This document discusses managing business change through understanding business value stories and models. It emphasizes that: 1) Business value stories provide context and requirements for change projects by describing real problems and opportunities in monetary terms. 2) An accurate business model reflects how the business currently and ideally operates, and is key to mitigating risk when managing changes. 3) Gathering and analyzing a collection of business value stories can uncover common themes, problems, and requirements to effectively design solutions and test scenarios. 4) Adopting changes requires preparing people through training and communication, and updating procedures to reinforce new behaviors until they become habits. 5) Monitoring operations and updating the business model ensures the changes are sustained and

1. Deliver Business Change
and
Realize Results
Diane Alexander
Knowledge Enablement Partner Resources, LLC

2. Cycle of Business Change
Continuous business change and improvement works in a
business life-cycle of the high-level functions here:
DECIDE
STRATEGY
MODEL
BUSINESS
CHANGE
BUSINESS
OPERATE
BUSINESS
ANALYZE
BUSINESS

3. High-Level Business Functions
• Decide Strategy – Decide product strategy and decide what to change
• Model Business – Define current and target business information and metrics
• Change Business – Move from current business model to target business model
• Plan Change Projects – Assess impact, cost, time needed to change
• Execute Change Projects – Create the change
• Monitor Change Projects – Assess project progress and benefit alignment
• Deploy Change to Operations – Realize expected benefits of change
• Operate Business – Make it happen
• Analyze Business – Assess revenue, cost, performance, risk, and change impact

4. Business Models – A Key Factor to Manage Change
• A business model is a key risk mitigating factor in both running a
business and managing changes to it.
• A good business model is a reflection of the reality of how the
business is run, and how it should be run.
• Current State Model
• Next Target State Model
• Ideal State Model
• Decision making that is not aware of these realities is inherently
flawed at some level.
• Efforts to change or improve a business without this knowledge
are inherently risky and expensive.

5. To Manage Change Effectively – Need Knowledge
• A powerful way to know your business is to tell the business story
• Stories are very effective in sharing knowledge throughout history
• Business stories can be used to communicate:
– Problems to Overcome
– Envision New Opportunities
– Must Haves to Operate
• Stories can be provided from all levels and functions in the business:
– Executive Perspective
– Middle Management
– Operations Line Functions / Customer-facing / Knowledge Workers

6. • A detailed description of events that really happen in the business.
• Business stories point out the specific situation, parties involved, and
risks, cost and benefits of the value in solving a business problem,
realizing an opportunity, or failure to meet current requirements.
• Business Value Stories are rich in knowledge, example template:
When this happens, a <person in role, algorithm> in this <organization,
location> performs this <service, procedure> using this < information,
resource> producing that <information, product>; and this happens having
these <risks, defects, inefficiencies, benefits, opportunities> valued at this
<cost, time, risk value, customer satisfaction, revenue opportunity>.
• Format of business stories can vary – should be in the writers own words in
plain natural language.
Business Value Stories

7. • When scheduling truck transportation for a shipment to a Just In Time
manufacturing plant in Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania, about 6% of the time,
transportation is scheduled to the wrong plant which is 400 miles away from
the other manufacturing plant in a different Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania.
• If the shipment was received, then this results in the need to schedule a different
truck to pick-up the shipment from one plant and then deliver to the other at a
cost that averages $600.
• If the shipment is rejected, then need to request that the driver divert and deliver
the shipment to the other plant, resulting in an additional charge of $400.
• There is also a 40% risk that our percent of business will be reduced from 30% to
15% from this major customer.
Example Business Value Story -- monetized
This scenario was happening with a major customer and did not have sales or executive
awareness of the problem.
Had the problem continued, a major revenue source would be lost and management
would now be faced with a crises.
Truck dispatch did not have all the information to know how serious the problem was.

