Purpose of the Initiative Strategy Workshop
An Initiative Strategy clearly explains how the initiative will proceed. It outlines what actions the Initiative will take will take and the changes it will drive. All action aimed at the initiative goals.
The Initiative Strategy Workshop help an EA Team:
- clarify the initiative direction
- performance exceptions, constraints, and risk appetite
- determine the boundary of the initiative
- what the initiative will do
- what the initiative won't do
- confirm the value
- benefit
- work
- uncertainty
- define the implementation strategy and other action
This workshop needs participants open to finding the right strategy for the initiative and your organization
Why Use the Initiative Strategy Workshop?
Workshop balance training and consulting.
You get an Initiative Strategy and develop your EA Team's skills, method, and technique.
Your EA Team will gain:
- skills to identify stakeholders, influencers, and subject matter experts
- approach to identify stakeholder concerns
- techniques to confirm direction, including the ask, performance expectations, constraints and risk appetite
- understanding of when to engage to select between architecture alternatives and perform trade-off
Stakeholders benefit from the process when exploring potential paths to the future.The workshop will help them select the path forward. They will have better tools to govern the implementation.
Initiative Strategy Service Outline
Workshop Knowledge Required
In order to complete the Initiative Strategy workshop starts with a gathering a broad set of knowledge is required.
| Knowledge Required |
Activity |
| Enterprise Architecture Team Context | Interview
Determine
Critical knowledge: where in the Decision Cycle does the EA Team work |
| Business Operations | Participant Experience, Document Assessment & Interview
Determine:
Critical knowledge: ability to tell bad news |
| Business Context | External Assessment & Interview
Determine business position & ecosystem Critical knowledge: is there a 'burning platform' |
| Business Objectives for the Initiative | Participant Experience, Document Assessment & Interview
Determine
Critical knowledge: Performance expectations and the initial conception of the deficiency |
| Alignment with Other Frameworks | Participant Experience & Interview
Determine
Critical knowledge: Normal approach to change and execution |
| Capacity to Execute |
Interview
Determine
Critical knowledge: strength of implementation governance |
Initiative Strategy Workshop Toolkit
Enterprise Architecture Capability Workshop uses Conexiam Navigate toolkit.
The Initiative Strategy Workshop follows the Practitioner’s Guide’s approach to the use case architecture to support strategy.
Architecture Techniques
- Scenario Analysis
- Option Analysis
- Roadmap Type 4: Scenario
- Capability-based Planning
- Architecture Principles
- Architecture Alternatives
- Architecture Views
Capability-based Planning Guide
Reference Architectures
Workshop Activity
Using the knowledge gathered the workshop activity will create the deliverables and develop skill and experience in your EA team. You will need to specify whether your priority is skill development or the deliverables.
| Activity |
Outcome |
| Interview | Interview with EA Team leader, 1 or 2 recommended leaders in the organization, and the initiative leader |
| Interactive Workshop |
Interactive workshop has three separate sections
|
| Deliverables Preparation |
Develop Strategy aligned to your organization's standards |
| Deliverable Completion |
Joint activity to document stakeholder map and viewpoint library |
| Skill Development | Based on configuration choices |
Initiative Strategy Deliverables
The formal workshop deliverables are the responsibility of our customer's EA Team. We follow this approach to ensure your EA Team is developing their skills. Conexiam will facilitate their development.
The 1-day workshop will have less formal deliverables.
| Deliverable | Activity |
| Initiative Problem Statement | Architecture problem statement including:
|
| Initiative Strategy | |
| EA Process Alignment | Alignment of key decisions and creation of supporting knowledge by EA team |
Initiative Strategy Workshop Configuration
Typically, Conexiam workshops are held in preparation of a major initiative, or when one is being recovered from a crash & birn.
Configuration Options:
- Selection between two formats
- 1 day - preparation for an EA team to work with the initiative sponsor and other stakeholders
- 3 day - following 1-day initiative joint workshop with the initiative sponsor and other stakeholders
- Deliverable or skill development priority
- Delivery model - remote or on-site.
Conexiam Enterprise Architecture Consulting Experience
Conexiam has a small, dedicated team. We deliver transformative enterprise architecture around the globe in many industries. We develop strong EA Teams.
Workshops are packaged services. Work we regularly do in more complex consulting engagement. We simply put together the standard approach and take advantage of our ability to engage in a new context and leverage our method, tools, and experience.
We use a consistent approach, Navigate. Navigate is Conexiam's body of enterprise architecture intellectual property.
Our approach, tools, and method are openly available. We are so confident our method is best-in-class that we let our peers review it. The core of the TOGAF Standard guidance reflects our industry-best-practice approach and toolkit.
Our approach to developing enterprise architecture is the Practitioners' Guide to Delivering Enterprise Architecture.
Our approach to developing Enterprise Architecture Teams is the Leader's Guide to Developing EA Teams.
Our approach to enterprise architecture governance is the Governor's Guide in the TOGAF Library.
Our approach to executing a Digital Transformation is the Seven Levers of Digital Transformation. The government of China is adopting the Seven Levers of Digital Transformation as a standard.
We give away our method. Everything we own is freely available through a Creative Commons license. Take it, change it, distribute it.
If you are considering Conexiam’s services, our philosophy, tools, method, and approach are available
Reach an informed conclusion
We think the choice is obvious
Next Steps for an Initiative Strategy Workshop
The next step is contacting Conexiam Consulting sales.
We will ask about the scope of the initiative your architecture project will support. We'll ask about the size of the EA team you want involved and their experience. Last we'll ask the configuration questions.
We prefer to deliver this workshop remotely to ensure we have ready access to all of our tools. Assuming we don't need to arrange work permits, we can normally deliver the Enterprise Architecture Governance workshop within six weeks.
You can expect to pay $20,000 or $55,000 for an Initiative Strategy Workshop. Onsite will be about 50% more.
The Initiative Strategy Workshop takes a couple of days and sets you up for success.
We would love to hear from you
sales@conexiam.com
Are you looking for help on a transformation project?
We will undertake architecture-driven change projects.
We'll either extend the skill and experience of your team or take the entire project.
Guide effective change
Do you want to develop your EA team?
We develop successful Enterprise Architecture Teams
We follow a deliberate process. We will improve individual skills, your method, your engagement with stakeholders and help you guide effective change.
Design your EA Team to succeed.
