A useful discovery workshop focuses on one process and includes the people who own, perform, support, and receive its output.
Before the workshop
Collect representative examples, forms, reports, system screenshots, policies, volumes, service commitments, and known issues. Ask participants to bring one normal case and one difficult exception.
Suggested 90-minute agenda
- Outcome and scope — 10 minutes: What should improve, for whom, and what is outside the discussion?
- Current process — 25 minutes: Walk through the trigger, steps, systems, decisions, handoffs, and completion.
- Friction and exceptions — 20 minutes: Where does work wait, fail, repeat, or need experienced judgment?
- Data and controls — 15 minutes: Which information, permissions, policies, and approvals shape the process?
- Measures — 10 minutes: What baseline and target would prove meaningful improvement?
- Next decision — 10 minutes: Is the opportunity ready for design, or does data/process preparation come first?
Outputs to capture
- A current-state process map
- Problem and outcome statement
- Systems and data inventory
- Exception and control list
- Baseline and target measures
- Named owner and next action
The workshop should reduce uncertainty. It does not need to select a platform or produce a complete technical architecture.