Publishing a resource answers one question: where does it live? It does not automatically answer who will find it, how they will use it or what happens when the information changes.
I bring a communications and digital-delivery perspective to the same question that runs through my coaching and education work: what helps people put an idea into practice?
Follow the resource to its reader.
My work with the United States Center for Coaching Excellence includes digital strategy, publishing, distribution and workflows. With the International Council for Coaching Excellence, it includes site structure, publishing, updates and ongoing operations. My communications work with Orienteering Canada also connects web, email and social channels.
The common thread is continuing delivery. A website is one part of how an organization communicates. The useful unit to examine is the journey from a person’s question to a resource they can act on.
For example, imagine a volunteer looking for the current version of a program guide. A page may exist, but the link in an old email might lead somewhere else. It shows why publishing and distribution should be considered together.
Start with the route people already use. If that old email is still the way volunteers find the guide, publishing a better page elsewhere will not repair their experience. Keep a dependable route to the current version, clearly mark superseded material, and update the places that send people to it.
There is a tradeoff: an old version may need to remain available as a record, but it should not look like the current instruction. Make the distinction visible at the point where someone could act on the wrong information.
Then ask a volunteer to find the answer without your help. Notice where they hesitate, which link they choose and whether they can tell that the guidance is current. That small observation can be more useful than another internal review of the page.
Give maintenance an owner.
Trace one resource
- Need: What question does it help someone answer?
- Route: How will that person reach it?
- Action: Is the next step understandable?
- Owner: Who checks that it remains accurate?
- Review: What will trigger an update?
Use the exercise on one important resource before expanding it across a whole website. The aim is to reveal an unclear step, not create a new administrative system for its own sake.
Where might AI help?
I would start with a specific task and a clear definition of useful output. Preparing a draft summary from approved material or organizing questions for a resource review are possible starting points. They should be explored on suitable, non-sensitive material, with someone responsible for checking the result.
Before using an output, ask whether it represents the source accurately, fits the intended reader and omits anything essential. Keep decisions about coaching, program requirements and publication with the people accountable for them.
The choice of tool comes after the task and its constraints are understood.
My interest is in technology that helps people do useful work. A successful launch gives that work somewhere to happen. Continuing care keeps it useful.
Drawn from my communications and digital-operations roles with USCCE, ICCE and Orienteering Canada. Professional background on LinkedIn.