8. Business Value Stories  Extract knowledge  Quality
When this happens, a <person in role, algorithm> in this
<organization, location> performs this <service, procedure> using
this <information, resource> producing that <information, product>
and this happens having these <risks, defects, inefficiencies,
benefits, opportunities> valued at this <cost, time, risk value
customer satisfaction, revenue opportunity>.
Business
Metrics
Information
Needs
Role in
Process
Event to
Start Process
Organization
and Location
Process Business
Case

9. Use Knowledge to LEAD Projects – How do we lead?
• My view on Project Management  We LEAD projects to deliver change
(secondarily we manage, very important to manage)
• In this view, the obligation of a PM is to provide leadership on a set of
activities for an accountable business owner to make informed decisions
in changing their business.
• If a PM determines that not enough information was uncovered to make
an informed decision….
• Or, the accountable business owners were not part of that decision
• We pause and persist (schedule more meetings for knowledge
development and decisions) to get informed decisions.
• A business owner may make a decision we know from our experience will
give them problems….realizing that change will provide new business value
stories where new informed decisions can be made.

10. What business value is your project going to deliver?
Identify the business value stories that are in scope for
what your project is delivering against.
The SUM of the value of the business stories
= EQUALS
The $ VALUE of your project

11. Launch Change Effort –> Use the Business Model
• Identify and develop knowledge in the business model that are related to
the change; this prevents re-discovering knowledge already covered (and
paid for) in different project(s)
• This can save 30 – 60% of the entire cost of the project !
• Tag items in the business model in scope for the change
• Estimate equipment, software, and materials for implementing the change
• Identify activities to design and implement change; number of people
required in what roles
• Create a schedule of activities and estimate of funds needed at what time
period over the course of the change effort
• Identify who will work what roles on the change effort
• Create contingency budget for monetized project risks. As uncertainty
decreases when specific risks are not realized through the project,
contingency funding can be released for other efforts

12. Execute Change Effort
• Update the business model as the change is being built, track progress of
project by viewing the changes to models
• New design of process, technology, facilities, etc., continuously added to model
• Progress tracked by fulfilling details in the model for operational readiness
• Review knowledge products produced throughout the project to ensure
that the expected business benefit is aligned and likely to be realized into
business operations
• Identify and prepare people for adoption of the change
• Ensure the business model is updated before a project can be closed

13. • People providing the story  tell what happens
• A group of related stories are analyzed to understand the problem
and define the requirements.
• Artificial Intelligence Semantic technologies can be used to ”read” and
interpret common themes and problems.
• The solution should be designed once a core group of stories are
collected
• Business stories tell the Who, What, When, Where, and How
• Business stories define the “Why”
• Avoid assuming the solution before understanding the problem
Business Value Stories -> Business Knowledge

14. • Business Value Stories  abstract up to create requirements, Agile
stories
• Business Value Stories provide context for your Agile stories
• Well understood requirements lessen re-work during the project
• If a project starts by first gathering requirements / writing Agile
stories, these risk becoming solution-oriented too early. The problem
might be assumed and not well understood.
• Business Value Stories  transform well to test scenarios
• Knowledge can be extracted from stories to build out the business
models
• Business Value Stories are a form of textual business knowledge
Business Value Stories –> Knowledge  Quality

15. Test, Test, Test -- Avoid unexpected customer ”testing”
• Use Business Value Stories as a base for creating test scenarios
• Detailed design provides the rest of the information to build test scripts
• Design tests to ensure invalid inputs are not processed and user error is
managed
• For business processes that provide alerts / exceptions -- ensure to test all
conditions:
• True Positives -- False Positives
• True Negatives -- False Negatives
• Design the test data to test all logic paths for the future state in design. Can
use current production data as a start, but need to add data elements, new
data values, alter data values in sets of records to simulate each future state
condition.
• You cannot just use production data. Production data reflects current state,
so it does not reflect the change being built.

