Snakes & Ladders: Collaboration in the

real world

LavaCon Dublin – June 5, 2016 Nolwenn Kerzreho, IXIASOFT Technical

Account Manager - Europe

Agenda

The Whys & Wherefores ofContent Collaboration

Snakes & Ladders Game The Gamification of

CM Project Planning The Parts & Purpose of

the Game Board

Selecting & CreatingSnakes & Ladders

Designing a ProjectGame Board

Detailed Agenda

08:30 – 08:45 Intros 08:45 – 09:30 Setting the Stage 09:30 – 10:00 Identifying the Players

Activity Creating Personas 10:00 – 10:15 BREAK 10:15 – 11:15 Introducing Snakes

& Ladders Activity Identifying Snakes & Selecting Ladders

11:15 – 12:00 Designing Game Boards Activity Making a Game Board

12:00 – 12:30 Wrap Up

Workshop Lead

Nolwenn KerzrehoInstructor Université Rennes 2 &IXIASOFT Technical Account Manager (Europe)

Educator & Project Manager specializing in managing documentation and translation teams & projects @NolwennIXIASOFT

Why a Workshop? Some Context…• Ongoing Effort:

We will collect, consolidate, and share a collection ofSnakes & Ladders descriptions

This will facilitate the growth of a knowledge base about threats & best practices constructed from the experiences of content practitioners like yourselves

• We will share with you what you share with us

• Try it out and share your experiences

About You

Let us know a little about you

Where you come from

Your organization

Name

Your objectives

THE WHYS AND WHEREFORES OF CONTENT COLLABORATION

Setting the Stage

Content Defined

Content Defined: Content is potential information It is what we prepare in order to deliver guidance It is directly bound to what we do & who we do it for It transcends any one delivery format

Organizationally, Content: Assembles knowledge from across an enterprise Establishes a vital link to external stakeholders It demands & enables collaboration across silos It provides a common asset for teams to draw upon

Collaboration Defined

• The contribution of work from two or more peopleto a common product

• This means that there is shared responsibility for the result

Content Collaboration

Content collaboration must cross functional boundaries to produce content that is accurate and complete

Content collaboration mobilizes the knowledge of specialists working across the enterprise to produce useful & reusable content

Let’s Take a Survey

Poor Process (Complex, Long, Strict…)

Inadequate Tools (Access, Availability…)

Lack of Communication Channels

Unclear Information Plan / Structure

Other

You need to collaborate with others to prepare a document. In your organization, what would be your primary pain point?

#1: 27%

#2: 26%

Content Collaboration Common Pain Points

Survey Results (2013)Collaborative writing – Primary Pain Points

Key Takeaway:Over 50% of challenges flow from weak guidance provided to collaborators

Flash Poll conducted by Nolwenn Kerzreho (@nkerzreho) in April/May 2013 with four different linkedIN groups (90 responses)

Other:Lack of leadershipLack of commitment

Poor processes

Unclear information plan / structure

Lack of communication channels

Inadequate toolsCollaborative pain points

26%18%

10%

27%19%

Broken Content Collaboration

• Leads directly to a broken customer experience and inevitably to a broken organization….

Course Materials

Documentation

Specifications

Collateral

Requirements

Unc

oord

inat

ed

Cont

ent S

ilos

Unc

oord

inat

ed

Cust

omer

Exp

erie

nce

Knowledge Base

Proposals

Training

TechComm

Engineering

Marketing

Product Mgt

Support

Sales

Some Known Problem Sources

• Collaborating on large,monolithic informationproducts is hard Will be limited to

Sequential editing & review Long approval cycles

Demands modular content There are usually weak avenues

for back-channel communication There will be little experience in cross-silo collaboration

or with modular, structured authoring…

What is to be done?

• Introducing Content Management is the first step This involves modernizing both the content & processes This establishes the foundation for Content Collaboration

• A SME Content Collaboration project will seek to: Engage SMEs in content creation & validation Streamline work activities across silos Integrate content assets with data sources Coordinate the contributions of different SMEs Integrate all contributions into a single, authoritative,

easy-to-understand, client-centered message

The Gamification of CM Project PlanningWe use games to explore future possibilities

• Games can be a good way to work out problems

• Games are perfect for exploring your CM Project

• Games help us to stay out of the details that can bog down planning efforts

Playing the Game

• Once a Project Game Boardhas been laid out, you can play it.

