Paricipative Modelling

Manage a participative modelling session

For participative modelling to be successful the knowledge and skills of the facilitator is critical. Participative modelling is a social activity which takes place during a very limited time and has a very specific goal. The role of the facilitator is characterised by its two loyalties:

Towards the group and its participants: the facilitator's job is to make every participant work as effectively as possible.
Towards the client, who expects results from modelling: the facilitator's job is to achieve substantial results in a limited time and often with limited resources.Sometimes it is the group itself who is the client.

Dealing with this double loyalty, and at the same time achieving the expected results, requires knowledge as well as a number of skills ranging from method knowledge to social skills. The knowledge and skills of the facilitator is one of most important critical success factors for making the modelling group perform their work properly. If the modelling facilitator does not fulfil these requirements, the effects of group modelling can, in fact, be negative. Better results would perhaps be achieved with traditional, consulting style, interviewing techniques. Follow these steps

Manage people and to get them to co-operate

The participants make a heterogeneous group with unclear common objectives -> do not start the EM process without good planning and pre-interviewing the participants and other related persons

The participants are not motivated to perform the EM activity -> arrange the participants obtain a 3 hour demonstration of experience with EM OR make participants to understand that the modelling concerns their own work and environment OR adapt the EM-task to the participants by interviewing each of them, listen to their expectations and attitudes

A participant does not seem motivated to work in the group -> motivate personally this participant by telling him/her the consequences (positive) the work will have on his/hers work

The enterprise's management ignores or gives insufficient resources, including skilled persons, for the EM task -> arrange the management obtains a 2 hour demonstration of experience with EM

The participants, as it turns out, do not have sufficient authority over the domain of modelling ->

The modelling team does not include persons which are domain experts in the problem areas the project is concerned with -> require to add such people

Person X has frequent conflicts, regarding modelling, formulation, and interpretation, with another person Y -> discuss objectives of the modelling task with both persons in private

Person X dominates the modelling activity -> The modelling facilitator asks the person to clearly motivate his/hers statements or propositions with respect to the goals stated,...

Let another group perform a modelling task with the same purpose and directives

Person X constantly criticises the modelling results -> this may be a sign that X is not motivated to participate; a private discussion is needed

Some persons in the group are passive and do not contribute -> assign tasks to them OR have a private discussion OR give every participant in the group some minutes to state his/hers position and general views of the topic being modelled

A member of the modelling group is openly sabotaging or hindering the group to perform effective modelling -> have a private discussion

A member of the group tries to take command over the work -> Be cool. This may be a good solution for part of the work. The facilitator must, in such situations be prepared to play a different, but constructive role in the process.

The modelling group reaches a situation where decisions or guide-lines are needed from other parts, or managers, of the organisation -> if this is essential for completing the model, try to involve, or consult, the corresponding parts of the organisation immediately.

Perform the modelling activity

It is generally difficult to start the modelling activity, participants are passive.... -> ask participants to each write down the 5 most important goals, problems, concept types, etc.

There exist enterprise business language problems, communication problems, and conceptual confusion -> Do Concepts Modelling

Unclear responsibilities and/or actor roles of staff members, modelling participants -> Do Process Modelling and Do Actor-Resource Modelling

Particular objectives, concepts, and activities of the enterprise domain are not clear -> Require expertise regarding the application domain AND Add people, familiar with the enterprise's objectives and information needs, to the project group

A model component X is not understood by all participants. Refine X OR relate X to other components OR explain X by relating it to concept model.

An model component is not agreed upon by participants -> determine the cause of lack of agreement.....OR let modelling facilitator to (provocatively) suggest alternative components OR. try to reformulate or rename not-agreed-upon components...OR …

The modelling process is about to stop, there are no more components introduced, people feel passive, tired, etc -> try to work out and discuss the relationships between 4-5 core components of the model.

The models created seem very superficial, very general, - they do not seem to say anything new nor essential -> try to condense or compact the model: ask participants to select the five most central statements (component related to component)in the model, ask them to select a number of statements, say 5, of statement that could be removed, without hurting the model. Try to reach consensus about this.

There is a need to define an EKD model in a participative manner.

Any EKD model