Introduction

Facilitated Workshops have been used in business and systems development in particular for years. Initially they were used for JRP (Joint Requirements Planning) and JAD (Joint Application Design) but their usefulness was quickly seen in other areas.

They are a core technique in DSDM for speed and efficiency as a way of making high quality team-based decisions in short timescales.

 Whether they are used for DSDM or any other business project, they are run in the same way. This section examines how the approach maps directly onto DSDM and where in DSDM they can be used. It seeks to show the potential of possible use of Facilitated Workshops in a DSDM project, rather than mandate their use at any particular point. It is up to the project members themselves to decide whether a workshop is necessary, or whether another technique, such as interviewing or research is more applicable.

Used properly, Facilitated Workshops are a useful tool for effecting cultural change in an organisation because they promote buy-in from and empowerment of participants. When used effectively, they can set the tone for the whole project.

Note: It is not intended to explain here how to set up and run facilitated workshops but to show how the technique can be applied to DSDM projects.

What are Facilitated Workshops?

Definition

A facilitated workshop is a structured approach to ensure that a group of people can reach a predetermined objective in a compressed timeframe, supported by an impartial facilitator.

Benefits

Using Facilitated Workshops brings both direct and indirect benefits to a project.

• Rapid, quality decision-making. Because all stakeholders are present at the same time, there is great confidence in the result. The group is focused on the objectives to be achieved in the session so that the information gathering and review cycle is performed at a greater speed. Also, misunderstandings and disagreements can be worked out at the time. Any concerns should therefore have been raised and resolved or noted by the end of the workshop.
• Greater user buy-in. Workshops, run effectively, lead to participants feeling more involved in the project and decisions being made. They build and maintain enthusiasm.
• Building team spirit. Facilitated workshops are a controlled way of building rapport as well as delivering the primary objectives of the workshop. They can promote understanding and co-operation between departments, which is particularly important when a development involves many groups.
• Process redesign by the user community If practices are reviewed as a result of a workshop, participants gain a greater understanding of the inputs and implications of their work. This leads to improved efficiencies that are driven by the participants themselves, giving greater buy-in and commitment and therefore a greater chance of successful implementation.
• Clarification of requirements when they are unclear Business users can be led through their objectives and processes to define what they may require. In the facilitated environment, participants can explore and model ideas. This is successful through a combination of structured discussion and the presence of knowledgeable participants.
  

This section gives some guidance on which DSDM roles would fill the roles of a workshop. These are defined as being Workshop Owner, Facilitator, Participants, Scribe and Observer.

Workshop Owner

This is the owner of the problem that the workshop is set to solve. It is up to them to set the objectives and deliverables of the workshop, although these should also be agreed by the participants.

The owner of a Feasibility Study workshop could well be the Executive Sponsor whereas the owner of a timebox planning session could be the Project Manager or Team Leader or even the Ambassador User.

Facilitator

The Facilitator should be impartial, with no stake in the outcome of the workshop, and therefore should come from outside the project. The Facilitator maps directly onto the DSDM role.

Participant

Participants represent the views of the project stakeholders (e.g. the business and software development community). They are the individuals who are knowledgeable in the areas under consideration. They manage and operate the system and include managers, supervisors, clerical staff, and IT staff.

A participant could be one of many roles within the business or IT side. They could be a business user, a customer, a supplier, a business analyst or data modeller or systems architect, a member of the financial staff, an auditor, or indeed any of the core DSDM or specialist roles.

Observer

Observers are not allowed to contribute towards the output of the workshop. If they need to take part at all, they should be Participants. Examples of the use of an Observer are therefore limited but could include someone auditing the workshop process or the facilitator's ability, or a trainee facilitator who would want to observe the group dynamics without being part of the group. Observers could also be development or support staff gathering useful background, but in these cases it should be checked whether they should really be contributing to the session.

Scribe

The Scribe records what is happening within the workshop. The role could be held by a co-facilitator, a business analyst, developer or user so long as the individual has the required understanding of the issues in order to know what to record. There may be two Scribes in a workshop. For example, one of the Developers might use a CASE tool to directly model what's being discussed while another scribe takes down the discussion notes for later reference.

Applying the DSDM principles

Facilitated Workshops are like a DSDM project in miniature with defined deliverables in a tight timescale and empowered users. Early workshops can build the foundation for this approach to continue throughout the project. This list below shows how the DSDM Principles apply in Facilitated Workshops.

• Active user involvement is imperative. Workshops provide an ideal format for the business to be directly involved in planning, designing and implementing a solution.
  
  
• DSDM teams must be empowered to make decisions. Workshop participants need to be empowered and have the right level of knowledge and authority within the scope of the workshop, so that decisions can be made without delay.
  
  
• The focus is on frequent delivery of products. It is good practice to structure a workshop so that there are intermediate deliverables. It helps to order participants' thinking as they progress in logical steps. This enables them to work towards an ultimate goal and gives them a growing sense of achievement as the workshop progresses.
  
  
• Fitness for purpose is the essential criterion for acceptance of deliverables. The Facilitator checks that fitness for purpose is achieved by keeping participants focused on delivery against an agreed set of objectives. They ensure all are involved in decision-making.
  
  
• Iterative and incremental prototyping is necessary to converge on an accurate business solution. One of the strengths of workshops is the synergy achieved by the group. Ideas do not have to be born fully developed but can grow during discussion. In effect, they are being prototyped. It is an ideal setting to try out ideas with all stakeholders and it is up to the facilitator to provide a safe environment in which this may happen.
  
  
• All changes during development are reversible. Information and decisions should be recorded as necessary by either one or both of the facilitator and scribe so that ideas can be backtracked where necessary. Often what happens in practice is that an idea or decision is redeveloped.
  
  
• Requirements are baselined at a high level. Objectives must be set during the preparation for a workshop. As the workshop progresses, information is gathered, analysed and interpreted so that discussion can be effective and a decision reached as a result of an increased understanding of the issues involved.
  
  
• Testing is integrated throughout the lifecycle. Because all stakeholders are present, this provides the quality control approach of testing ideas and deliverables as they are discussed. Participants have the opportunity to challenge or agree.
  
  
• A collaborative and co-operative approach between all stakeholders is essential. The facilitator is responsible for creating the climate of co-operation within the workshop and enforcing any ground rules for the group to behave effectively. This is only possible with the co-operation and commitment of all stakeholders. It is an effective way of achieving either compromise or consensus.

Workshops in the DSDM lifecycle

The list below gives suggestions for the types of workshop that could be run during a project. Some of them could be combined and become sessions within a longer workshop. Depending on the size and complexity of the problems being addressed, it may not be necessary to obtain answers and decisions through a formal workshop although workshop techniques could still be used in an interactive session. The duration of workshops varies from project to project.

How to achieve successful workshops

The Facilitator

The role of the Facilitator is to concentrate on the workshop process so that all participants have an equal opportunity to contribute. The main task of the Facilitator is to deal with all of the "people" aspects of the workshops by getting participants to work as a team. The Facilitator documents results and decisions on flip-charts, for example, that act as "group memory". The Facilitator does not contribute to the content of the workshop.

Objectives