Running Editorial Teams and Workflows
State of Digital Publishing
A new publication and community for digital media and publishing professionals, in new media and technology.
NOTE FROM THE EDITOR
By Andrew Kemp , Managing Editor
There’s a growing debate in the media about the future of remote work. Some suggest that a recession could?force workers back into the office to keep their jobs, while others have argued that failing to return to the office could see jobs?offshored over the next decade.
I was discussing this very subject with a marketing executive during a coffee break at the DPA’s Independents Days event in Sydney. When asked my thoughts on the subject, I found that I could argue from both sides of the table.
I’ve worked from home for more than 12 years (with two and a half years of that being freelance) and while it certainly has its?advantages, there are reasons?why an office is also desirable.
Asked how I would enroll employees in the prospect of returning to the office, my response ended up being a dispassionate call to “look at the data”.
If a department is suffering in terms of productivity, highlight this to the team members and institute all necessary changes. If all’s well, then it might be time to ask why you’re trying to fix something that isn’t broken.
I do think, however, that companies are at risk of falling into the “set and forget” mindset when it comes to working environments. If somebody is successfully doing their job, either at home or in the office, it’s easy to focus on the mission rather than the individual.
The SODP team is constantly battling against the challenges of remote working, juggling both geographical and time zone challenges. We’ve embraced virtual town halls, training teams and daily sprints to tackle the isolation of the home office.
But while companies can do more to improve the remote working experience, employees must also shoulder some of those working-from-home responsibilities.
It’s not enough to take your work laptop home with you, connect to your home WiFi and expect the process to be problem free. Companies have very little reason to invest in the best computer hardware for employees who can converse in person and can lean on an IT department if there’s a whiff of technical trouble.
For those who want to work remotely, prove to your managers you’re competent enough to do so. Over the years I’ve been forced to rip apart computers in the middle of my work day to find faulty components, liaise directly with virtual tech support and troubleshoot with my ISP to fix wonky router settings. I’m not saying these things as a boast, far from it. The process has often been brutal.
I’m trying to highlight that I’ve invested in both my hardware and software knowledge as well as in higher end computer tech, all so I can seamlessly work from home.
Hybrid working can and should survive in the long run, but it needs investment from both employers and employees for it to do so.
领英推荐
Having a streamlined editorial workflow in place is a key step toward helping businesses realize their content strategy goals.
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Editorial workflows are integral to the publishing process — they allow for an idea to be brought to life and then presented to an audience.?
Whether the process is carefully documented or lives in “muscle memory”, every publisher uses one to create and distribute content.
Successful publishers, however, don’t just have a content creation process. They have also documented their processes, thereby making it easier to ensure quality content and transfer the existing knowledge pool to new staff.
While uncertainty can arguably?drive the creative process, for digital publishing to be profitable then it needs a good editorial workflow that eliminates uncertainty and reduces waste.
This guide was specifically created for editors working within Google Documents on Windows-based computers. However, much of what’s discussed here can be used in other text editing programs such as Microsoft Word. We’ve highlighted shortcuts that are either used across multiple apps or Gdocs specifically.
The greatest time-saver for editing is a little-known technique: mouse-less editing. This is as essential to an editor as touch typing is to a writer.
Although using shortcuts to save a second two at a time might seem a little underwhelming at first, its true potential blooms when viewing it at scale.
For example, if every shortcut saves around 5 seconds, then editors can save an hour and 20 minutes over the course of 1,000 edits — a more than realistic figure for a particularly troublesome piece. A day’s worth of work can be saved within 6,000 edits.
Editors are traditionally time-poor, often working to tight deadlines. As such, any tool that can save them time is a welcome addition.
With that in mind, check out this list of shortcuts and techniques that can help editors — and even writers — be as efficient as possible.
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