Vision comes up a lot and I’ve had many chances over the years to work with companies in defining their digital vision. There are a variety of ways to go about it but regardless of what tools you may use, here are a few things I would suggest:
1. Align Your Digital Vision to Company Strategy
Every company should have a strategy. It should have a niche and a way in which it intends to compete. Company executives usually set and communicate the strategy although you’d be surprised how few people outside the C suite actually understand it. You should not create a vision without first understanding that strategy and aligning your vision. For example, if you company differentiates itself on customer service then you digital vision should acknowledge and align to that. Your vision should state your most important customers (people willing to pay for that high touch experience).
2. Vision Should be Simple
I would suggest at most four to five sentences. Five sentences may even be pushing it. Highlight the following:
- Who or the key constituents
- Where you intend to create a great digital experience
- A high level what you intend to do
3. Vision Doesn’t Come First
I say this because I’ve made that mistake over the years and when we have time to gather inputs before a vision workshop, it always works better. More simply stated, how can you declare where you want to go without first understanding where you are. In other words, gain key insights first. That may include:
- Competitive analysis
- Current state analysis. We use our Customer Experience IQ (CXIQ) to gain that understanding in seven key areas)
- Journey Maps. They help you better understand your core constituents and how you need to meet them.
4. Vision Should Drive Additional Tasks
In this case, we are talking about natural components of your vision. Here’s an example.
Strategic Framework
In this particular case, the customer defined a vision and the strategic framework above defined the areas you need to address.
Bottom Line
Don’t go into your vision with half-baked preparation. Do you homework and have your participants do their homework before you get together and walk through a vision workshop. Second, once you have a high level vision, understand that you will need to think through the natural extensions of that vision so you can begin to hang additional key deliverables like your roadmap.
