The operations team I belong to offers a service called "Web Master Agency Service."
Looking at the name of our service again, I realized that there were some aspects of the service that were not visible, which might make people who visit our service introduction page wonder, "What do we actually do?" So this time I would like to write about the content of our "work" and our "role" in it, to help me organize my own thoughts about it.
Creating a website is not the end of the story.
These are the words that our CEO, Hayashi, said to me a few years ago. It really took me by surprise at the time, and I still ask myself this question from time to time.
This means that the client's final goal is not to create and "publish" a website, but to communicate what they want to do and what they want to say while operating the website. This goal will continue for a long time.
In other words,
"The creation of a website is not the end of the story; the subsequent operational phase is what's important."
That is what it means.
It's a very simple thing, and anyone can understand it if they think about it, but when working on a new website production project, it's easy to lose sight of it, and the goal set by the production side can become just to "publish the website."
This is the goal of the creators, and from the customer's perspective, it is just the beginning. From this point on, the long-term "operation" process begins to achieve the objectives of the website production.
In reality, even if you are able to create a website with great content and design, once it enters the operational phase, updating the site can be difficult and time-consuming, and problems can arise before the original purpose can be achieved, which can defeat the purpose.
Of course, "publishing a website by the deadline" is very important, but we believe that when designing specifications and creating a website, one must also take into account the operational phase after publication.
What is a "Webmaster Agency Service"? What is its role?
This introduction has been long, but we provide general web support during the operations phase to help our customers achieve their goals.
The scope of our services is wide-ranging, from content planning to wireframes (structure proposals), design, coding, website analysis/improvement suggestions, email newsletter distribution, posting to social media, etc.
Of the dozens of websites I am in charge of, there is not a single project that does the same thing.
The fact that each site has a different scope means that each website has a different purpose.
Each person in charge has different concerns. They may simply be struggling with a lack of personnel resources, have ideas for content but no designers or coders to put them into a website, no planners to decide on content proposals for specific purposes, or just not knowing what to do with the website in the first place...
Therefore, when I am consulted about an operational project, I try to see things from the same perspective as the person in charge and understand what they are currently worried about and what they are struggling with.
Even after a project has started, we believe that our role is not to be in a relationship of client or supplier, but rather to work as website managers on the same team, sharing the same perspective and goal, sometimes worrying together and working together to overcome each challenge one by one.
"Role" may sound like an exaggeration, but that is how I want to be, and I would also like my team members to have the same attitude toward their work.
Furthermore, when it comes to the websites of clients that we have been working with for a long time, I know the website better than the client does, and I think the ideal approach is to take the initiative and say, "It's almost that time of year for the annual XX. Let's start preparing for △△."
The advantage of operational work that I personally feel is that it can be done by continuing to look at the same website over a long period of time.
I think there are a lot of things to consider.
Also, when I hear the end users' reactions, happy voices, and words of gratitude about the websites I am in charge of, it makes my job rewarding and motivates me to do my best again next time.
Simply put, it means being able to directly feel the reaction to what you do.
lastly,
In terms of operations, there are still many things we want to do and have not yet done.
We would like to continue working together to build an operations team that will be known as "Monosus is the name to go for when it comes to operations."
KURIHARA Tsutomu