Despite years of efforts to improve the professional approach to developing software systems, many of these projects continue to fail. Investigations into these failures invariably denote poor interactions between humans, both within development teams and with customers and users, as a key factor. Recent evolution in development approaches, like human-centered design and extreme programming, try to address this problem, but until now, an overall view was missing. In this presentation we integrate these initiatives into a simple model, that arranges six key skills along two axes (customer–team and problem–solution) around communication as a core. Many techniques are available to implement these skills in development teams, so failure will no longer be the usual outcome.

1. 1
Communicate
2
Empathize
4
Collaborate
7
Sell
3
Explore
6
Tell
5
Ideate 7 Skills

2. EMPATHIZE
 Look through the eyes
of your team members
 Look through the eyes
of your customers 2

3. Moody Woodpecker
• Everyone choses one toon-man on the picure that fits the best with
him / his mood in the given context (project, company, team…). They
put a pin or sticker on the spot
• In turns, people describe and explain their choice and eventually how
things might change / improve.
• The Moderator notes the positive and negative aspects and
communicate how / when feedback and actions will eventually take
place.
! This mainly is a projective workshop
- RESPECT others
- Comments or discussion may be optional
- Limit the allocated time per person
- Play along (start in order to break the ice) 3

4. Material etc.
Pretty easy
but…
30 min – 60 min
Give them enough time (5 min) to discover the tree
Ask for the first volunteer instead of going around the table
- describe and explain their choice
- elaborate (are they on the tree, outside, why…)
Keep an eye on the timing (5-10 min / p.p. is generally enough)
Moderator needs a good psychology / social background (framing…)
Tree can be projected (overhead) or printed out
Opening: explain the rules (respect…)
Closure: Make sure feedback and actions will be done when possible
(possibly taken care upfront with decision makers)
Emotional / timing / psycho-trip
5 – 10 people
4

6. Geopolitics
• Several team representatives involved in the same project / organization
are invited. They all get a map
• Each team indicate on their map the key elements that define them
• Main resources / activities / responsibilities
• Exchanges with other teams
• Needs / Requirements
• Maps are progressively put in common and discussed with the whole
group, then explained to the whole teams (outside)
6
! Moving from step 2 to step 3 is key
- No communication before in common
- Perception + learning what others do
- Coherence / alignment / co-operation
- Ensure transmission after the workshop

7. Material etc.
7
90 – 120 min.
• Moderator must know about the context and organization
• No communication allowed between teams before maps are compared (distance)
• Final understanding and agreement is key in the end to ensure support and transmission
• Moderator needs to reconciliate maps to ensure individual/team objectives are aligned
with C° objectives
• Not too many participants (reconciliation becomes long / difficult)
Opening: introduce the exercise – set the expectations
Closure: summarize & ensure further transmission
(e.g. done by the Moderator in the different teams)
Politics / Propaganda / Transmission
4 – 10 people
Somewhat Difficult

8. • Form teams or 4-5 people
• Think of 2 or 3 typical types of congress attendants
• Young – old; professional – commercial; company – government; etc.
• Give them a name, a job, a home, a family, …
All fictitious, but realistic, as if they were sitting right next to you
• Describe their typical behavior. Could you recognize them? How?
• Goals: What are they here for? What do they expect to take home?
• Challenges: When would they be disappointed? What would make them leave?
• So you have created a few persona’s!
• Discuss the results in your team
• What did you learn about the persona’s?
• Do you know / understand them better by now?
[10 min.] Look around and see!
8

9. Personas
Yoko Kanishi
Age: 29
Profession: Product Manager (Fashion)
Situation: Single, no children
Personality: Enthusiastic, cartesian
Dynamic – Social - Organized
« In a fast changing world, where quality
depends to the slightest details, I need a
reliable product to lean on when the fire is
on the catwalk »
Motivations Expectations
Sport Travels
Learn & understand Health
Fashion
Objectives
• Develop her career
• Build her own brand in Fashion’s
• Travel and enjoy life
Frustrations
• Wants to purchase but the choice is too
wide and complex and she can’t decide
• Quality and QoS are questionable
Bio
Yoko is working for 3 years in FashionWeek C°, she’s single and is looking
for true love, but her career and funding her own brand in Fashion’s is
her first priority. She is a hard worker, resistant to stress ambitious and
ready to pay the price of success. She likes to read and understand how
things are working. Money is no issue, for that cityzen lady who loves art
and travels.
Technology
Price
Efficiency
Quality
Simplicity
Internet
Software
Mobile App
Social networks

