Anyone who's been delegated the task of constructing or overhauling a company's web site is aware of the political hurdles that must be cleared before receiving any kudos for a job well done. The fact is there are egos and expectations to be nurtured and balanced. And, all too often, the poor soul selected for the unenviable "honor" of making the company's web site a "success" finds themself playing Russian roulette with their own job security.

Consider, if you will, the antagonists in a typical drama of the web site committee who believes they must all come to mutual agreement before giving a go-ahead on the company's web site construction project: There's...

Charles, the President of the company, who is of the opinion that the site should have glitz and a modern appeal to do the job. Just get the proper ad agency to do an artistic lay-out, and the site will migrate to the top.

Mary, the Chief Financial Officer (CFO), who has a short-term view of advertising and marketing. Everything boils down to getting three bids. Websites are, after all, a commodity product. All designers and builders do the same thing. Go for the cheapest price.

Bob, the Information Technology (IT) person want to keep the construction of the site done internally for personal, empire-building reasons. His fall back position is that he has a buddy capable of rendering the services at a cheap price. In his opinion, website building is a IT function.

Doug, the production engineer, insists that reams of technical information be included because he's convinced that everyone makes buying decisions based on complete, well-thought-out, and logical information. His argument is that since he does a lot of basic, technical research, he knows exactly what the content and overall viewpoint of a good website should be. The reality is, of course, that he's clueless as to how normal people actually do their research and make real-world buying decisions.

Sara, the human resource represe...