Web Management Task Force - Final Report

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May 19, 2000

Background

The President and Congress have mandated that all federal agencies use the web to implement electronic government and paperwork elimination, to the extent it’s practical (see Attachment A). Toward that end, the Deputy Secretary established a Web Management Task Force and assigned the Task Force to create a visionary proposal that articulates the web management structure necessary to achieve the mandates.

Methodology

A 14-member Task Force was designated by the Deputy Secretary to assess the current situation at HUD, investigate web management operations at other agencies and organizations, and formulate recommendations. The Task Force was assigned a tight schedule so that management decisions can proceed expeditiously. In addition to the 14 Task Force members, 22 managers and staff assisted in data collection and analysis. The Office of the Assistant Deputy Secretary for Field Policy and Management represented the field. A complete list of participants is attached (Attachment B).

Task force members worked in teams of 2 or 3. Each team was assigned to:

• interview web managers and key staff in specific organizations;
  
• interview web managers and key staff in other federal agencies assigned;
  
• interview web managers and key staff at private sector organizations assigned;
  
• review significant documents related to web management, including the Department’s web policies, web manager job descriptions, and the President’s memoranda on Electronic Government and Use of Information Technology to Improve Our Society, provided in an introductory packet; and
  
• review results of surveys of Headquarters and Field Office web managers and select Senior Community Builders.

During the course of the Task Force, members and staff:

• interviewed 13 HUD web managers
  
• interviewed 7 HUD program managers
  
• reviewed survey responses from 46 field web managers (Attachment C) and 7 Headquarters web managers (Attachment D);
  
• reviewed survey responses from 7 Senior Community Builders selected for this project (Attachment E);
  
• interviewed web managers and officials at these federal agencies: Air Force, Census, IRS, SBA, FDIC
  
• interviewed web managers and officials at these private sector organizations: American Red Cross, Legg Mason, and Washington Post.Newsweek Interactive
  
• received e-mail feedback from Government Executive Magazine and ABC News

A complete list of people interviewed and surveyed appears in Attachment F. A summary of the team reports appears in Attachment G.

Issues and Recommendations

Issue 1: Implementing "electronic government" at HUD will require a cultural change, from the top on down.

There are a few excellent examples of using the web to improve the way we work with our partners, including:

• the new Departmental Grants Management System;
  
• the PIH Information Center (which has been singled out by the upcoming E-Gov Conference as a "best practice");
  
• FHA Connection (which was a semi-finalist in last year’s Global Information Infrastructure awards competition);
  
• FHEO’s TEAPOTS system;
  
• CPD’s Integrated Disbursement and Information System; and
  
• the REAC systems.

There also are a few excellent examples of using the web to improve the way we work with citizens, including:

• the FHA Refunds search;
  
• the online fair housing complaint form; and
  
• the Community 2020 maps.

But few managers have electronic government on their radar screens.

Most HUD managers - and staff, too, for that matter - fail to recognize that there are two parts to managing "the web:" managing the content (i.e., deciding what goes on the web, how it looks, how it sounds, how the audience is best-served, marketing the product, etc.) and managing the technology (i.e., converting documents into HTML, running the servers, researching new technical capabilities, etc.). Managing a web site is very similar to running a major newspaper - you need editors and reporters on one side, and you need printing and distribution on the other.

There is a real tendency among managers and staff to hear "web" and "electronic government" and think, "ah ha - that’s technology...the technology staff will take care of that." Consequently, content management often is lumped together with technology management and delegated to technology staffs. Indeed, some technology staffs in HUD are figuring out how to use the web effectively. But if HUD is to do this job right, then every manager at every level has to focus on using the web in creative ways to support current product delivery and to deliver new products and services, made possible by the fact that we have this direct conduit to the public and our employees.

Because creating electronic government has not been among the priorities of most managers, funding has been inadequate to support even current demands, much less development of new technologies. In fact, year after year, the budgets that support content development and infrastructure improvements have been cut. Implementing new technologies, to support electronic government initiatives, will require much larger investments than the Department has been willing to make. Senior Departmental officials must recognize the need for - and commit to providing - the funds necessary to support electronic government, or it just won’t happen.

