Chapter 7. MSF Envision Track: Defining a Solution

In this chapter:
Goals	168
Team Focus	168
Key Deliverables	169
Key Checkpoints	169
Understanding Stakeholders	170
Selecting and Preparing a Project Team	173
Defining a Solution	189
Scoping a Solution	196
Establishing a Basis for Review and Change	199
Success Criteria for an Envision Track	201

An Envision Track addresses one of the most fundamental requirements for project successunification of a project team behind a common vision. A team must have a clear vision of what it wants to accomplish and be able to state it in terms that motivate the entire team and the customer. Envisioning, by creating a high-level view of a project's goals and constraints, is an early form of planning; it sets the stage for the more detailed planning process that takes place during a project's Plan Track.

The primary activities accomplished during envisioning are the formation of the core team and the preparation and delivery of a vision/scope document. The delineation of a project vision and the identification of a project scope are distinct activities; both are required for a successful project. Vision is an unbounded view of what a solution might be. Scope identifies the part(s) of the vision to be accomplished within project constraints.

Risk management is a recurring process that continues throughout a project. During an Envision Track, a team prepares a risk document and presents the top risks along with the vision/scope document.

Lesson Learned

How the team and sponsors approach envisioning is often driven by who and how quickly a conceptual solution can be formed. Typically, this concept is represented in how an organization finishes this statement: "We, the organization, have a problem/opportunity and...

• no one knows how to solve the problem."

• an external provider knows how to solve the problem."

• we know how to solve the problem."

Projects starting from situation 1 typically have elongated envisioning. Projects starting from situation 2 typically spend more time defining and documenting a solution as well as more time structuring a project. Projects starting from situation 3 typically have a short envisioning.