Updated for 2015....
It seems sometimes like management engagement with your content strategy is like a great mystical prize sealed up in the highest tower of a maze-like castle; and there’s a huge moat; and the whole thing is on top of a mountain…
To actually reach it is a challenge that will in itself take a strategy, special tools (and weapons?), and a great mountain-climbing, maze-solving team.
Noz Urbina shares some of his experience on how we can get closer to our content strategy objectives by not falling at the first barrier: getting the necessary support to develop and implement it. Based on a career selling content strategies into a diverse range of organisations – from a few hundred staff to tens-of-thousands – some of his tips will involve judicious use of common sense, and others will be potentially surprising. Learn how you can storm that castle, and claim your prize.
5. @nozurbina
Our mission
1. Doing your research and choosing your
team
2. Planning and equipment
3. Climbing
4. Storming the castle
5. Getting back down
5
@nozurbina
8. @nozurbina
Doing your research
• Validate what
you think you
want
–Audience
–Requirements
–ROI
“It is only one who is
thoroughly
acquainted with the
evils of war
that can thoroughly
understand the
profitable way of
carrying it on.”
– SunTzu
8
9. @nozurbina
Doing your research
• Find out how
you’ll know
when you have it
–Success
metrics
–Audit
“The general...
whose only thought
is to protect his
country and do good
service... is the jewel
of the kingdom.”
– SunTzu
9
10. @nozurbina
Doing your research
• Find out if it’s
even remotely
possible
–Current corporate
climate
–Other big
spends/initiatives
“Bravery without
forethought,
causes you to fight
blindly and
desperately like a
mad bull.”
– SunTzu
10
11. @nozurbina
Pitfalls
All ideas and no
tech
All tech and no
human issues
Lack of
Metrics
Not realising
you’re pitching
Thinking
people care
about content
bit.ly/notking
11
17. Org chart bingo
$$$
Influencer
Minor
Influencer
...
Influencer
... ...
Influencer
$$
Competitor ...
Your boss $
... You
“Ultimate
excellence lies
not in winning
every battle, but
in defeating
without ever
fighting.”
– SunTzu
+
+
+
- ?
x
n
-
For
Against
Neutral
Undecided
Unknown
Irrelevant
+
-
x
n
?
+
? ?
++
17
18. Audience/benefits/needs map
Your idea
Quality (QM)
•Errata Sheet Process
•Doc Guidelines
•Process alignment
•…
Legal & Patent
•Trademarks
•Disclaimer
•IP Protection
•…
Communication
•Corporate Design
•Document distribution
(e.g. via Internet)
•…
Sales &
Marketing
•Document release
•Requirement capturing
•Localization
•… R&D
•Document creation
•Design automation
•Tool support service
•Template service
•…
IT
•Tool evaluation
•Tool implementation
•Process / Tool support
•…
Page 18
19. @nozurbina
Work streams
Market research &
cross-functional
alignment
Standards, process
& UX design
Content
transformation
Tool selection
Staffing /
(re)education
25. @nozurbina
Castle map with BUs
(acquired)
VPs
"Sell""Make"
Product
Mgmt
Dev
Support
Docs &
Train
Pre
Sales
Eng.
Field
App
Eng.
S&M
Es
25
26. @nozurbina
Castle map with BUs
(acquired)
VPs
"Sell""Make"
Product
Mgmt
Dev
Support
Docs &
Train
Pre
Sales
Eng.
Field
App
Eng.
S&M
Es“There are only two
methods of attack:
direct and indirect; yet
in combination these
give rise to
an endless series of
manoeuvres.”
– SunTzu
26
30. ______’s (Content) Strategy
Corporate Strategy
• Be most innovative
provider of solutions
into key markets:
– ...
– ...
– ...
