Get senior executive buy-in
Set up governance for your content strategy project. Engage early and regularly to ensure buy-in, and talk about risk.
Project governance
Set up a governance group so they are involved in creating the content strategy from the start. They should help to steer and monitor progress.
Your governance group is made up of:
- divisional project leader/s
- senior responsible owner/s
- a project sponsoring group
- a project team to form and maintain relationships with internal stakeholders
- stakeholder working groups that include representatives of both agency and audience needs
Identify and include decision-makers with the most influence.
Establish an informal mentor group of senior executives (about 4 people) that you can regularly draw on for feedback and advice.
You should also consider people who will be affected by changes to your agency's content. One working group should be made up of people in your agency who are involved in the content process. Include content managers, leads and policy people. This will ensure your strategy is able to be carried out.
Engage early and regularly
Share your pitch with a couple of senior executives first to get their feedback. Try to understand their key concerns, so you can prepare responses. Tailor your pitch to those concerns and explain how you will address them.
Engage regularly with your mentor group and your working groups. Set up regular touchpoints while you are creating your strategy. This will also help with implementing your strategy down the track.
You may also need to get buy-in from external stakeholders so that content across government agencies can be joined up.
Talk about risk
There will always be an element of risk. You will need to talk about risk, but you should compare it to the benefits. This will highlight how much your agency can save through content improvement in the long term.