Codifying Your Team

When and how to establish your digital service team as a permanent part of your organization

What Is Codification?

Digital service teams often begin as temporary responses to an immediate need. Codification formally establishes the team’s long-term role through its mission, authority, funding, or organizational placement.

Depending on your government, this might include a permanent budget allocation, an executive order, legislation, an organizational restructuring, or another formal action that gives the team a long-term role.

Why it matters

Beginning as a temporary initiative can help a team launch quickly and demonstrate value, but it can also leave the team vulnerable to leadership transitions, budget reductions, or organizational changes.

Formalizing the team provides greater stability by clarifying its mission, authority, funding, and long-term role. It also supports future planning, helps attract and retain talent, and allows the team to continue improving government services as leadership and organizational priorities change.

How codification fits into digital maturity

Codification is not a separate stage of digital maturity or something every team should pursue immediately. During the Exploring and Organizing stages, teams should focus on delivering value, building trust, and establishing their role. As they move into Standardizing and Scaling, recurring funding, clearer governance, and formal organizational placement become more important. At the Leading stage, these foundations help sustain the team and its influence across government.

Signs Your Team Is Ready

Most organizations should focus on demonstrating value before pursuing codification. You may be ready when your team has:

Delivered measurable improvements through successful projects

Examples:

• Reduced processing times or administrative burden

• Improved resident satisfaction or service quality

• Increased digital adoption or operational efficiency

Built trust and strong partnerships across departments

Examples:

• Agencies regularly seek the team's expertise

• Departments involve the team early in new initiatives

• The team is viewed as a trusted partner rather than a project resource

Established a sustainable funding approach

Examples:

• Secured recurring budget appropriations

• Implemented a cost-recovery or hybrid funding model

• Reduced reliance on one-time funding or grants

Defined a clear mission and long-term role

Examples:

• Documented the team's purpose and responsibilities

• Clarified governance and decision-making authority

• Established how the team supports departments across government

Demonstrated ongoing demand for its services

Examples:

• Maintains a consistent pipeline of projects

• Receives requests from multiple departments

• Has a clear process for prioritizing incoming work

Earned support from organizational leadership

Examples:

• Executive leaders champion the team's work

• Budget officials support continued investment

• Elected leaders recognize the team's long-term value

Assess Readiness for Codification

These following questions are not intended to determine whether a team should be codified. It is meant to help identify gaps in impact, funding, stakeholder support, or organizational integration that may need to be addressed before pursuing codification:

Questions to Ask

Impact

• Has the team delivered measurable improvements to government services?

• Can you clearly articulate the value the team has created for residents, agencies, or staff?

• Do you have examples and metrics that demonstrate success?

Demand

• Are multiple agencies seeking support from the team?

• Does the team have a growing pipeline of work?

• Would agencies notice a significant gap if the team no longer existed?

Sustainability

• Does the team have a stable funding source?

• Are key roles filled with permanent staff rather than temporary resources?

• Is there a plan for leadership succession and knowledge transfer?

Support

• Do agency leaders support the team's continued existence?

• Are budget, procurement, and human resources leaders familiar with the team's value?

• Do elected officials or executive leaders view the team as strategically important?

Organizational Integration

• Have digital practices such as product management, user research, and agile delivery been adopted beyond the team itself?

• Is the team viewed as a core government function rather than a temporary initiative?

• Is there a clear vision for the team's long-term role?

Ways to Formalize Your Team

Codification can happen through one or more formal actions that establish your team's long-term role within the organization. Common approaches include:

• Permanent budget appropriations

• Executive orders or administrative directives

• Legislation or local ordinances

• Organizational restructuring

• Formal governance or oversight structures

Codification often happens in stages, with a team first established through an executive directive, later receiving recurring funding, and eventually becoming a permanent part of the organization.

Keep building momentum

Codification is rarely the result of a single successful project. It happens by consistently demonstrating value, building trust, and showing how the team improves services for residents and supports agencies across government.

Continue measuring and communicating your impact, strengthening partnerships, and building support among executives, budget leaders, and elected officials.

As your team's mission, governance, and funding mature, formalizing the team can help ensure its work continues through future leadership, organizational, and budget changes.