Rahel Bailie - Content Operations Comes Of Age.pdf

This presentation by Rahel Bailie explores the how and why of content operations, and discusses the book, "Content Operations from Start to Scale."

1. Content Operations
Comes of Age
Content operations has finally matured
to the point where businesses are asking for
increased efficiency across content lifecycles.
Rahel Anne Bailie
Content Solutions Director
Technically Write IT

2. My background
I’ve been in content for a l-o-n-g time
•20+ years of content consulting
•Work with organisations large and small
•Write and contribute to numerous industry publications
•Lecture in the Content Strategy Master’s Program at the
FH-Joanneumpolytechnic university in Graz, Austria

3. How we got here
The beauty of content ops
Discussing content ops
Finally, a book
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04
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02
What we’ll cover today

4. How We Got Here

5. How we got here
1940s
1980s 1990s
2000s
2010s
Ann RockleyVannevar Bush
Published a content strategy book
with content ops as the goal
Looked for more efficiency,
focused on delivery methods
Modular writing for hypertext
linking was introduced
Software vendors building in
support for authoring
“Back end” strategists create
strategies for operational efficiency
2020s
Content operations is
recognised as its own practice area

6. Now we have a definition and rationale
Work smarter, not harder:
-Save time
-Save money
-Keep quality standards
Content is an asset:
-Supports or isthe product
-Personalisation at scale
-Continuous delivery pipelines
Help meet business goals:
-Provides services to users
-Responds to customer demand
-Manages corporate risk
Content Operations is a set of principles used
to optimise productionof content to
allow content to be leveraged as business assets
to meet intended goals.

7. The Beauty Of
Content Operations

8. •Creation costs and maintenance waste
•Staggering waste in production process
We all know the pain points
v3 v4 v5
v6v5
v1
v2
v3v1 v7
v6 v7 v8
v3v2
v2
v1
v4
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9. Content Operations: Introducing Efficiencies
9
Modular components,
various sizes
Tag target-
specific content
Single source of truth Add semantics Reuse in multiple contexts

10. DeliveryPreparation lifecycle Orch Done
How we get there: content lifecycle strategy

11. Listing The Efficiency Improvements
Going from current state…
•It’s hard to find where content is stored to update it.
•We can’t easily tell if we have the right version to
update it.
•Tagging for re-use is hard because word processing
isn’t meant for that.
•We must use spreadsheets to track where content
gets used and re-used.
•It’s hard to show which content is written for which
audience.
•The style guide is clunky to use.
•Management always prioritises software development
over content.

12. Listing The Efficiency Improvements
Going from current state…
•It’s hard to find where content is stored to update it.
•We can’t easily tell if we have the right version to
update it.
•Tagging for re-use is hard because word processing
isn’t meant for that.
•We must use spreadsheets to track where content
gets used and re-used.
•It’s hard to show which content is written for which
audience.
•The style guide is clunky to use.
•Management always prioritises software development
over content.
…To future state
•Content is kept in a central repository with a good
taxonomy.
•The repository has robust version control.
•The repository makes it easy to re-use content from a
single source.
•The authoring system tracks content re-use in an “at-a-
glance” dashboard.
•Tagging is automated, and we can tag up content for
personalisation.
•The style guide is enforced as we write.
•Management has allocated budget to include content
resources to each team.

13. Conduct A Cost-benefit Analysis
•XX steps initiated by the content producer
(assume single editing cycle).
•X steps handled by the system
(there is no production system).
•Update time: est. XX hours.
•Min production cycle: currently XX weeks.
•Cost per update cycle: £XX K.
Old process

14. Conduct A Cost-benefit Analysis
•XX steps initiated by the content producer
(assume single editing cycle).
•X steps handled by the system
(there is no production system).
•Update time: est. XX hours.
•Min production cycle: currently XX weeks.
•Cost per update cycle: £XXX K.
•X steps initiated by the content producer
(assume single editing cycle).
•X steps handled by a content ecosystem
that automates rote tasks.
•Update time: est. X hours.
•Min cycle: estimated X weeks.
•Cost per update cycle: £XX K.
New processOld process

15. Conduct A Cost-benefit Analysis
•XX steps initiated by the content producer
(assume single editing cycle).
•X steps handled by the system
(there is no production system).
•Update time: est. XX hours.
•Min production cycle: currently XX weeks.
•Cost per update cycle: £XX K.
•X steps initiated by the content producer
(assume single editing cycle).
•X steps handled by a content ecosystem
that automates rote tasks.
•Update time: est. X hours.
•Min cycle: estimated X weeks.
•Cost per update cycle: £XX K.
New processOld process
YY% time savings Reputation & risk managementYY% cost savings Opportunity cost

16. Discussing
Content Ops

17. How We Discuss Content Ops Matters
First rule of authoring:
Know your audience
Porter Value Chain
•Operating model: represents how an
organisationdelivers value to its users.
•Value delivery chain: full range of activities
needed to bring a product/service from
concept through production to delivery
•Investment ROI: calculating total benefits
less total cost * 100

18. DefiningWaste Using Lean: TIMWOODS
Transportation
Inventory
Motion
Waiting
Overproduction
Overprocessing
Defects
Skills utilisation
Moving files from folder to folder.
Outdated or duplicate content.
Recording actions in spreadsheets.
Manual review processes.
Multiple copies of the same content.
Creating variants in separate files.
Hard coding content into code.
People doing rote tasks easily handled a computer.

19. Using The Language Of Business
Tactical Descriptors
•Reduce inefficiencies.
•Automate whenever possible.
•Standardise repeatable processes.
•Monitor results, use insights to make
further improvements
•Allow scaling up of outputs.
•Ensure resource availability.
Strategic Descriptors
•Manage reputational, compliance risk.
•Activate strategy to drive value.
•Improve collaboration across value
streams.
•Scale and respond to demand.
•Information enablement.
•Automate continuous delivery pipelines.
•Reduce content debt and boost value.
•Improve innovation.

20. Finally, a Book!

21. Contribution To The Field
Initiative spearheaded by Carlos Evia
•Evia is Associate Dean for Transdisciplinary
Initiatives, Chief Technology Officer, and a
professor in the School of Communication
located in the College of Liberal Arts and
Human Sciences at Virginia Tech
•Book is genre neutral and technology neutral
•Audience is for management and practitioners
in content and in adjacent professions

22. Books Lend Legitimacy To A Discipline
Foreword, Deane Barker
Introduction, Carlos Evia
Defining Content Operations, RahelBailie
The Business Case for Content Operations, Sarah O’Keefe
Governance for Content Operations, Kate Kenyon
Operationalizing Content Creation, RahelBailieand Carlos Evia
Customer Experience and Content Operations, Kevin P. Nichols
Personalization and Content Operations, Jeffrey MacIntyre
Localization and Content Operations, Loy Searle
The Technology that Supports Content Operations, Patrick Bosek
Epilogue: You’re Here because of People, Jonathan McFadden
Afterword, Jason Swarts
Buy the paperback or free download
(PDF or ePubformats)

23. Bringing expertise that adds value
throughout the entire content lifecycle.
Content
Production
AI
Enablement
Training &
Learning Services
Language
Services
User
Adoption
Consulting
Content Operations
Content
Strategy

24. Register for Lavaconusing the referral code
CONTENTOPS
for $250 discount on in-person registration