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Criterion
Paper illustration for Alignment Mapping.
Facilitation
Alignment Mapping
Paper illustration of the McKinsey 7S Framework with seven connected fields
Business Strategy
McKinsey 7S
Paper illustration with architecture components and concrete change tasks for comparison.
Architecture
SAAM (Software Architecture Analysis Method)
Paper illustration of Power-Interest Grid with a method-specific labelled workspace.
Facilitation
Power Interest Grid
Purposedifferent
When several people work toward one goal but hold different mental maps, Alignment Mapping makes the discrepancies visible. It arranges goals, assumptions, and priorities so shared direction becomes verifiable.McKinsey 7S checks whether Strategy, Structure, Systems, Shared Values, Skills, Style, and Staff fit together. Organizational misalignments become visible across multiple levers as a result.SAAM helps teams judge an architecture’s suitability for selected tasks and changes. It is particularly useful for examining modifiability and comparing architecture alternatives with clear reasoning.When many stakeholders compete for attention at once, the Power Interest Grid sorts them by influence and stake. It turns individual contributions into a visible selection. The result is captured as a Power Interest Grid and a stakeholder-specific strategy.
Complexitydifferent
MediumMediumHighLow
Timedifferent
1-2 h2-4 hPreparation, scenario analysis, and findings review; effort depends on scope30-60 min
Participantsdifferent
4-123-12Architecture experts and stakeholders for scenarios and weighting2-8
Formatdifferent
WorkshopWorkshopWorkshop + asyncWorkshop
Outputdifferent
Alignment Map, Open Issues, Decision Questions7S Assessment, Alignment Gaps, Change ActionsDomain functions mapped to components and connections, Quality attributes and evaluation criteria, Typical tasks and their effects on the architecture, Reasoned evaluation or comparison of alternativesPower Interest Grid, Strategy per Stakeholder
Tagsno overlap
AlignmentStakeholdersStrategyFacilitation
OrganizationStrategyAlignmentChange
ArchitectureChangeAnalysisComparisonQuality
StakeholdersFacilitationAlignmentPlanning
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