Web Governance Documents

What It Is

Web governance documents are the written plans for your:

• Web governance strategy
• Web team organization and management
• Web roles and responsibilities
• Web policies and procedures

Why It's Important

Web governance documents codify your Web governance strategies, organizational structure, policies and procedures. They act as road maps for your team’s work, grounding team members in a common understanding of how things are supposed to work. They also provide stakeholders information about all of your program’s activities.

How to Implement

Plan first. Writing Web governance documents can be daunting and time–consuming, so take the time to plan how you’ll achieve this goal. Ask yourself:

• Which parts of your Web governance documentation should you focus on first?
• What can you build upon that’s already been started or done?

Review and assess any documentation you currently have. Assign documentation sub–tasks to staff or small teams of two or three people. Be selective and realistic in how you define what you want to achieve.

Consider what others have done to codify their documents and how you can adopt that to your plans (see the Web governance document examples and resources below, and borrow ideas from other agencies, if you think they will work well in your organization—don’t reinvent the wheel!). Think about where your documentation will reside. Will it be distributed only internally? Or are you developing your Web governance documents as a multi–page section on your website?

Finally, re–visit your documents from time to time. Ask your team to track gaps in Web policies and procedures, as they’re doing their work. When you come together as a team you’ll have discussion points for making improvements to your Web governance documents.

Examples

• HowTo.gov Website Governance (PDF, 2.1 MB, 65 pages, March 2012)
• EPA Web Governance
• HUD Web Management Operating Procedures (PDF, 415 KB, 101 pages, June 2005)
• ED.gov Management and Publishing Policies
• EERE Communication Standards & Guidelines for Websites

Resources

Modify any of these resources for your agency's Web team needs:

• Website Governance Document Template (YouTube)
• Sample Template: SharePoint Products and Technologies governance plan
• Governance 101: Best practices for creating and managing team sites

Content Lead: Robert Jacoby
Page Reviewed/Updated: September 17, 2012