Playbook: Monthly Digitisation Review
AI is making digital work more dynamic but this means faster Agents change, context changes, costs change, permissions change, and usage changes. The portfolio needs a regular operating review mechanism, not a once-a-year strategy refresh.
Monthly Digitisation Review: Run Digital Work Like an Operating System
Use this playbook to help create a simple monthly rhythm for reviewing AI, agents, automations, workflows, downloads, risks, value, and retirements.
In plain English
Digital work keeps growing, but many organisations only review it when something breaks, costs spike, or a new executive mandate arrives.
AI is making digital work more dynamic, which means faster Agents change, context changes, costs change, permissions change, and usage changes. The digital portfolio needs a regular operating review rhythm, not a once-a-year strategy refresh.
How this connects to the sequence
The earlier playbooks help you see, decide, measure, gate, redesign, and retire. Monthly Digitisation Review turns those moves into an operating cadence.
Signal linked to this playbook
Digitisation needs a monthly operating rhythm
This Signal says the quiet part: digitisation is no longer a project, it is an operating rhythm.
The monthly agenda
- New digital / AI items added.
- Items moved from idea to pilot to live.
- Gate decisions pending.
- Value claims and evidence.
- Context or source-of-truth issues.
- Incidents, errors, escalations, and user friction.
- Adoption and training signals.
- Token / run-cost watchlist.
- Retire / merge / fix candidates.
- Decisions and owners for the next month.
Use this when
- Leadership keeps asking for AI progress but the portfolio view is weak.
- Teams keep launching tools without closing old ones.
- Risks and costs are showing up after deployment.
- Downloads, playbooks, and workbooks exist but are not tied to a cadence.
- You need one operating meeting instead of scattered status updates.
Who should attend
- Business owner for major workflows.
- Digital / AI lead.
- Finance or value owner when benefits are claimed.
- Risk / security / compliance as needed.
- Process owner or frontline representative.
- Human Operator / portfolio owner who maintains the register.
What good looks like
- Every month produces decisions, not just updates.
- The register is current.
- No pilot sits forever without scale, fix, pause, or retire.
- Costs, risks, and value claims are visible.
- The next month has clear owners.
The first move
Start with a 45-minute monthly review. Bring one register, one decision log, one value view, and one risk/watchlist view. Do not invite the whole company. Invite the people who can make decisions.
Human work signal
Operating rhythm reduces drama. People do not need to panic every time a new AI tool appears if the organisation has a known review path.
What to capture in the worksheet
| # | Field | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Review date | Establishes the review and decision cadence. |
| 2 | Item | Identifies the workflow/initiative being reviewed. |
| 3 | Stage | Shows current maturity and progress status. |
| 4 | Owner | Assigns accountability for outcomes & actions. |
| 5 | Value signal | Indicates whether expected benefits are being realised. |
| 6 | Risk signal | Highlights issues requiring attention or mitigation. |
| 7 | Action needed | Defines the next step to maintain momentum. |
| 8 | Decision | Records the outcome of the review. |
| 9 | Next owner | Assigns responsibility for follow-up actions. |
| 10 | Due date | Ensures actions are completed on time. |
Get the lightweight workbook
The public playbook gives you the method. The member workbook gives you the simple working sheet across various Playbooks.
