- Facilitator - to be considered a true JAD session, it is important to have a facilitator to maintain the communication flow and to keep the session on track.
- Project Sponsor - the sponsor should be present in order to agree to decisions that are proposed during the session.
- Business Users - permitting a few of the actual end-users to attend helps to gain their perspective (if you can get their participation early on in the project, it will provide you with valuable insight as the project progresses and may show a disconnect between what the sponsor envisions and how the users actually would use the final product.)
- Project Manager - by evaluating the discussion, potential changes to scope may be identified as well as noting any potential risks or issues.
- Project team members - the most critical aspect is to ensure that the development team attends especially the leads, but also invite an architect and any members from other teams whose input is required to complete the project.
- Scribe - be sure to have someone who is not actively involved in the session to be the note taker so that their focus is on capturing important discussion items and recording all decisions that are made.
JAD sessions are beneficial because they get all the essential project participants together early in order to determine the basic design of the system. This seems like a logical approach, but many projects limit or even skip the design phase discussion and jump right into development. JAD sessions help to identify design components that may work more effectively when we have reviewed possible alternatives. Although participants may be reluctant to speak up and share ideas at first, the facilitator can elicit feedback and encourage more open discussion - even a debate over which direction is best for the project is actually healthy - better to debate early than to argue later.
A single JAD session may not resolve all issues. My tip is to schedule the first session for about two hours and if possible, do so as a breakfast or lunch meeting to help establish a positive and more relaxed atmosphere in which participants feel encouraged to speak up and share ideas. The follow up JAD session should provide a brief summary of open issues so as to refine the project requirements, determine the architectural approach, define formal deliverables, and provide schedule estimates for major milestones.
Trying this approach may be met with resistance as some stakeholders may not think JAD sessions are necessary, but the better the planning on any project, the better the end results (i.e., less cost over runs and more on-time delivery) can be expected.