Lever Application Matrix

Before diving into each lever, it is essential to understand the four key dimensions through which maturity can be examined and grown. These dimensions give practitioners clear direction on where to look and how to act:

2.1 Internal Operations

• Focuses on core business functions and in-house teams

• Looks at how the lever operates within day-to-day operations, siloes, and internal practices

• Typical interventions include role clarity, internal performance metrics, and internal capability building

2.2 External Ecosystems

• Examines the lever’s effect and structure across partners, suppliers, and third-party providers

• Critical for federated delivery, SIAM environments, or outsourced functions

• Common interventions include shared outcome frameworks, vendor scorecards, and joint decision rights

2.3 Framework Overlays

• Explores how SPARA levers can be applied over existing models (e.g., ITIL, Agile, DevOps, COBIT)

• Helps practitioners integrate SPARA into their current environment without disruption

• Levers are mapped to familiar framework practices to provide reinforcement rather than replacement

2.4 Governance Implications

• Evaluates how each lever is governed: where decisions are made, how performance is reviewed, and how success is defined

• Interventions may include new steering forums, decision rights matrices, escalation frameworks, and realigned KPIs

These four dimensions provide a practical targeting lens. They help practitioners know where to start, what to inspect, and how to progress maturity.

Each of the following sections provides detailed insights on how to apply and mature each SPARA lever across the four dimensions. This is supported by diagnostic signals, recommended actions, and relevant tools or artefacts that can be developed.

Internal Operations

Governance inside the organisation often breaks down when strategy is unclear, decision rights are vague, or responsibilities are fragmented.

Indicators of Low Maturity:

• Duplication of decisions across teams

• Strategy not translating to operational activity

• Role confusion in decision-making

Recommended Actions:

• Establish a simple accountability framework (e.g., RACI) across key services

• Introduce tiered decision rights to separate operational vs strategic governance

• Map business goals to team-level OKRs to reinforce vertical alignment

External Ecosystems

Where external suppliers, vendors, or partners are involved, governance becomes a shared responsibility. This is often where alignment is weakest.

Indicators of Low Maturity:

• Multiple vendors, each with separate governance layers

• Contractual obligations met, but poor delivery experience

• Misaligned reporting cycles or KPIs

Recommended Actions:

• Introduce joint steering groups with shared KPIs

• Ensure vendor scorecards are aligned with internal performance measures

• Define a supplier governance model that reflects SPARA levers

Framework Overlays

Governance & Alignment is referenced across nearly all frameworks, but rarely unified.

ITIL: Plan, Improve, and Governance components COBIT: Align, Plan, and Organise (APO) SIAM: Retained organisation and Service Integrator governance Agile: Portfolio management and OKR alignment (SAFe, LeSS)

Recommended Actions:

• Create a Lever-to-Framework crosswalk for your governance structure

• Align governance boards to SPARA levers, not process stages

• Establish enterprise KPIs per lever, mapped to framework roles

Governance Implications

Governance & Alignment is the foundational lever that defines how other levers are owned, governed, and matured.

Structures to Consider:

• SPARA Steering Group: A strategic board overseeing all five levers

• Lever Owners: Assign leads per lever to own performance, maturity, and uplift plans

• Value Alignment Forums: Quarterly reviews where strategy and lever performance intersect

Measurement Examples:

• Alignment score (strategy vs team perception)

• Lever accountability matrix

• Governance model effectiveness survey

Once Governance & Alignment is mature, all other levers benefit. Without it, performance will drift regardless of operational efficiency.

Internal Operations

Internally, flow challenges often come from siloed processes, unclear ownership at handoff points, or excessive bureaucracy.

Indicators of Low Maturity:

• Repeated rework or task switching

• Delays at process handoffs

• Staff complaints about blockers or unnecessary steps

Recommended Actions:

• Map your top 3 value streams from request to outcome

• Identify 3–5 friction points and ask: “Is this needed? Who owns this?”

• Pilot a single-stream process redesign with frontline staff

External Ecosystems

Externally, poor flow between partners or suppliers results in customer-impacting delays, lost context, or service drops.

