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20-Year Evolution with a 5-Year Strategic Plan
Megan Gilhooly
©2013 INVIDI Technologies Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Proprietary @MeganGilhooly @LavaCon
A little about me
Megan Gilhooly, Manager Technical Communication
INVIDI Technologies• 80 employees and contractors• Software for cable and satellite operators• 4 direct reports• Training and documentation
MS Strategic Management
MS Broadcast Journalism
[email protected] @megangilhooly
©2013 INVIDI Technologies Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Proprietary @MeganGilhooly @LavaCon
Summary
Strategic plan
Vision
Steps we took
(What worked, what didn’t)
©2013 INVIDI Technologies Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Proprietary @MeganGilhooly @LavaCon
October 2010
Strategic Plan
©2013 INVIDI Technologies Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Proprietary @MeganGilhooly @LavaCon
Megan Gilhooly
What is a strategic plan?• Formal consideration of future course• Long term (3-5 years)• Consider current factors• End with goals, not tactics
Why do one?• Provide a base for measuring progress• Clarify goals & objectives• Communicate goals & objectives• Increase awareness of risks and opportunities• Encourage participation
©2013 INVIDI Technologies Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Proprietary @MeganGilhooly @LavaCon
Create Strategic Plan
• Current State of the Department• The team (skillsets, personalities, opportunities)• The deliverables (the good and the bad)
• SWOT• Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats• Analysis
• What Customers Want• Customer surveys one month prior• Organized quotes into 4 themes
• Getting There• Objective• Tools, processes, and people required
©2013 INVIDI Technologies Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Proprietary @MeganGilhooly @LavaCon
Inte
rnal
En
viro
nm
ent
Strengths Highly Skilled Staff Strong Leadership Functional Process
Opportunities New Technology
Alternative Resources ExpansionExt
ern
al
En
viro
nm
ent
Weaknesses Dysfunctional Process Lacking Specific Skill
Not Using Latest Technology
Threats Legislation
Lack of Support Negative Publicity
7
From www.businessballs.com
©2013 INVIDI Technologies Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Proprietary @MeganGilhooly @LavaCon
SWOT Analysis
Where we started
ToolsUsing MS Word, Framemaker 8, SVN repository
Problems: • Losing support of Adobe for Framemaker 8• Couldn’t collaborate with new writers on Framemaker 9• Framemaker template had been “borrowed”, so no one knew
how to fix the degradations• SVN wasn’t working as a company-wide CMS• No training tools
©2013 INVIDI Technologies Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Proprietary @MeganGilhooly @LavaCon
Where we started
ToolsNeeds: • No more Framemaker• Company-wide CMS mandate• DITA XML authoring tool• DITA CCMS• Language standardization software• Learning management tool
©2013 INVIDI Technologies Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Proprietary @MeganGilhooly @LavaCon
Where we started
Processes
Problems: • No recorded processes for documentation or training• No recorded processes in entire company• Delivering documentation 6 weeks after release• Every SME has a unique perspective on what is the
“accurate” answer• No sense of corporate strategy to align with• No corporate standards for style or terminology
©2013 INVIDI Technologies Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Proprietary @MeganGilhooly @LavaCon
Where we started
Processes
Needs: • Adopt a style guide• Record the current process and refine for
the short term• Move to DITA XML authoring and rewrite
processes• Encourage others to look at company-
wide processes• Increase visibility of training processes
©2013 INVIDI Technologies Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Proprietary @MeganGilhooly @LavaCon
Where we started
PeopleFour employees: 1 manager, 2 technical writers, 1
trainer who could write
Problems: • Team had been mismanaged, so team
members were angry• Other teams had no respect for Tech Comm• Customers had no faith in the documentation• One writer per customer model was not
scalable
©2013 INVIDI Technologies Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Proprietary @MeganGilhooly @LavaCon
Where we started
People
Needs: • More technical depth• Re-engagement• DITA skills and knowledge• Editorial skills
©2013 INVIDI Technologies Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Proprietary @MeganGilhooly @LavaCon
What we needed
• Content Management System
• DITA Content Management System
• Learning Management System
• Knowledge Base• Styleguide
©2013 INVIDI Technologies Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Proprietary @MeganGilhooly @LavaCon
• Drastically cut word count• Standardize terminology• Implement DITA• Processes• More technical depth• Re-engagement• DITA skills and knowledge• Editorial skills
Tools, Processes, and People
Where we started
Budget
$0
©2013 INVIDI Technologies Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Proprietary @MeganGilhooly @LavaCon
VisionDevelop strategic information management that will drastically increase customer satisfaction by providing the right information to the right people, when and where they need it.
©2013 INVIDI Technologies Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Proprietary @MeganGilhooly @LavaCon
7 Steps
©2013 INVIDI Technologies Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Proprietary @MeganGilhooly # @LavaCon
What we did
Step 1
Fix what we could
©2013 INVIDI Technologies Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Proprietary @MeganGilhooly # @LavaCon
What worked What didn’t work
• Hired a contract writer by writing a compelling business case
• Caught up on schedule (deliver docs with release)
• “Stole” a support guy who could write to improve the depth of product knowledge
• Only brought us in line with expectations in 1995…we still had a long way to go!
What we did
Step 2
Build relationships
©2013 INVIDI Technologies Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Proprietary @MeganGilhooly # @LavaCon
What worked What didn’t work
• People started to appreciate Tech Comm
• My employees were able to work with other teams more effectively
• We were able to get a lot of information from other teams
• Relationships overshadowed what’s best for the customer
• The information didn’t jive because while I was building relationships, our SMEs were not
What we did
Step 3
Find a CCMS that would also work as a company-wide CMS
©2013 INVIDI Technologies Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Proprietary @MeganGilhooly # @LavaCon
What worked What didn’t work
• We found one the board would approve (great deal!)
• We did numerous trainings• We predicted the push back and
were ready for it• Created a cross-functional team• We succeeded in full adoption in
1.5 years
• We got the value we paid for• No DITA expert on our team made
it tougher to negotiate with vendor• We were using the tool outside of
its intended scope
What we did
Step 4
Transition to DITA
©2013 INVIDI Technologies Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Proprietary @MeganGilhooly # @LavaCon
What worked What didn’t work
• I learned from the mistakes of the previous manager
• I recognized our deficiencies• We planned for DITA when
choosing our tools• Backfilled training position with a
DITA expert
• Started too early, wasted effort
What we did
Step 5
Taxonomy, Personas, Scenarios
©2013 INVIDI Technologies Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Proprietary @MeganGilhooly # @LavaCon
What worked What didn’t work
• When dealing with VPs, we did all the work and just had them provide their opinion
• Got buy-in of Support team so they would help with personas/scenarios
• People didn’t understand the need for a taxonomy, so it took a lot of convincing that it wasn’t a waste of time
• It took a long time to get buy-in from the VP who “owns the customer relationship”
What we did
Step 6
Create Learning Management System
©2013 INVIDI Technologies Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Proprietary @MeganGilhooly # @LavaCon
What worked What didn’t work
• Hired e-learning experts• Chose LMS carefully• Effective business case• Reviewed storyboards with entire
company before prototype development
• Overambitious schedule• Impact of time off• Turnover within consultant org• Time differences are tough• No dedicated resources
What we did
Step 7
Build Knowledge Base
©2013 INVIDI Technologies Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Proprietary @MeganGilhooly # @LavaCon
What worked What didn’t work
• Got budget approved • As of two weeks ago, approved budget items were frozen until next year