Attempting the Impossible: Developing a Unified Web Presence



Posted: Friday, October 01, 2010

by Clarence Wolfe
clarence

Many have characterized the daunting task of developing a centralized website as impossible. Impossible because of the amount of man power and the number of hours needed to plan, design and implement a centralized web presence. What ever the worry might be, I have a solution that will help you to carefully plan, articulate and implement a successful website.

You must involve your stakeholders. It is imperative that you plan a project kick off meeting that will provide the various stakeholders with an opportunity to voice their thoughts, opinions and concerns. These stakeholders are individuals that have a vested interest in the outcome of the project such as a CEO, Department Head, Sales Manager, etc. and without their input a complicated project will prove to be even more complicated. This user-centered approach built upon the input of each of the stakeholders will not only save time but it will help to save money.

Empower your stakeholders. Involve the stake holder in every aspect of the decision making process. This involvement will keep the stakeholder not only interested but it will also provide them with a since of ownership. Furthermore, it's through this ownership that they will feel compelled to provide you with the necessary content, pictures and other items needed to complete the design of their page.

Stay Flexible. I cannot emphasize this one enough. Working with stakeholders is often painful because of their inability to stay on schedule but a positive attitude and your ability to stay flexible under the worst circumstances will prove to be a valuable asset.

In addition, keep your stakeholders constantly aware of changes. One of the worst things you can do is to make changes to the plan and not inform the stakeholder. This could cause the stakeholder to have reservations towards working with you, which can lead to total distrust.
This Article has been viewed 155 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
No comments yet.
We want your comments! If you can read this, you don't have javascript enabled, so you can't use this comment system. Please enable javascript.