Why tool ownership matters
What are “tool owners” and why are they essential to your content team?
I think it is critical for small content companies, especially those that are looking to expand, to consider tool ownership in order to ensure that their workflows are optimized, without sacrificing the quality of the content that their teams produce. So why do companies, especially smaller ones, need to assign a designated tool owner? And what are the responsibilities of a good tool owner?
In complete transparency, this topic is in part inspired by advice I recently gave a client of mine, as well as several conversations I’ve had with other consultants and client educators. However, I don’t see this issue talked about in public forums very often, and although my focus is on small companies, I think tool ownership is a practice I think many companies and agencies could benefit from or contribute to the discussion on.
But first, what does it mean to assign a tool owner? The title of tool owner means that the designated team member has invested time and energy to be both deeply and broadly knowledgeable of the tool. Every tool you use (or have bought) should have an owner. This owner should be allowed to dedicate time for ownership responsibilities. This is done via training and via ‘exploration of the tool itself’. Assigning an owner for each major tool, or even grouping of tools, also means that there is always a clear point of contact when other team members have questions, need assistance, or require onboarding. Maintaining constant tool ownership and allowing the time to invest in this also prevents skills and knowledge of your broader workflow from being lost, even in the case of team members leaving. Knowledge not being transferred is a big problem in global content management, and can result in serious problems and productivity loss! Furthermore, it provides better opportunities for improving your workflow if there are tool owners who deeply understand both the limitations and possibilities of each tool.
It is also worth mentioning that the team member selected as the official tool owner does not actually need to be the most senior employee of a team, or even a part of leadership! Instead, it’s best to choose someone both with the spare bandwidth to commit to the tool, experience with the tool, and the enthusiasm to take on the task for the team.
What are the skills and responsibilities that a tool owner must maintain? In order to fulfil the duties as a tool owner, your team member must firstly read any and all documentation prepared either by previous team members or by the tooling company itself. Many tools, such as tools I have recently used like Asana, ActiveCampaign, or Blackbird, all of which have extensive sections of their website or documentation dedicated to free learning guides, as well as the option to register for either onboarding or demos. Finally, as your tool owner learns and broadens their understanding of their designated tool, whether through continued learning or staying up to date on launches and newsletters, it is always a good idea to maintain clear and detailed documentation. It’s also good to add that this also entails updating documentation when tools are updated or changes to subscriptions/memberships are made. This way, when the tool changes hands or in the case of a tool owner’s extended absence, confusion is limited.
When teams know who to approach with questions, ideas or change requests for your tools and workflow, it both maintains clear paths of communication and better prevents chaos during periods of change and growth for your company. Finally, before buying new tools, it is always a good idea to consult with existing tool owners in order to determine if certain things are already possible, and to look at any integration possibilities! As they say, “if you fail to plan, you plan to fail”.
