Many IT projects are too large and complex, providing far more functionality than required. This is often because the organization doesn’t take the time to truly understand the business problems that need to be solved and, perhaps more important, differentiate which problems can be solved by technology, and which by better business processes, behaviours and/or culture. This workshop uses a combination of Systems thinking, Lean and Agile principles to teach participants how to review their processes to solve non-technology problems first. Once the underlying business is streamlined, it becomes easier to identify and solve the problems that can be solved by technology. This reduces the scope and complexity of IT projects increasing the chances of success. 

In exploring these issues through interactive exercises, participants improve their approach to solving problems using technology and make better system-development investment decisions resulting in less software, but software that solves the right issues and frees up IT capacity to provide more value on other projects. 

• The Streamline before digitizing workshop is targeted to:

• Leaders of technology development groups 
• Systems Analysts, Business Architects 
• Clients of IT / Product Owners planning or developing a digital solution 

• The learning objectives of this workshop include:

• Learn how to design and deliver software solutions faster with fewer resources
• Streamline the business before digitizing, avoid automating an inefficient process – doing the wrong thing faster.
• Ensure the software solution solves the right problem, instead of over-delivering unnecessary features.

• Topics covered include:

• Why software solutions are often over-delivered 
• The cost of over-delivery 
• Identifying and prioritizing the “Jobs to be Done” of the software solution 
• Creating an effective problem statement with your client 
• Determine symptoms versus root causes of problems
• Understanding process flow, backlogs and the three main decisions of Lean and Flow 
• Understanding value demand versus failure demand, and designing the latter out of the process instead of digitizing it 
• Understanding a wide range of typically invisible causes of poor process performance 
• Algorithmic vs Heuristic work – and how software can solve the key problems of each. 
• Where and when to digitize versus improve process 
• How to create requirements that define what problems need to be solved by the Client in the core business versus which problems can be solved by through digitization – to create a lighter-weight, right-sized digital solution