Perficient has a team of consultants and strategy professionals that will help guide you through the journey of figuring our what you are really trying to achieve and what technology will get you there. After the platform or technology solution is selected, we usually plan for an Elaboration.
An Elaboration is a phase of the delivery engagement where we create our initial project plan by reviewing the business requirements and elaborating on what the requirements are to fulfill those requirements. First and foremost, it must be said that Elaborations are not mutually exclusive to humongous multi-million dollar engagements. An Elaboration is something all projects require because we want to make sure we are taking the proper steps to fulfill the vision you’ve worked so hard to build up to this point.
Depending on the size of the engagement, an Elaboration could take a half day, five days, two weeks or a month! Honestly, it varies from project to project but, no matter what, it is the most important part of the project because it kicks off the process of building the requirements to achieve your business objective. This is why an Elaboration is so important; it bridges the gap between the ideas and the execution. As consultants we bring experience and expertise but we cannot possibly know what your vision is by simply reading a business requirements document. We need to hear them from you. We need to collaborate together, draw ideas on a whiteboard and collectively challenge each other in order to get to know the real story behind your vision.
Here are some keys to having a successful Elaboration:
Assign a main stakeholder that casts and maintains a vision.
It’s important that the main stakeholder be involved, or a person be assigned as the voice of the stakeholder. This role will help to settle disputes, approve all final scope and align the internal team before, during and after the Elaboration.
Align your team before the Elaboration begins.
Prepare your team, then review the preparation and then have a prep session before the Elaboration. Joking aside, it’s important to ensure your team has a good fundamental understanding of the upcoming goals for the Elaboration. Even though at times strong personalities cannot be contained and interventions happen, properly preparing your team helps make for a more productive onsite session overall. Perficient will make every effort to make sure that the main objectives are stated clearly at the beginning of the engagement.
Foster a strong relationship with your assigned Program Manger
The program manager assigned to your project is your main point of contact. They know every aspect of the project budget, are the final managers of scope and are ultimately in charge of maintaining the direction of the Elaboration. Your program manager will work hard to be very clear, keep everyone on task, they will work hard to be transparent on how things are going during the Elaboration and they will raise the red flag as soon as things do not align with the business objectives. Lastly, they are acutely aware of constraints and will work to balance creative thinking with the realities of budget and time to delivery. A strong relationship is important to ensure all parties can speak openly and honestly about any topic that needs to be discussed during the Elaboration.
Make sure the area where the Elaboration is happening is tuned for success
Great things happen when you have a whiteboard, fresh markers, a projector and space to collaborate (not to mention hot and cold refreshments and a steady stream of snacks). While we haven’t yet reached the point where we require beanbags and ping pong tables (kidding), in reality, we are going to be together in a room all day and it’s the nature of the engagement to jump up and whiteboard out an idea or project something for the group to see. It’s this kind of shared collaboration that leads to the creation of a common vision that the team can rally around.
Make sure the proper people are available
It’s not often that we have the entire project team together in one spot to discuss a project. Perficient will make every effort to build an agenda so you can plan ahead with your team and start booking appointments on calendars. That said, let your team know that we will be in town and prepare them to be pulled into the Elaboration space if needed. It is possible to meet after we have left your offices but it’s better for that person to join when an idea or question is fresh in everyone’s mind.
Communicate, communicate, communicate, communicate
We live and breathe on communication and you should expect that we are going to make sure you’re up to speed every step of the way and, throughout this process, you will receive a high amount of communication. To give some examples:
- At the time the delivery team receives the signed engagement, within 24 hours, you will receive an email from the assigned Program Manager introducing themselves and outlining next steps.
- As we lead up to the Elaboration, you will receive weekly updates on how the team is doing as we prepare for our meeting.
- During the Elaboration you will receive clear direction on how things are progressing and, afterwards, next steps we need to take.
- After the Elaboration, if regular meeting times are not already setup, you will receive ad-hoc requests to meet to clarify requirements as well as weekly updates on how the team is progressing as we finalizing the requirements gathered on-site.
- When the contracts and project requirement documents are complete, you will be asked to join a meeting where we walk through the final Functional Design Document and Project Statement of Work.
Finally, any consultant worth their weight in craft beer (paying homage to my hometown, Milwaukee, WI) will tell you that an Elaboration is not a sure-fire way to guarantee project success and it’s expected that there will be challenges along the way. In a world where budgets are tight and every dollar spent needs to contribute to the bottom line as fast as possible, you cannot afford to get it wrong; especially before we’ve even started. After the project starts, business could change direction, scope will change, ideas fleshed out in the Elaboration will develop further and will require change; however, the best way to manage this change is to have a thorough review and discussion around your initial business requirements. This initial direction, discovered thorugh Elaboration, solidifies initial scope, establishes a budget, builds a team and gets the project off in the proper direction.
