experience helping companies deliver content in compelling and sensible ways. Well known in her field, Rita served as technical editor of the first edition of Bob Boiko's acclaimed book, the Content Management Bible. She is a frequent speaker at national conferences and contributor to content management industry publications.

Posted by Rita Warren at 12:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

A small business owner I know recently came to the conclusion that she "desperately needs a CMS." She has a couple of employees. She creates a newsletter, posts weekly tips, has an e-commerce component, and frequently promotes special offers. "I have over 300 hand-coded HTML pages on my site," she said, "and it just getting chaotic."

Most businesses start a Web site with basic content, very basic functionality. Over time, the site grows "organically." Organic in vegetables is a good thing. Organic on a Web site, it's not!

Now, not every small business Web site needs a CMS behind it, but there are often some very good reasons why a CMS becomes worth the effort.

So, how do you know need a CMS?

1. When a tiny wording change means having to call "that %#@& Web person" again.
2. When you ask for different color scheme and graphics and find out "it's going to take how long?"
3. When you find yourself wondering "why do customers keep calling when that information is on the Web site?" (Hint – they can't find it!)
4. When it takes you longer to find the content you created last month than it took you to create it in the first place.
5. When the pain of changing is less than the pain of staying the same!

While making your site more dynamic and interesting could be a reason for using a CMS, the majority of businesses are motivated by the "pain" factor. For most of us, being disorganized and unstructured is a highly uncomfortable state.

I ran into this overwhelming content chaos myself several years ago when I realized that my home office was driving me crazy. Then I read a book called "Getting Things Done" by David Allen that changed my life. The book's prescription was to set up a highly structured filing system and a trusted place for my "to-do" tasks. The catch? You had to dedicate to a whole weekend to setting it up. And I did. The result? Years later, all my files are still neatly labeled. I know where everything is. My desk is clear and uncluttered, and that gives me the mental space to do creative things—like write this blog!

The bottom line is that when you're spending time dealing with the headaches of your Web site, you're not spending that time thinking of that new marketing promotion or a better way of serving your customers.

Ironically, when you commit to moving your site to a CMS, you may do so to alleviate the pain. But, the end result will ultimately be that it helps you unleash business opportunities that were previously buried underneath all that content mess.

Rita Warren of ZiaContent, Inc. is a veteran of the software and digital media industries with more than 10 years experience helping companies deliver content in compelling and sensible ways. Well known in her field, Rita served as technical editor of the first edition of Bob Boiko's acclaimed book, the Content Management Bible. She is a frequent speaker at national conferences and contributor to content management industry publications.

Posted by R. Stacy Cook at 12:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The 3D desktop prototype for Windows, called BumpTop, does some must-see-to-believe wrangling of digital documents as if they were physical pieces of paper. Words don't do this justice; just hit that play button.

Posted by R. Stacy Cook at 07:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

See my comment in the Zia Content CMS Survey.

In December, 2006, ZiaContent, Inc., an independent consultancy, surveyed a group of content management professionals to uncover trends in what challenges most often come up when implementing a content management system (CMS).

The online survey was presented as a single multiple-choice question with 16 options, asking respondents to rank what they have experienced as the biggest challenges when implementing a CMS. Other questions included their role on CM projects, and a free form space for comments or advice.

Posted by R. Stacy Cook at 07:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)