About to start site face lift

what questions to ask?

[Acternaweb]

I have been saddeled with the challenging task of getting the ball rolling to give our website a face lift. What are good questions to ask in a room full of IT, marketing, accouting and some geeks?

Relatively new on the job, so I don't know if anyone is a powerder keg or if there are power issues so I need to be sensitve.

Any thoughts?

[Sinner_G]

a room full of IT, marketing, accouting and some geeks

Question #1: Would you mind going into separate rooms?

There is no way that so many different people can find a common ground, so discussions will go on and on and on.

Only question for the accounting guys is 'What is my budget?', after that is clear, get rid of them.

Questions for IT people should be more about what technology they know (if they are the ones to maintain the site in the future) and what technologies/systems (servers, hardware,...) are already installed that can/must be used for the new site.

Marketing people: What do our clients want to see on the site? What browsers do they use? You get where this is headed.

[Acternaweb]

yeah I agree, only problem is I am not about to tell that to the VP and other exces.. know what I mean.

Whats the best way to benchmark competition?

[Marketing Guy]

I agree with SinnerG - try to avoid having them all in one meeting - there will be a lot of conflict and a lot of lack of knowledge on all sides.

Best to use the session to come up with a timeframe for the project, budget, etc and let each offer their views.

At the end arrange for one on ones with each dept. and come up with a decent compromise youself.

Find out who has the final word - IT manager? VP? Then find out what way they swing - IT or marketing. Itll give you an idea which points you will really need to sell him / her on.

Scott