Without these two roles, your digital strategy won’t amount to anything
Most digital strategies do not fail at the outset. There has usually been a workshop, a document and a presentation to management. They fail in the period that follows: nobody feels responsible for the entire development process and the subsequent continuous improvement process. The strategy ends up in a desk drawer and the dust starts to gather.
In my new book, Strategy in Digital Transformation, I therefore explain that strategy is best viewed as an end-to-end process: it begins with the need to improve the organisation and only ends once that improvement has been achieved. The value of a strategy lies in solving the problem – not in the document itself.
Two essential roles in any strategy
And as with any end-to-end process, without a clear process owner and without management, things will grind to a halt. From my own experience, I have learnt that two roles are essential to the success of your digital strategy:
The end-to-end process owner manages the entire process, oversees vertical and horizontal alignment, and has a say in portfolio decisions, course corrections and escalations;
The strategy steward ensures the maintenance, consistency and alignment of all strategy-related material and facilitates decision-making with up-to-date, reliable information.
These two roles make the difference between a strategy that is brought to life and one that gathers dust. However, both roles do need sufficient authority, because without the power to make decisions within their remit, the strategy will still come to nothing.
Strategy is a process, not a document
As I explained earlier in my blog post ‘Strategy is an end-to-end process: from grand strategy to digital strategy’, it is useful to view strategy as an end-to-end process in order to make better, well-informed decisions that improve your organisation’s performance.
The strategy process consists of ongoing phases:
Develop – identifying challenges and formulating hypotheses to solve the problem;
Share – communicating the strategy in such a way that staff, managers and senior leaders understand why the course has been adjusted and what the personal benefits are for them;
Implement – translating objectives into initiatives and projects with clear responsibilities;
Measure – collecting indicators and data to assess whether the hypotheses are correct;
Optimise – adjusting the strategy based on insights and lessons learnt.
Strategy development is an ongoing process of identifying opportunities, formulating hypotheses, testing, adapting, implementing and improving. Emerging strategies – patterns that arise spontaneously within the organisation – also deserve a place in this process. Only by measuring can you distinguish successful emerging strategies from those that are failing, and embed them within your planned strategy process.
Role 1: the ‘end-to-end process owner’ strategy
A process only runs smoothly if someone oversees the entire journey. Hence the first role. I have previously written about process management and the role of the (delegated) end-to-end process owner: the person responsible for the outcome of the entire process, across all departments and silos, and not just for one or two steps. The exact same applies to the strategy process.
The overarching strategy (the top management’s overarching strategy) must be translated into day-to-day operations via operational strategies and specific strategies – such as your digital strategy. There must be a two-way flow of feedback between these levels; otherwise, assumptions will never be tested and the strategy will end up in a drawer.
What does the end-to-end process owner do?
Monitoring the entire process: from problem definition to the implementation of improvements, across the phases of development, sharing, implementation, measurement and optimisation.
Vertical alignment: aligning the overarching strategy, operational strategies and specific strategies with one another, and organising the flow of feedback between the different levels.
Horizontal alignment: ensuring that the digital strategy is aligned with other specific strategies, such as the HR strategy in the context of a digital employee experience initiative.
Maintaining momentum: ensuring that strategic, tactical and operational review points take place, at the appropriate level of detail.
Escalation and delegation: ensuring that bottlenecks and dependencies blocking progress are resolved at the appropriate level.
What is the mandate of this role?
A process owner must have at least the following mandate:
Decision-making authority over the process: the process owner determines how the strategy process unfolds, which steps and review points take place, and who is involved.
A say in portfolio decisions: when prioritising initiatives, allocating resources and discontinuing underperforming strategy projects, the process owner has a clear say in the assessment of whether ‘does this fit with the strategy and does it solve the problem?’
Access to decision-making: the process owner is one of the participants in the Obeya sessions at the strategic, tactical and, where necessary, operational levels, and can enforce or escalate decisions there.
Review: the mandate to subject the strategy to an operational review, even if senior management would prefer to leave the overarching strategy untouched.
In which decisions does the process owner play a role?
Approval or rejection of the operational review of the overarching strategy;
Prioritisation and reprioritisation of initiatives and projects;
Initiating and terminating strategies;
Adjusting the long-term direction based on performance metrics;
Escalating cross-functional conflicts that teams are unable to resolve amongst themselves.
