Insight / The journal | 110s — Page 10

Run a discovery workshop around real work

Structure a software workshop around recent examples, visible disagreements and decisions that can be followed up.

Prioritise features by their consequences

Rank software work using the consequence of delay, the evidence behind the need and the dependencies it unlocks.

Handle software change requests without confusion

Assess new requests against agreed outcomes, delivery impact and alternatives before allowing them into the active scope.

Build a roadmap that explains your decisions

Plan successive business outcomes and show what must be learned before future software work becomes a commitment.

When a spreadsheet needs a workflow

Identify whether your spreadsheet problem comes from data, decisions or coordination before replacing it with custom software.

Use your budget as a scope boundary

Have a useful budget conversation by connecting constraints to release choices, uncertainty and the work your team must provide.

Map user roles to business responsibilities

Define what each person needs to do and decide before using job titles as software roles.

Write acceptance criteria with real examples

Agree what a feature must do using observable outcomes, boundary cases and examples your team can review.

Prototype the riskiest assumption first

Use a focused prototype to test one uncertain business assumption before paying to build an entire workflow.

Write a software brief suppliers can actually use

Replace a vague feature wish list with a brief that explains the problem, people, constraints and decisions still open.

Compare build versus buy using real workflows

Evaluate existing products and custom software against the work your business must complete, including the awkward cases.

Define an MVP around one complete customer job

Choose the smallest release that lets someone finish a useful job, with clear boundaries and a practical fallback.