Content Strategy
• Treat information as a
business asset
– “Innovative”:
knowledge that’s
easily shared &
accessed
– “Solution”: content
integrated into
product offering
30
31. Why we’re doing this –
elevator pitch
Agile change-over
necessitates
major rethink
Which anyway we
haven’t had in far too
long
2
Current tools
going End of Life
1
We were spending
(big) money in the
wrong places
Poor customer data and
analytics = ineffective
use of resources,
financial waste, unhappy
customers & staff
3
32. Goals/Outcomes
Situation analysis
(SWOT: for people, process,
positioning, platform)
Fleshing out user
journeys/stories
Building domain
model
(shared picture of the world)
Begin to define
project vision &
initial scope
Finding
justification
(quantitative: stats, dollars; &
qualitative: stories,
soundbites)
Choosing our key
allies
(influence, funding)
33. The 4Ps
• Required
Tools and
support
• Credibility
• Authority
• Alignment
• ROI
• Changes to
work
• Who’s affected?
• Who’s needed?
People Process
PlatformPosition
33
Program not project!
34. @nozurbina
Sample tool selection
short list
“Killer” Requirements
DITA CCMSs References CMS
Compatibility /
Flexibility
Multi-
platform
Standard
Support
Roadmap
xxx
xxx
xxx
xxx
34
35. @nozurbina
Pitch checklist
Itemised budget and ROI over time
5 Year TCO
Key milestones / Escape points
Risk matrix and mitigation plan
Market references
“What if we do nothing”?
Contextual alignment
35
36. Why we’re doing this –
elevator pitch
Agile change-over
necessitates
major rethink
Which anyway we
haven’t had in far too
long
2
Current tools
going End of Life
1
We were spending
(big) money in the
wrong places
Poor customer data and
analytics = ineffective
use of resources,
financial waste, unhappy
customers & staff
3
39. @nozurbina
THANK YOU!
39
Image attributions: http://bitly.com/bundles/nozurbina/5
Email me storming challenges:
noz.urbina@urbinaconsulting.com
@nozurbina
@thecsbook
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Notes de l'éditeur
Croatian War of Independence
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/ba/Medak_pocket_battle_map.png
“Know yourself and you will win all battles” – Sun Tzu
“Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.” – Sun Tzu
This will help you do what you're already trying to do
Tie into corporate vision statement
“Success is gained by carefully accommodating ourselves to the enemy's purpose” – Sun Tzu
Metrics Baseline AND Success
This will help you do what you're already trying to do
Tie into corporate vision statement
Are you great in writing but not so good in front of an audience?
Are you a tools geek?
Are you a visionary but not someone who does or finishes things very well on a deadlines?
The impact of physical distance varies greatly from project to project
No content lifecycle = endlessly growing mass of content, not governed or reviewed
Creating tables of stats
Number of manuals has doubled (do year by year)
Staff totals have remained level or even slightly reduced
Timeliness has dropped
Quality and customer satisfaction are unknown and unquantifiable
Moral is middling to low, dedication and ambition is high.
ROI is typically 30-40% - very likely that TSYS is at high end of potential return because of current processes and issues
= 1.4M / annual potential return of value to the business
Not know what other things are going
When are budget cycles
Have they just signed a huge agreement to buy another massive enterprise system?
PSP: Figuring out when and how (you think) you're going to get it
Does your audience love services, not like tools, or vice versa?
Lack of change management
Croatian War of Independence
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/ba/Medak_pocket_battle_map.png
Content (strategy) isn’t an end in itself – it’s a means to support and further corporate goals.
Alignment with other initiatives
Tie into corporate vision statement
“This will help you do what you're already trying to do”
look at how ready your content is for delivery to wearable screens
Consider what data wearable can generate to tell you about users’ real lives
look at how ready your content is for delivery to wearable screens
Consider what data wearable can generate to tell you about users’ real lives
Positioning splits up into credibility and authorityCredibility is your reputation for adding valueThis helps you take on senior management of other departments
look at how ready your content is for delivery to wearable screens
Consider what data wearable can generate to tell you about users’ real lives