Plan your work, work your plan

Project management and setting policies is often times the most feared piece of online communications but this is one of those things that if not done effectively, you will end up spinning your wheels with little results. What's interesting is that project management is actually biblical in nature. It requires patience, diligence and a directed mind towards an end goal. Proverbs 16:3 tell us to commit to the Lord in whatever we do and our plans will succeed.

Keeping in mind that they are God's plans and not my own, as Director of Online Communications I would seek to develop a project planning system based on delivering results in a timely, and relevant fashion. Here is the way I would deliver projects and the way I would implement policies:

1. Roll with it: A deliverable schedule, followed by a rolling comprehensive plan will allow the team to stay flexible, while meeting specific goals. The online communications plan must be able to adapt to the changing paces of social networks, high school schedules and other considerations such as usability trends.

2. SMART: This cute acronym is actually a very good way to set goals: specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely. I would drive these into the deliverable process to develop a keen sense of meeting deadlines and expectations.

3. Consistent, over-communication: Team meetings followed by a comprehensive traffic and deliverable schedule will develop the purpose for the online strategy. Updates will be sent via email to convey progress on reaching the specific goals.

4. Policies, not rules: I would seek to set specific online communication policies as protecting the brand and protecting His kingdom come first. There should be checks in place to ensure the content on the site best reflects God's plan for Taylor University. Content management, posting requirements, and standards will be put in place to help cultivate the most Godly site possible.

5. A/C priorities: I learned in the MBA program at Indiana Wesleyan that you only have two categories in terms of managing projects. A priorities- these are right now, must do's. And then you have C priorities - those that can wait or have to wait. BY placing the online communications strategy into one of these two buckets and not having any B priorities, we can maximize efficiency.