• Introduce the Element of Chance Rolling the Dice Mirrors an important quality of reality Use only 1 Die (to slow things down)

• Like a Monte Carlo scenario, play it several times to experience possibilities

Game Board Example

Scenario: DITA CMS Project

Report Progress

against Key Indicators

Monitor processes,

templates, & reuse

DITA CMS Production

Ready

Train Writers on Revised Processes & DITA CMS

Train Reviewers in

Revised Processes

Report Progress

against Key Indicators

Start Publishing

Information Products

Present Pilot to

Management

Capture DITA CMS

needs from all

Stakeholders

Analyze further reuse opportunities

Collect Inputs on CMS Pilot

Conduct CMS Pilot Set Writing

GuidelinesMeasure

Pilot SuccessAnalyze &

Model Content

Set Content Templates

DebriefInvolve

Managers & Contributors

in projectAnalyze current

Processes & Formats

Articulate benefits of moving to

DITA

Set key indicators &

starting baseline

Demo Changes to DITA CMS

Writers Complain

Set Clear Pilot

Objectives

Editing Tool is too

Difficult for Writers

Validate Output

StylesheetsPilot Fails

Success

Start

DiscoveryPlanning

AnalysisPilot

Implem

ent

TransitionDi

scov

ery

Plan

ning

Anal

ysis

Pilo

tIm

plem

ent

Tran

sitio

nUs

e UseProject Game Board Example: DITA CMS Implementation

Game Designer: Nolwenn Kerzreho

Management Halts Project

Train Writers & Set Clear

Expectations

Content is InconsistentValidate

New Content Processes

IT Objects to DITA CMS Selection

Management Halts Project

Select editing tool with Writers

Revised Processes

not followed by

Reviewers

Start

IDENTIFY THE PLAYERSUnderstanding what drives your SMEs

Who do you have to deal with?

21

Some Tactics for Improving Collaboration• Understanding your collaborators

Establishing personas Making connections

• Enabling collaboration Establishing the framework for working together Encouraging progress

• Specifying and streamlining processes Making things easier for everyone

Let’sFocusHere

Who is your SME? A casual / occasional authorHas a primary job – a support engineer, a subject specialist, a researcher, a trainer…

Has a distinct work environment

Uses different tools, language, speech levels, colloquialisms, jargon…

Uses different tools

Responds to other tasks and processes

Has a distinct perspective on authoring tasks

The Usual Suspects

EngineeringSales & Marketing

ImplementationManufacturing

Step One: Ask QuestionsFor example…Where is it easier for you to author content?

At work / at home / other

In the office / while travelling / other

On my laptop / my tablet (add the make):

When is it easier for you to review content ?

At the end of the day / shift: ……

At noon: .….. At the end of the week: ……

When I receive the task notification

What tool do you use the most?

Microsoft Word

Open Office

Defining a personaSven, the auditor

Oslo / 40-year old

Separated, one child

-----------------------------------------------

Specialty Pipe Quality evaluator

Speaks Norwegian-English-Swedish

Work location 60% field work overseas

Devices Laptop, smartphone, iPad tablet

Connectivity Generally good but irregular when travelling

Teams Quality team

Best times for contributing

While travelling or at the end of the work day (in the field)

Defining a persona

Sven, the auditor

-----------------------------------------------

Favorite communication tools:

• Email & Wiki

Previous authoring experience:

• As a Reviewer only

Process knowledge & experience:

• Authoring: minimal

• Reviewing: some experience reviewing standards

• Validating: strong

A Reminder about Personas

• A persona is NOT a person – he/she is a typical user drawn from several actual people (survey).

• A persona is defined by its specific needs/requirements: If two personas have very close requirements, they can

be merged. If the survey shows separate requirements, two

personas need to be created.• The persona is, however, someone you can relate

to: what would Sven do?

Creating a Simplified Persona

Simplified Persona Profile

Label:

Family:

Background Knowledge:

Primary Objective:

Tools:

Authoring Experience & Tasks:

Work Context/Environment:

Creating a Simplified Persona

Simplified Persona Profile

Label: Obsessive Compulsive Daniel

Family: Very Single

Background Knowledge: Engineering/Quality Control

Primary Objective: Product perfection

Tools: AutoCAD / MS Excel / MS Word

Authoring Experience & Tasks: Technical Reports

Work Context/Environment: High Pressure/Combative

Individual Exercise

Create a persona for your most difficult SME collaborator

Simplified Persona Profile

Label:

Family:

Background Knowledge:

Primary Objective:

Tools (Current/Preferred):

Authoring Experience & Tasks:

Work Context / Environment:

Creating a Simplified Persona

Persona:Label:

Family:

Background Knowledge:

Primary Objective:

Tools:

Authoring Experience & Tasks:

Work Context/Environment:

Time for a break!

