Outline for a Strategic Plan
A strategic plan is an essential part of web management. You, your web organization, and your agency need a map showing where you're going and how you'll get there. Strategic plans should be concise and written for a broad audience—basically everyone in the agency. Your strategic plan should guide what you do and how you use your resources.
I. Vision: Describe success. Paint a picture of your vision for using the web. Be succinct.
Example:
Our agency website will open government to its citizens and support the business processes necessary to achieve our mission. Our website will offer complete information and efficient and secure processes to work with our business partners. Our website will help ensure that when citizens interact with this agency, they are able to:
- Get the information or service they want without knowing which part of our agency provides it
- Get answers to their questions promptly, completely, in words they understand
- Complete government transactions—including filling out forms and applying for programs—online, and those processes are easy to find and easy to use
- Talk to a person when they want
- Get the same answers to their questions no matter who they ask or how they ask them (online, phone, mail)
- Get clear and accurate instructions on where to start and what happens next
This is the vision that guides our strategic goals and objectives.
II. Goals and key objectives: List your major strategic goals (normally 3–5). Goals should describe both "what" you want to do and "why" you want to do it. Under each goal, list specific objectives that describe (briefly) "how" you will achieve the goals.
Example:
Goal 1: Improve the quality and ease–of–use of agency websites by identifying and enhancing the efficiency of the most used tasks, making those tasks easier to find, and eliminating content that is outdated, redundant, and inaccurate.
- Objective 1.a: Identify the most used (top) tasks
- Objective 1.b: Improve the efficiency of the top tasks
- Objective 1.c: Improve the design of the home page to make it easier to find the top tasks
- Objective 1.d: Establish a quarterly certification process, requiring managers to certify that their web content is both current and accurate
- Objective 1.e: Establish consequences for failure to complete the certification process
- Objective 1.f: Establish an annual review process to verify and enhance top tasks
- Objective 1.g: Work across agencies to consolidate and/or link top tasks to help citizens get complete information and follow logical sequences
Goal 2: Improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the agency's web governance structure to ensure the agency's websites are operated effectively and that they support mission achievement and public service.
- Objective 2.a: Review and update agency web policies
- Objective 2.b: Establish a quarterly meeting of all members of the governance structure to review progress and discuss plans
- Objective 2.c: Incorporate the Chief Procurement Officer in the agency governance structure to ensure contracts comply with agency web policies
- Objective 2.d: Create a monthly e–newsletter for all agency managers, keeping them informed on web plans and achievements
- Objective 2.e: Develop performance standards for all agency web managers and web coordinators
- Objective 2.f: Identify and publicize opportunities to work across government on policy issues, and encourage all members of the governance structure to participate
Goal 3: Improve communication with citizens by improving the content of the websites, including writing, organization, and methods of delivery.
- Objective 3.a: Train all employees who routinely contribute to the website to write using the principles of "plain language."
- Objective 3.b: Develop and implement a process to review and—where needed—rewrite web content to make it easier to understand and use.
- Objective 3.c: Work with other agencies to consolidate content around topics of interest to the public
