Professional communicators take pride in our work, but closer attention needs to be paid to work approval processes to protect quality standards.
I have come across several corporate intranets where all material has to be channelled through the corporate communications department. The department is under immense pressure not only to keep up with adding new material but to update existing material as well.
This 'bottleneck' approach has been adopted for the best of intentions - to protect internal publication standards. But delays can result to seriously damage an organisation.
It is also soul destroying for the content gatekeepers - who are constantly working on other peoples' material and not doing creative work themselves.
So how do we get around this publication-versus-standards dilemma?
The communications department now adopts the role of facilitator.
The intranet is like a corporate filing cabinet. Some information is accessed by many on a regular basis, while much else is rarely viewed. So the additional effort needed to improve readability needs to be reserved for material that will save most staff time.
Some areas of an intranet may only need minimal editing help because the material, by its nature, is rarely accessed. While other areas, take HR material or corporate news items as examples, can be given the full treatment.
paper for now - web later
It may even be decided that sticking with a paper publication may be preferable. Perhaps publishing a pdf online will have to do until the time can be found to publish the content more effectively as web pages in future.
a new role of 'facilitator'
Allowing other departments to publish with 'licenced content providers' is another widely adopted solution. These individuals are trained to corporate standards and also take an active part in the ongoing dialogue on corporate guidelines.
The communications department now adopts the role of facilitator. It will draw up corporate style guides, set publication standards, act as corporate style watchdog, arrange web writing training and act as web champion and motivator.
the buddy approach
Another effective solution is that every content creator works in tandem with another. Each checks and approves the other's work before it goes live.
standards versus progress
Corporate communicators who insist that everything must be approved by them will either find their companies will suffer - or more likely that their own services will no longer be required.