·
Problem Definition:
o
Topic:
§ What do I need to achieve?
o
Body: Some of these elements can be dropped if
the document audience is already familiar with them, as team members would be
in mid-project
§ Why is this a problem?
§ Why is this important/innovative?
§ Who is the customer?
§ Aspects required for a solution?
§ What constitutes solved?
·
What are the characteristics of a solution?
·
What is the metric for solved?
·
Road to Solution:
·
Transition to Solution
o
We are potentially well positioned to solve
this problem. (Expand upon the problem, if needed)
§ Why are we well positioned to solve this problem?
·
Body
o
Tasks required for solution
§ Match these tasks with the aspects listed in the problem
definition, but there may be multiple tasks per aspect
·
Method
·
Reason for using that particular method
·
Sometimes best to list alternatives and their
pros and cons
§ Each task should be stated with a method or approach if
possible. If not, state as question.
o
Skillsets needed
§ What skillsets are needed
§ Who on, or available to the team, has each of these
skillsets?
§ What skills/knowledge are we lacking and who do we bring on
to provide them?
o
Pitfalls (only some may apply, maybe even none)
§ Potential concerns
·
Untested methods?
·
Uncertain resource availability or timing?
·
Think deeply about what could go wrong
§ Gaps in knowledge
·
What they are
·
How to fill them
o
Timeline
§ Estimate time for each task based on information above
§ What are the task dependencies?
·
Which tasks must follow others?
·
Which people or resources are potential
bottlenecks?
o
Questions
§ Outstanding questions
§ Calls for help
·
Call for Input:
o
Contributions from others: “I would value your
input on these ideas; can you provide additional insights, flag gaps in my
thinking and suggest the path forward.”
o
Specific requests to specific people
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This page was last updated by George Young on September 10, 2019