Us vs. Them (or, “can’t we all just get along?”)
Written December 5th, 2007 by CapnThat title isn’t wordplay on “clients vs. servers”, “managers vs. staff” or even “IE vs. FireFox”. It’s a nod to a divergence in the web arena between the IS/IT and Marketing/Communications staff. Obviously, not every situation is like this - nor is this phenomenon strictly confined to healthcare. I merely point it out because the ultimate end-product of this gap (in our industry) can result in poor productivity and worse - poor or “non-optimal” service to the people who really need it: our employees, physicians and patients.
In each group there can be aloofness and isolationism towards the other; as well as passion and anxiety within. I’ve witnessed stubborness and “ownership” squabbles on both sides, from the executive level down to the intern. On one side, there are complaints of “they just don’t understand what I’m trying to accomplish here!”, and on the other side, grumblings of “they just don’t comprehend how this works!” Please notice: I don’t indicate who said what - because I’ve heard both statements from both sides of the fence.
In simple terms, the realm of the web can be construed as the merger of the right and left brains. Technical acuity and process is required to ensure the smooth presentation and maintenance of ideas and content; creativity and usability is required to make sure the message is consistent and the target audience is spoken to directly - as well as heard from - in an intuitive manner. Sure, there are means to ease technical burdens for creators, just as there are plenty of content providers for the techies … but the web sits in that intersection, in the mid-brain. And just as each hemisphere of the human brain performs certain functions better than the other, it is the concerted actions of the two that produce the best result. Let’s everybody forget where we sit in the org chart and face it: we need each other, and they need us.
And there it is, the root of it all. Everybody singing the same song, just in different keys. Perhaps the “web staff” should really just be comprised of moderators who sit between the marketing guys and the IT gang. As an analogy, we have a “clinical liaison” on the IT staff, who’s really an RN - so he speaks both languages. It’s like having an interpreter. An interpreter … maybe that’s what needs to be on our resumé. As web folk, sitting between the two hemispheres of calculating logic and eccentric creativity, envision ourselves in the shoes of our site’s visitors - put that all in a blender and there we have it: an easy-to-maneuver, concisely worded, attention-keeping & eye-catching website with lots of satisfied traffic and happy people with the word “chief” their title.
If only it were that easy. Because while that sounds all shiny and wonderful, the counterpoint means we have no friends anywhere and can get it from all sides. But when it comes together … both Us and Them are happy, and the best yet: our patients, visitors, physicians and employees are happy.
Now, that said, let me put this on the table: I’m in IT. I’m the one-man-web-design/development/management-army (or “the bottleneck”, depending on your point of view) for our organization and I sit amongst the folks who can control your password and your desktop wallpaper.
Just - don’t hold it against me if you’re in marketing. 
December 5th, 2007 at 10:56 am
Excellent post, and a constant topic of conversation at conferences or any gathering of either side of the brain. And Jake hit the nail right on the head: We don’t think about things the same way. We’re just wired differently.
But with due apologies to the 1-man gangs out there, having IS or IT be responsible for your web site is like having the print shop be responsible for any brochure or your annual report. You certainly can’t get the job done without them, but imagine how differently the brochure would look if the print shop was responsible for the whole thing!
I used to work at an interactive agency doing business with Fortune 500 companies, and no two entities had their web governance set up the same way. And I hardly find an organization at our annual conference that is organized the way any other is set up.
There’s the rub: Finding the right mix and governance. Both need to be at the table, but who’s in charge? Who makes the final call? That’s where a lot of the difficulty comes in, based on my experience. Both sides think they have authority, and the result is a mess.
The only models I’ve seen where the problem gets solved is when the web team is neither communications/marketing nor IS. They are their own entity, frequently reporting to the CEO or COO.
For whatever it is worth, I’m in Communications, but I serve that translator role that Jake wrote about so eloquently. I take the needs of the marketing and comm folks and turn it into actionable and usable items on the web. Where the wheels come off is where we need IS involvement because they own a back-end database or something like that. Then we have all the problems Jake wrote about.
This has all the makings of a panel at next year’s conference!
December 5th, 2007 at 11:45 am
Neal - great input, thank you! You hit upon the area that I accidentally left out, but makes for great discussion: “where should we sit (in the org chart)?”
I’m actually planning to make a pitch in next year or two for our web crew (hopefully than one by then) to ‘relocate’ to the Chief Quality Officer’s silo, with a dotted line to the CIO. In our organization, both HR and Communications sit under the CQO, and internally we’re beginning to pay a lot of attention to web-based efforts in all aspects of quality. (I just don’t know how the suggestion will be received by IT)
Jake
December 6th, 2007 at 3:37 pm
Great topic. It would be so much easier if there was a standard governance model that’s been proven to work. But as Neal said, it seems like no two entities have their web governance set up the same way.
I agree with both of you that Marketing and IT need each other. I think this is even more true today than it was 10 years ago. I used to feel, coming from the design side, that I could build a website on my own if I had to. Now with AJAX and other so-called “Web 2.0″ technologies, and heightened levels of consumer expectations in terms of services you can deliver over the web, we’ve moved past basic HTML and CSS. That said, I love Neal’s analogy of what a brochure would look look like if the print shop was responsible for it.
In terms of governance, I hear what you’re saying about the web shop living outside of marketing and IT, but I also wonder how that works when you consider the web to be one aspect of an integrated marketing communications platform? Going back to the brochure, the presence of some technical requirements for final delivery (in this case running a printing press) doesn’t seem like a good enough reason to place responsibility for developing the brochure outside of either group involved.
I find another difficulty in the gap between an “ideal world” solution to the issue of web governance (and org. charts), and what may already be in existence at an organization. Has anyone had experience initiating a major change in the way your organization approached the web?
December 6th, 2007 at 5:07 pm
I’m a one (wo)man shop as well who is housed in the Marketing Department; however, the budget for our web sites come from the IT Dept. So the two are married in an odd sort of way. My issues are more with other departments within the organization rather than the more common marketing vs. IT.
I think I’m lucky in that I get along pretty well with and work very frequently with the IT Dept here. Although we tend to work well together regardless of the org chart, I think it would be best if the web sites fell under their own department. Namely Ebusiness or Ecommerce comprised of it’s own marketing and IT folk with an Ebusiness Director reporting directly to the CEO and working closely with the CIO and VP of Planning & Development (where marketing is held at my organization). It seems as though other organizations with this sort of set up have been successful.
And needless to say, it’d be great to have a crew working with me… or at least one other person.