10. COLLABORATE
 Foster balance
 Group dynamics
 Manage emotions
 Align values
10

11. Evaluating testers on how many defects they found
• I’ve got 1000 defects – Is it good?
• How important are they?
• How many are left in?
• What do you do with them?
• I’ve got 3 defects – Is it bad?
• How long did you take to find them?
• How « old » is the application?
• When was the last one found?
• Who’s gonna be billionnaire:
• James with 100 useless bugs?
• Steve with 10 critical ones?
11

12. 10 fixes a day make a developer stay
• The goal is reached…BUT
• Low hanging fruits
• Cosmetic and easy / not severe and important
• 3 times more « % not reproducible »
• The testers’ workload raised accordingly
• Doing the « wrong » things (re-testing / re-documenting)
• Big impact on planning
• Not moving on testing (another definition of « static »)
• It’s party time!
12

13. My Superheroes
• Moderator introduces the context (e.g. typically in a context of change, a team or
function needs to evolve and change competencies or attitude in order to face better
the future challenges)
• Core expectations and competencies towards the new role are exposed
• The group is divided into small teams who need to « build / draw » their vision of the
ideal hero who matches with the objectives
• They identify his super-powers, dreams, credos, weaknesses, beliefs, typical attitudes,
values, background, motto etc.
• Those are materialized by « body spare parts » coming from usual SuperHeroes or
drawn / invented
• Every sub-group exposes their creation
• Moderator helps the groups identify & discuss differences and similarities
!
- Great freedom
- Realistic
- Manipulation
13

14. Material etc.
14
90-120 min.
Moderator must know about the context and organization
Moderator better knows about roles and HR approach (competency model, R&R…)
Imagination and freedom are key – but not everything is possible
Moderator summerizes the key aspects of SuperHero(es)
Opening: introduce the rules – set the expectations
Closure: summarize & ensure further transmission
Avoid tensed contexts (when changes are too problematic)
Framing and setting up boundaries
5 – 20 people
Fairly Easy

15. • Same teams (You know each other by now …)
• Look at your teammates
• Individually, take a piece of paper for each of your teammates, and write her/his
name on it and (without telling) the Belbin role that you think would fit best
• Now (anonymously), collect your notes from your fellows
• No discussion; do not try to figure out who attributed which role to you
• Study the notes and try to interpret them: this is the way they see you!
• Similar with your own idea of your role or not?
• All the same or many differences?
• Do you understand why certain roles were attributed to you?
• Next discuss your team composition
• All roles staffed? (a person can fulfil more than one role!)
• Well balanced team?
[15 min.] Who are you, anyway?
15

16. EXPLORE
16
 Stimulate curiosity
 Dig deeper
 Build a vision
 Align value & values

17. • Same teams (Why not?)
• Imagine you are to develop an app to capture workshop evaluations
• What could be the goal?
• Can you think of a higher goal? Ask the Why?-question.
• Would this goal have sub-goals? Ask How to?-questions.
• What current problems inhibit the goal? And the sub-goals?
• Any other problems for the higher goal?
• Relate these problems and goals to the persona’s of the previous exercise
• Do all persona’s have the same (view on the same) problems and goals?
• Can a goal for one persona be a problem for another one?
• Discuss the results in your team
• What did you learn about the relation between problems, goals and persona’s?
[15 min.] Dr. Livingstone, I presume?
17

18. Changing context: play your part
• What if you were…
• in a different time period?
• in a different place?
• of a different gender, age…?
• them / someone else?
• Superman / Wonder Woman / Eisenhower / Einstein / Steve Jobs…?
• Challenging the ideas:
• Analytics : SWOT (strenght, weaknesses, opportunities, threats)
• Social: write ideas, share, and build off
• Critical: challenge every idea and assumptions
• Mr Know-better: do the opposite
• Mr Rockfeller: what if resources and money were no issue
• Mr Sherlock: look from a different angle, be disruptive
• Mr Magritte: seek inspiration from a random input
(picture, concept…)
18

