In the previous chapter, you turned your priorities into a practical plan.
A good strategy is not something you finish and file away. It should help you notice when something changes, check whether you are still heading in the right direction and decide what to do next.
Keep an eye on progress
Start with the actions in your plan. Decide what would tell you that things are moving.
That might be a decision that has been made, a responsibility that is now clear, a service that is easier to find or an action that has been completed.
Keep it simple. You only need enough information to see whether you are making progress or whether something needs attention.
Use information and meetings you already have. Keeping track of the strategy should not become a new reporting system.
Exercise: add a review point
Add a simple review point to the actions and priorities in your plan.
| Priority or action | What will you check? | Who checks? | When? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Add a priority or action | Note what would show progress or signal a need to adjust | Add the person or group checking progress | Add a useful moment to look again |
You do not need the same rhythm for everything. A new activity may need attention after a few months, while a stable area may only need checking once a year.
Know when to revisit the strategy
Your Node will not stay the same.
Funding changes. Projects start and finish. People join, move roles or leave. Services develop and new partners or national and ELIXIR initiatives may change what is useful or possible.
These changes do not always mean that the strategy itself is wrong. They may mean that a priority, responsibility or earlier decision needs another look.
Return to the part of the strategy that helps you answer the new question. You might reassess one area, reconsider the Node role or adjust an action. You do not need to start again from Chapter 1.
A living strategy changes when the context changes. Update what needs attention and leave the rest alone.
Check whether governance still fits
Changes around the Node can also affect who can make decisions and who has the capacity to take work forward.
When you revisit the strategy, check whether the right people are still involved, whether ownership is clear and whether activities still sit at the right level. A project ending, a new funding arrangement or a change in partner organisations may shift responsibilities even when the overall priority stays the same.
If ownership or decision making has become unclear, agree where it should sit before work continues.
Make sure it survives a handover
A strategy is fragile if only one person knows where it is, why choices were made or what should happen next.
Keep the latest version somewhere people can find it. Record important decisions and changes briefly, including why they were made.
This makes handovers easier too. A new colleague can quickly see what the Node is working towards, what has already been agreed and where they may need to contribute.
Make ownership and the review routine visible to more than one person. Continuity should not depend on one colleague remembering what happens next.
Build the review into something you already do
You do not need a separate governance process just to keep the strategy alive.
Use a meeting where Node priorities, resources or responsibilities are already discussed. This might be a Node coordination meeting, steering group meeting, RDM community meeting or annual planning session.
Once or twice a year, give the strategy ten or fifteen minutes on the agenda. Bring it back sooner when there is a major change in funding, projects, people, services or the wider landscape.
Ask one question:
Does our direction still make sense, and do the right people still have the responsibility and capacity to take it forward?
If the answer is yes, carry on. If not, update the part that no longer fits.
What you have built
By working through the module, you now have:
- a reason and starting point for your strategy
- an overview of your Node context
- a structure for what the strategy should cover
- an assessment of where you are now
- a desired direction and selected priorities
- a practical plan for moving forward
- an approach for reviewing and updating the strategy
These pieces do not need to become one long document. Together, they give you a practical basis for developing and maintaining your Node data management strategy.
What’s next
Congrats. You have now worked through the main steps for developing and maintaining a Node data management strategy.
You are ready to put your strategy into practice and continue developing it as your Node changes. Come back to this module when you refine the strategy, onboard new people or face a change that makes you ask: does our current direction still make sense?
Related pages
Real world example
Different ways Nodes can support the longer-term sustainability of RDM services