16. Manage Adoption of Change
• Project activities early on should include specific tasks designed to prepare
people to accept and adopt the change
• Top management support and communications are very important
• Involve people to be impacted by the change to participate in defining the
change
• Create a plan for what communications is required to what audience
throughout the change effort
• Create a plan for providing training. Type of training used impacts level of
cost and needs to be in the funding plan.
• Create updated/new operating procedures to use while people are
acclimating to the change, and use as part of training new people brought
into the organization in the future
• Operating procedures are used by Audit to periodically test adherence to
the standards

17. Deploy and Monitor Change to Business Operations
• Deploy change into business operations and immediately test that all
components are in place and working as expected
• Be prepared to fix software and make adjustments to what was changed
• Be prepared to roll-back to previous business state and software if
problems are serious, and work-arounds are not practical
• Continue to measure and reinforce adoption of the change
• Changes to way of doing business force humans to change habits
• Changes are awkward at first to execute, expect a period of
performance degradation. These will become habits that enable
better human performance excellence once they are truly new
habits.
• Habits are formed by new neural paths in the brain that overlay the
old way of doing things, so it is easy to revert back to the old way.
Even for those supportive of the change, this is human brain biology
so be prepared to encourage and reinforce the new behaviors for 2
to 4 months.

18. Conduct Retrospectives / Lessons Learned
• Conduct periodic project retrospectives periodically and at the end of the
project
• Document findings as business stories
• Incorporate business stories into future state business models of your
change processes
• Avoid having your lessons learned lost in individual project documents
• Your change process (project methodology) is also a business process that
should have continuous process improvement, and be represented in
your business model
• Lessons learned should be in the queue as candidates for future project
process change

19. Monitor operations -- ensure model remains current
• Ensure that the business model is updated to reflects the new current
operational state. This ensures that it will stay relevant to plan and
support future business change.
• If the quality of the business model is not trusted, then the benefits
above will not be realized, since the information will all need to be
validated
• A business modeler should be assigned to check production support
changes, for potential business model changes and make updates where
required
• Existing data stores should be checked against the model periodically as a
way to detect changes that did not go through a project or production
support ticket
• Conduct routine internal Audits to discover if business practices are
adhering to the business model, or if the business model needs to be
updated for improved practices and these new practices deployed across
the business

20. Business Operating Procedures
• Follows business process model as an outline
• Consistent with process details
• Communicates detailed use of technology tools and process
• Provides step-by-step procedure descriptions
• Provides basis for Audit reviews. Operating procedures are used by
Audit to periodically test adherence to the standards
• Provides examples on how to use technology tools within the
procedures
• Can be used for training new employees, employees filling in for
others on leave, refresher training for current employees.

21. Business value is the compass to manage competing
business change efforts  Business Agility

22. Project “documentation”  knowledge base
• Text in documentation can now be “read” by Artificial Intelligence
Semantic technologies
• Documented knowledge of the process, data, rules, and technology is
very important
• Not all automation has a visible user interface, the documentation is
critical to retain business knowledge
• Business Value Stories ARE a source of textual business knowledge. A
collection of stories can be analyzed using Artificial Intelligence
Semantic Technologies to find:
• Similar business cases for common problems
• Common benefits, similar root causes
• A collection of project scope documents can be analyzed against
Business Value Stories to find:
• Changes in project benefits
• Related projects

23. Business Stories and Information Concept Framework
Stories are about real things that happen, or what you want to happen
(the Who, What, When, Where, Why and How)
Concept Framework Building Blocks
Product (what) Rule (why, when) Party (who)
Resource (what) Process (how) Location (where)
Relationships between all Concepts exist
Resource
Rule
Product
PartyLocation
Process

24. Business Stories with Process Framework
• Coverage of business stories can be checked against a process framework
• A Process Framework is built by applying process types to each concept
Concept Framework Building Blocks
Product (what) Rule (why, when) Party (who)
Resource (what) Process (how) Location (where)
Multiply by Process Types
Asset Life Cycle Forecast, Plan, Acquire, Transform, Maintain, Retire
Operational Transact, Assemble, Monitor, Inspect, Alert, Assess, React
Business Life Cycle Incubate, Launch, Grow, Optimize, Sustain, Exit
Business Change Cycle Decide Strategy, Model Business, Change, Operate, Analyze
AI-Enabled Capabilities Recommend, Listen, Speak, Read, Write, Decide, Find, See
EQUALS = Business Process Framework  check business story scope coverage

25. Successful businesses manage by value
creation.
Your projects should be managed by
business value.