1 Greg Edit Problem Definition

How many workshops?

While size and complexity are key factors in determining how many workshops will be needed, all discussions of initiative-level investments will be required to follow the same ‘line of enquiry’ (Figure 2) as they develop their respective investment stories. Some investments will only require a single workshop, whereas others may need up to four workshops. In the case of an investment only requiring a single workshop, each area of the line of enquiry are covered but in a faster and less rigorous manner, producing an ILM.



Figure 2: Line of enquiry

Very large or complex investments will require four workshops, producing four documents that are key to a business case. Small investments may be able to complete the investment story in just one discussion but would only produce an ILM.

The factors affecting the complexity of a potential investment are depicted in Table 1.

Cost	Cost is usually a good proxy of general complexity.
Solution certainty	In some cases (usually very low cost investments) there is a known solution that is unlikely to be challenged.
Stakeholder complexity	The larger the number of individual stakeholder groups needing to be engaged increases the difficulty of ensuring the investment is well developed and likely to succeed.
Public accountability	The likely ultimate need for public accountability will require that the logic for the investment to be well argued and supported by evidence.
Benefit maturity	The need to define the benefits/key performance indicators (KPI) being delivered to successfully respond to the problem is pivotal to these practices. While some organisations have well-established measurement practices, many don’t.

Table 1: Factors affecting investment complexity

These factors can be used as a guide to determine whether an investment is likely to be low, medium or high complexity.

Figure 3 provides a general indication of the number of workshops required based on the investment complexity.



Figure 3: Investment complexity and number of workshops

Each workshop produces different documents (Table 2). The conversation regarding the number of workshops must be held with the investor prior to the Problem Definition workshop.

Table 2: Investment complexity and documents produced

Problem Definition workshop

This is the first workshop in the IMS and aims to shape an investment that will deliver the maximum benefit to the organisation. Its focus is on primarily determining the problem and the benefits, with greater or lesser emphasis on KPIs and strategic interventions according to the scale of the investment and the number of workshops allocated.

Purpose of a Problem Definition workshop

The primary intent of this workshop is to get a clear understanding of the:

• 
  problem or opportunity impacting the investor and organisation;
  
• 
  strength of available evidence to confirm both the cause and effect of the problem; and
  
• 
  benefits the organisation can expect in successfully responding to the problem.
  

Responsibility of the facilitator

The facilitator’s task is to help the participants develop the most compelling, evidence-based case for investment they can. The output of this particular discussion is the story of the potential investment in the form of an ILM.

In developing the ILM the group are effectively producing the executive summary of the business case for a potential investment. There is no ‘right answer’ to the investment story – just a story to which the participants, particularly the investor, have agreed.

The place of this discussion within the ‘line of enquiry’ is depicted in Figure 4.



Figure 4: Line of enquiry – Problem Definition workshop

To be successful, the facilitator must:

• 
  work with the investor to ensure the right people will be attending and that two hours has been allocated for the discussion;
  
• 
  conduct the discussion according to the guidance provided in this document; and
  
• 
  take action to finalise the discussion and the ILM within 48 hours.
  

Who should be there?

The key person is the investor – the person who has the business problem and will be responsible for delivering the benefits.

It is the investor’s responsibility to identify those people who should attend the discussion. The investor should bring together people who understand the problem(s) and can provide evidence validating the identified problem(s) are real. Wherever possible it is valuable to involve people from broader strategic policy areas of the organisation to ensure the problems identified are appropriately informed and challenged. This workshop also provides an opportunity to include key stakeholders who will be important to making the potential investment successful.

See Appendix 1. for an information sheet outlining the scope and intent of each workshop. This is helpful in providing the investor and participants with a clear view of the thinking and decision-making pathway.

It is a good idea for the investor to plan and invite the participants to all of the planned workshops at the same time. This ensures participant availability for both the sessions and any reviewing work set during the workshops.

It is recommended the workshops involved in this exercise are held at two-weekly intervals. Experience has shown this provides sufficient time for the thinking of the previous workshop to be absorbed and is not so far distant that the momentum is lost.

The ideal number of active participants is between five and eight, depending on the nature of the investment but could be up to 12.