The process starts by understanding the customer problem you're trying to solve and defining a proposed vision and strategy for addressing that problem.

You should answer five key questions. The answers serve as the foundation to facilitate meaningful exploration and discussion with those involved.

Present your analysis and proposals clearly and concisely to enable stakeholders and decision-makers to rapidly understand the problem and offer recommendations.

Understand the problem and define the vision

You should explain the problem you're trying to solve and define a vision for how you will solve it. To illustrate the situation clearly, you should start by answering the following questions:

• Who is the client?
• What is the client's problem or opportunity?
• What is the most important benefit?
• How do you know what the client needs?
• What does the customer experience look like?

Engage bar raisers and other groups

As you gather input from colleagues and stakeholders, you should also identify and reach out to other groups across your organization who can help you strengthen your content. Consider how to incorporate feedback into your project.

Some forms of feedback, such as Bar Raiser reviews, should be tracked. You should keep a record of who conducted the review, their feedback, and how you responded to that feedback.

Product bar raisers

Bar Raisers are often Product Managers who can help you raise the bar by reviewing your memo and artifacts and providing feedback about the content, structure, and style.

Tech bar raisers

Bar Raisers also include Technical Managers who can provide guidance in architectural and technological principles. Tech Bar Raiser reviews your project and to provide feedback and recommendations regarding its technical feasibility.

Engage other groups

In addition to Bar Raisers, you'll likely need to engage other groups. Each group applies its own lens to the problem and your proposed solution. This triangulation of perspectives strengthens your proposal and drives better customer outcomes.

Get your proposal endorsed

While preparing a proposal for an initiative, identify which groups need to approve them for endorsement. There are several reasons to get your documents endorsed:

• It affirms that your initiative is aligned with the strategic priorities within your organization.
• It attracts support from across the organization.
• It enables you to secure access to the resources you need to execute your proposal.

The first step in getting your proposal endorsed is to present it to the relevant Divisional Leadership. Many initiatives are approved, prioritized, funded, and posted to the divisional launch calendar at this stage.

The Working Backwards process lifecycle includes strategy proposal endorsements, deliverable tracking, weekly 2x2 status reporting, architectural review, and an operational readiness review (ORR).

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