19. Imagine: Stairway to Heaven
• The group / persons must define their current situation (bottom) and the
desired situation (Heaven on top) // (Alt. Past is at the bottom, Present is
somewhere in between)
• They must identify 12 steps separating bottom to top
• Moderator can either animate the discussion (group) or invite everyone
(people) in turn to present their own Stairway to Heaven
• Steps are discussed / reconciliated so that they match with the team objectives
4 possibilities: (team vs. individuals) x (Past vs. Present at the bottom)
! Steps are key
- Realistic
- Reconciliation for the whole team if individuals
- Prejudice & bias
19

20. Material etc.
60 min.
Moderator must know about the context and organization
Moderator must be able to detect / question prejudices and biases
Steps and their descriptions should be realistic
Starts at present (Alt. From Past to Future – shows team / people progress)
Make objective attainable and desireable
Focus on positive aspects / progress
Applicable to teams / projects / people / organization
Opening: introduce the rules – set the expectations
Closure: Summarize & eventually derive an action plan
Not realistic / Biases
4 – 12 people
Fairly Difficult
20

21. Worse than Death
• Not really a workshop – rather a way to get rational
• Originally targeted at individuals
• Can also be done in a team (focus on project / product)
• Goal: Take distance, streamline
• Moderator asks to formulate fears
(e.g.: if he doesn’t cope with his teacher, he will end as a junkie)
• Moderator asks on every step of the reasoning what the worst can be to get / help the
person question how rational his/her arguments are and how likely they are going to occur
! The person(s) should come to the conclusions that their
fears are irrational
No judging, no immediate confrontation
Wait for the best moment to confront & reframe15-05-2018 21

22. Material etc.
20 min.
Moderator should have an active listening
Moderator should be able to detect biases and shortcuts
Moderator should be creative, facilitate the story telling and reframe
Apply some « routine » (e.g. « OK, and now imagine the worst…which is? »)
Opening: Formalize fears
Closure: synthesis and conclusions
Realistic / Benevolent reframing
1 person / 1 small team
Rather easy
15-05-2018 22

23. Bit by bit all adds up
• Moderator introduces different themes that are discussed during the seminars. Each
and every team is discussed around a specific table and animated by its Owner.
• Each Owner gives a small pitch about the theme and the expected results
• People are moving in rounds from one table to another (free or pre-defined choice).
Ideas expressed are gathered and written down by the Owner (napkin, paperboard).
The Owner makes sure everyone has a chance to talk.
• At the end of the round, people move to the next table while they are replaced by
another group.
• Each round lasts less than the previous one (typically the first is around 30 min.)
• During rounds, people get to know what the previous group said. They can complete
and enrich. As time allocated to subsequent rounds decrease, people are « forced » to
be effective and efficient.
• Owners in turn restitute their work to the whole audience (can eventually be delayed)
• Moderator concludes and announces the next steps
23
!
• Stimulates collective intelligence
• Owners are key - they have to be animators
to keep it interesting and grab the essential
• Everyone should talk
• Venue should be big enough to accomodate
the audience

24. Material etc.
24
120 min. – ½ day
Owners must be animators (get everyone to talk, keep interest high, re-phrase)
Moderator should ensure the schedule
Venue or room is key (big enough, not too noisy, should allow free moves…)
Drinks and sweets or finger food are welcome (but not distracting)
Not too many participants at the same table (long / boring)
Opening: introduce the themes
Closure: summarize & ensure further transmission
Animation / Gathering the essential / Transmission
20 – 100 people
Somewhat Difficult

25.  No limits
 Guarantee freedom,
safety, trust
IDEATE
25

26. Roses & Chrysanthemums
• The group is divided into 2 teams: Roses & Chrysanthemums.
Both teams are asked to envision the future 3 years ahead
• Roses are assigned to listing actions (key success factors) that will make the project
succeed. Chrysanthemums are doing the same but with key failure factors that will
make the project fail.
• In turn 1 representative of each team presents their vision of the future
• Visions are compared, lessons are learnt
• Moderator summarizes
15-05-2018 7 Skills outline - v2.1 26
! Actions are key in both teams
- Chrysanthemums should NOT limit to actions
not done
- Scenarios / Actions must be realistic
- Prejudice & bias

