It’s only a few minutes now. Just a few minutes until the functional design workshop or project kicks off. The slide decks are prepared, the food orders are in, the coffee maker has whirred to life, and stakeholders are starting to trickle into the physical or virtual conference room. Spoken or unspoken, the question that’s being asked is Are we prepared for this? Having confident, thoughtful responses to the below shows the organization and the responsible team is prepared to create positive outcomes from the iterative design sessions needed to lay the framework for an approaching software implementation.
1. How has our overall approach “stage gated” milestones?
It can be tempting to review previously gathered requirements to make them better or begin activities in the subsequent design validation phase. Acting on that instinct can adversely affect the outcomes of functional design. Revisiting previous activities or moving onto subsequent phases outside of a defined process dilutes effort and creates misalignment amongst those involved. Remaining focused on the activities in one stage can be enabled through a stage gate or phase gate process. Use of a stage gate requires the deliverables that comprise that phase meet the satisfaction of project sponsors and organizational leaders. For a functional design project, this break down can be done in the stages of requirements validation, design, and design validation. Those governed by the program are solely focused on the stage at hand and cannot move back to previous activities nor advance to the next without prior approval. Use of a stage gate holds those in the project accountable to true progress rather than arbitrarily identified timelines. That validated progress translates to increased confidence in the overall effort by simplifying the tasks that lie ahead in the next body of work and creates an opportunity to adjust resources, partners, estimated timelines, and budgets.
2. Have we invested enough in this functional design?
Enough is a subjective term, and it wouldn’t be useful to put a dollar number on the right amount. Organizations will value a functional design effort differently, with some seeing it as a value-add project and others viewing it as an implementation expense called by a different name — and that’s OK. What is helpful to make sure is that the budget needed to make the functional design happen has been allocated in the right places. The right places being those areas where the primary participants see that the organization is taking the exercise seriously, and that will be met with appropriate level of effort invested from the participants. Some areas to think about may be:
- Virtual vs. in-person participation: should we incur the expense of bringing remote resources on site?
- External resource support: if there are gaps within the organization in subject matter expertise or project management, should we bring on additional capacity from a consultant?
- Post-workshop session events: On the surface, these sorts of events can seem frivolous, but events like mixers and dinners can create a space where participants can develop better rapport and relax tensions. That can translate to better participation and communication among the participants. Does it make sense to plan some of these events to capture those benefits?
- Time: have we allocated an appropriate amount of time to allow participants to deliberate and develop a common understanding of the processes, applications, and integration strategies to be considered?
- Deliverable: the right deliverable can make an otherwise abstract concept feel clear and tangible. Did the organization take the time to clearly define these deliverables and their formats?
3. Which stakeholders need to be included at which levels, and to what degree?
“We cannot make decisions about this design without this resource’s input….” is a common roadblock that can occur and slow down progress when documenting how things are going to work in the future state. It can become quickly apparent that those individuals that have the least amount of time are the most critical for making decisions. Therein lies the balancing decision that must be made between respecting critical resources’ competing priorities and ensuring meaningful progress during functional design sessions. Regardless of their level in the organization—from subject matter experts to executives, those individuals should be trusted to make the optimal decision given their limited time. Supplying these resources with a detailed agenda well in advance allows them to make an informed decision as to whether they will personally attend or delegate their decision-making authority to another individual on their team.
4. What expected outcomes were set with leaders and how were they communicated?
Despite the initial under appreciation for the time and effort put into design projects, they deliver tremendous value of terms defining scope and reducing implementation timelines. And yet, they are frequently misunderstood. Strategy projects, selection engagements, and implementations should leave organizations with clearly defined and understood milestones on a roadmap. It’s not always as clear with design projects. As such, it can be tempting to over-promise on functional design outcomes, especially when jockeying for position of budgets and resources against other prospective projects. Yet framing the outcomes in a realistic perspective and associating the functional design outcomes as a blueprint to build towards can create a sense of security for leaders whom may bear the scars of previous implementations gone awry. Just as important in the content of the message is the tone of the message. A quick and short email trying to convey this information might work, but providing the time and space for affected leaders to ask questions can go a long way in ensuring alignment to the outcomes.
There are no guarantees that a functional design project will produce the exact results those involved worked towards. The unexpected will occur. Teammates may exit for other projects or the organization entirely, the organization may shift priorities, new technologies may emerge that obsolesce the current approach. And yet, the team will need to do their best to persevere and stay on track. By ensuring these questions are asked and answered appropriately, you can show there is intention to succeed, and that the organization has done its due diligence to generate momentum for the implementation to follow.
