Lower
Your Consulting Costs – Host Your
Own Oracle JAD Session
By
Leigh-Anne McDonald, PMP
Every
notice that, regardless of which consulting organization you partner with, the
first few days to weeks are always the same?
Meetings, meetings, and more meetings that the consultants lead to
define your project charter and gather, validate, analyze, and document your
business requirements. Why is this? Many, but not all, companies either don’t
know how to prepare for a project or they lack the time and resources. Their solution is to partner with an Oracle
consulting organization but often in conjunction with a limited budget.
Want
to know a secret? You can do a lot of the upfront work yourself, without
consultants, which means when they come on site they really do hit the ground
running. How you ask? By planning for and conducting your own
in-house JAD sessions for your pending Oracle projects, which translates into a
win-win for everyone.
If
your company has the time and resources, kick starting your next project by
hosting your own JAD session reduces the cost of bringing in a team of
consultants to assist with this activity.
More importantly, the JAD sessions will produce a well-defined project
charter with scope, definition, and requirements, which in turn aids in your
selection of Oracle consulting vendors.
Okay,
so now that I have sparked your interest, and you see the potential for
becoming the company hero, how do you do it?
What follows is a JAD Session 101 overview designed to help you be
successful and lower your consulting costs.
How
do you design an Oracle system or solution that your end-users really want and
can use if you do it without direct contact?
You can’t. You have to help your
end-users design their system or solution by reaching a clear understanding of
what they want and don’t want. If you are telling your business users how to
solve their problems rather than asking for their input, then you are missing
the point. It is your responsibility to
work with your internal client to establish a relationship that gets beyond
what they believe the problem is in order to discover the real issues and
determine solutions. In a nutshell, the
real problem is typically significantly different than the one first perceived
by your business user. To be a problem
solver, you need to dig deep.
Tip: Never assume that one
person knows everything about every problem.
Let’s
start with the basics.
JAD
stands for Joint Application Development and is a management process that helps
technology and business users collaborate effectively towards the development
of business solutions that really work.
The
purpose of a JAD session can be high level or very detail driven. You can use a JAD session to define your
Oracle project (from scope to budget to resources to project completion). You can use a JAD session to discuss very
specific project milestones, identifying issues, discussing possible solutions,
and reaching consensus.
What
is a JAD session’s scope? Not to be
confused with project scope, a JAD session should cover the full life cycle
development of a specific issue – be it the project as a whole or one task
within the project – and can take a waterfall or iterative approach depending
on the size and complexity of the project.
Tip: Technology
systems and business processes rarely exist in isolation. The best Oracle systems that meet the needs
of the business are designed when all groups work together on a project as
equal contributing partners.
What
makes a good JAD session? Easy question
and easy answer: the participants AND
managing their expectations. Why? Because it:
q Promotes clear, concise
communication
q Builds consensus and ownership
q Improves design quality, which in
turn produces the best solutions
Typically
a JAD session has a sponsor. This is an
executive within the organization with decision-making authority and the power
to provide the necessary resources and support for the Oracle project. In short, the sponsor owns the issue the JAD
session is addressing and is accountable for its delivery.
The
Oracle project or task leader conducts JAD sessions. Why? Because these individuals make or break
a project. A good leader is committed to
the delivery and success of the project, has the background to support the
business area, is a powerful communicator, and is sensitive to the political
issues that challenge any deliverable.
During
a JAD session, it is important to have a record keeper and a timekeeper. The record keeper takes detailed notes during
the session, edits them into a concise summary, and distributes them to the
group members.
Tip: Record
Keeping is NOT a transcription of who said what.
The
timekeeper is responsible for keeping the meeting running on time, for ensuring
the group uses its time wisely, and ensuring that everyone is allowed to be
heard.
Tip: Use
a talking stick rule so everyone actively speaks and actively listens.
Oracle
Business Users are the internal client, the intended users of the delivered
system or solution. They understand how the solution will be used in the real
world. They are critical to the JAD
process because they bring to the table expertise for their specific job and
department. This in turn means
misperceptions are corrected and oversights are unearthed. Typically there are
two types of business users: those who use the system or solution and those who
manage the policies and procedures that govern the system. Both play a key role, and one without the
other usually results in a solution that is either too restrictive or does not
grow as the company grows.
Tip: No detail is too
small to mention. Sometimes minor
details have the biggest impact.
And
finally, a JAD session to produce a technology driven solution cannot succeed
without Oracle System Analysts present who can speak in non-technical-ese to
help all participants understand and fully utilize the Oracle technology
available.
