Painful Politics Persistently Present
"If you are writing for a corporate website, private or public, you may need to be a very good politician and a patient advocate." ~ Writing for the Web, Kilian (120)
A little bit of advice can go a long way, just like the quote above. Exercising patience and doing your absolute best to be a diplomat at all times is a great way (if sometimes frustrating) to study people and how they work. There will come a time when you have to step on someone else's toes, but if you do it in the right way (if there is a right way) its possible that everyone will come to a common understanding and a peaceful resolution.
Kilian also made the point that when a significant number of people write specific sections of a website, things become distorted or incongruent. If you have departments writing only for their section of the website, then people simply searching through the site might not have the general knowledge as those writing the information and go off with a huff. It can be difficult telling someone that you appreciate their help, but that you need to change something they wrote or that you would be better off without their help.
However, that's where politics come in! And we all love and cherish those practices, now don't we. They may be a pain, but we're probably better off trying that road first instead of simply running rough-shod over our fellow man.
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Nice alliteration in your title.
It all comes down to that golden rule: Treat others how you would like to be treated. Even if you're in a position to completely demolish someone's work, that doesn't mean you should pounce on them and tear their work to shreds. If they put forth a genuine effort, you should also put forth some effort in advising them of their errors. Then, they won't be as likely to get offended, and you won't be as likely to have a disgruntled employee on your hands. Besides we've all been humiliated a good time or two in our lives and no one likes that feeling.
I'm not surprised that in a situation where a person is doing a job that the other person can't, yet the other is telling that person what they want. Of course heads are going to butt.
When working on a website as a group, it's best to delegate responsibilities. Have people work closely on the content, for that is what will drive the rest of the sight. Have multiple writers, but also have them compare and consult with each other.
I feel the best way would be to delegate in a heirarchical way where there is one or two people at the top of the chain making the final decisions, and multiple rungs of the ladder underneath that will work on and put together the content.
My feelings on the revising aspect of the website, however, is that people need to grow up and be able to take criticism, especially if the person giving you the criticism is more qualified than you. I don't understand how people get mad when someone who obviously has more experience than them give them some advice or tell them to re-work something. Take it like a man. That is saying that the person giving the advice is in the right position to be giving it.