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Criterion
Paper illustration for Communication Plan
Delivery
Communication Plan
Paper illustration with architecture components and concrete change tasks for comparison.
Architecture
SAAM (Software Architecture Analysis Method)
Paper illustration for Alignment Mapping.
Facilitation
Alignment Mapping
Paper illustration of Power-Interest Grid with a method-specific labelled workspace.
Facilitation
Power Interest Grid
Purposedifferent
When many people need to be informed in parallel and messages would otherwise arrive unevenly or too late, a Communication Plan orders communication reliably. Channels, audiences, and cadences interlock so important information doesn't get lost.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 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.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
LowHighMediumLow
Timedifferent
45-90 minPreparation, scenario analysis, and findings review; effort depends on scope1-2 h30-60 min
Participantsdifferent
2-6Architecture experts and stakeholders for scenarios and weighting4-122-8
Formatdifferent
Workshop + asyncWorkshop + asyncWorkshopWorkshop
Outputdifferent
Communication Plan, Channel Matrix, Message CadenceDomain functions mapped to components and connections, Quality attributes and evaluation criteria, Typical tasks and their effects on the architecture, Reasoned evaluation or comparison of alternativesAlignment Map, Open Issues, Decision QuestionsPower Interest Grid, Strategy per Stakeholder
Tagsno overlap
CommunicationStakeholdersDeliveryPlanning
ArchitectureChangeAnalysisComparisonQuality
AlignmentStakeholdersStrategyFacilitation
StakeholdersFacilitationAlignmentPlanning
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