It
goes without saying that all JAD session participants have the following
responsibilities:
q Availability
q Commitment
q Active Listening
q Active Participation
q Identify Concerns / Offer ideas /
Recommend solutions
q Assist with project tasks
q Agree in the best interest of the
company and not the individual
The first JAD session is normally
a kick off meeting that sets the tone for all future meetings. This meeting is used to introduce the JAD
session definition and over all goals, and to reach consensus on both points.
This meeting serves as an opportunity to introduce the team members, and to
discuss the format.
JAD
Session Format
q Determine meeting frequency,
time, and location
q Determine roles (Record Keeper
and Time Keeper)
q Determine format for
communication
JAD
Session Execution
q Meet
q Discuss problems and challenges
q Make decisions jointly
q Set goals
q Assign tasks
Tip: Assign as many JAD
session tasks as possible to participants – this builds buy in and creates a
perception of ownership.
|
Date
/ Time |
Purpose |
|
|
|
JAD Session Planning
Check List
|
|
|
Identify Oracle Business Users
to invite |
|
|
Identify Oracle System Analyst
to invite |
|
|
Confirm Attendee availability |
|
|
Reserve Meeting Space |
|
|
Prepare Agenda |
|
|
Issue Invitation with Agenda |
|
|
Prepare Meeting Space (visual
aids, clip chart, etc.) |
|
Table 1: Oracle JAD Session
Planning Template
Congratulations! You conducted your first JAD session and want
to know how you did? Well, ask yourself
these questions:
q Was the meeting well attended?
q Did the right people know about
it and have an active role in the decision-making?
q Did you solve problems?
q Was your solution acceptable to
the end-users?
q Was it timely?
Okay, so maybe your
first JAD session didn’t solve world hunger; here are some pitfalls to avoid:
q Lack of sponsorship
q Unclear goals and lack of
direction
q Scope Creep
q Too many or too few participants
q Poor communication
§ 1 or 2 participants dominate the
conversation, alienating everyone else
§ participants are afraid to speak
up because management is in the room
q Meetings are not well facilitated
§ no agenda or agenda is not
followed;
§ no follow up at next meeting;
§ start and end times are not
respected
Tip: Want people to speak up during a JAD session? Whenever possible, avoid having a worker and
his or her direct supervisor on the same team unless they have a very positive,
open relationship.
communication,
Communication, COMMUNICATION
Oracle
Business Users and Oracle System Analysts communicating? What’s that old adage about a round peg and a
square hole? Believe it or not, it is
possible for these two seemingly disparate groups to effectively communicate,
understand each other, work together, and produce solutions that meet the needs
of the business. Here are the rules:
Oracle
Business Users, when speaking to Oracle System Analysts, need to:
q Speak up, there is no wrong
question, and analysts are counting on you to explain your requirements and
clear up any misconceptions and oversights.
q Help the analyst help you. Give detailed information about how you do
your job today and how achieving the busing business requirements will help you
tomorrow. And provide examples.
q Separate your requirements into
must haves and nice to haves.
q If you don’t understand an answer
or are confused, ask for clarification; I promise you will not be alone. For further impact, restate the analyst’s
response in your own words.
q Don’t assume the analyst is a
mind reader or that problems will work themselves out. Again, help the analyst help you.
q Keep an open mind, and try to
avoid the classic them and us barrier to effective problem solving.
Oracle System Analysts, when
speaking to Oracle Business Users, need to:
q Ask probing questions, remember
there is no wrong answer, and encourage users to speak up.
q Never assume anything is common
knowledge.
q Avoid technical explanations and
jargon, and if absolutely necessary, provide a list of terms and definitions.
q Remember the business users are
counting on your expertise to point out potential landmines.
q Be very clear about expectations
in terms of delivered functionality, custom functionally, and what is
absolutely not possible to achieve because the technology does not support the
requirement.
q If you don’t understand an answer
or are confused, ask for clarification; I promise you will not be alone. For further impact, restate the user’s
response in your own words.
q Keep an open mind, and try to
avoid the classic them and us barrier to effective problem solving.
Tip: Don’t assume that a problem not mentioned is a problem that doesn’t
exist.
Be it
the start or middle of an Oracle project, specific issue or change management
process, realize the importance of defining your own JAD session charter and
selecting a cohesive team to meet the objectives. As a result, the core team will better manage
to survive the RFP process and vendor selection for software, hardware, and
consulting; your Oracle business users will have the system they want and that
your company can support, which in turn contributes to the bottom line.
This white paper originally was
published in ORAtips.