All tools are summarized in Tools for a Consultant’s Work – Summary.
Impact Mapping
The first tool I want to recommend is Impact Mapping, described by Gojko Adzic. It is a technique that helps choose the problem you want to solve. This is a crucial preliminary step.
This has extremely important consequences in the context of group work. We often try to tackle too many things at once, which wastes a lot of time due to context switching, increases our work-in-progress, and slows down the validation of our solutions. As a result, it lengthens the time it takes to deliver something valuable.
Imact Mapping Example - https://www.impactmapping.org/example.html
Impact Mapping focuses on defining a measurable and achievable goal. It helps define what we will consider a success and what will be deemed a failure. We want to break this goal down into stages where we will validate whether its realization is moving us in the right direction and whether the chosen solutions actually work.
With a defined goal, we can try to find the optimal solution. First, we describe who could help us achieve this goal, then what impact we can have on these people, and finally how we can influence them. The deeper we go, the more elements we discard, ultimately focusing on the most important aspects.
The result is a specific direction in which we want to move and defined priorities for how we want to proceed in this direction. The goal definition allows us to validate whether we are moving in the right direction. If not, we can try using another path described during the workshop.
Example of Use
A company selling electronic products was looking for the best way to enter the Portuguese market. They needed to determine which methods would allow them to enter this market and which would be the most effective. Unfortunately, the number of possible options was overwhelming and made it difficult to make a constructive decision.
An Impact Mapping workshop allowed this organization to make such a decision. In a short time, they managed to define a measurable goal that was challenging but achievable for the company. Then, different ways to achieve this goal were described. The group quickly analyzed the possibilities and chose the best ones to enter the target market with a bang. During the workshop, they collectively achieved subsequent stages, making the solution a shared one for all participants.
You can find some photos from another workshop on my Twitter (in Polish). They are from a session conducted for one of the Polish software houses.
Why is it Beneficial?
Most methods allow us to describe the best path to a goal. However, if this goal is not correct, all our work is in vain. Impact Mapping allows us to choose the right goal and the solution, which we will then address in subsequent workshops.
