How to build a digital strategy with all stakeholders

The information in this article comes from the Charity Digital Strategy Accelerator (CDSA), a free and interactive course that helps you create a digital strategy. The CDSA leads you to greatness with all the guidance and practical tools you need to create a digital strategy that is impactful, realistic, and forward-thinking.

 

To begin the Accelerator, click on the link below and enter the code: CDSA.

 

Start the CDSA

 

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The best digital strategy will have input from all stakeholders. It will gain buy-in across the organisation, with clearly delineated roles and responsibilities. It will build effective digital governance into processes, ensuring the mitigation of risk and the amplification of opportunities.

 

In this article, we explore how you can ensure the whole organisation, not just digital teams, engage with the digital strategy, bringing in expertise from a wide range of roles.

 

 

How to identify important people

 

The stakeholders of your strategy are the people who have an interest in its success. A successful digital strategy could benefit their work or the charity’s work. External stakeholders like service users can benefit from a successful strategy, because it improves the quality of services.

 

To find out who the digital strategy’s stakeholders are, answer these questions:

• Who internally will use and be impacted by the digital strategy?
• Who externally will be impacted by the digital strategy?
• Who holds governance responsibilities within the organisation?
• Whose voices need to be heard to ensure your are building an equitable digital strategy?

Some people are worth engaging because their role will determine the strategy’s success or failure. Here are the questions you need to identify them:

• Who holds relevant knowledge and controls the resources that are needed?
• Who is a natural champion of digital?
• Who could derail, stop, or speed up the development of the digital strategy?

 

How to communicate about your digital strategy

 

When creating your digital strategy, you may need to involve people who are not all that interested in digital technology, whether they lack digital confidence or feel too busy to take on something new. The below steps will effectively communicate with people in your charity and improve the overall efficacy of the digital strategy.

 

 

Visualise the bigger picture

 

People are more likely to buy in to digital projects when they can see how it contributes to the larger mission. Ensure you explain long-term goals right at the beginning. Making a shared timeline or shared dashboard can help you track and measure progress across teams, while simultaneously improving general visibility – always a benefit!

 

 

Be clear about responsibilities

 

By nature, digital affects most (if not all) parts of a charity, and so creating and implementing a digital strategy will involve working with other teams in some capacity. Be clear in advance about what is expected of them, why, and how long it will take, to help them better plan their time and support buy-in. Make sure that information is shared, and visible, throughout the process.

 

 

Check in regularly

 

Meeting regularly helps to track progress against goals and deadlines, tackle any issues or blockers – and find solutions – and helps teams and individuals to stay focused on what it is they are trying to achieve. It’s also a good opportunity to remind people of the bigger picture and their role in it – helping to reenergise and reinvigorate. Ask teams how often they’d like to meet and see if that tallies with your expectations. If not, find a compromise that works for everyone.

 

 

Promote open communication

 

Effective teams don’t always agree. Alignment is about finding a solution, despite disagreements. When team members can communicate their concerns, thoughts, and ideas without fear or judgement, it fosters trust and encourages collaboration.

 

Having the freedom to raise concerns means problems can be addressed early on, which stops them from becoming bigger problems down the line. And letting people express their thoughts and ideas, and bringing their diverse perspectives on an issue, can help in problem solving.

 

 

Recognise and reward teams

 

Effective teams don’t always agree. Alignment is about finding a solution, despite disagreements. When team members can communicate their concerns, thoughts, and ideas without fear or judgement, it fosters trust and encourages collaboration.

 

Having the freedom to raise concerns means problems can be addressed early on, which stops them from becoming bigger problems down the line. And letting people express their thoughts and ideas, and bringing their diverse perspectives on an issue, can help in problem solving.

 

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Do you want to create a digital strategy for free? Join our Charity Digital Strategy Accelerator, which teaches you how exactly to plan, write, and deliver on your digital strategy.

 

To begin the Accelerator, click on the link below and enter the code: CDSA.

 

Start the CDSA