A new website project ends with a launch, but your website is never done. When you get feedback, you should report out about what you did. An easy way to do this is a regular update with a list of things you’ve done and things you are doing to improve the site.
Sharing updates increases public confidence and trust in your agency because it shows that you are committed to improving and transparency.
This is a chapter called Show the work from Proudly Serving, contributed by Rebecca Woodbury.
Overview
Working in the open makes things better. By sharing what a team is working on, people can follow progress and give input throughout a process rather than at the end. Updates and open collaboration tools help teams, keep momentum, get feedback, build trust and celebrate wins.
The problem
Government agencies often wait to ask for feedback on services, programs, and policies near the end of a project. By that time, stakeholders feel their feedback won’t have an impact. It’s costly to make significant changes. When people are left out, you miss out on their ideas and lose their trust. It also increases risk of lawsuits and failure.
The solution
Regular updates and open collaboration tools allow teams to share what they’re working on. People track progress and provide feedback while the work is being done. This allows the teams to make iterative changes throughout the process. They build trust because they provide transparency to stakeholders and partners, and the public. Anyone interested or impacted can follow along and avoid surprises at the end.
Context
Designing government services and policies that work for everyone is hard. Not only do they need to work for the public, they also have to work for the departments and agencies that are part of implementation and delivery.
To get this right, government teams designing these services need feedback and buy-in from different stakeholders.
Invite feedback
At the start of a project, input is usually general in nature. This input helps align values, develop guiding principles, and shape goals.
Near the end, significant resources have already been spent and changes are more costly. Feedback can be harder to incorporate at a certain point, depending on timelines and budget.
Teams need ways to get feedback throughout the process of designing and creating new things. This allows them to make small changes and test them. The likelihood of project success increases if the team is able to test iteratively throughout the design process, rather than wait until the end to get feedback.
Get buy-in
To be successful, services and policies need buy-in from people impacted by them. Often projects encounter challenges when stakeholders feel blindsighted or surprised by a change.
Teams need ways to keep people informed throughout a project. Updates should be easy to understand and concise. They should include ways for people to give feedback.
If these updates are regular and helpful, stakeholders will feel informed and part of the process. This will create buy-in and increased trust in the process, even if they may not agree with final decisions.
Share updates
Provide regular updates with a simple blog, newsletter, or news post. Use links to more context if needed.
Include:
- Purpose and dates covered.
- Recap of wins and progress.
- What the team is working on next.
- A way for people to give feedback.
Collaborate in the open
Use open collaboration tools to show what you are working on. This provides context so people can understand the thinking behind the work, progression, complexity, and contingencies. It can also provide a way for people to contribute ideas and suggestions.
Collaboration tools are commonly used to develop software. They can also be used for programs, policies, services, and projects.
Include:
- General roadmap
- A public view of your process and progress
- Code of conduct
- A way to report issues or suggest ideas
Mantras
- Show the work
- Share the done/doing
Checklist
- Create a template for your updates.
- Brand the updates so people know what project the update is about.
- Include a way for people to provide feedback to the team.
- Allow and invite stakeholders to subscribe.
- Promote with stakeholders on your website, social media, and email updates.
Questions to ask
- Are you getting regular feedback from stakeholders?
- How do people stay informed about projects they’re interested in?
- Do people internally and externally feel engaged throughout the entire process?
- Do projects regularly get derailed at the end?
Learn more
Examples of government teams who used Done/doing posts:
- Filling in the gaps – The case for public backlogs and roadmaps, (Retrieved 2024, September 9), Public Digital
- How Login.gov uses roadmapping to build trust with its partners and the public, (Retrieved 2024, September 9), Digital.gov
- Alpha team blog, (Retrieved 2022, January 5), Digital.CA.gov
- New website done/doing updates, (Retrieved 2022, January 5), City of San Rafael
- Doing/done: The beauty of GOV.UK’s ‘What we’re working on’ updates, (Retrieved 2024 June 17), GovFresh
- Open civic organizations, (Retrieved 2024, August 1), GovFresh
- U.S. Web Design System core project Github, (Retrieved 2024, August 5), USWDS
About Proudly Serving
Proudly Serving is a playbook helping governments build people-centered digital public services.
It’s an approachable, actionable resource with specific, practical advice local governments can take to make digital services work for everyone.