"Possible" and "able to operate" are completely different stories.
When operating multiple blogs at an agency,
you eventually reach this conclusion at least once.
"Instead of using new tools,
let's try to solve it by combining the ones we are currently using."
So, there is a combination that is most commonly chosen.
- WordPress Multisite
- Organizing accounts and rules with Notion
- Managing blog lists and permissions with Excel
This combination initially seems quite plausible.
The reason for choosing this method is clear
The biggest advantage of this combination is its simplicity.
- Tools that are already being used
- Almost no additional cost
- Provides the assurance that "we just need to organize well"
In other words,
it gives a feeling of having solved the problem while postponing a new decision.
So many teams go through this stage.
However, this method is based on one assumption
For this structure to be maintained,
there is an assumption that must always hold true.
"Everyone understands the rules accurately,
and always follows those rules."
In reality, this is an almost impossible condition.
- People change
- Projects expand
- Exceptional situations inevitably arise
From this moment on,
this combination begins to crack little by little.
Documents and rules increase, but stability does not
Every time a problem arises,
the team responds like this.
- Create another Notion document
- Add one more rule
- Announce, "Make sure to check this"
However, there is an important fact.
As the number of documents increases,
the actual operational stability decreases.
Because:
- Not everyone always looks at all the documents
- Rules are habits, not memories
The problem with Multisite is not 'technology'
WordPress Multisite itself is not a bad choice.
Technically, it is powerful.
However, from an agency's operational perspective,
it cannot answer the following questions.
- Is complete separation possible for each client?
- Can we give authors only the necessary permissions?
- Can mistakes be structurally prevented?
Ultimately, Multisite is a structure where
operational policies must be continuously improved by people.
The real problem with this structure is 'dependency'
While this combination is maintained,
the team gradually becomes dependent on specific individuals.
- "○○ knows this best"
- "Just ask that person"
- "Only that person knows the previous settings"
This situation is not stability.
It is simply a state where a crisis has not yet occurred.
The moment when operations collapse is always the same
The moment when this structure collapses
is mostly similar.
- When key personnel leave
- When the number of blogs exceeds a critical point
- When multiple projects overlap simultaneously
Only then does the team realize.
"It's not that we did it wrong,
but that the structure was wrong from the start."
Therefore, this problem is a matter of 'operational standards'
The important conclusion here is this.
- It is not because the existing tools are inadequate
- It is not because the practitioners are less meticulous
It is because tools designed for individual standards
are being forcibly used for agency operations.
In the next article,
I will talk about the questions blog.haus started with,
which set these standards differently from the beginning.
Preview of the next episode
Why is 'blog.haus' not a 'blog tool' but an 'operating system'?