The Crave
Weekly tips and stories that will help you do your job and make you smile (or groan).
By Jerry Virta April 7, 2022
Spring clean your content processes
We’ve made it. We’ve survived the long winter, and it’s April. It’s officially spring. For many of us, spring includes some sort of a clean-up and getting ready for the summer. You don’t want to worry about organizing your closets when it’s sunny outside, and a park or a beach awaits. So it’s only natural that you want to have everything in order by the time summer arrives. That same applies to your work, at least in my case. Summer holidays are approaching, and that means that some of the key players of your content machine will be absent, one after another — possibly in the course of months. So, it’s probably wise to make sure that every other part of your process works as seamlessly as possible. Content operations consist of people, processes, and technology, so when the people are out, the processes and technology better work overtime. It’s time to spring clean your content processes.
Summer holidays are approaching, and that means that some of the key players of your content machine will be absent so it’s wise to make sure that every other part of your process works as seamlessly as possible.
Optimize processes
As your company grows, practices change, and processes need optimization. Constant optimization. They need to be looked after and cared for and have their oil changed. Is there something that doesn’t work? Can we change it? Could something work better and more efficiently? How can we make it happen? Especially when you build a new process, it’s easy to overcomplicate it initially. That’s normal (and smart) because it’s better to overdo the planning and then get rid of the inessential parts later than the other way around. Therefore, revisiting the processes and simplifying wherever possible is important. No one has time for unnecessary detours. It’s good to ask for feedback regularly from the stakeholders using the processes. Why not send out a questionnaire? Encourage regular observation and feedback across the board.
Re-evaluate platforms and tools
Are the tools and platforms you’re using the best possible, or are there other alternatives that might do a better job? If the answer is no, or if you’re unsure, do some research, read forums and ask around in the content space. If you’re happy with the tech stack your company uses, keep an eye on product updates, new features, and automation — let the tool work for you as hard as possible. It was born to make you happy.
Content audit
Dusting your imaginary shelves of content and doing an entire inventory of what you have online and in the backlog is not only smart but essential. A yearly audit helps you stay on top of all your content and make sure everything is still relevant and up to date. If you take something offline, make sure to update and remove all now-broken links across your other content. Let’s not give error messages screen time, shall we?
Recycle and repurpose content
Spring’s the time for recycling. By giving your pieces a little scrub and polish, you can repurpose old content and, therefore, decrease your content creators' workload. You can either edit, republish and repromote your piece or take snippets from different articles and create something new.
Revisit process documentation
Are all your guidelines and instructions still up to date? Process optimization is directly linked to updating documentation. One slight disconnect between a workflow and its instructions, for instance, can really throw someone off. It’s good to revisit your content operations documentation at least once a quarter and make sure everything is still in order and there are no dead-ends.
Is additional training required?
Especially if your company has grown and processes have changed, it’s important to (re)educate your colleagues. And even if not, refresh their memory. Why not throw together a workshop now that we’re slowly allowed to meet in real life?
Organize your asset library
Piles of media and assets can get messy very quickly. So, for the sake of spring, why not take a tour around, get rid of any useless material, improve the existing assets and see if the folders make sense and are still structured the best way possible.
Let’s talk about it together!
Share your thoughts on LinkedIn using #thecravediscussion This week’s topic: What's on your spring cleaning list this year?
Currently craving
- Remember a few weeks ago when I confessed my obsession with Wordle? Well, I've found multiple variants of the game since, take Octordle (playing 8 grids simultaneously) or Evil Wordle (basically Wordle's twin whose only mission is to make you fail) as an example 😵💫 Take a break from cleaning and jump into the "-rdle" rabbit hole. Good luck 💫
- I've worked on a blog series around content operations and the newest addition, The Right Way to Document and Share Your Content Operations Processes, deals with documenting and communicating your content processes in the best way possible. Great asset to help you with spring cleaning your content processes ✅ You can find all our blogs here.
Jerry Virta
Content Ops
About the author
I’m Foleon’s content governance police and quality gatekeeper. Besides telling people what to do, I enjoy creating written and visual content, wandering in nature, and consuming trash tv.
