Digital governance frameworks
This is the first in a series of articles about building organisational digital resilience.
The framework that sets out accountability, responsibility, and purpose for an organisation’s digital service environment. In simple terms, the framework describes what, why and how. Meaning: What is the technology? Why choose it? How will it be used?
Digital services are a collective term to describe the technology, apps, systems, and software an organisation uses for their information and knowledge needs.
The framework is made up of three elements: strategy, policies, and standards. It partners with the Content Management Framework and should flex to accommodate and grow with the needs of the business.
What is a digital strategy?
A digital strategy is a plan for how an organisation produces, publishes, manages, and analyses information and knowledge. A digital strategy is an integral part of your business strategy and it ensures that technology solutions support and drives the information needs of the business.
A digital strategy takes all parts of the whole- the good, the bad and the ugly. It inspects, acknowledges and works with the parts to develop and deliver a well-functioning, healthy digital service environment. Like any environment, digital or otherwise, it needs constant tending and attention to maintain good health. The policies and standards used to guide and measure the management and effectiveness of the digital strategy are the health checks needed to support the framework.
What is not digital strategy?
Digital strategy is not prescriptive. It is not cherry picking for quick-wins and short-lived success. It is not a cookie cutter approach to delivering business value, and this is why.
Perversely, quick-wins end up needing more time, effort and money to execute because more often than not “descoping” stands a product up but doesn’t keep it up and moving.
Wins become losses when efforts at the coalface are reacting to an environment that operates ineffectively and inefficiently.
Successes are marred by discontented users, complicated processes and unclear delegation of authority.
Prescriptive, cookie cutters approaches are inflexible and intolerant of nuances in environments, culture and business objectives.
I’ve seen it time and again, a bright shiny new toy ends up on the shelf, unused or used poorly because the users who are supposed to use it don’t want or (think they) need it. It might be an attempt to change user behaviour or the impressions users have of an organisation that is driving a change initiative or business objective. Seduced by the promise of better functionality, integration capabilities and WYSIWYG ease, we jump aboard the train that loops us back to where we started with the same deep-rooted issues, complaints and concerns underneath a shiny new exterior.
Digital policies and standards
Digital policies are the principles that guide how the strategy is implemented. Standards are the measures used to conduct regular health checks and analysis of the strategy. This is the constant tending and attention required to maintain a well-functioning governance framework.
Digital policies should:
· Be simple
· Be clear
· Enable efficient resource planning
· Create consistent processes
· Support continual improvement
· Ensure accountability (very important)
The standards, or success measures and governance health checks follow. Although the order is not actually that important. What is important is that they have a common goal — to support the governance framework, allowing it to flex and bend to the needs to of the organisation.
What happens next?
Now we have the basics of building a digital governance framework, the next step is to develop it. Where to begin?
Start with the organisational mission statement. Use the vision and values to build the structure. The frameworks that underpin the success of an organisation should align and are a great place to build from.
Let’s get started…
