Did you ever struggled to get those requirements from your stakeholders/clients ? You don't know why, but every time you start a project it is always painfull to gather the right people and get them to tell you want they want in a useful format ? Using a recognized and very powerful technique called the "World Café" and through a real-life example, I will show you how easy it is to discover those requirements (User Stories). Step back and let the client do the work while you enjoy the ride ! Benefits (Cette présentation peut-être livrée en français) Learn how to capture requirements the easy and meaningful way. Learn how to let your clients/stakeholders come up with their own useful requirements as UserStories. Learn how to go from a blurry client request to a detailed estimated and priorited roadmap.

1. café stories…

2. about
me…

3. david paré

4. 31/10/2011 4

5. over 15 years in IT as
an EA, PM
& Agile coach

6. conference
speaker

8. some credentials

14. professionnal sommelier

15. but that’s a
different story…

16. enough
about me

17. questions ?

18. ok.

19. i am here

20. to talk to you about

21. World Café

23. and how to use it

24. to gather
requirements

25. from your
stakeholders

26. but first

27. what is the
World Café ?

29. the World Café

30. were you ever in a
meeting were…

31. all you want to do is sleep ?

32. no participation… no decisions…

33. real discussions and
decisions happen at
the coffee break...

34. the World Café

35. brings back the
discussion into the
meeting !

36. how ?

37. from traditional

38. from traditional

39. big mouths
rule

40. shy
don’t talk

41. is it because shy
people have no
insights to share ?

42. no !

43. that’s why this
approach is based on
small discussions

44. Café atmosphere

45. to World Café
host
host
facilitator
host
host

46. World Café operating principles

47. now that we know
more about the
World Café approach

48. how can this help me
gather requirements
from my
stakeholders?

49. here’s a real life
example

50. i have a client

51. who has an existing
product

52. expensive to upgrade

53. they don’t own the
source code

54. not flexible,
not scalable

55. and they want to
replace it

56. with something new

57. best in class of the
pharmacy industry

58. challenges.

59. distributed
stakeholders

60. stakeholders availability

61. no shared vision

62. high number of stakeholders

63. goal.

64. build new
software and services

65. build an RFP to
procure the new
software and services

66. before we write an
RFP…

67. …it might be nice to
know what we want ?

68. to answer that
question

69. i proposed a
four step process

70. Steering Guiding
step 1
Committee Principles

71. Steering Guiding
step 2
Committee Principles
Rx Vision Business
Café Services

72. Steering Guiding
step 3
Committee Principles
Rx Vision Business
Café Services
Rx Requirements List of
Café Requirements

73. Steering Guiding
step 4
Committee Principles
Rx Vision Business
Café Services
Rx Requirements List of
Café Requirements
Rx Priority
Roadmap
Café

74. Steering Guiding
4 steps
Committee Principles
Rx Vision Core
Café Services
Rx Requirements List of
Café Requirements
Rx Priority
Roadmap
Café

75. coming up with a
process ?

76. that’s the easy part

77. how do we get that
vision from the
stakeholders ?

78. distributed
stakeholders

79. i could use the
following
techniques

80. focus groups

81. individual interviews

82. e-mail survey

83. i tried these
approaches before
and wasn’t pleased
with the outcome

84. so i tried…

85. World Café

86. how do we start ?

87. how do we go from
individual ideas to a
shared vision?

88. and from vision to
requirements ?

89. we have two Café
workshop to organize

90. Steering Guiding
Committee Principles
Rx Vision Core
Café Services
Rx Requirements List of
Café Requirements
Rx Priority
Roadmap
Café

91. define Café goals

92. for example
establish and agree on a
minimum of three
prioritized core business
services

93. for example
engage
stakeholders and create
momentum

94. define meaningful questions

95. for example
Why do you need a standardized national
pharmacy network platform ?
Which capabilities/services does this platform
require and why ?
How can this platform drive operational
efficiencies ?

96. determine who you
want to invite

97. define how you want
to capture the
information

98. define a template for
capturing information

99. if you don’t specify a template
it can go many directions

100. for the
Rx Vision Café

101. information was not
captured in a
structured way

103. for the
Rx Requirements Café

104. information was
captured in a
structured way

105. User Stories

106. story template
• who = people
• what = goal
• why = value

108. with this approach and a
good template for
capturing information…

109. you can sit back and
relax

110. now that requirements
are captured as
User Stories

111. each team does a final
review of captured
information

112. then it’s town hall meeting

113. then you stick the big
Flip Chart posters
on the wall to…

114. group similar Stories
together

115. and prioritize Stories

118. after each Café the
information on the Flip
Charts need to be
captured and compiled
electronically

119. the last step is to
establish the roadmap

120. Steering Guiding
step 4
Committee Principles
Rx Vision Business
Café Services
Rx Requirements List of
Café Requirements
Rx Priority
Roadmap
Café

121. high level design &
architecture

122. agile estimating &
planning

123. planning poker

124. product
roadmap

125. to summarize

126. the World Café

127. is perfect for
requirements gathering
sessions

128. it works well with
large groups

129. it provides a voice for
every participants

130. it’s an efficient way to
capture User Stories

131. it creates buy-in and
engagement among
all stakeholders

132. a few tips ?

133. plan, plan, plan

134. set the context for the
session

135. explain the process and
the role of everyone

136. set the ambiance

137. use mild
instrumental music

138. put flowers on the
tables

139. dim the lights a little

140. create a « real » Café
like atmosphere

141. make the first round
30-40 minutes long

142. use Sticky Notes and
Sticky FlipCharts

143. plan rotation of
participants

144. have enough markers
and put them in
open glasses on tables

145. print a name tag for
each participants
(use only first name and first letter of lastname)

146. setting example

149. questions ?

150. appendix…

151. using world café

152. What is the World Café ?
• As a conversational process, the World Café is
an innovative yet simple methodology for
hosting conversations about questions that
matter.
• The integrated design principles have been
distilled over the years as a guide to
intentionally harnessing the power of
conversation for business and social value.
• As a living network pattern, the World Café
refers to a living network of conversations that
is continually co-evolving as we explore
questions that matter with our
family, friends, colleagues, and community.