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Workshops

Decision workshops to align leaders, test competing views, and define a path to action.

Situations

Leadership agrees on the opportunity but not what should be built, who it is for, or why it will matter to them.

A planning cycle, funding request, procurement decision, or board discussion is approaching, and leadership has not agreed on the direction.

Several teams are advocating for different AI or technology initiatives, and leadership must decide which will receive funding and delivery capacity.

Leadership must choose among a vendor platform, a custom build, or a hybrid approach before procurement or architecture commitments are made.

A pilot has shown value but cannot move toward production because ownership, architecture, governance, or operating responsibilities remain unresolved.

Product or technical direction is taking shape before security, compliance, clinical, and operational leaders have tested the assumptions behind it.

Workshop formats

Each workshop is built around a decision and the people, evidence, and expertise needed to make it well. The goal is not consensus for its own sake, but a decision your organization can act on.

Product direction and alignment
Start with the customer outcome, define the product or service worth building, and align leaders on the choices and constraints that should shape it.
Initiative prioritization
Evaluate competing initiatives against shared criteria and determine where deeper analysis or investment is warranted.
Architecture and delivery planning
Translate direction into architecture, a delivery approach, and a sequence of next steps.
Governance and risk
Work through accountability, oversight, security, compliance, and operating-model questions before they become delivery blockers.

Outcomes we drive

  • Decision clarity, including what can be decided now, what remains open, and what evidence is needed to proceed.
  • Clear criteria and tradeoffs, so leadership can evaluate the available paths on the same basis.
  • A route from decision to action, with ownership, open questions, and next steps captured.
  • Artifacts suited to the decision, such as a decision record, roadmap, reference architecture, evaluation plan, or governance model.

Engagement process

Frame the decision

Before the session, we define the decision, gather context, and identify who holds different parts of the answer. The workshop begins with the evidence and decision-makers in the room.

Write, critique, decide

Participants use structured writing and critique to make assumptions visible, test competing views, and address questions that might otherwise emerge later. Depending on the decision, the session may also include prioritization, architecture, or scenario exercises.

Make it actionable

As the session develops, we capture decisions, tradeoffs, open questions, and next steps. Your team leaves with a decision record, roadmap, reference architecture, evaluation plan, or governance model.

Frequently asked questions

Is a workshop right for our organization?
A workshop is a good fit when a cross-functional group needs to make or advance a decision together. If the question requires independent analysis before the group can act, an Assessment may be the better starting point. We confirm the fit during scoping.
What can a workshop address?
Common topics include strategy and alignment, initiative prioritization, product and vendor choices, architecture and delivery planning, and governance and risk.
What do we leave with?
Outputs depend on the purpose of the workshop. They may include a decision record, roadmap, reference architecture, evaluation plan, governance model, or another output developed with your team.
How does your AWS partnership affect the workshop?
Practical Acceleration is an AWS Partner, and our team has designed and operated systems on AWS. That experience informs our technical judgment, while the workshop considers the platforms, vendors, and build approaches under consideration using clear criteria and evidence.
About our AWS partnership
What will you need from our team?
Preparation includes conversations with the sponsor and subject-matter experts, review of materials, and confirmation of who needs to be in the room. We design the group around the question, bringing together the authority and expertise needed to work through it.
Is the engagement remote, in-person, or hybrid?
The workshop is conducted in person. Preparation takes place remotely through stakeholder conversations and review of materials.
Who will be staffing the engagement?
The engagement is led directly by a partner, not handed to a delivery team. Workshops are facilitated by Justin Stanley, Practical Acceleration’s CTO and a former AWS Principal Solutions Architect. During his 10 years at AWS, Justin founded an internal community that coached solutions architects on Working Backwards.
Meet Justin
What happens after the workshop?
Your team leaves with the material produced during the workshop and can proceed independently. When useful, we can scope focused prototyping or broader implementation support.

Move from competing views to a clear decision

Talk with our team