Collective digital leadership: Why non-technical leaders should share tech ownership

In today's hyper-competitive, rapidly evolving market, the demand for seamless digital interactions has never been higher. The modern workforce expects seamless digital interactions, instant access to information, and intuitive tools that support both their work and personal growth. In this new paradigm, non-technical teams need the power to innovate without the confines of complex development environments. They also must bear more responsibility for the strategic deployment of technology.

This has led to forward-thinking organizations exploring leadership models that reflect the shared need for rapid, strategic deployment of technology. A recent Gartner survey found that 46 percent of CIOs are shifting to co-owning digital leadership. According to the firm’s report, “CIOs who co-own efforts with their CxO peers to place the design, management and delivery of digital capabilities with teams closest to the point where value is created, are most effective at maximizing digital investments.”

This co-ownership model -- where leaders across departments collaborate with IT to ensure technology serves the business effectively -- sounds like the ideal scenario to keep up with modern demands. By involving leaders from departments such as HR, marketing, and operations, organizations can develop a more holistic and user-centric technology strategy.

It has become clear that business success will increasingly be driven by the ability to harness the full potential of technology through collaborative leadership. This raises difficult questions: Can we navigate the delicate balance between empowerment and control, ensuring robust security and scalability while fostering an environment of continuous learning and innovation? How can non-technical teams participate in shaping technology without getting bogged down in complex development environments, while also ensuring that digital safety standards are maintained and the technology experience is seamless across the entire employee experience?

The Rise of Non-Technical Tech

Traditionally, IT departments have been the gatekeepers of technology, responsible for its selection, implementation, and maintenance for the whole company. This centralized approach often leads to silos that disconnect the tech stack from the evolving needs and insights of other departments, and the goals of its end users.

One of the most transformative forces in changing this dynamic has been the advent of low-code/no-code platforms. By offering a visual development environment with pre-built components, they've allowed those without deep coding expertise to design applications and workflows tailored to their specific needs. These platforms have enabled faster development and deployment, reducing the risk of lengthy, costly IT projects. They’ve also facilitated rapid experimentation and cost-effective development, allowing organizations to quickly iterate on solutions and directly address employee needs.

Implementing a low-code/no-code platform can provide a multitude of benefits that significantly enhance the capabilities of non-technical teams, creating a positive feedback loop of growth and development. For example, marketing teams might use low-code platforms to build campaign management tools, while HR departments could develop custom employee onboarding systems. But what strategies can organizations employ to integrate low-code/no-code platforms while maintaining cohesive IT governance? How can IT departments effectively collaborate with non-technical teams to ensure that low-code/no-code solutions meet organizational standards and objectives?

Simplicity, Security, and Scalability

Under a model of shared digital ownership, IT is tasked with empowering business leaders with technology, while ensuring robust security and scalability. This is an underappreciated strength of low-code platforms, which can offer data compliance, granular access controls, secure credential storage, and seamless integrations with existing systems.

When business leaders take on development tasks, IT teams naturally have security concerns about data control and functionality. Robust data compliance is essential, ensuring the platform adheres to regulations like GDPR and HIPAA. This compliance provides IT and legal teams with peace of mind regarding data privacy. In addition to security, IT departments need assurance that the technology can adapt to the organization's evolving needs. The platform should have a scalable architecture to accommodate a growing user base and data volume without compromising performance.

Low-code/no-code platforms are also pivotal in streamlining an organization's tech stack, a major concern as organizations combat the sprawl of fragmented applications. Intranets, for example, can act as central repositories that consolidate applications, workflows, communication platforms, document libraries, and various other tools that were once scattered across different systems. This consolidation eliminates the need for employees to manage multiple logins and interfaces, thereby reducing confusion and frustration.

By removing redundant software licenses and simplifying infrastructure requirements, organizations can free up resources, allowing for investment in more strategic initiatives that benefit employees directly. Managing a single platform significantly lightens the workload for all teams while streamlining tech sprawl and allowing IT to focus on core issues without being bogged down by scattered systems.

In fact, intranets exemplify how a low-code/no-code platform can facilitate effective shared ownership of technology and reduce the burden on IT while maintaining control and centralization. Traditional intranets required significant IT involvement for customization and updates, creating bottlenecks. Modern intranets leveraging low-code/no-code technology eliminate these barriers. By enabling non-technical teams to experiment and iterate on solutions, intranets can rapidly adapt to organizational needs without overburdening IT.