SNAKES & LADDERSTHE BUILDING BLOCKS

Identifying Risks & Planning Responses

The Snakes

• The Bad Things that can happen Threats Risks Set-backs

• Identifying possible Snakesis the best preparation Will be specific to each organization Will be specific to each project

• Some can be avoided, others tamed

IncompleteTool

RequirementsIncomplete Content Technology Requirements

SignatureImage

The failure to adequately define your content technology requirements will introduce a content solution that falls short of your needs or worse directly obstructs them.

Any shortcomings in the acquired technology will frustrate users & provide enemies with dangerous ammunition.

ITBlocks

CM ProjectInformation Technology (IT) Group opposes CM project

SignatureImage

IT groups will often oppose or obstruct CM projects on the grounds that it introduces unfamiliar technologies.

The opposition can appear as direct confrontation, the indirect withholding of technical support, or more subtle techniques, such as not providing useful feedback on plans.

CIO

PM Overwhelmed PM Overwhelmed by Pressures

SignatureImage

Project Manager (PM)finds that the pressures that come with a CM project are more than can be handled.

Emerging from a documentation background, the PM is suddenly thrust into a harsh world of political adversaries and dangerous opponents.

The Ladders

• The Good Things that can be done Best Practices Proven Tactics Dirty Tricks

• Should be deployed as early aspossible on your projects

• Can help to sidestep known Snakes

TrainPowerUsers

Train a cadre of power users

SignatureImage

Train key people in each participating business area. Train them in the new tools and techniques that will be used to plan, prepare, and publish content so that they can support others.

Select these people carefully. They will be your ambassadors.

Conduct Stakeholder

BriefingsConduct regular stakeholder briefings

SignatureImage

Bring together stakeholders and provide them with up-to-date information about the project, and facilitate an open discussion of any concerns, issues, risks, and opportunities associated with the project.

Maintaining open communication channels is vitally important.

Engage an Executive Champion

Engage a Senior Manager with real authority

SignatureImage

Find and engage an executive champion who can advocate for the project, protect the initiative at the boardroom table, and provide the project manager with mentoring guidance.

Making a real connection is challenging for CM projects.

Group Activity 1Selecting & Creating Snakes & Ladders

Pooling the experience around the table

Activity 1 Selecting Snakes & Ladders• Challenge Project

Context: DITA CMS Implemented For Documentation team Migrated to modular, structured DITA authoring

This Challenge: Enable SME Collaboration Goal is to engage SMEs as content contributors, reviewers,

approvers Requires introduction of new content tools for SMEs to use Key SME group is product engineering The company has an engineering culture Engineering is under constant pressure to deliver new releases

Activity 1Selecting Snakes & Ladders

Choose three (3) Snakes that stand out as key threats Choose the Ladders that will help avoid/address those threats

Connect the ladders to the snakes they avoid/address

Add new Snakes & Ladders if necessary - Fifteen (15) minutes

For Example

Activity 1 – Possible AnswerSelecting Snakes & Ladders

Key Point: Ladders will come with price tags ($£€¥)Choose them carefully

DESIGNING YOUR GAME BOARD

Using the Building Blocks to Create a Project Roadmap

The Game Board

Game board can be as large as necessary

This one has 49 places arranged in 7 project phases Discovery Planning Analysis Pilot Implementation Transition Use

Others are possible

Use Transition Im

plement P

ilot Analysis P

lanning DiscoveryD

isco

very

P

lann

ing

A

naly

sis

Pilo

t

Impl

emen

t Tr

ansi

tion

U

se

Start

Snakes & Ladders

Step 1:

Place your Snakes on the board Try to reflect your

past experiences about when certain problemstypically appear

Step 2:

Deploy your Ladders onto the board Place Ladders

where they will help avoid as many Snakes as possible

Snakes should not

lead to Ladders

Ladders should not

lead to Snakes

The size of a Snake represents its potential impact.

The size of a Ladder represents its potential cost.

