Posted by Rebecca Holloway on Mon, Aug 09, 2010 @ 08:57 AM
Our website received a significant facelift recently. We spent several months redesigning www.docdep.com, adding more information about our signature products BoardPortal and Investment Management Portal as well as value-added services we have developed, such as the CapTable Utility. The changes are more than cosmetic. Our new website reflects DDC’s broadened commitment to helping businesses organize themselves and communicate better to stakeholders. To that end, we have included links to industry news, events and blogs and other resources.
The web redesign process gave us some valuable insight on the importance of organization and communication to a company, particularly a young and growing one such as DDC. Over the weeks of meetings, conference calls, drafts and rewrites, we learned a few lessons about how to prepare and execute a project. Here are some of them:
Clear communication
Early on, we realized that a site redesign is one of those unique projects that requires coordination from virtually everyone in the company. Our founder and CEO, Farid Naib, set the tone for the site, but his directives had to be passed through various members of the staff and then on to web designers. We had to take care that our communications did not resemble a game of telephone, with the message getting slightly misconstrued as it passed from person to person. By maintaining regular conference calls with our web designers, and providing Farid with weekly updates, everyone stayed on the same page.
Understanding the entire organization
Another challenge of the redesign was that members of our marketing staff, who were directing the project, had to understand the jobs of our strategists and IT staff. This again, required open communication to ensure that DDC’s features were not being misrepresented in any way. It was a challenge for us to step outside of our own job functions to learn about someone else’s, but it ultimately proved to be a rewarding exercise, as the staff became more cohesive and understanding of the entire company’s work and capabilities.
The need to constantly evolve
As our new website started to take shape, we were struck by how much more complex it is compared to the previous site, which the company launched with in 2009. Of course, this is how businesses grow and thrive. In just over a year, DDC has expanded offerings and added more features to BoardPortal and IMP. This kind of progress only comes when a company is well-organized, sharing ideas, and well-funded.
These lessons are not unique to DDC. Any company searching for success needs organization and communication skills. This not only gives the company a clear business strategy but also helps young companies get the funding to attain it. If you think that your company could use a few tools that would help management and board members organize and share ideas more easily, we might be able to help.