Results: In many cases, the web is just an afterthought. We’re still using the web to post information we developed for some other purpose or to automate existing work processes, without really evaluating whether they’re needed or how they could be streamlined. A perfect example of this is the Department’s forms. Most are posted, just as they look on paper. In some cases, we’ve programmed them so that the users can fill them in online. Then they have to print them out and process them manually. Nothing really has changed.

It is not uncommon to see an office automate a business process through the internet; but as soon as the information comes inside HUD, it hits old manual processes. If we are going to create electronic government, then both external and internal processes have to be automated via the web; and we have to make sure those processes are seamless.

Recommendations:

1. Ensure that every manager incorporates electronic government initiatives and initiatives that utilize the web into Department plans, including the strategic plan, the annual plan, the business and operating plans, and performance plans; and ensure that progress is monitored and reported regularly, particularly at Management Committee meetings. Ensure that funding - both for web content management and for technology infrastructure and development - is adequate to accomplish these plans.
2. Issue a clear directive to all Department executives and managers requiring that they allocate sufficient resources to both web content management and web technical support. At a minimum, they should implement the staffing recommendations identified in Issue 2. In the long run, the Department should use the workload measurement process being developed by the National Academy of Public Administration to identify and allocate appropriate resources to web content management and technical support.
3. Educate all HUD managers - from top executives to Senior Community Builders and program managers - on opportunities for using the web, not only to do current work in new ways but also to provide products (information and services) to citizens, business partners, and employees that were heretofore not possible. Task the Departmental Web Team to provide specific suggestions for each program area.

Issue 2: Staffing is inadequate to accomplish web management responsibilities

Result: Web products and marketing suffer - pages are incomplete or out of date; content is "under construction" far too long; content organization is lacking; important components of HUD’s organization are not represented or are represented poorly; visitors to HUD’s web pages (both internal and external) become frustrated because what they want is not available or is confusing. Citizens and business partners who contact HUD via e-mail get responses with varying degrees of speed. In short, current web managers are not able to do all they’re asked to do now, much less the additional work associated with implementing electronic government and paperwork elimination.

Web managers often are not able to be influential within their organizations. It is not uncommon for program managers to develop new web-based applications without the involvement of the program web manager, even though the web manager is responsible for making sure that applications retain the "look and feel" of HUD’s web sites, that terminology is consistent, and that they are user-friendly. Some web managers, both in Headquarters and the Field, feel they lack authority to edit documents they’re given to post. In fact, in many cases, the web managers are relegated to being there to "type and post."

Recommendations:

1. Designate web managers who are exclusively responsible for content-related duties (writing, editing, marketing, outreach, and management consulting) and who act as entrepreneurs to stir up new "business" for the web sites.
   1. Designate full-time web managers in major offices in Headquarters (Housing, PIH, CPD, FHEO, REAC, CFO, and Administration) and in the 10 Secretary’s Representatives’ offices. The CPO already has a full-time web manager and should continue to do so. Web Managers should be designated or selected because they possess the specific knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to be an effective web manager (i.e., writing, editing, communication, management analysis, negotiating, planning, public speaking They should be at a sufficiently high level within the organization to ensure their success.

   2. Identify and/or reassign resources so that other offices in Headquarters have a half-time web manager. Web manager duties should be included in their PDs and performance standards, and they should be designated or selected because they have the specific knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to be an effective web manager (i.e., writing, editing, communication, management analysis, negotiating, planning, public speaking). They should be at a sufficiently high level within the organization to ensure their success.
      

2. Empower program office and field web managers by involving them in all management planning processes and management meetings. They need to be a key part of the official’s top management team so they can help the organization use the web effectively.
3. Assign technical support duties (document conversion, posting, graphics, etc.) to separate staff or contractors. That way, web managers can focus on content development, marketing, and outreach efforts, for which they were selected.

Issue 3: Training for Web Managers is inadequate.

Though the current job description for web managers focuses on content, in fact, they spend a sizable portion of their time performing technical functions. Some lack skills to do the former. Most lack skills to do the latter.

In the past 5 years, the Departmental Web Team has organized and conducted 3 Departmentwide web manager training conferences which focused primarily on content development, marketing, and outreach. In addition, they organized approximately 20 smaller technical training sessions. A well-intentioned attempt to create a computer-based tutorial on the web authoring software fell short. Three years ago, the HUD Training Academy offered HTML training for about 100 HUD employees in Headquarters, but no additional training has been provided. For the most part, web managers are self-taught.

