Rapid JAD

Rapid JAD: Getting more of what  you really need — faster — in JAD sessions

#rapidjad

What’s Behind Rapid JAD?

1. Advanced collaborative planning
2. Single-source documentation
3. High design visibility

Fujisawa nateglinide 60 mg tablet Actionable Development Specifications

• More Complete
• Faster
• More Engaging

Capture Now

• Interpreting even your own good meeting notes can be challenging
• Interpreting someone else’s notes can be even harder
• Basic content and relative importance can be muddled or lost altogether
• Time for revising or transcribing information is limited, and never a much as you were counting on
• Memory fades (if I’m remembering correctly!)
• Video
• Transcribing
• Audio

Document Once

• Why do anything twice?
• Put the information into the environment where it’s going to live long-term
• “Document once” does not mean “one document”
• One Note

Visible to All

• Visible means in real time and at any time. Visible to all is not time bound to a meeting.
• “Audible” is “Visible.” Capture what was said and you can read back to those in the room for validation
• Push or pull
• This provides instant feedback.
• This increases confidence and agreement
• Shortens the feedback loop
• Seeing things can help to identify gaps

Revise Quickly

What are the risks if you’re not revising quickly?

• Other rely on the documents; may make incorrect decisions based on old information
• Revise Quickly means in real time and at any time
• Document management repository
• Send notification of changes or ask for changes

Benefits of Rapid JAD

1. More time for critical thinking by Business Analysts & Designers
2. Shorten Time to Development
3. Increase Business Buy-In
4. Others?

What is Rapid JAD?

Use #rapidjad to Tweet a definition of Rapid JAD in your own words: Search Twitter.com for #RapidJAD

I Want to Start Now!

ari gold gay singer cantabile Rapid JAD Spells ROI

If the major obstacle to success for major IT change projects is employee resistance, then a major cause must be the ineffective management of the people side of change.

Defining ROI

Organizations undertake change to achieve specific goals, and realizing those goals is the “return on investment” (ROI) of money, time, effort, and organizational disruption.

The desired return is usually quantified by lower costs, greater efficiency, more sales, higher margin, or some other good including less measurable assets such as good will or competitive advantage.

Simply put, ROI justifies the project’s expense.  No ROI, no approved budget, no project.

Yet, when the project budget is approved, ROI is, at best, only a likely outcome expected to be realized in the future.

From project planning onward throughout all project phases, project sponsors, the project manager, and other stakeholders must work together with a clear focus to achieve the ROI.  It is the project’s mission.

Too often, however, projects fail to realize ROI or results are disappointing.

Why?

Project planners and sponsors, who define the ROI, often fail to plan a complete path to realizing ROI, which comprises:

1. Project objectives–How many objectives are implemented on time and on budget?
2. Speed of adoption–How quickly do people get on board to create or use the new IT solution?
3. Ultimate utilization–How many users ultimately adopt the solution?
4. Proficiency–How effectively do users realize improvement?

These Rapid JAD© principles can help focus and maintain attention on ROI throughout the project lifecycle:

• Capture Now
• Document Once
• Visible to All
• Revise Quickly

When implemented and carried out in practice, these principles quicken the pace and sharpen the focus for all engaged in defining, designing, developing, testing, implementing, instructing, and, ultimately, using the solution and realizing its benefits.

How do you establish and maintain focus on ROI?

Background

I had just finished one of my development planning meetings and I sat down at my desk to document the minutes. I was transcribing from my written notes along with recall from memory the important points, agreements, and action items. An hour and a half later I had documented everything that took place in the one hour meeting. I sent the minutes out to all participants and interested parties for review and comment. The year was 2001 and I vowed to stop this silly practice.

Putting together meeting minutes and notes from a meeting then sending them to all participants and interested parties is a fairly common practice. It is important to document:

• • Decisions made
  • Reasons for going with one option over another
  • Action items
  • Distribution to interested parties

What I vowed not to do was repeat the process. And should feedback come regarding the minutes, work on them again and send out corrections. Yes, I put an end to this as well.

There is an easier and more accurate way to do all of these things. A way that does not waste time documenting the same thing twice. Thus was born the principle of Document Once.

Document Once

I now schedule all of my meetings in a room with a projector and bring in hand my portable laptop. As the meeting progresses along the agenda, participants discuss the topics and do something new. The participants now watch and read all of my documentation as the meeting moves along. If there is any correction to be made, it is done on the spot.

Participation in these meetings becomes more active as participants names and their ideas are put down in the minutes. People want to contribute, even the quite people, and now their ideas and key points on various topics are documented with their name as the contributor. Documented for all interested parties to read at a later time. Accuracy, oh yes! People will not let you document their name next to something that is not accurate. They speak up immediately to let you know if the documentation is not accurate or if clarifying additions are needed. When diagrams and wireframes are involved, they are updated on the spot.

No Corrections

This practice ensures accuracy. At the end of meeting or immediately afterwards the minutes and any attachments are sent to all interested parties. Included is the message, “Attached are the minutes and documents from today’s meeting. If there are corrections to be made, you should have spoken up during the meeting.”

Document Once is a principle to try and follow so that you are not doing the same thing twice. Doing things twice wastes valuable time and time has a cost. It is better to use your time in more high level thinking and problem solving than repeating documentation of things which could have been documented once.