Use Transition Im

plement P

ilot Analysis P

lanning Discovery

Dis

cove

ry

Pla

nnin

g

Ana

lysi

s

P

ilot

Im

plem

ent

Tran

sitio

n

Use

Start

Start

Use Transition Im

plement P

ilot Analysis P

lanning DiscoveryD

isco

very

P

lann

ing

A

naly

sis

Pilo

t

Impl

emen

t Tr

ansi

tion

U

se

Designing Your Game Board

ProjectInitiation -Laying the

groundwork

RequirementsAcquisition -

Clarifyingthe goals

CapabilityRealization -Harvestingthe Benefits

Snakes appearing in this area will be the most dangerous

Ladders deployed in this areawill have the biggest

positive impact

Start

Game Board Example

Scenario: DITA CMS Selection

Conduct CMS Pilot

Train writers on CMS

Identifyreusepatterns

DefineprojectScope

ModelContent & Metadata

Analyze current

situation

Make the case for modular content

Identify collaboration

goals

SuccessDiscovery

PlanningAnalysis

PilotIm

plemen

tTransition

Disc

over

yPl

anni

ngAn

alys

isPi

lot

Impl

emen

tTr

ansit

ion

Use Use

Project Game Board: CMS Selection Project

Game Designer:

Select editing tool with writers

Create content

guidelines & examples

Engage Executive Champion

Train Power Users

Prioritizenew

informationservices

Define newcontent

processes

Widelysolicit

CMSneeds

IT limits Pilot hosting options

IT identifiesalternativeapproaches

IT questionsproject scope

Writers add more

requirements

Writers continue to

change requirement

s

CMS Pilotstruggles to keep up with

changes

Executivechampionchanges

One of two power users

leaves

Writers override

CMS requirement

s

Management

questionsbenefits

Subject CMS to rigorous

testing

Reinforce writer

training

Start

Activity 2 – Build Your own Project Game Board• Challenge Project

Context: DITA CMS Implemented For Documentation team Migrated to modular, structured DITA authoring

This Challenge: Enable SME Collaboration Goal is to engage SMEs as content contributors, reviewers,

approvers Requires introduction of new content tools for SMEs to use Key SME group is product engineering The company has an engineering culture Engineering is under constant pressure to deliver new releases

Activity 2 – Build Your own Project Game Board• Exercise Tasks:

Take the Challenge Project as the scenario Work as a Team (per table) Use your Game Board Worksheet to:

Add the Snakes you identified in Activity 1 Add additional Snakes if necessary Add the ladders you will need to make the roadmap less

daunting

• In fifteen (15) minutes, we will: Discuss our Game Boards – rationales & special merits Discuss your experience collaborating as a team

SystemAcceptance

OperationalReview

OperationalTesting

Project Review

User Acceptance

Testing

InitiateCollaboration

Tool Pilot

Present Plan to

Management

Present toStakeholders

DocumentRequirements

IdentifyPain Points

SuccessDiscovery

PlanningAnalysis

PilotIm

plemen

tTransition

Disc

over

yPl

anni

ngAn

alys

isPi

lot

Impl

emen

tTr

ansit

ion

Use Use

Project Game Board: SME Collaboration

Game Designer: Table Teams

Start

SystemAcceptance

Authoring Tasks Too Complex

OperationalReview

ManagementHalts

ProjectOperational

Testing

Project Review

Train Power Users

Legacy Practices

Over-emphasized

EngageExecutiveChampion

Collaborators Reject Tool

Involve Collaborators

on Tool Selection

User Acceptance

Testing

Deploy AuthoringTemplates

InitiateCollaboration

Tool Pilot

Present Plan to

Management

Management Questions

Value

Collaborators Question

Value

Present toStakeholders

CollaboratorsToo Busy

DocumentRequirements

EnsureWin-Win

forCollaborators

IdentifyPainPoints

Emphasize Customer Benefits

SuccessDiscovery

PlanningAnalysis

PilotIm

plemen

tTransition

Disc

over

yPl

anni

ngAn

alys

isPi

lot

Impl

emen

tTr

ansit

ion

Use Use

Project Game Board: SME Collaboration – Sample Answer

Game Designer:

Start

Activity 2 – Review Questions • What were the key Snakes that you chose for your

Game Board?

• What Ladders did you think were most important to deploy early in your project?

• What level of consensus did you reach on the design of the Game Board? Was it easy?

• How many think that this should be converted into a drinking game?

Wrap-up

• Games are a useful way to explore the future

• Snakes & Ladders for Content Projects Used to brainstorm on the risks & responses to consider

for their project roadmaps Helps teams to stay above low-level details initially A precursor to detailed project planning

• Content Collaboration is a challenging goal Use the game model to find the best path forward

Next Steps - Recap

Ongoing Effort: We will collect, consolidate, and share a collection of

Snakes & Ladders descriptions We will facilitate the growth of a knowledge base about

threats & best practices constructed from the experiences of content practitioners like yourselves

We will share with you what you share with usTry it out and share your experiences

Contact info: Nolwenn.Kerzreho@ixiasoft.com

Reflections