Result: Web managers spend much of the little time they have for web activities trying to figure out how to put their content on the computer. Web managers in the field, in particular, suffer. Though they try to help one another, sometimes even borrowing files, and though they get phone assistance from the very busy contractors who support the Departmental Web Team, they complain about lack of technical training. A few also complain about a lack of writing/editing and marketing skills; but by far, the biggest problem is the lack of technical training. Of course, this is compounded by the fact that HUD’s standard software package for web authoring is antiquated and difficult to use.

Recommendations:

1. Fund regular training to develop skills needed to be a successful web manager, including training on writing/editing, marketing, public speaking and presentations, outreach (focus groups and web clinics), and management analysis and consulting.
2. Develop appropriate training for the staff performing technical support duties.
3. Ensure that technical support staff have adequate tools (web authoring packages, other software, hardware, appropriate access to systems, etc.) to do their jobs.

Issue 4: HUD lacks leadership in managing the technical web infrastructure to ensure that it is adequate to support the demands of electronic government

HUD was forward-thinking in retaining web management in the Deputy Secretary’s portfolio. Since the Deputy Secretary is HUD’s Chief Operating Officer, this functional assignment ensures that web content is managed at the highest level in HUD’s management structure. Further, HUD has established a full-time Department Web Team with the knowledge, skills, and experience to direct web content development and marketing and outreach efforts and to act as entrepreneurs, to create new web "business." The Web Team is organizationally placed where it can be successful, in the Office of the Deputy Secretary. This part of HUD’s web management structure is working well. HUD frequently is sited as a model, within the federal community and among consultants advising federal agencies.

However, the Department has not established and empowered a companion entity to ensure that HUD’s technical web infrastructure is adequate to support product delivery, to ensure that new web-based technologies are being explored and developed, and to ensure that the web managers have adequate technical support to do their jobs. In addition, the Department has not targeted budget resources to expand HUD’s technical capabilities so that we can deliver government services electronically via the web.

Result: HUD lacks the technical infrastructure to carry out electronic government, in full.

• We cannot deliver webcasts to employees.
• We do not have the most up-to-date technology to allow us to communicate and collaborate in real-time, online.
• Program offices who are trying to conduct business processes via the web are frustrated by the insufficient capacity of the infrastructure which causes delays and "down time" for users of major systems.
• The web authoring software that is the Department’s standard is so old and obsolete that the company isn’t even supporting it anymore.
• When technology budgeting is done, requests for web technology capabilities are fragmented, coming from many different places in the Department instead of captured in one integrated, comprehensive, strategic Departmentwide request.
• There is little - if any - research and development of new web-based technologies and tools which might help managers do their jobs and implement electronic government more efficiently and effectively.
• There is little effort to assist the Department’s Web Managers in identifying new opportunities to use technology.

Recommendations:

1. Designate a senior-level Web Technology Officer in the CIO’s Office to:

• Work with the Departmental Web Team and with Department managers to gather management requirements and goals and determine the commensurate technical support needs;
• Develop and manage a long-term strategic plan that will ensure that HUD maintains a technical infrastructure that will support and encourage web-based electronic government;
• Oversee research and development efforts, to ensure that HUD is seeking opportunities to improve its web technology;
• Lead the efforts to ensure that web technology maintenance and improvements are adequately presented and defended in budget processes; and
• Seek creative ways - such as internal technology fairs - to brief top executives on forthcoming technologies, so that they can be thinking about how they might use them.

2. Designate or create a senior-level official in the Office of Administration to ensure that the Department’s strategic plan for web technology is implemented, that technical problems and issues are identified and resolved quickly, and that technical needs are presented to the Web Technology Officer in a timely manner so they can be addressed in both strategic and budgetary planning.

3. The Web Technology Officer and the Assistant Secretary for Administration (Office of Information Technology) should ensure that web managers have adequate technical support, including advice on opportunities to use new technologies.

Conclusion

HUD has much to be proud of. We have been at the cutting edge within the federal government in using the web to reach out to and empower citizens, partners, and employees. But if we want to remain in the vanguard, it’s time to invest both time and resources. You get what you pay for.

The Web Management Task Force urges action on the recommendations offered in this report, so that a sound management process can be established before year’s end.