The strategy for establishing a Business Architecture Practice at a railway company involves three key components. First, effective onboarding and relationship building are crucial. This includes scheduling meetings with stakeholders, attending orientation sessions to grasp organizational culture, and joining team meetings to understand ongoing projects. Social events and communication channels are also leveraged to build personal connections.
The second part of the strategy focuses on developing a business architecture knowledge-base. It involves selecting a suitable tool, collaborating with IT for integration, and creating templates for documenting business architecture elements. Workshops and training are conducted to gather input and educate team members, ensuring the ongoing maintenance of the knowledge-base.
Lastly, the strategy aims to implement a pilot use case to demonstrate value. This includes identifying high-impact use cases, establishing a cross-functional team, and developing a project plan. Monitoring progress and collecting feedback are integral to the process, culminating in a presentation to stakeholders to showcase the knowledge-base's effectiveness.
The strategies
⛳️ Strategy 1: Onboard effectively and build relationships
- Schedule introductory meetings with key stakeholders and department heads
- Attend orientation sessions and company tours to understand the organisation's culture
- Develop a comprehensive list of internal contacts relevant to business architecture
- Set regular one-on-one meetings with your manager for guidance and feedback
- Join existing team meetings to understand ongoing projects and initiatives
- Identify informal team gatherings or social events to build personal connections
- Utilise internal communication channels to stay informed about company news
- Gain access to key business documentation and existing architecture outputs
- Analyse organisational structure and department functions
- Establish a personal development plan and set onboarding goals
⛳️ Strategy 2: Develop the business architecture knowledge-base
- Research and select an appropriate tool for the knowledge-base management
- Identify key components and data sources to be included in the knowledge-base
- Collaborate with IT to ensure tool integration with existing systems
- Create a standard template for documenting business architecture elements
- Facilitate workshops to gather input from stakeholders on knowledge-base requirements
- Populate the knowledge-base with initial baseline data and documentation
- Develop guidelines and training materials for maintaining the knowledge-base
- Conduct training sessions for team members on using the tool effectively
- Implement a version control process for ongoing updates to the knowledge-base
- Set up regular reviews and updates to ensure the accuracy and relevance of the content
⛳️ Strategy 3: Implement a pilot use case to demonstrate value
- Identify potential use cases that align with business goals and objectives
- Evaluate and select a high-impact use case that leverages the knowledge-base
- Define the scope, objectives, and success metrics for the selected use case
- Establish a cross-functional team to support the implementation of the use case
- Develop a project plan outlining key milestones, deadlines, and deliverables
- Execute the project plan with regular status updates to stakeholders
- Monitor progress and address any impediments or risks in a timely manner
- Collect feedback throughout the implementation for iterative improvements
- Evaluate the results against success metrics and document outcomes
- Present the results to stakeholders to demonstrate the knowledge-base's value
Bringing accountability to your strategy
It's one thing to have a plan, it's another to stick to it. We hope that the examples above will help you get started with your own strategy, but we also know that it's easy to get lost in the day-to-day effort.
That's why we built Tability: to help you track your progress, keep your team aligned, and make sure you're always moving in the right direction.
Give it a try and see how it can help you bring accountability to your strategy.
