Content management systems use to be more than a mechanism to update news and press releases on a corporate web site. At one point in time content management referred to large, complex, and sophisticated systems that completely controlled the distribution and flow of content. Today it seems that content management means little more than publishing copy to the web, and possibly a few other segments where it can easily be translated from its source html. During the dummying down of software, to make it more usable for the end user, a real important component of content management got left out. I am of course referring to the actual management of the content itself.

If you are familiar with some of the monsters in this space like Interwoven, Documentum or Vignette this concept is not foreign; then again the thought of these platforms may also make you cringe a little. At some point in time, possibly after an extremely expensive CMS implementation failed, it became advantageous to deploy micro CMS solutions that focused on singular purposes like web asset management.  Since then web developers have been perpetuating the notion that content management was nothing more than an interface to write and manage content and pages for web properties. This has created a rather large disparity between top-tier and mid-market systems to the point that the gorillas of the CMS world have renamed their offerings to include Content Repository Management, Digital Asset Management, and Document Imaging.

An unfortunate side effect resulting from the simplification of content management is that companies are not gaining control of their content, they are duplicating it.  The problem is not that these focused applications exist rather that they don't really manage content at all; they manage a web property and use content from their own proprietary closed system.  In contrast, the top-tier CMS platforms mostly use proprietary repositories that are largely very difficult to control or consume in disparate systems. Further exacerbating this issue is over ambitious implementations that require content retention of everything from meeting minutes to instant messages between co-workers.

It's understandable now why such a large part of actual content management was removed when it came time to cut features to make the software simpler for users to learn. While this may have been justified, I believe the knife cut a little too deep during surgery. With the relatively recent publication of JSR-170, we are opening the door to new opportunities for focused content management systems to interact with each other and not only perform their individual tasks but also share the content they manage.

I think there is a huge window of opportunity here for an emerging platform.  I have yet to see an application, web or otherwise that follows in suit with the currently available best of breed 2.0 tools. At some point in the not so distant future a tool will arise that not only becomes adept and handling organizations digital assets, but also provides the usability this generation of software has brought us. This tool will not only allow users to publish content to a web property, but have direct integration with other distribution points like VistaPrint or CafePress creating a true write once publish everywhere paradigm. Furthermore this tool will interact with other tools that follow the JSR-170 standard or something equivalent as to ensure its optimum interoperability.

Ikarii has started working on a new blogging framework.  I'm really excited about it because our brainstorming sessions have been really productive and we've generated a lot of really good ideas.  As we get into the development of this new solution I'll share more details about some of the proposed features that have me pumped. 

In the meantime though, I have a great related topic to write about today, on how to lead a productive brainstorming session.  Brainstorming has traditionally been a formal event lead by executives whom create memos and attempt to structure the session for optimum efficiency.  This practice has, over the years, brought the concept of brainstorming under fire and into question whether it is even a productive exercise at all.  My experience has been that brainstorming and what has become the traditional environment for it, is simply not conducive to success. I have found that the formal approach can make brainstorming a painful, unexciting and sometimes even a dreaded step in a project's lifecycle. This is a dangerously challenging way to start a project because if your team isn't excited by the end of a brainstorming session, they certainly aren't going to be excited during development either.

A successful brainstorming session can be measured by the enthusiasm of the individuals involved.  If your team is ebullient about the topic presented, then you are involved in a potentially very productive meeting.  This type of meeting can spark some really great ideas that will mature as the meeting progresses - if multiple team members are equally engaged.  I'm sure you all have seen this play out at least once.  Team Member A will suggest that the project should be able to integrate with Widget A.  This is met with agreement but further refinement by another team member reminding everyone that Widget A uses a standard interface.  This observation seals the deal, and everyone agrees that the project will integrate with all widgets using the standardized interface.  Reaping this level of success can only occur if everyone participating is fully engaged and enthusiastic about the topic at hand.

How do you facilitate this then? 

Brainstorm Solo
One of the ways that I have used to create this environment is by allowing my team to have personal brainstorming time.  To do this, I have an initial meeting about the project and let the participants sleep on it.  This gives my team some alone time to consider potential solutions and do research, but most importantly their brain will be processing the topic whether they realize it or not.  This allows my team to do what they do best from a perspective they are familiar with.  My developers think about ideas that are both practical and fit within the limitations of what is possible within our frameworks.  Meanwhile my marketing and salespeople start to think about recent market trends, current demands and sales challenges.

When we reconvene the next day, or later that afternoon my team will hopefully be excited about some of the ideas they have come up with.  It is at this time that a brainstorming session can be most productive.  If after this process your team isn't excited about a project, it may be because they have worked on the project for a long time already or something else is causing morale to be low.  In either of these cases it is a good idea to get fresh eyes on the project right away if possible.   

Identify The Project
This may seem backwards to some, but one of the most important things to the success of a brainstorming session is the clear identification of the project at hand.  If you start a meeting with too broad a scope it will prevent your team from finding enough focus to generate really good ideas.  If your project is not a new concept, and has been done before by other companies, try using the best example you can find as a model, and start there.  Slowly close in on the most fundamental concepts of your project so that you can clearly articulate the purpose and goals of it.  Remember, brainstorming shouldn't be used to identify the general scope of a project, rather it should be used to generate unique ideas and features that make it more viable in the marketplace, or attractive to your client.

