Introductions: Capturing Critical Context in the First Few Minutes

”Tell us a little about yourself and what your organization does in the overall process.”

It passes so quickly that you’ll miss the opportunity if you’re not paying attention.

It’s that initial moment in the process when a person introduces themselves, shares who they are and what and their organization does.

That moment is rich with potential and it goes by quickly.

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What To Listen For

Be prepared for the moment in advance by having your co-facilitor serve as a scribe, recording the person’s name on a single sheet of paper or in a note-taking tool like Evernote.

Then your scribe should listen for and record any of the following items that the person mentions:

​Nouns

• Their name
• Their organizational role name
• Workproducts (things they or their organization produce or services they deliver)
• Collaborators (people they work with or interact with to get things done or do things for)
• Systems or applications they use to help them
• Things they respond to

Verbs

• What they do or produce
• ​When they do it
• Triggering business events that they respond to

Pain Points / Opportunities

• ​Problems they describe​

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Example

“I’m Juanita and I work for the Finance Department. We use Dynamics to produce final paychecks when an employee departs and work with Legal and Procurement and Travel to ensure that any garnishments are taken out prior to their final paycheck and that any reimbursements for travel expenses are also included in their last paycheck. We also produce W-2s for departed employees at the end of the year. It’s a challenge and a very manual process to get all of this done thoroughly in a short timeframe, particularly when an employee departure occurs quickly.”

Nouns

• ​Juanita
• Finance Department
• Final paycheck
• Expense reports (travel expenses)
• Reimbursements
• Garnishments
• W-2
• Legal Department
• Procurement Department
• Travel Department
• Dynamics application

Verbs

• When employee departs: Produce final paycheck
• At year-end: Produce W-2 for employee

Pain Points / Opportunities

• ​Getting the final paycheck done thoroughly in a short timeframe is a highly manual process.​

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What To Do With This

Hold on to them. They will come in handy in the structured conversation that will unfold in the hours and days that lie ahead.

Nearly every one of these nouns are added to a Glossary. Many of them will eventually be placed around a Circle of Interaction (COIN) diagram that clearly summarizes the process, collaborators and deliverables on a single page.

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Why This Matters

When it comes to facilitating and producing a clear understanding of a domain under discussion, if it hasn’t been written then it hasn’t been said. To say it another way, if it’s been said, but hasn’t been recorded, then it will not have the potential to be added to design documentation.

Anticipating this rich time of sharing that naturally occurs at the onset of a structured conversation helps you to seize the moment as a facilitator.

When it comes to facilitating and producing a clear understanding of a domain under discussion, if it hasn’t been written then it hasn’t been said.

Being intentional to listen for and record things that a stakeholder mentions serves the stakeholder and the conversational process well. It keeps things agile. It serves the stakeholder well by respecting their contribution to the conversation. It serves the process by maintaining velocity, by creating a corporate memory of what was mentioned and by listening for those things which will be part of the future-state design documentation.

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