Such a platform can also provide a dedicated space for idea generation, collaborative problem-solving, and project development. By reducing reliance on IT for content creation and distribution, low-code intranets allow for more agile and responsive communication strategies that keep pace with the evolving needs of the organization and its workforce. Internal communicators can easily create and disseminate rich content across various platforms, including mobile, email newsletters, and remote digital signage. This seamless integration ensures that important information reaches employees effectively, without requiring extensive IT involvement. Employees can also submit their own ideas, brainstorm solutions, and work together on initiatives that drive innovation. With the low-code environment, these ideas can be quickly prototyped and tested, encouraging a spirit of intrapreneurship, while scalable architecture and API access ensure the intranet can grow with the organization and meet evolving needs.

Non-technical teams can experiment with various solutions to address their unique needs, gather feedback, and iterate on their projects. From there, they can directly explore valuable insights into employee engagement and response through accessible analytics. Intranet managers can leverage these insights to make data-driven decisions and continuously improve the user experience without putting in multiple tickets for permissions, integrations, and modifications. By utilizing AI tools and permission settings, managers can further personalize the self-serve experience for different user groups, further enhancing engagement and productivity. This approach ensures that solutions are relevant, effective, and swiftly implemented, bypassing bureaucratic delays and reducing dependency on IT support. Not only does this boost employee engagement but it can also foster a sense of autonomy and empowerment, leading to increased productivity and job satisfaction. Ultimately, the flexibility and agility provided by low-code/no-code intranets contribute to a more dynamic, innovative, and responsive organizational culture.

The Selection Process

Tech leaders recognize that successful platform adoption begins with careful selection. To ensure a smooth transition to a low-code/no-code platform that alleviates the IT department's burden while maintaining high standards of safety and scalability, business leaders should consider the following questions during the evaluation process:

First, does this tool offer a clear benefit to the organization? Prioritize tools that address specific problems and align with the company's goals. Quantifying the organization-wide advantages of a solution early on can help build a strong case for its adoption.

Next, will this tool address a specific pain point for employees? Engage with a diverse group of team members to understand their challenges and determine how the solution can provide relief.

Additionally, how does this pain point rank compared to other employee frustrations? If the new tool only addresses minor issues while ignoring more significant problems, it is likely that employee adoption will be low.

Finally, will additional training or support be needed? Assess the potential impact on productivity during the transition period and factor these investments into the overall equation to ensure that the benefits of the new platform outweigh the costs.

By considering these questions, business leaders can make informed decisions that ensure the new platform not only reduces the IT department's workload but also meets the organization's standards for security and scalability.

As organizations embrace co-ownership of digital leadership, they can unlock greater collaboration and innovation. Low-code platforms enable rapid feedback loops and iteration cycles, ensuring solutions remain relevant and impactful. This democratization of technology development fosters a culture where employees closest to the challenges can create solutions, driving organizational success.

Innovation through shared tech stewardship

Co-ownership of technology allows for a more integrated approach to digital transformation, where the expertise and perspectives of various business leaders are harnessed to drive innovation and efficiency.

Low-code/no-code tools are accelerating the shift towards a more collaborative model by giving non-technical teams the ability to address modern business challenges head-on, reduce delays and foster innovation. This ensures that technology investments align closely with the strategic objectives of different business units, bridging the gap between technical and non-technical stakeholders, and promoting a deeper understanding of how technology can be leveraged to drive business success. By enabling rapid prototyping and iteration, businesses can swiftly adapt to changing conditions, maintaining a competitive edge while lowering development costs and simplifying processes. In turn, this enhances the employee experience by empowering individuals to create, learn, and directly impact the bottom line without needing programming expertise or IT support.

Ultimately, this evolution in technology ownership underscores the importance of breaking down silos and fostering a culture of collaboration. As technology continues to reshape the workplace, organizations that embrace shared digital leadership are better positioned to adapt to change, optimize their digital investments, and create a more dynamic and engaging environment for their employees.

Image credit: Aleksei Gorodenkov / Dreamstime.com

Scott Hitchins is CSO at Interact Software. Interact supplies over 1,000 organizations including Fortune 500, FTSE 250, and globally recognized brands such as Subway, Levi Strauss & Co., Domino’s, and Teva Pharmaceuticals with an award-winning employee experience platform that boosts productivity and drives engagement.