Vision-Building Workshop

A project charter describes the mission of your project as well as the main con-straints and challenges. Alas, it stays on a high level. To build a project vision that is mutually understood and supported, you need to secure a strong foundation.

Sending the project charter to all key stakeholders, asking for their approval, con-solidating their feedback, then sending out yet another version of it can quickly lead

to an endless ping pong. Instead of playing ping pong, invite the key stakeholders to a workshop at which you refine the project’s vision and secure mutual understand-ing and support. Let’s have a look at what makes up a vision-buildunderstand-ing workshop and how to conduct one.

There are various ways to outline this workshop. The following sample agenda serves as a good orientation:

1. Presentation of official project charter 2. Project motivation statement

3. Vision statement

4. SMART project objectives statement 5. Critical success factors

6. Next steps

Notice that we covered the second and third agenda points already in Chapter 3. What differs is the workshop format and that you actively involve the key stakeholders in developing motivation and vision statements rather than doing it by yourself.

Let’s look at each one of these agenda points.

10.2.1 Presentation of Official Project Charter

You begin the workshop by reciting the official project charter. Given that it is based on the consolidated input you collected in your meetings with the attending stakeholders, the content of the project charter should not come as a surprise to anyone present. Explain how you developed the project charter, so the stakeholders know how you incorporated their input.

10.2.2 Project Motivation Statement

The project motivation statement is a summary of the answers to the questions you asked your stakeholders in the one-on-one meetings, namely:

1. What are the top issues or risks the project faces?

2. Who (individuals, groups, organizational units, etc.) is affected by these issues or risks and how? Why?

3. What are the impacts of the issues or risks on the stakeholders?

You can vary the questions. The thrust of the questionnaire is that you identify the main driver of the problem, find out who or what is affected by it, and analyze the possible impact. For example, if the motivation to start your project is not prob-lem oriented, but instead you want to create something new, you can modify the questions accordingly. For example:

1. What are the top solutions or opportunities you envision? Why?

2. Who is interested in these solutions or opportunities? Why?

3. What are the effects of these solutions or opportunities? Why?

Rather than posing these questions in an open discussion round, conduct a guided brainstorming session. Give out one to five cards for each response to the questions. Once you have collected all the cards, post them on a wall. The high number of cards and thus responses usually surprises your attendants. It shows them that there are different perspectives of the problem at hand. Next, ask them to categorize and prioritize the cards. You can do this with the whole group or split the group into breakouts and then ask the breakout groups to present their find-ings. The outcome of the exercise is a written project motivation statement everyone understands and supports.

10.2.3 Project Vision Statement

You now ask those in attendance to take the project motivation statement and jux-tapose it with a description of the opposite scenario. Ask them to write down one to three responses to the following questions:

1. What needs to be done to resolve the situation described in the problem state-ment? Why?

2. What benefits can the affected individuals or groups expect from the improved situation? Why?

3. What benefits do you personally expect from the improved situation? Why?

If the driver of the project is to create something new, the questions may look like these:

1. What needs to be done to bring about the new situation caused by the solu-tions or opportunities? Why?

2. What disadvantages will the solution have or bring with it? Why?

3. What do we need to do to overcome these disadvantages and obstacles? Why?

As with the development of the project motivation statement, collect responses by conducting a guided brainstorming session. This gives every attendant the chance to contribute to the development of the project vision. Once you have categorized and prioritized the input, ask the whole group to come up with one or two statements addressing the questions posed above. This becomes the project vision statement.

Note that the questions go beyond the strict, one-dimensional definition of a vision. They also address how the vision can be achieved. As such, they cover all five project leadership pyramid principles.

10.2.4 SMART Project Objectives Statement

The project vision statement constitutes an excellent foundation to ask those in attendance about their understanding of project success. Depending on the size of the group, you can do this exercise with the whole audience in a loose group discus-sion, conduct a brainstorming sesdiscus-sion, or split the group into breakouts.

Following the discussion of what project success entails, go a step further and ask them what concrete objectives the project should achieve. Ask them to be as specific as possible. Explain the necessity and value of SMART project objectives.

Categorize and prioritize the input. Then develop a project objectives statement everybody understands and supports.

10.2.5 Critical Success Factors

The vision-building workshop does not stop there. Stakeholders are important in achieving the project objectives. This is why you want to ask them directly about what they think they can contribute to project success. You can post the following guided brainstorming questions:

What needs to be done to secure project success?

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How can I contribute to project success?

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What do I expect from the project team during the project?

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What can the project team expect from me?

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Categorize and prioritize the responses. Then see how they relate to the project motivation, vision, and objectives statement. Are they in sync? Do they complement each other? Or do you have to modify them to ensure a coherent project vision? If you find that those in attendance have a great desire to dis-cuss this, don’t cut the disdis-cussion short. It is crucial that the workshop yields a project vision every primary stakeholder can live with. You need a solid starting point for your team to deliver the project. And, as much as you and your team will address the needs of the stakeholders, you need their support and backing of the team. Unless you have already secured this support, now is the time to do so.

10.2.6 Next Steps

Following the workshop, don’t forget to summarize the findings. This could be in the form of minutes, a revised project charter, or a “vision document.” The format does not matter as much as it is understood and supported by all attending key stakeholders. Explain that the project vision is subject to change but that, if this happens and you must modify the project vision and objectives, you pledge to involve the key stakeholders.

10.2.7 Practical Tips for a Vision-Building Workshop

The vision-building workshop is one of the most important workshops you conduct at the beginning of a project. The outcomes set the direction of the project. They are a foundation of project success. Hence, do not take this workshop lightly. Invest sufficient time to prepare for and conduct the workshop. Experience shows that the minimum duration for this kind of workshop is between 2 and 3 hours. Depending on the complexity of the project and number of stakeholders involved, you may want to plan for more time. Next, invite all key stakeholders to attend, but if at all possible limit the numbers of attendees to 20. This will ensure enough leeway for an effective and results-driven facilitation while staying within the time limit.

The workshop is not just for you as the project leader and the primary stake-holders. Involve your core team in preparing and running the workshop. It sends the right signal that the project requires one big team, which consists of the core team, the key stakeholders, and others. Although you collect the input primarily from the stakeholders about the project motivation, vision, objectives, and critical success factors, your core team can help prepare the workshop and assist you in running it. For example, they may take protocols, serve as facilitators of breakout groups, etc.

For nonbusiness settings, the vision-building workshop will most likely be much smaller in scale. You may actually include only your core team. Still, the questions raised in the workshop are identical, and the outcomes are just as important for a small nonbusiness project as they are for a complex business project or program.

Without a commonly agreed upon and supported project vision, your project has no direction. Leadership requires that you help build vision and thus lay the first stone of project success.