How to Motivate Content Managers

While reading Paul Chin's article on the 3 Stages of Content managers, it got me thinking about tips to keep Content Managers motivated, so they don't get to the "put me out of my misery years".

Understanding your audience.
Most folks don't volunteer to be a content manager, it is usually assigned to them. They could be assigned this new role because their department manager thinks they might have some room on their plate, or maybe they have good time management skills and they would be an asset to the role. But more than likely it goes to the "catch-all" person in the administration support position. Whatever the reason this person was chosen, chances are good they don't want to do this.

What's in it for me?
If you want a Content Managers to be enthusiastic about their new role, you have to demonstrate "what's in it for me". Help content managers understand what this new role could mean to them. That it can add to their writing skills, graphic skills, give them an understanding of Content Management Systems, workflow, content life-cycle etc. These are good skills to add to a resume making them more marketable and valuable to their team.

Content Control
Don't take a passive approach to good content. Teach Content Managers that there are great advantages to being able to maintain a site. Having good reliable content can gain them a positive reputation and possibly reflect in their annual review. Understanding the full content lifecycle will allow them to gain time management and quality control skills. Setting up a schedule to upload and expire content will help ensure that your content is fresh, up to date and reliable. And fresh new content will keeping users coming back.

Creativity
Not all jobs have a lot of creativity. Show Content Managers that they have control of not only over the text but the layout, graphics, and headlines. While staying within the style and web standards guidelines of your companies' intranet, there are ways to be creative as a Content Manager. You can change out graphics, add pictures, highlight important information and update layouts. You can also be creative with your writing. Play around with your options to get users to continue to come back to your site.

By giving people ideas to make this "dreaded" situation advantageous to them, it may inspire Content Managers to remain enthusiastic in their new role longer. It may even give them a new direction.