miletwo::network

I’m a little late in getting this out, but this installment in the series is probably one of the most important. Think for a moment with me if you will; if you plan to take a trip somewhere you’ve never been before and it’s far away… I mean FAR AWAY. How do you go about finding your way? Obviously a map comes in handy in these cases. Now after plotting your path and figuring out how you’re going to get there do you just jump in the car and go? Umm… hello, how about a change of clothes and a toothbrush?

It’s pretty easy to see from the example that a church web site project is at least as challenging as a road trip. With the road trip you’re concerned about how much time it takes to get there, packing for the trip, whether you have enough cash for gas (especially these days), and going potty one last time before you head out. Seriously, and you better at least try to go even if you don’t “feel like it.” Don’t argue, just do it. In a similar manner, when you start a church web project you have to ask yourself similar questions. Where are we going? How long will it take to get there? What resources do I need to get the job done? How will I know when I’ve arrived? This sets us up perfectly to talk about project managing a church web site project so that we don’t get lost, frustrated, or left hungry in the desert without a place to find relief.

Create a Map Step 1: Know where you’re going

To start with, you’re going to have a difficult time creating a map to nowhere, right? You started this project by determining your goal, and picking a point, the next step is deciding the specifics about making that happen. Consider determining your goal as deciding “I want to find myself.” Well, as lofty as that sounds, at least it’s a “why” you want to do this project. Next, pick a point is like deciding “I think I can find myself if I go backpacking in the Grand Canyon.” Now you have a general direction to solving the “find yourself” problem. You still need to know how to get to the Grand Canyon and you need to acquire the resources to do this.

Your web project probably goal is probably something like: “Recreate our church online with nearly every resources we have in paper, but just do it in digital form.” That’s a good goal, what specifically does that mean? Next is pick a point; you decide that your main driver is online giving and missions information. That’s your targeted message. Yes, you’ll have events, blogs, and student ministries, but the main focus is missions so that will be the biggest focal point. Your next step is to write a web project requirements definition document. This is the “know where you’re going” step. It answers the question in detail about specifically which features your web site needs to have, perhaps creating a site map or wire frames to lay out which pages or sections your site needs to have and what they might look like.

I won’t go into details about writing requirements since there is a TON of information online to help you with that. But at the very core, you need to put on paper an answer to the question “how can we tell when we’re done?” This answer the question of knowing where you’re going otherwise you’ll end up lost in the scope creep desert because you’ll never stop adding amazing features to your horribly late web site project. Or, you’ll release something pathetic first and your visitors will get upset with you and you’ll lose credibility. Neither of these are a good scenario, so figure out where you’re going before you leave, m’kay?

Create a Map Step 2: Plan your route

Next step in our church web site road trip plan a route to get to our destination. Continuing the road trip theme we need to pick a route to get there. Sorry, there’s no google maps for web site projects. You need to determine what to do, in what order, and who to lean on for help. Since I’m guessing that like most church web projects you’ll have limited budget (if any) and mostly volunteers with limited experience or time, you’re going to have to really do a good job in the planning stages to get this one off the ground.

In this step, let’s make a list of the things we need for our trip:

• A design! - The single most important aspect of a web project (at least from your pastor’s perspective) is how the web site looks. Is it pretty? Is it easy to use? Does it look like it came from 1984? If you’re not a designer you need to find one fast. This is not the project to give a beginner, trust me. If none of your volunteers has ever designed for the web before, you need to hire a professional or keep looking. If you ask your techies to put a bunch of effort into the project and nobody uses it because it’s hideous, they’ll become frustrated and stop helping you.
• A list of features - These are descriptions of functionality we want in our web site. Be sure to write detailed statements like “a pastor’s blog separated by category with pastor a’s blogs on home page and pastor b comments showing up only in his area. also pastor a posts can’t be commented on unless you’re logged in, while pastor b posts can’t be commented at all.” not just “a pastors blog.” Be specific and detailed so your geeks know exactly what they’re building.
• A list of resources - If you haven’t already found your web servants, this is your time to start begging for help. You definitely don’t want to put all of the pressure on one person otherwise you’ll create a scenario called “burnout” which is… well… a bummer. You also need to think about what technical requirements you need. Your techies will help with this and they’ll say things in ancient aramaic like “we need a virtual host capable of hosting multiple domains under the same vds with support for php5, mysql5, perl, python.” You’ll think they’re talking about snakes and brimstone but they’re talking about the very, very, very important guts of technology you need to run your site, so be sure and get them what they need.

Create a Map Step 3: Gather supplies

This is the last step in the create a map series. You know where you want to go. You know how to get there. You know what supplies you need. Now, go put it all on paper! Create a list of all the tasks people need to work on and when you need to get them done. It’s also helpful to list which tasks depend upon other tasks before you can start them. It’s like planning to stop for rest, gas, or bags of chili cheese fritos and red bull. You can’t continue the trip past a certain point without making sure you’ve finished previous steps, otherwise you’ll break down and have to fix things and that’s no bueno dood.

Remember the list of resources thing from the last step? If you’re the project leader but you aren’t a great manager (and be honest… your project success depends upon it), then you need to enlist the help of a project manager. If they have experience managing projects in other areas they can probably give you some help with this project. Point them to this web site so they know what kinds of milestones they’re managing and get them cracking. They’ll keep everybody in shape and on time so your project actually gets done.

Wrap up

That’s it for this week! Be sure to check out previous points in the series if you haven’t already and stay tuned for the next installment “Internalize the message” where we talk about the importance of having and following a vision. This is the ongoing process of cheerleading sometimes called “the care and feeding of web nerds.” Be prepared to pick up occasional stores of skittles, red bull, and chili cheese fritos <wink-wink>.

• Determine Your Goal - What effect do you want your site to have on the body?

• Pick a Point - Success through targeted messaging

• Create a Map - Failing to plan is planning to fail

• Internalize the Message - Before you can preach it, you have to believe it

• Engage Your Audience - Getting them to your site requires telling them it’s there

• Find Your Voice - Consistency of voice and thoughtful messaging

• Start All Over - Return visits requires fresh content