How to plan and manage workshops for software development

Carrying out workshops is one of the most popular and effective ways to find the scope of a software development project. Here’s when you decide about the timeline and plan the whole work. This article aims to help you prepare for workshops — from the client’s point of view as well as from the hosting company’s. So how to plan and manage workshops for software development? Find out in 6 points:

1. Decide what’s your purpose and scope

This is the moment to establish what the purpose of holding the workshop is, what it is intended to achieve.
From the agency's point of view, of course, the team's goal is to understand the partner, know the purpose of the project and plan the next activities.
From the client’s point of view, the aim is to introduce the requirements in the best possible way. The team needs to understand your business needs. Think about what your goal is and present it to the team.

2. Focus on participants

That’s quite simple. Decide who you need for workshops so that they’re successful. Only involve people who do have a chance to contribute to the project.
On the client’s side there should be a representative/representatives or a CEO/CTO, as well as the Product Owner if you choose to work in Scrum. It all depends on the specifics of the project.
The agency should conduct workshops with the team of developers and for sure Project Manager. Maybe also a designer and business analyst. It all depends on the scope and type of project.
You can find out who is involved in the development in our article: Roles in software development projects. Then, decide together with the team who should be involved in the workshop.

3. Choose the right tools/location

This is not about the pandemic. App development projects are becoming increasingly conducted remotely. Online workshop enables e.g. international collaboration. And it’s simply more convenient. So choose the suitable working tools together with your team.
It all depends on the type of workshop and your own preferences. The team will be happy to give you advice on which resources will help you carry out the workshop as they are experienced in running these types of meetings.
However, if you decide to have a physical meeting, choose a suitable venue that will allow you to conduct the workshop in an effective manner.
It doesn't matter whether you choose to meet at the client's location, at an agency or at an independent venue. The important thing is to have the right resources, e.g. whiteboard, big screen.
Together with Knauf, we organised a Venetian mirror workshop, which helped us to understand the client's needs as well as the characteristics of the app user.

4. Introduce the agenda

Workshops will only be a valuable form of setting a purpose and workflow of the development if you schedule it with your team in the right way. Everything must be clear. Firstly, the date and time. This is fairly obvious advice, but the details shouldn’t be overlooked. By marking the agreed date on your calendar, you’ll avoid the risk of forgetting about the meeting. It’s very simple and very important.
Make sure there are no misunderstandings concerning the time and date. It’s usually the company that determines the course of the workshop due to the team's experience in these types of events. However, you might as well decide together.

5. Run it

What is the purpose of the project?
From the client's point of view, the purpose of making the app may have been clear to you for a long time, or you may still be wandering around and looking for advice. But whether you already have a concrete plan or just an outline, your goal is to present the idea so that it is well understood. Remember, the better the team understands your business needs, the better they will be able to help you.
In essence, you plan the activities together. But it's the company that knows best how to plan all the tasks thanks to its experience in running these types of projects.

Answer these questions to facilitate the process:
Who uses the product? (Or who will use it?)
What’s the product used for? (Or what will it be used for?)
How to make the user experience great?
In what languages should the app be available?

And run the workshop. Meet with the team and plan the work based on the requirements and answers for the questions above. Learn more about the analyses and their importance here and here.

6. Get the feedback

This is the last and most important part of the workshop. Get, record, write down and remember what comes out of it. The outcome should be a full or partial work plan for the product. Draw conclusions and take action concerning the development.
Several meetings may be needed. Sometimes one day or a few hours is not enough to discuss all the important issues.
By knowing how workshops are conducted, you can avoid common mistakes. You can also save time because you will be well prepared for them. It’s a good idea to plan the activities before the meeting, as this makes the process much easier. When you and your team agree on how the development will be carried out, both sides will have no doubts.
Take advantage of the team's knowledge and experience and your project will have a chance to become a real success.

Workshops are now often carried out remotely, so if you want to know how to communicate remotely with your team in an effective way, check this article out.