“You may not be interested in strategy, but strategy is interested in you.” Leon Trotsky
It’s common for organisations to talk about their “digital strategy.” But here’s the thing: they don’t actually need one.
“Digital” is simply how people in the 21st century interact with the world. It’s not a separate entity that needs its own strategy. Instead, organisations should be incorporating digital into the strategy they already have.
So, what does that look like? There’s an 8 step process for doing this:
Step 1 - Clarify objectives and assign relative priorities
What does your organisation want to achieve? Identify these objectives and assign them a priority ranking. Do this with key stakeholders as early as possible.
Step 2 - Identify who you serve
Who are the people whose needs your organisation cares about? Assign a relative priority to them.
Step 3 - Discover jobs-to-be-done
What are the tasks or problems these people need help with? Identify their jobs-to-be-done.
Step 4 - Prioritise jobs-to-be-done
Assess which jobs-to-be-done are most important to the people you serve, and which also help accomplish your organisation’s objectives.
Step 5 - Collect and evaluate digital ideas
Collect ideas for how digital tools, channels, techniques could help people accomplish their jobs-to-be-done. Evaluate these ideas to determine clear priorities.
Once these priorities have been established, there are 3 more steps to take:
Step 6 - Identify required resources
Determine what resources (budget, time, skills) will be needed to implement the digital ideas.
Step 7 - Develop a roadmap
Create a roadmap for implementation that takes into account timelines, dependencies, and resource availability.
Step 8 - Execute plan and monitor progress
Put the plan into action and monitor progress regularly. Evaluate how effective the digital initiatives are at helping people accomplish their jobs-to-be-done. Adjust as necessary.
By following this process of incorporating digital into an existing strategy, organisations can ensure they’re meeting the needs of those they serve in a way that is relevant in our current era. So forget about creating a separate “digital strategy” – instead, focus on using technology as a tool to achieve your organisation’s overall objectives.
