Project Definition — for clarity, certainty and momentum
From our series Agile at Arup
Adrian Wiggins is a Transition Planning Lead at Arup, based in Sydney.
Project Definition is a client and delivery team collaboration, held at inception stage, that reduces risk and maximises value, right at the start of the project where we can have the greatest impact. It establishes a shared vision, confirms the scope, improves the approach and builds team cohesion.
The objective is to create clarity, certainty and momentum in the work as it begins. Starting in this way we are able to better define and realise the project outcomes.
Context and Roadmap
There are two parts to the Project Definition:
- Project Context to confirm and expand our understanding of the project purpose, it’s context, drivers, issues and opportunities, and the definition of done.
- Project Roadmap to confirm and refine the project approach, and allow course correction with the new understanding provided by Context.
For maximum impact, Project Definition should be held in the same week as Project Inception. It is not a stakeholder engagement session, rather a conversation with the project team about context and approach — about aims and means.
Project Context
Project Context is a structured conversation across nine relevant themes for understanding any project. Purpose, issues, opportunities, study area, planning context, outcomes, stakeholders, risks and definition of done are all explored, with the discussion dwelling longest on those topics that matter most to the success of the project. A problem definition is collaboratively established that will guide the delivery.
The project name is confirmed (you’d be surprised how often this changes in the first 10 minutes of a conversation), the project purpose is similarly explored, and problem statements captured.
Success of the project hinges on the team’s shared understanding of these fundamentals. Context builds team cohesion and establishes the alignment that will sustain the project over time, even as the project inevitably changes.
Context agenda
Allow 120 minutes.
- Project purpose and objectives. Critical to the success of any project is a clear articulation of its purpose, strategic objectives and their measures. With this foundational understanding of the project, the program of work that follows is given meaning, context and value.
- Drivers, issues and opportunities. What are the issues and opportunities to be addressed?
- Spatial, planning and policy context. What is the spatial and geographic context of the work? What is the study area? What is the planning and policy context? Is there a jurisdictional or market context?
- Technology and design. What are the design and technology considerations and constraints? What are the trends?
- Users, customers and communities. Who are the users, customers, communities of the project? What do they need? What are the problems they currently have?
- Stakeholder Engagement. Who are the stakeholders? What matters to these people? How will we engage, inform and collaborate?
- Risks, issues and unknowns. Every project has issues, questions, uncertainties and risks. Equally there are opportunities for new value. Understanding these aspects of the project enables us to design a program of work that mitigates risk and exploits opportunities.
- Definition of Done. What are the deliverables? How will we know that the work is done? Are there presentations?
- Project approach. What is the high-level plan for delivering the work? What are our ways of working together?
Project Roadmap
The Project Roadmap is a collaborative, multidisciplinary, team and client workshop session to confirm the approach, and co-design any new scope, changes to scope, clarifications and course corrections that emerge in the Context conversation.
We start with the end in mind. First we define the outcomes of the project — the asset or product and the change we seek to create. We then review and improve the project activities that will productively develop the value, realise the opportunities and mitigate the risks.
Prior to the workshop session, the Project Roadmap is first constructed out of:
- Client RFT
- Arup’s bid response
- Briefing content supplied
- Project team understanding
Roadmapping
Roadmapping is a way to write ’stories’ that represent project scope (also called Storymapping by some). This workshop technique uses coloured cards organised in a meaningful, easily re-organised array to represent scope.
- Green: Epics
For themes, categories, timings and abstract and ad hoc arrangements. - Blue: Stories
The names of valuable things. Normally a noun phrase. - Yellow: Cases
The definition of a story — description, attributes, narrative, delivery, lists. - Red: Issues, questions blockers, unknowns… that prevent delivery
- White: Resources
Who owns the work? Who is in the team? When, how long, how much?
Agile at Arup
Project Definition is a technique from our Agile at Arup frameworks. It’s an essential part of how an agile project begins, and is equally valuable for projects that operate in more conventional modes (predict and plan).
Let’s talk
What’s working where you are? What are the challenges? I’d love to hear — let’s have a yarn…
And get in touch if you’ve worked with Arup before and you’d now like to run your next planning, design or engineering project using these techniques. We can do it together…
In Australasia contact me at adrian.wiggins@arup.com
In the UK connect with my colleague Kevin Cressy
In the US connect with Paul Chavez