Indicators of Low Maturity:

• Blame loops between service providers

• Customers chasing answers across multiple teams

• Handover protocols vary between vendors

Recommended Actions:

• Co-create a service flow charter with your suppliers

• Standardise escalation paths and inter-party communication protocols

• Establish joint KPIs that focus on flow, not just delivery

Framework Overlays

Design & Flow maps well to Lean, DevOps, and SAFe value stream thinking. It also overlays with:

ITIL: Service Design, Value Stream & Process Agile: Continuous delivery pipelines and story flow SIAM: Cross-supplier workflow models

Recommended Actions:

• Introduce a visualisation wall (physical or digital) for team and inter-team flows

• Define value flow checkpoints in key governance ceremonies

• Use Agile retrospectives to refine internal and cross-team flow

Governance Implications

Flow needs to be owned, reviewed, and improved deliberately.

Structures to Consider:

• Value Stream Review Forums: Monthly sessions on end-to-end flow

• Flow Leads: Individuals accountable for identifying and removing blockers

• Design Authorities: Approving process changes with flow metrics in mind

Measurement Examples:

• Average time from request to delivery

• Number of handoffs per process

• Flow friction index (survey-based)

Without conscious design, flow becomes accidental. Without flow, speed becomes chaos, and bureaucracy becomes paralysis.

Internal Operations

Internally, people-related challenges often stem from lack of clarity, micromanagement, burnout, or disconnected leadership.

Indicators of Low Maturity:

• Unclear or overlapping responsibilities

• Low morale, high attrition, resistance to change

• Skills gaps and lack of career pathways

Recommended Actions:

• Develop “success profiles” for key roles that describe behaviours, not just tasks

• Launch pulse surveys to measure engagement and perceived autonomy

• Introduce recognition systems tied to value delivery, not task volume

External Ecosystems

Externally, partner staff and supplier teams are often overlooked in empowerment strategies.

Indicators of Low Maturity:

• Contractors treated as separate from internal culture

• Knowledge silos between internal and external staff

• Poor onboarding or disempowered field roles

Recommended Actions:

• Extend onboarding, knowledge bases, and cultural briefings to partners

• Ensure supplier SLAs include empowerment-focused measures (e.g., autonomy to resolve issues)

• Facilitate mixed-team workshops to build trust and shared purpose

Framework Overlays

This lever is deeply tied to human dynamics and overlays strongly with:

Agile: Psychological safety, team autonomy, servant leadership ITIL: People & Culture guiding principle, Workforce & Talent Management COBIT: EDM04 – Ensured Resource Optimization

Recommended Actions:

• Map empowerment blockers against Agile principles or ITIL guiding values

• Add leadership development and empowerment KPIs into coaching frameworks

• Introduce cross-role mentoring schemes to embed confidence and adaptability

Governance Implications

Empowerment must be governed with intention—lack of governance leads to neglect, not freedom.

Structures to Consider:

• Culture & Capability Councils: Groups that guide people development strategy

• Role Health Dashboards: Monitors autonomy, confidence, and growth indicators

• Inclusion Audits: Checks how external teams are integrated culturally and operationally

Measurement Examples:

• Engagement and confidence scores per role/team

• Time-to-autonomy for new hires or vendor staff

• Empowerment maturity assessments at quarterly intervals

People aren’t just a lever—they are the mechanism. An empowered team amplifies every other lever; a disempowered one weakens them all.

Internal Operations

Internally, delivery and assurance are often fragmented across functions, leading to blind spots, duplicated effort, or poor performance visibility.

Indicators of Low Maturity:

• Metrics focus on volume, not value or outcomes

• Manual reporting cycles that lag behind operational events

• Reactive service delivery with unclear thresholds or tolerances

Recommended Actions:

• Build a unified performance dashboard using indicators aligned to customer outcomes

• Define standard delivery checkpoints across the value stream

• Introduce threshold-based triggers for assurance interventions (e.g., escalations, QA reviews)

External Ecosystems

Externally, assurance mechanisms are often detached from the realities of third-party delivery, resulting in finger-pointing or missed risks.

