Hello, this is Kurihara from the website operations team.
I usually work on managing websites for various clients, but the main job of the job is to receive unexpected requests. I work hard every day trying to respond flexibly to such requests.
This time, I would like to introduce some useful tools for task management, which is an issue when operating a website.
Management of your own website
Many people do this as a side job to their main job.
The results of a survey of B2B companies*1 showed that a very small percentage of people are dedicated to managing their company’s website, while the vast majority of people are in charge of managing their website on the side of their main duties.
*1 We visited B2B companies and interviewed them about their operations and renewals. This is the report "Corporate Website Operation Report" (see p. 44-p. 45)
While performing your main duties, you probably receive requests from various departments and superiors such as "Please fix this," "This page is hard to read, so please fix it," or "Please add information about ◯△□."
While you prioritize and update your website in your spare time every day, and lead busy lives, it's likely that low-priority requests get forgotten about.
In the text of the email,
Be careful if requests for something other than the main topic are mixed in
For example, if an email contains a brief request (as a side note?) to update a website that is unrelated to the main topic, if you think that it is a low priority and put off responding to the request, it may be too late.
Because it takes time to find that email. Unless you respond immediately, it will take twice as long as usual. (Is that an exaggeration?)
I believe that the above-mentioned incidents would not happen if you properly defined rules for the subject line and the content of the body of the email (who will do what by when) and followed those rules, but there are even more intuitive and convenient tools available.
That tool is " Backlog ," which allows you to centrally manage tasks.
Features of Backlog
The advantage of using Backlog is that it allows you to clearly define each task.
In Backlog, a task is called an " issue ." You create an issue for each task, and within that issue,
・Issue name ・Update contents ・Priority ・Test update date ・Production update date ・Person in charge
Specify the following:
This makes it clear who needs to do what and by when, and the comprehensive search function makes it possible to display tasks by person in charge or by category, which is extremely convenient.
By the way, categories can be freely customized, so you can use different ones for different projects.
Each assignment is focused on one task, so when you read it again later, you can check the history and see at a glance the related files linked to the assignment.
For information on how to use BackLog, please see our official website . From here on, I will introduce some things to be particularly careful of when using Backlog.
-Three points to note about Backlog-
1. Make sure to follow the rule that update requests should be submitted through Backlog.
If update requests are made using various tools, such as by email or through Backlog, it can actually become more of a hassle.
Therefore, we need to get cooperation from all relevant parties to ensure that update requests are made using Backlog.
Since employees will have to learn how to use Backlog and its rules, the burden will be higher than usual at the beginning, but we are encouraging them to use Backlog for communication, with the aim of streamlining the flow in the future.
2. Be sure to change the "person in charge"
Members working on the project, including customers, will register under the assignment section.
It is necessary to clarify who has the ball among the multiple players.
For example, during the design creation stage, we register the name of our designer, and after the design is completed and submitted to the customer's representative for confirmation, our designer will change the person in charge to the customer's representative, making it clear that the ball is now in the customer's hands.
After that, if there are no problems with the design, please contact us and we will change the person in charge to one of our designers or coders.
It may seem like a very trivial thing, but by doing this, you can sort the tasks by the person in charge to see who is currently holding which ball, and you can get a clear understanding of the tasks you have.
3. Update your "status" (progress) frequently
Each issue has a category called Status. This is the status that shows the current state of the issue, and can be Open / In Progress / Processed / Completed, and should be changed as needed depending on the progress.
Although it depends on the project, if you are having the customer create a new issue, once the new issue is created, the director in charge should acknowledge receipt and assign it to the person in charge and change the "status" from "Not handled" to "In progress."
If the "Status" is not changed and it remains "Not Addressed," the person in charge of the issue may become concerned, so even if it is an issue for a future release, change the status once you have checked it.
Also, make sure to clarify the rules for what constitutes "completion" with all project members, including the customer, in advance.
for example,
・When the customer checks the site after the live upload is complete and there are no problems. ・When the entire HTML file set has been delivered and the customer has published the site.
Since the parts that we undertake vary depending on the project, it is necessary to clarify what constitutes completion of a task.
Also, it may be a good idea to limit who can change the status from "In Progress" to "Completed" so that only the person in charge of the project can change the status to "Completed" after checking the live page.
This may seem obvious, but the weight given to the tasks will be different depending on whether or not such rules are decided in advance.
There is no right way to use BackLog. It is important to clarify the operational flow for each project and set it up to suit the project. Also, when you start using BackLog, you can make the process smoother by creating rules based on the operational flow and sharing them with project members.
Lastly, you can use Backlog not only for web task management, but also for personal task management. Why not set milestones for long-term life challenges and make a plan? (laughs)
KURIHARA Tsutomu