Why You Should Try Lean Inception with Gabriela Corrêa Agile Coaches' Corner

This week, Dan is joined by Gabriela Corrêa!
 
For the last three years, Gabriela Corrêa has served as an Agile Coach and Project Manager at BRQ Digital Solutions. Most recently, she has transitioned into the new role of Digital Solutions Specialist within BRQ.
 
Together, they’re talking all about Lean inception. Gabriela shares about the challenges that teams traditionally face when they’re kicking off a project, how to address these early challenges, the activities that are involved in a Lean inception, how to facilitate a successful Lean inception, and where you can get started with you and your team’s own Lean inception!
 
Key Takeaways
Challenges that teams traditionally face when they’re starting off a project or are early in the Lean inception:
Creating alignment between the whole team and the stakeholders
Expectations — it can be hard to guarantee that the product will meet the expectations set in this early stage
You may experience issues with the agenda if you do not give yourself and your teams enough time to prepare
How to address these early challenges:
Have all of the teams focus on the same problems together
As laid out in Paulo Caroli’s book, Lean Inception, he suggests that you take five days (an agenda) to align everyone before you begin the project
Activities involved in Lean inception:
An agenda involving the development team, the active team, and the stakeholders (the goal of which is to provide context to the problems they are facing, the problems the users are facing, and the solution they are going to create)
Creating a product vision (which should be able to be summarized in one sentence)
“The Product Is —  Is Not — Does — Does Not”
“Describe the Personas” to understand the final offer of users (their problems, expectations, etc.)
“Discover the Features” which include all of the features you’re going to create
“Show User Journeys”
“Technical, UX, and Business Review”
“Sequence the Features”
“Build the MVP Canvas”
Common challenges around Lean inceptions and how to address them:
Sometimes people are closed off because they believe they already know everything there is to know about the problem
Solution: Be open, don’t write off different solutions, and be receptive to suggestions and ideas
Solution: Don’t throw out your own ideas if they are not used, create a new idea/solution together with your collaborators
A lack of understanding around the goal the team is seeking
Solution: Have everyone on board with the lean inception workshop (alignment and a clear understanding of the goal can be achieved through this)
Sometimes a team of people with very different profiles can seem to “clash” on the surface — but having a diverse team is incredibly powerful and invaluable! You all have very different perspectives and backgrounds and can come together to create a new, innovative solution
Additional advice and details about the workshop and its activities:
The activities are all highly visual
In this remote age of working, Gabriela recommends the tools Miro and Mural for digital collaboration
Where and how to get started:
Check out the book, Lean Inception: How to Align People and Build the Right Product
Join like-minded communities online
Visit Caroli.org
 
Mentioned in this Episode:
Gabriela Corrêa’s LinkedIn
BRQ Digital Solutions
Lean Inception: How to Align People and Build the Right Product, by Paulo Caroli
Miro
Mural
Caroli.org
Nonviolent Communication, by Marshall B. Rosenberg
Lead With Respect: A Novel of Lean Practice, by Michael Balle and Freddy Balle
 
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