Time to Lasso That .Gov Elephant!

By Candi Harrison · January 12, 2012 · 9:30 am

The .Gov Task Force has issued the State of the Federal Web report, summarizing its surveys and the national brainstorming effort it sponsored. It’s a terrific report, full of great data and even better analysis. If you care at all about how customer service in the federal government functions (or should function), this is a “must read.”

Are there any surprises here? Heck no. Many of us – both inside and outside government – have been yammering about the proliferation of government websites, the lack of consistency, bad writing, and the need for easy-to-use “top tasks,” for years. The good news is that now we have the data to support it and a Presidential initiative to fix it.

So, what’s the one absolutely compelling need that jumps out…the elephant in the room? Governance. Governance across agencies. Governance across government. It’s time to wrestle with those 5 “R’s” of governance, establish consistency, and really improve customer service through the web.

What are the 5 “R’s” of governance?

Roles – who, by title, must be involved?
Responsibilities – what must they do?
Relationships – how/when must they interact?
Rules – how will they operate (policies, publication rules, and operating rules)?
Review – how they will make sure that the first four “R’s” are followed and improved (accountability; management controls)?

Roles, responsibilities, relationships, and rules do not have to be (shouldn’t be) reinvented agency-by-agency. There are clear models of success out there (just check out Howto.gov). Embrace them. We need to stop the tug of war between communications and technology and customer service and figure out who has the lead and how it needs to be organized, keeping the customer at the center. It’s time.

But the biggie – the one that, without it, all else fails – is “Review.” We need good controls to make sure we’re adhering to “R’s” 1-4. Certification processes are great. But if no one spot-checks to make sure those certifications are accurate, who cares? If we don’t do something about noncompliance, why should anyone comply? Content management systems can help. They can enforce design and approvals. But they can’t fix bad writing. They can’t make sure top tasks are easy-to-use and easy-to-find.

You’ve got to have effective review processes to make sure everything (and everyone) is working according to plan. And there have to be repercussions if it isn’t (you lose your posting rights, you have to take more training, we find someone else to fill your responsibilities, etc.).

The .Gov Task Force is working on a governmentwide web strategy to address the findings documented in the State of the Federal Web report and chart a course for the future. They’ve done a superb job handling this critical initiative, so far; and I look forward to seeing what they do now. It’s a task fraught with peril – there’s so much to be done. This strategy has to be very focused and very practical. But this group looks like it’s up to it. And if they lasso that darned elephant, we’ll see real improvement in customer service.

Re-published from Candi On Content

Candi Harrison was Department Web Manager at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development from 1995-2005. Under Candi’s leadership, HUD won numerous web awards, including the first Digital Government Award presented by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Accenture for outstanding use of the Internet to serve citizens (2000); the E-Gov Trailblazer Award for HUD's free web clinics for HUD partners (2001); and the E-Gov Pioneer Award for HUD's ground-breaking government information kiosks (1999). HUD’s web strategies and operations were cited as “best practices” in numerous studies and reviews during Candi’s tenure. In 2000, Candi founded and led the government Web Content Managers Forum to help federal, state, and local government web managers exchange best practices and lessons learned. This group now has more than 2,000 members across the country. In 2004, Candi co-chaired the federal working group that recommended policies for government websites, adopted by the Office of Management and Budget. She co-chaired the Federal Web Managers Council from its creation in 2004 until she retired in late 2005. She organized and led workshops in Washington DC and across the country to train government web managers on federal web policies and best practices; and she helped create the website, Webcontent.gov (now Howto.gov), as a resource for government web managers. Candi retired in October 2005, after 24 years of federal government service - all at HUD. Since then, Candi teaches courses and workshops on web management and customer service for the General Services Administration’s Web Manager University, Government Educator, and others. An advocate for plain writing, Candi has served as a judge for both the U.S. Clearmark Plain Language Awards and New Zealand’s WriteMark Plain English awards, for two years. Her highly praised blog, Candi On Content, chronicles her experiences and ideas to improve the way government communicates with and serves citizens. From 1974 to1980, Candi was a member of student services staffs at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, PA and Rider University in Lawrenceville, NJ. She holds a Bachelors Degree in English Education and a Masters Degree in Higher Education Administration, both from Indiana University.