Project Scoping Workshop
Facilitate a project scoping workshop
Setup and preparation
Before the workshop, make sure you create a Miro template and set it to "Anyone with the link can edit".
Prepare and keep a Spotify playlist handy. During the workshop sessions, playing a playlist in the background creates a distraction-free atmosphere. You can add your own music to the playlist, but make sure the tracks are essentially instrumental, minimal at lyrics, and give out a calming vibe.
You can use Zoom's "Share Screen" feature to stream the music playing in the background by selecting "Music and Computer Sound only" under the "Advanced" tab at the top.
In Google Meet or other online conferencing tools, share a tab and make sure you tick the "Share tab audio" checkbox.
Here are a few playlists you can use: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1JysQ3LnUfhUlqe4sX13S3?si=45d0e95af2d1434e https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0FuzCmCfjSAL2w9sUhYXGM?si=db1293efd8da4627 https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0cyH0TxFDgCQ2gQbs6shh2?si=37c45e7994d34fed
Introduction
The very beginning of the workshop is the most important part to set the correct tone. Here's an ideal to-do list to kick off the workshop with:
Welcome everyone and thank them for turning up.
Share the Miro link, introduce how it works, and let everyone find their personal workspace.
Normally, it's okay to skip personal introductions. Quickly introduce the team, emphasising their strengths if you know them.
Exploain briefly what's going to happen over the duration the workshop.
Empower others on the team to feel their input is valuable.
Mention that it might be intense at times, but that's ok.
If there is one, nominate a decider.
The decider is the one who pushes the envelope forward wherever the team is stuck and unable to come to a decision.
How Might We exercise
How Might We (HMW) is an exercise wherein everyone comes up with questions to tackle a challenge or to solve a particular problem. Ask the decider or the whole team to talk about the biggest challenges and the goal of the project, and let everyone jot down the How-Might-We's (HMWs). Let everyone contribute who has expert knowledge.
This discussion should not take longer than 30 minutes.
If you are leading the project, be as specific about your intentions as possible. Providing the initial prompt or questions to the group is very important to set an explorative context to the workshop. Be as specific as possible about what the HMWs should be about.
Make sure everyone is actually writing.
When the discussion is finished, give the team at most 7 minutes to write down HMWs in silence.
Vote and prioritize
Vote on the most relevant HMWs. Each participant gets 4 votes whereas the decider (if there is one) gets 5. Everyone can vote with as many votes on a single idea as they want, and vote on their own ideas. This voting session should take at most 5 minutes.
Arrange voted notes into a "tree" structure in order to prioritize the ones with a higher number of votes. Read out the final results. This should take 1 minute.
Solutions exercise
After prioritizing, move the HMWs over to the solutions canvas and ask the participants to come up with solutions. You can mention that quantity is more important than quality and that it's okay to add silly or unrealistic ideas.
Vote and prioritize
Voting on solutions is identical to the previous session. Vote on the most relevant solutions. Each participant gets 4 votes whereas the decider (if there is one) gets 5. Everyone can vote with as many votes on a single idea as they want, and vote on their own ideas. This voting session should take at most 5 minutes.
Task breakdown
Move the voted solutions to the next section and write individual post-it's underneath to specify which tasks need to be done in order to successfully complete the solution. You can also add durations to each task, which will make it easier to estimate the cost of the work later.
Effort / Impact exercise
Use the voted solutions to distribute them on the effort/impact scale. Start from the center and align with the team on the proper position - left/right and top/bottom. Lead the conversation but make sure everyone can contribute to it.
All sticky notes in the top left (pink box) will be the most relevant.
Agree on details and delegate
The last step helps convert the solutions and tasks into a project proposal, including the cost and assignee.
You can start by asking the team who would like to take ownership of a solution. This doesn't mean that they have to do it all alone. They do need to make sure though that the solution gets done, even if the work will be split among multiple participants.
This process might also lead to shifting tasks to different roles. You can also frame each solution as a role.
Try estimating the duration for each solution and derive the cost of the work. Use reference points from previous project deliverables that were similar (and how much they were paid) or count the hours it takes, comparing them to the market rate of a professional doing the work.
Finally, remember to define the tasks and responsibilities of the project owner, who needs to oversee the entire process from start to finish.
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