Indicators of Low Maturity:

• SLAs are met but service quality is poor

• Vendor reports misaligned with internal delivery metrics

• Lack of shared understanding around service expectations

Recommended Actions:

• Establish integrated assurance reviews with suppliers and partners

• Align external reporting with internal outcome measures, not just SLA compliance

• Introduce co-developed quality models and joint risk assessments

Framework Overlays

Delivery & Assurance is a strong fit with structured and continuous improvement frameworks:

ITIL: Deliver & Support, Monitoring & Event Management, Incident & Problem Management COBIT: MEA01 – Monitor, Evaluate and Assess Performance and Conformance DevOps: Continuous monitoring, incident response automation, SLOs

Recommended Actions:

• Align assurance artefacts (e.g., risk logs, QA outcomes) with lever indicators

• Integrate delivery assurance into Agile sprint reviews and retrospectives

• Implement real-time feedback loops that surface performance trends quickly

Governance Implications

Delivery & Assurance requires active oversight to ensure standards are upheld without becoming bureaucratic.

Structures to Consider:

• Delivery Health Reviews: Monthly sessions tracking velocity, risk, and assurance exceptions

• Assurance Boards: Cross-functional governance groups reviewing control effectiveness

• Quality & Risk Stewards: Named individuals with oversight of assurance frameworks per function or product line

Measurement Examples:

• Ratio of proactive vs reactive escalations

• % of delivery reviews resulting in actionable improvements

• Alignment of internal vs external performance indicators

Good delivery is invisible when everything works. Good assurance is visible when something doesn’t. Excellence is designing both to prevent harm, enable learning, and build trust.

Internal Operations

Internally, experience and outcomes are often poorly defined, measured superficially, or treated as secondary to operational targets.

Indicators of Low Maturity:

• Lack of clear definitions of ‘value’ from the customer or user perspective

• Feedback is gathered but not actioned

• Overemphasis on internal KPIs rather than real-world outcomes

Recommended Actions:

• Define outcome statements with customers or key stakeholders

• Establish internal forums to translate experience feedback into change actions

• Use personas and journey mapping to identify outcome gaps across the service lifecycle

External Ecosystems

Externally, delivering experience and outcomes often requires coordination between multiple parties, each with different objectives or delivery models.

Indicators of Low Maturity:

• Service recipients are unclear who is responsible for what

• Vendors meet contract terms but fail to meet customer expectations

• No shared view of customer journeys or value moments

Recommended Actions:

• Facilitate joint service reviews with customers and third parties

• Introduce shared metrics and ownership of experience indicators

• Use experience mapping workshops to align ecosystem participants around common goals

Framework Overlays

Experience & Outcomes aligns strongly with modern service management and customer-centric delivery frameworks:

ITIL: Focus on Value, Engage, Value Streams & Outcomes Agile/SAFe: Continuous feedback, customer collaboration DevOps: User satisfaction metrics, real-time telemetry

Recommended Actions:

• Embed Voice of Customer (VoC) data into sprint planning and service reviews

• Establish experience indicators as part of release readiness and performance dashboards

• Align change success criteria with desired stakeholder outcomes

Governance Implications

Experience is often the most visible failure point—and the least governed. Without intentional ownership, it gets lost between functions.

Structures to Consider:

• Experience Councils: Multi-role groups accountable for maintaining user-centricity

• Outcome Scorecards: Visualise qualitative and quantitative performance from the customer lens

• Stakeholder Engagement Boards: Formal review of how services are perceived, not just delivered

Measurement Examples:

• Net Promoter Score (NPS), Customer Satisfaction (CSAT), Outcome Fulfilment Rates

• “Would you recommend this process/service?” indicators

• Experience delta between provider expectations and user sentiment

Experience is not a cosmetic layer—it is the lens through which all service value is judged. If it’s not measured, governed, or owned, it will drift. And if it drifts, so will trust.