Effective Web governance structures
Thursday, March 1 2001
Governance structures work best when they represent the constituents of the organization, when membership is limited, and when the group as a whole follows a well-defined business plan or set of strategic initiatives ....
Most large Web sites are developed with the combined efforts of many people and departments. From the immediate Web development team and associated Web advisory boards to departmental content providers, designers in the art department, media coordinators in marketing, and librarians with information organizational expertise, the extended team works together to ensure efforts are consistent and moving in a consistent direction. Good intentions and communication are not enough. Appropriate governance structures make it possible. The paradox is that governance structures are most noticeable in their absence and seem invisible when working effectively.
COMPETITION FOR RESOURCES
Most groups within an enterprise compete for scarce resources. This is true of for-profit institutions and even more so of non-profit organizations like universities, where competing priorities make resource allocation an ongoing juggling act and sometimes a never-ending struggle. How these resources get divvied up is often the responsibility of some type of governance structure such as an advisory board. This is particularly true of companies that choose to allocate a set of core resources, staff, and funds, toward a shared services group to deliver corporate Web development. The governance structure helps determine how those resources will be used most effectively across competing groups.