27. Material etc.
15-05-2018 27
90-120 min.
Moderator must know about the context and organization
Moderator must be able to detect / defuse prejudices and biases
Actions and their consequences should be realistic
Actions are narrated in the past tense
Atmosphere reinforcement (rose / skulls stickers) optional
Opening: introduce the rules – set the expectations
Closure: summarize & merge. Conclude.
Not realistic / Passive Chrysanthemums
4 – 20 people
Fairly Difficult

28. [25 min.] Let a hundred flowers bloom
Still the same teams (sigh …)
You already worked on an app to capture workshop evaluations
Go on, let’s make it fantastic!
No limits but your own imagination
Enough time and money, top-of-the-bill hardware/software, all specialists at hand
Each of you writes down her/his best idea for the app on a piece of paper
Take the paper of your teammate at your right hand
Based on that idea, add some thoughts to it and pass it to the left (= diverge!)
Go on until every idea is processed by all members
Now get them all together and discuss them in the team
Back to earth!
Agree on one final solution (= converge!)

29.  Tell a story instead of a feature list
 Let the product speak for itself
 Speak emotional – tell values
TELL
29

30. [15 min.] Once upon a time …
30
• We keep the same teams (yeah, yeah, …)
• You have a fantastic solution to capture workshop evaluations
• What are you going to tell about it to your potential customers?
• As a team, imagine how one of your persona’s is using this app
• Of course, she is delighted about it!
• Tell the story of your persona with your app
• Draw a comic strip to show the story
• Show the events that occur, her actions, screen shots of the app
• Don’t forget her emotions
• Just roughly, quickly sketch – it’s not the Mona Lisa

31. Comics strip
• Moderator gives the theme / scenario of the workshop
• E.g. « describe your new offer / understand your customer experience »
• People are divided into groups of 4-6 persons.
They have 50 minutes to define their story-board (20 min) and create their comics
strip / photo novel (30 min)
• Every masterpiece is presented by the group spokesperson (pitch – 5-10 min).
• Teams vote for their favorite story and Moderator proceeds to the counting and give
the final result (10 min)
31
! Fun and creativity are key
- Timing (60-90 min.)
- Great freedom

32. Material etc.
15-05-2018 32
60 - 90 min.
Definition of the theme & narrative context (comics / photo novel)
(e.g. context > story-board > pitch)
The workshop can be organized with pictures (cut out from magazines), blank canvas
or with image banks (e.g. Pixabay) and some dedicated software (e.g. Comic Life)
working on tablet, Mac or PC
Capacity / capability to foster group creativity & summarize
Printing or scanning capability is extra fun & adds sense (further communication)
Opening: introduce the exercise – set the expectations
Closure: summarize & ensure further transmission
Story board is a key step
8 – 20 people
Difficult
OR

33. • Define a lo-fi prototype of an App that should
draw the winner of a promo
• Enter email
• Enter promo code
• Validate code
• Draw
• Announce result
Prototyping (15 min)
33

34. SELL
 Show benefits
 Remove impediments
34

35. [10 min.] Special offer!!
• Time to split up (finally!)
• First half stays in the role of customer
• The others go out to another team as sales
• [Sales] You have a great solution to capture workshop evaluations
• Convince the other team that they should try it
• Use the story that your team developed in the previous exercise
• [Customers] You need something that helps you to capture workshop evaluations
• You invited a group that seems to offer a good solution
• You are willing to consider their offer, but want to make sure that it will work
• Did you come to an agreement?
35

36.  The core skill
 Transfer concepts between
the minds of individuals
 Touch what matters
COMMUNICATE
36

37. [10 min.] I’d say: Just do it!
37
• Make teams of 2 pairs of participants not knowing each other (too) well
• (Sender + Observer) and (Receiver + Observer)
• Sender thinks of an event to communicate to Receiver
• About something that happened yesterday
• Sender writes it down and shows it to his/her Observer (don’t speak out loud)
• Sender draws a picture as an encoding of the message that describes the event
(no words)
• Receiver looks at the drawing and decodes the message, adding words to the picture
• Receiver writes it down and explains to his/her Observer how he/she decoded the message
• All discuss the process of coding, sending a message and decoding
• Did you recognize the steps in the communication process?
• Was the event correctly communicated?