Hello, this is Kagawa from the WS Department (Webmaster Support Department).
I simply wrote "WS Department", but in fact, starting this year we have established a new department whose main task is to operate the website.
That being said, Monosus has been managing the websites of many clients as a "Webmaster Agency Service". Until last year, this service was mainly run by the operations team of the former Creative Department, but from now on, it will be further strengthened as the "Webmaster Support Department".
The WS Department has just been established, and a kick-off meeting was held the other day to mark the launch of the new department. Today, I would like to look back on the discussion at that meeting and tell you about the direction of the WS Department, asking "What will we do in the future?"
"Proactive Management" and "Passive Management"
The WS Department is responsible for one of Monosus' core businesses, "website operation." Like the operations team of the former Creative Department, this department specializes in "webmaster agency services" and operates existing websites.
Where is the WS Club headed in the future?
To put it bluntly, we will increase the proportion of "proposal-based management."
We believe that the nature of operational work can be broadly categorized into two types.
1. "Passive Management"
A project in which the request is made with the production content already decided, and the client makes the decisions regarding production.
2. “Proposal type (active type) operation”
This is a project where the decisions regarding production are made by both "us" and "the client", where "we" propose ideas based on measures and methods to achieve the website's objectives, and then "we" create them.
The role of websites has changed dramatically in recent years. They have evolved from simply being a corporate guide to being used as a tool to achieve business results, and simply updating a website on a daily basis is no longer enough to fulfill its purpose.
We provide useful suggestions to corporate webmasters (web managers) on how to utilize their websites. This is what the Webmaster Support Department is all about, and we want to make a big shift to "proposal-based (active) operation" in order to be told, "We want you to handle operations because we're Monosus' WS department."
Increasing the ratio of "proposal-based management"
"Proposal-based operation" is not something that we started to set as a new goal this year. It is something that Kurihara (currently the deputy manager of the WS department), who has been leading the operation business for some time, has often mentioned. (In fact, in the first "Webmaster Goes" last year, he wrote an article titled " The Path the Operation Team Aims for in 2017 ," about wanting to improve websites.)
However, just as we were getting ready to get started, there was an organizational change last summer, with mid-level members being transferred and new staff being added, making it difficult to get the system in order and increase the weight of "proposal-based operation."
Therefore, the current situation of the projects handled by the WS department can be described as "0% proposal type: 100% passive type." Of course, there are occasional projects where we make suggestions for site improvements, but the answer is no, we make suggestions on a constant basis.
The WS Department has a mountain of issues to deal with, including cooperation between the Yoyogi and Kamiyama offices, lack of resources, training new employees, etc. In order to increase the weight of "proposal-based operations" more objectively and realistically, Kurihara has set a goal for the WS Department: the "3-year plan."
WS Department 3-year plan
As I mentioned earlier, the current ratio of operational projects is "0% proposal type: 100% passive type," but the WS Department is aiming to change it to "50% proposal type: 50% passive type" within the next three years. That is the three-year plan.
However, the brand new WS department has a mountain of problems to solve. It is not easy to suddenly increase the weight of "proposal-based operation" while solving these problems. Therefore, we have set annual milestones.
Milestones of the three-year plan
Key challenges
- Case management: Organizing cases after department reorganization
- Productivity improvement: Improve the productivity of each individual
- Human resource development: Develop personnel to take over projects from transferred members
- Strengthening cooperation: Strengthening cooperation between Yoyogi office and Kamiyama satellite office, etc.
Of course, we need to specify whether or not each issue can be achieved and break it down into specific tasks, but rather than just rushing ahead blindly, we would like to "realistically" aim for our target project ratio.
In addition, as we have repeatedly mentioned, in order to increase the proportion of "proposal-based operations," the most important prerequisite is to be able to stably manage the regular requests we currently have. First of all, in the current operational work, we must be able to deliver on time and with stable quality without any difficulty. It is essential that each member improves their skills and productivity and gradually creates "gaps."
With an eye toward where we want to be in three years, we will work hard to achieve the goals we set this year while sharing them with all our members, so that we can report on the next goals for the Webmaster Support Department here.
KAGAWA YUTARO