Anthony W. Ulwick

INITIATE AN ODI PROJECT

In most companies that have adopted Jobs Theory and ODI, there is no shortage of possible applications. There is a good chance that you will be quickly overwhelmed with project opportunities.

In the first phase of an ODI engagement, the ODI practitioner must secure, scope, plan, and initiate the project. The goal in this phase of the engagement is to gain the project team’s agreement on (i) the project plan and scope,

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   who the customer is, (iii) the definition of the Job-to-be- Done, and (iv) the preliminary job map.
   

The 15 steps that the ODI Practitioner must take to effectively execute the first phase of a project are as follows:

1. 
   Familiarize the organization with the benefits of JTBD theory and ODI.
   
2. 
   Select a project to pursue using ODI.
   
3. 
   Define the goals of the ODI project.
   
4. 
   Scope the ODI project.
   
5. 
   Define the project timeline.
   
6. 
   Select the ODI project team.
   
7. 
   Determine what types of needs must be captured for the project.
   
8. 
   Create screener(s) to recruit candidates for job map interviews.
   
9. 
   Recruit candidates for job map interviews.
   
10. 
    Prepare the job map interview guide.
    
11. 
    Understand the characteristics/structure of a job statement.
    
12. 
    Conduct customer interviews to define the core functional Job-to-be-Done.
    
13. 
    In complex markets, conduct quantitative research to define/validate the jobs that a platform solution gets done.
    
14. 
    Conduct customer interviews to create the initial job map.
    
15. 
    Gain the project team’s preliminary agreement on the Job-to-be-Done, job map and project plan.
    

In this phase of the project the ODI practitioner is a project planner, a facilitator, a market researcher and a team builder.

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