Technology Definition Workshops

Technology is at its best when rightly aligned to business process and the people who execute those processes.

Our workshops help bridge the gap between business and technology, and bring cross-functional teams together to clearly define scope, business requirements, ;and user experience, which yields common understanding and accelerates the delivery cycle. Workshops improve readiness for testing and implementation activities, reducing rework and enabling smoother implementations.

Our Technology Definition Workshops can help you:

Clearly define scope and features for technology build-out
Map supporting technology to business processes for ongoing traceability
Intentionally define business requirements, including roles engagement, user experience, and data access / usage
Rethink alignment of processes, people and technology to business strategy
Assessing work-in-progress during development / testing
Assessing test readiness
Ensuring implementation readiness, and post-implementation stabilization

Technology Definition Workshops	Typical Outputs	Description	Delivery Considerations
Scope and Features Workshop	Clearly defined Scope Clearly articulated features for supporting technology Measurable targets for success Traceability to Business Processes Assumptions, Dependencies, Constraints Stakeholder and Subject-Matter-Expert identification	This workshop enables teams to clearly define scope, and articulate features for supporting technology. Features are mapped to business processes, to begin traceability. Scope and process areas impacted help to identify the key stakeholders and subjectmatter-experts to be included in the nextsteps of technology definition.	Workshop is typically 1 to 2 days Requires participation of Business and IT leaders / managers / key subject-matter-experts that encompasses the scope of technology change. Gathering participants face-to-face is recommended.
Business Requirements Definition Workshop	Validated Scope Business Requirements, prioritized, traced to features / process Roles engagement User experience to support business requirements Data access and usage Assumptions, Dependencies, Constraints	Business Requirements definition is anchored clearly through the guided facilitation of all partners—Business, IT, subject matter experts, and often vendors and quality professionals. Requirements are prioritized to enable sizing that can explore multiple implementation options. As requirements details are explored, outputs are created that are jointly defined and owned by both Business and IT establishing broader understanding, and synchronized expectations. Jointly-defined requirements accelerate the back-end of the development cycle, eliminating re-work and setting the stage for successful testing and implementation.	May require a series of workshops, depending on breadth of scope. Each workshop is typically 1 to 3 days. Requires participation of Business and IT managers / subject-matterexperts that encompasses the scope of technology change. May also include vendors, quality professionals, and others who add value to the definition of requirements. Gathering participants face-to-face is recommended. In the case of multiple workshops, some may be held virtually with appropriate web meeting and teleconference support.
Test Strategy and Planning Workshop	Validate Test strategy Risk assessment Test Plan foundations Acceptance criteria Action Plan for completing Test Plan details, scripts, and readiness requirements	This workshop enables the team to clearly think through risks, testing approach, acceptance, and required data. The workshop also enables the team to clearly delineate roles for testing to ensure that perspectives from IT and Business acceptance are included.	Typically requires 1 to 2 days, depending on scope. Requires participation of Business and IT experts that encompasses the scope of technology change. May also include vendors, quality professionals, and others who add value to the definition of testing. Gathering participants face-to-face is recommended , and in some cases may be done virtually with appropriate web meeting and teleconference support.
Implementation Approach Workshop	Implementation strategy / approach Implementation plan foundations Phasing / implementation timeline Communication approach and plan foundations Training considerations Action Plan for completing Implementation Plan details and readiness requirements	This workshop enables the team to clearly think through implementation risks, approach, readiness, and adoption. The workshop also enables the team to delineate approach and process for communicating progress, and information necessary to ensure implementation readiness and adoption.	Typically requires 1 to 2 days, depending on scope. Requires participation of Business and IT experts that encompasses the scope of technology change. May also include vendors, quality professionals, and others who add value to the implementation decisions. Gathering participants face-to-face is recommended , and in some cases may be done virtually with appropriate web meeting and teleconference support.
Work-in-Progress Reviews	Validation of progress for technology change effort Everyone on same page with deliverables and tasks Issues identified and assigned for resolution Next steps validated	Coordination of resources is easier in the front-end of change efforts, when the number of engaged resources are smaller. As the team grows in size during later project phases, it is increasingly difficult to keep everyone on the same page and aware of the inter-connectedness of deliverables. Work-in-Progress Reviews bring key team members and stakeholders together to ensure that progress is visible, and people are on the same page regarding deliverables, timing, issues and next steps.	Typically 2-hours to half-day Requires participation of key people who engage in the change effort or are critical stakeholders Can deliver virtually with appropriate web / teleconference support.
Test Readiness Workshop	Validated readiness for testing Validated testing engagement and definition of success Escalation process Actions and timeline to complete readiness	Test readiness workshops ensure that all things are prepared for successful testing, that engagement is understood, and that escalation has been defined.	Typically half-day to 1.5 days. Requires participation of key people who engage in the testing effort . Can deliver virtually with appropriate web meeting / teleconference support.
Implementation Readiness Workshop	Validated implementation plan Validated adoption plan 30-60-90 day stabilization and follow-up plan Risks, mitigations and contingencies Validated implementation and post-Implementation timeline	It’s not over until it’s up, running and stabilized. Too often, teams work to unreasonable implementation deadlines, without ensuring readiness for change. It’s also common for projects to declare victory then walk away from the change effort on day-1 of implementation. Post-implementation stabilization and adoption is critical for lasting and sustainable change. This workshop helps teams get it right—reaching the goal of change that brings sustainable results.	Scope determines the length of time needed (can be 1/2 to 2 days) Requires participation of key leaders / managers that encompass the scope Gathering participants face-to-face is recommended. Can deliver virtually with appropriate
All workshops are customized to fit your specific needs. Contact us to discuss your challenge and situation, and we can design a work session to deliver the outcomes you require. >>Contact Us

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Workshops At-A-Glance

When are Workshops most beneficial?

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