Mobilisation is the second User Centred Design (UCD) phase and the second of two planning phases.
Why do we need the Mobilisation phase?
Mobilisation ensures the team is ready for the Discovery phase by:
- Determining the project mechanics.
- Mobilising the team so they are co-located and have everything they need.
- The project structures and team norms are in place.
- Potential issues have been identified and are in the process of being rectified.
What happens in the Mobilisation phase?
Mobilisation is constructed as a series of pre-organised workshops and meetings spanning eight topic areas.
How long does Mobilisation last?
Typically, Mobilisation spans two weeks.
Workshops
During the Pre-mobilisation phase the team understands the problem and may also know a little about the project processes: Discovery, Alpha, Beta and Live.
Team members are likely to have been chosen because they already work in the agency and know a lot about the existing service. However it is unlikely that they have had experience working in a User Centred Design environment or in a multi-disciplinary team. This series of workshops helps to build the team culture and ensure that everyone is on the same page.
| Duration | Participants | Objectives | Activities |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.5 to 2 hours |
| Formally commence the Mobilisation phase. | Team introductions. |
| Introduce key project participants to each other. | Review activities and outputs as a result of this mobilisation workshop. | ||
| Address any issues or obstacles upfront. | Review mobilisation objectives and checklists and schedule activities. | ||
| Align expectations for the way the team works during this period. | Set up team members in co-location. | ||
Prepare for user engagement in project work. | Define approach to user recruitment and identify constraints for user engagement. |
| Duration | Participants | Objectives | Activities |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1– 2 weeks |
| Identify and collate existing project knowledge. | Conduct desk research to review and collate existing knowledge relating to the project. |
| Determine if there are obvious gaps and how they will be addressed. | Review the current legislative environment. | ||
| Gather information for access by the project team. | Identify other projects that may present dependencies/impact delivery. | ||
| Identify any gaps in internal information. | |||
| Determine how information relating to the project will be stored. | |||
| Collate and publish information in an agreed central location. |
| Duration | Participants | Objectives | Activities |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 hours |
| Audit agency's technology environment. | Map the agency’s current technology environment – technology stack, vendors, processes, security, data, etc. The mapping will continue to be constructed during the entire Mobilisation period. |
| Overview of technology to be used in Alpha, Beta, and Live phases. | Review agency requirements for delivering digital services and identify agency technology contracts. | ||
| Characteristics of ICT and digital - similarities and differences. |
| Duration | Participants | Objectives | Activities |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.5 to 2 hours |
| Identify the steps, processes, and tools needed to ensure the team is set up within the co-located space allocated and can be productive from the first day of the project (the Discovery phase). | Review team space allocated, including:
|
| Duration | Participants | Objectives | Activities |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.5 hours |
| Define stakeholders and roles. | Draft a list of stakeholders associated with the project. |
| Capture communication methods and create a matrix for stakeholder groups. | Assign stakeholders to roles – approvers, influencers, subject matter experts. | ||
| Review how we communicate externally about the project process. | Define the communication method and frequency. |
| Duration | Participants | Objective | Activities |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 hours |
| Identify a governance framework that will support clear decision making, issue escalation and resolution. | Review governance summary model. Refine and set up steering committee. |
| Ensure clarification of roles and responsibilities in alignment with stakeholder engagement and communications methods. | Develop a checklist of key project tasks/decisions that are likely to arise. | ||
| Develop reporting mechanisms that support agile methods of project delivery and meet agency needs. | Using the stakeholder matrix as a guide, determine who is responsible, accountable, consulted, and informed for key tasks/decisions. |
| Duration | Participants | Objectives | Activities |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.5 hours |
| Demonstrate a model of ‘good’ agile capability. | Benchmark the current agile capability of the project team using the agile self-assessment framework. |
| Establish a benchmark of the team’s agile capability. | Determine potential areas of improvement. | ||
| Support continuous improvement of the adoption of agile methods. | Plan how progress will be made. | ||
| Deepen agency capability over time. | Agree how the output will be shared with the team. | ||
| Provide a visible demonstration of progress, and support the team’s success. |
| Duration | Participants | Objectives | Activities |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.5 hours |
| Capture lessons learned from the mobilisation phase – what worked well, and what would be improved. | Capture feedback from the team to identify what worked well and should be continued into the Discovery phase. |
| Determine readiness to enter the Discovery phase and allocate remaining tasks. | Review progress against checklists and determine readiness for the Discovery phase – identify and allocate outstanding tasks. | ||
| Formally complete the mobilisation phase. | Capture lessons learned and insights for future mobilisation effort. |
Checklist
Workshop 1 - Has Mobilisation kick-off been completed and outcomes achieved? Workshop 2 - Has the knowledge review started? Workshop 3 - Has the technology approach been completed and outcomes achieved? Workshop 4 - Has team on-boarding and setup been completed and outcomes achieved? Workshop 5 - Has stakeholder and communications been completed and outcomes achieved? Workshop 6 - Has governance and reporting been completed and outcomes achieved? Workshop 7 - Has the Agile capability self-assessment been completed and team members understand their benchmarks? Workshop 8 - Has the Mobilisation retrospective been completed and learning documented to take into the Discovery phase?
Next phase
The next phase is Discovery.