If you were planning on using the brainstorming session to identify the scope of your project, this is a mistake and I've yet to see this yield the desired results.  Starting a session with a vague concept will most likely end with a vague concept.  Therefore it is your job, as the leader of the project, to create the initial scope or designate someone qualified to do this for you, prior to your initial kick off meeting.

Know Your Team
Not knowing your team can have catastrophic consequences, but regarding brainstorming it can ruin the experience entirely.  It is important that you are familiar with how your team interacts with each other on a day to day basis.  If you have one or more agitators or individuals who speak their mind not to benefit the process, but rather to prove a point, the success of your brainstorming session can be compromised.  The long-term effects of such individuals in your organization go beyond the scope of this post, but be aware that you simply cannot have a productive session if two people are at each other's throat or if one participant makes others uncomfortable.  Your team must be one cohesive unit in order to be successful, not only in brainstorming but in the overall project development process.

I hope this post has given you some helpful food for thought and gives you the tools to run your next brainstorming session successfully.  I have found these techniques to be useful especially when fresh ideas are needed for a project.  As always, I welcome topic ideas and appreciate feedback, critical or praise.

As managers, no matter what level, our days are always filled with activities.  Whether we are on a conference call for half the morning or chugging through the 300 emails that came in overnight, it quickly becomes apparent that we simply can't do everything we would like.  Beyond our management duties, the way we interact with the rest of the company can have long lasting impacts.  The following list contains some of the more negative affects we can have on our company if we are not careful. 

1. Ignoring the concerns of your staff
Look, unless you have your finger firmly on the pulse of your market and customer base you need to admit to yourself that you are out of touch with what is happening on the front lines.  This is fine if you accept it, but if you don't you are liable to make some very bad decisions that could have irreversible effects across multiple departments.  Your staff on the frontline spend all day gathering priceless information about your customers and unless you pay attention you could miss huge opportunities or cause unnecessary turmoil. 

Similar to ignoring your staff is believing that you see the big picture and how everything fits together justifying the dismissal of their concern.  If this is the case, and the concern is truly irrelevant, try selling your staff on why.  Share with your staff the "big picture" because if you take the time to explain how you perceive the concern you will accomplish one of two things.  You will either realize that selling your position isn't so easy and the concern might be valid after all, or you will show your staff that you understand and fully absorb their concerns and that you are not asleep at the wheel.

2. Not allowing mistakes
We're human and we make mistakes.  A lot of them. Not having that expectation as a manager is being ignorant.  Mistakes should be viewed as an opportunity to educate not something to get anxiety over.  Here's the short of the long here; People who feel like they are going to get in trouble for making a mistake will quickly learn to pass the blame off to someone or something else.  Not only will this create an environment of rampant distrust, but it will also absolutely destroy morale.  I have seen time and time again managers jump all over the one employee that is honest with them about their mistakes.  I have to wonder how many mistakes get swept under the rug and how much hidden damage is being done to the company because of it.

The bottom line here is, mistakes, legitimate mistakes should be used as lessons to improve the individuals that make them.  Sometimes however, there is that one employee that just doesn't "get it" or doesn't care to get it.  If it's a lost cause you as a manager need to learn how to recognize the difference.

3. Failure to acknowledge your rock stars
Nothing is more frustrating or demoralizing to an employee than to do something magnificent only to be looked over as if going above and beyond is expected behavior.  Sure, we would all like to see all of our employees get this passionate and motivated to overachieve, but the fact is most of them won't.  They especially won't want to go the extra mile if they see others who sacrifice for the betterment of the company get ignored.  Your rock stars need to be heroes internally, not put so high on a pedestal that others feel hopelessly unable to reach them, but they should establish a bar for your staff to strive for.

Honoring your rock stars really isn't all that difficult either, all it takes is a little recognition, maybe a bonus or in some cases depending on the impact, a raise in salary.  Have an internal newsletter?  Make sure your rock stars are highlighted in it.  Have all staff meetings?  Award your rock star with a prize and make it a point to recognize them in front of their peers.

4. Provide little or no leadership
If you are a leader you must lead.  If you aren't capable of leading effectively then find someone who can.  Failure to lead a department will hurt morale internally and cause tremendous inconsistency with those they interface with.  Being a good leader is crucial to the stability and long term success of a department.  Without leadership a department is just wandering in the dark.

5. Failure to delegate
If you can't delegate, there is no way you are going to be able to evaluate if you’re making one of the previously mentioned mistakes.  You simply won't have the time.  It is difficult and sometimes requires a leap of faith to put extra responsibility onto those who work under you, but it is absolutely necessary.  Every once in a while you will be disappointed, but more often than not your expectations will be at least met if not exceeded.  People have a tendency to live up to expectations set forth by their environment.  If you are consistently babysitting your staff, they will behave accordingly, in contrast if you require much more from them they will live up to those expectations.

I hope you found this article enlightening, inspirational or maybe just agreeable. Regardless, if you recognize any of these behaviors in your own company it has done its job.  There are many other harmful things managers can do and this was certainly not a full list so I welcome any additions that you may have witnessed in your travels.