Organizational Research
When working with organizations in a consulting capacity, you could do research to learn more about them, and present that as a deliverable from Just Enough Research
Who is involved
- Stakeholders — defined as “those groups without whose support the organization would cease to exist.”
- Executives — Leaders, they help you understand overall company mission and vision, and how your project fits into it.
- Managers — concerned with resource allocation and how the project affects their incentives.
- Subject Matter Experts — specialized knowledge about the industry or business.
- Staff— overlap with subject matter experts. People who do the day-to-day work.
- Investors and board members — influential and/or highly knowledgeable.
Other notes
If you pretend politics don’t exist, you are setting yourself up for failure.
Business requirements are often forgotten about. How do you know if your works succeeded, and is fully functional?
It’s important to understand your organizations priorities. The more important the project, the more likely it is to succeed.
Tailor your design process to existing processes. If you work in a group that values collaboration and consensus, follow that route over one that has an autocratic leader.
Getting buy-in — Asking someone for input before you get started helps reduce objections later.
Interviewing
Understand how your work affects others within the organization. Before interviews, state the reason for the interview and how you plan to use that data. At the end of the interview, verify their participation throughout the project.
Basic Internal Interview Questions:
- How long have you been in this position?
- What are your essential duties and responsibilities?
- Who are the people and teams you work most closely with?
- Regarding this project, how would you define success?
- Do you have any concerns about the project?
- What do you think the greatest challenges are? Internal and external?
- What are the most common tasks with the system?
- What problems have you noticed?
- What kinds of workarounds do you use?
- Is there anyone else I should talk to?
What to include in documentation
- Problem statements and assumptions
- Goals
- Success metrics
- Completion Criteria
- Scope
- Risks, Concerns, and Contingency Plans