Learn how Kontent.ai generated a 320% ROI over three years and helps its customers speed up time-to-market in a commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting. In 2023, Kontent.ai commissioned Forrester Consulting to conduct a Total Economic Impact™ (TEI) study and examine the potential return on investment (ROI) enterprises may realize by deploying Kontent.ai.
This guide will help you understand what a headless CMS is, the benefits of going headless, and how to choose the right CMS. What is a headless CMS? A headless CMS is a content management system that enables you to deliver content to multiple channels simultaneously.
The term “Composable DXP” describes a new type of Digital Experience Platform (DXP). What does it mean, and how does it differ from a monolithic DXP solution? A digital experience platform enables companies to optimize the digital customer journey as well as manage all their content and campaigns using one central hub.
Explore features Kontent.ai is the preferred CMS for managing every step of the content value chain to deliver great experiences across multiple channels, brands, and regions. Explore the features that customers love.
Processes and procedures spell out how content teams should do content-related activities, which enables enterprises to coordinate their content operations effectively.
Published on Mar 22, 2021
Enterprises must be able to translate their content governance goals into practice. Their policies outline what needs to happen. Their processes and procedures specify how their work should be done.
A process helps an organization standardize how they perform an activity. It delineates the intended flow of activities and how these activities change the content. It indicates what happens, by whom, where, and when. Processes will indicate decision points and different pathways. Because these pathways can diverge depending on circumstances, processes are good for showing the inter-relationship between activities.
Procedures articulate in more detail how a process is done. They stipulate the steps to take. Each step can provide instructions that show the correct way to complete specific tasks.
Successful governance depends on having consistent content operations. If different teams and individuals perform their work idiosyncratically, their results will vary, which can produce commercial, reputational, or legal risks to the enterprise.
Processes and procedures not only reduce risks but also support efficiency. Employees don’t want to figure out how to do things each time they need doing. But unless an established procedure is in place, they’ll be inclined to copy examples they see, whether or not these examples are done well.
While processes and procedures should reflect policies and guidelines, they don’t need to be limited to them. Process standards can cover aspects of content operations that do not have formal policy standards. For creative and design activities, in particular, it can be more important how the work is done rather than what the final output looks like. By specifying the important tasks and who needs to be involved with them, process standards ensure consistency in the quality of outcomes.
By documenting processes and procedures, enterprises can:
Processes and procedures support quality by documenting common approaches that are embraced by all involved with content operations. Common approaches will yield consistency.
Like any form of content, procedures need to be tailored to the audience using them.
Less expert users, especially those whose primary responsibilities don’t relate to content, may not need to consult detailed procedures, which might cover many tasks they won’t ever be involved with. Instead, they will benefit from having instructions that guide how to do specific tasks.
Staff with more expertise will likely be involved with coordinating several interrelated tasks. They will want documented processes to help them understand the relationships and procedures to manage the details
Processes, procedures, and instructions vary in the scope and details they address.
Processes can specify:
Procedures can articulate:
Instructions can indicate:
Your documentation should include both broad and specific activities. If your team follows an agile approach, you can identify your content-related activities, user tasks, and user stories to discover those activities that would benefit from having formal processes, procedures, and instructions.
Map the big picture of the current state of your content activities that need to be managed. Various teams may be following different processes. Decide where you want to change or harmonize the differences in how your process happens. Identify processes where quality and efficiency are issues. Look at examples from other organizations to find inspiration and to borrow effective practices.
Your process standards should be tailored to the unique needs of your organization. Encourage employees to share how they do activities so others can learn from them and add their ideas. In large organizations, teams can compare procedures and map their similarities and differences to develop a common approach.
Processes and standards are for everyone, including those who oversee them. When creating content procedures, establish a process to manage them. Don’t just prepare documentation and expect it will stay relevant. Set expectations for how frequently these will be reviewed. Provide channels where people can ask for clarifications, or request additions, exceptions, or changes.
Procedures and processes demonstrate value when they capture the collective expertise across the enterprise. They have the greatest impact when they relate to complex functional areas, require specialized knowledge, or involve the coordination of multiple roles.
Start by looking at high-frequency activities with noticeable quality problems or that seem to take too long. By having documented procedures, many of the issues will improve.
Some common processes and procedures that are complex, involving several decisions or multiple team roles, include:
What process standards are right for your organization will depend on your business priorities and operational maturity. Your goal should be to make sure that the processes and procedures you adopt are followed consistently. If teams aren’t ready to do that yet, consider creating other kinds of documentation that will be helpful but not obligatory. As these resources get used and mature, they may eventually become the basis for more formal procedures.