Role 2: the strategy steward
Whilst the process owner steers the process, the steward focuses on the day-to-day management of the strategy itself. In my book, I recommend appointing a strategy facilitator or digital strategy coordinator. This person does not own the content of the strategy – that remains with management – but is responsible for its use, maintenance and applicability. This ensures that strategies remain truly dynamic and valuable.
In one of the practical examples in my book, a local authority appoints such a digital strategy coordinator, who is responsible for tracking changes, keeping the material up to date and guiding colleagues in applying the strategies. She acts as the first point of contact for all enquiries and consults regularly with stakeholders both within and outside the organisation to align priorities and gather feedback.
What does the strategy steward do?
Maintaining: keeping track of changes and ensuring that strategy documents, strategic information and workshop materials are kept up to date;
Facilitating: guiding colleagues in the application of strategies, tools and methods, and ensuring a consistent approach and a common language;
Making available: publishing the strategies and making them accessible via, for example, an intranet portal, tailored to different target groups – from senior management to the wider organisation;
Connecting: supporting vertical and horizontal alignment, for example, aligning a digital operational strategy with an HR operational strategy or with the organisational strategy;
Collect: gather and disseminate feedback and best practices, so that the organisation learns from its own experiences;
Facilitate the Obeya: as a dedicated facilitator, the steward ensures that discussions remain data-driven, that decisions are actionable and aligned with strategic objectives, and resolves discrepancies between different levels.
What are the steward’s responsibilities?
The steward acts as both a facilitator and a guardian of the process. This requires:
Mandate to standardise: the steward determines (in consultation with the process owner) which materials, methods and definitions the organisation uses, and may refer any deviations from these back to the teams;
Access to all levels: the steward must be able to observe and ask questions at every level, from operational teams right up to senior management;
Control over the flow of information: what is visible in the Obeya and the strategy portal, which indicators are up to date, and when materials are updated;
Being heard: feedback from the steward regarding inconsistencies between strategies or outdated material must be taken seriously during decision-making processes.
In which decisions does the steward play a role?
What is communicated, when, and to which target groups (tailoring the message);
Which definitions, indicators and reports serve as the ‘single source of truth’;
Which best practices are documented, shared and reused;
Where inconsistencies between strategies or teams are reported and placed on the agenda;
What lessons learnt are being shared in the Obeya and during the quarterly reviews.
The Obeya: where roles come together
One of the most powerful ways to make both roles work is the Obeya, literally ‘large room’. An Obeya is a physical and/or digital workspace where strategy and execution come together and which is used for inclusive and sustainable decision-making. Toyota used this approach in the development of the Prius and reduced the lead time from 48 months to 12 months.
The Obeya is where the process owner monitors the rhythm (for example, strategically on a quarterly basis, tactically on a monthly basis, operationally on a weekly basis) and where the steward ensures that the correct, up-to-date information is visible. In this way, the Obeya becomes a decision-making forum rather than a reporting ritual: if a dependency is blocking progress, the relevant decision-maker is already in the room – ready to act and make a well-informed decision.
Why good governance makes this possible
The value of good governance is that without clear decision-making powers and robust information flows, even the most elegant strategy will grind to a halt. Governance establishes the rules and structures that determine who decides what and how information flows. Appointing an end-to-end process owner and a strategy steward with sufficient authority is precisely that: strategy governance in practice.
The same applies to data: data governance sets out the framework, and stewards bring it to life. Ensure that data remains complete, accurate and usable, so that decisions made in the Obeya are based on reliable information. The pattern is always the same: a clear role with specific responsibilities and a mandate.
Read the book Strategy in Digital Transformation
Would you like to find out more about the ‘end-to-end’ strategy process and how to develop a digital strategy that helps solve organisational problems?
In my book Strategy in Digital Transformation, you’ll find workshop instructions, game cards and practical examples for each phase.
Strategy in Digital Transformation is available as a PDF, ePUB and paperback.
Sign up for the strategy training course!
Do you want to learn how to use digital technology effectively and solve real-world problems? In our ‘Strategy in Digital Transformation’ training course, you’ll learn how to use digital technology to make a tangible difference within your organisation.
Sign up for our ‘Digital Strategy’ training course or get in touch with us to arrange a bespoke workshop.
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