Your Webmaster Calls it Quits. Are You Prepared?

Suppose it’s any old regular Friday afternoon and your Webmaster walks in to speak with you -- the boss. She delivers you news that she is leaving for new challenges (or just plain "blowing this insane Popsicle stand", depending on the circumstances). Are you prepared? Do you have any clue whatsoever what she does? Have you had any cross training with other web talent in your organization? For that matter, do you even have other web talent in your organization?

Let’s face it; the Webmaster rarely falls into that select pool of people at the top of an organization for which succession planning is the norm. However, it is a proven fact that the Webmaster as well as many IT professionals are now becoming much more critical to and integrated into the business. Therefore, it just makes plain good business sense to prepare for the possibility of a transition in web personnel.

Does reading this far have you unsettled or downright anxious about the possibility of the above scenario? If you really think about it, a transition in your web personnel is more likely than you might be willing to admit. You might believe your employee is very happy and content; however, even if she doesn’t leave the company entirely, there are still very real possibilities of this person wanting new challenges within the organization. In addition, there are always the very unfortunate possibilities that exist where she could be out for a very extended period due to medical issues or a family medical leave situation not to mention the dreaded cliché "what if she gets hit by a beer truck tomorrow".

Now, I’m certainly not trying to sound like a "chicken little", but it doesn’t hurt to at least consider the possibility and determine if you would be in a bind if it came to fruition. Based on my recent experience of being the one exiting and watching those left behind gaze blankly, here are some points you might want to consider to make your organization better prepared for a possible transition.

• Do you have an idea of what your Webmaster actually does? Over time, this person’s role may have expanded exponentially and she may be doing a lot more than you think. Do a sanity check and get together a general list of things this person is responsible for day to day to keep your website running.
• Do you have other web talent on your team? If so, have you cross-trained these people in any way? Consider swapping assignments or projects amongst your web team now and then to not only increase your group’s ability to cover for one another but also to keep employees doing new things and motivated (as an added benefit, this may actually reduce turnover!).
• Documentation. Do you have any? In the hectic and every changing world of the web, it is easy to skip the step of documenting things. Documentation is a good thing for 2 reasons:

1. You’ve got something to follow should your Webmaster leave
2. It makes things a heck of a lot easier for new people (replacements or additional team members) to come up to speed

A solid plan for retaining good people and handling transitions smoothly certainly involves more than just 3 points and these suggestions are not rocket science and certainly are not going to solve all your problems should your Webmaster leave. However, they most certainly can make your life a little less painful in the event that she does and perhaps even make things run more smoothly even if everyone stays put.