Intangible Deliverables26% of the exam
Alignment moments, conditions and decision methods
How a strategy designer builds alignment premise by premise: the five alignment moments, assessing where stakeholders stand, the conditions that create alignment, core-team sessions from kickoff to wrap-up, decision and conflict methods, and the Salesforce V2MOM.
Given a scenario, craft a strategy to create alignment.
~8 min read · 22 practice questions ·
What the exam expects
- Place each alignment moment in its design phase, and never build on a premise the group has not accepted.
- Assess whether stakeholders are supporters, neutral or detractors, and pick the condition (shared experience, shared understanding, compassion, collaborative problem-solving, visible friction, interpretation by others) that moves them.
- Run core-team alignment before kickoff, at the midpoint and at wrap-up with the right activities for each.
- Choose a decision method (decision checklist, criteria scorecard, prioritization matrix, trade-off scale) and a conflict method for a stuck or fragmenting group.
- Describe the five V2MOM components and how Salesforce builds and uses V2MOMs.
- Key terms: premise (an agreed foundation the next step of the strategy builds on); neutral (shows up but doesn't prioritize the project); I will statement (a written intent to improve the team dynamic); trade-off scale (forced individual ranking of up to 10 options); V2MOM (Vision, Values, Methods, Obstacles, Measures).
Key facts
Challenge framing is aligned
- Detail
- Before the Discover phase
Opportunity area selection
- Detail
- A milestone during the Define phase
Three ways to find stances
- Detail
- Internal research, 1:1 conversations, ecosystem mapping
RACI
- Detail
- Manages the extended team; core roles are clarified separately
I like / I wish
- Detail
- 3-5 minutes; at least three of each per person
Criteria scorecard scale
- Detail
- 1-5 per option per criterion
Trade-off scale
- Detail
- No more than 10 items; scale length equals item count; no ties
Who has a V2MOM at Salesforce
- Detail
- Every employee
Sources for this section (4)
- When does alignment on design direction happen?
- When does a prioritization matrix fit better than a criteria scorecard?
- Why is an "I wish" statement hard to disagree with?
- Who should facilitate the midpoint core-team check-in?
- Which three things does the V2MOM help Salesforce do?
The questions are free to read. Answers with their sources and self-grading are included with the pack.
Keep reading with the Platform Strategy Designer pack
- Core concepts
- Exam traps
- Worked scenario
The pack includes:
- All 17 lessons of the Platform Strategy Designer guide, with reading progress
- Interactive decision walks and step-by-step sequence steppers
- Practice exams purchase adds inline bank questions and topic practice (22 questions for this lesson)
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