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Criterion
Paper illustration of the Consensus Workshop working structure.
Facilitation
Consensus Workshop
Paper illustration with architecture components and concrete change tasks for comparison.
Architecture
SAAM (Software Architecture Analysis Method)
Paper illustration of the McKinsey 7S Framework with seven connected fields
Business Strategy
McKinsey 7S
Purposedifferent
When a group needs a solid decision without outvoting individual factions, a Consensus Workshop creates a negotiable common ground. It makes agreement, reservations, and open tensions discussable at the same time.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.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.
Complexitydifferent
MediumHighMedium
Timedifferent
1-3 hPreparation, scenario analysis, and findings review; effort depends on scope2-4 h
Participantsdifferent
5-30Architecture experts and stakeholders for scenarios and weighting3-12
Formatdifferent
WorkshopWorkshop + asyncWorkshop
Outputdifferent
Consensus Clusters, Theme Titles, Priority AreasDomain functions mapped to components and connections, Quality attributes and evaluation criteria, Typical tasks and their effects on the architecture, Reasoned evaluation or comparison of alternatives7S Assessment, Alignment Gaps, Change Actions
Tagsno overlap
FacilitationConsensusWorkshopAlignment
ArchitectureChangeAnalysisComparisonQuality
OrganizationStrategyAlignmentChange
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Methods with strong topical overlap with the current selection, not yet in the comparison.

Paper illustration for 3-Circle Venn Diagram
Facilitation
3-Circle Venn Diagram
Paper illustration for Alignment Mapping.
Facilitation
Alignment Mapping
Software Architecture Canvas method illustration showing its working structure
Architecture
Software Architecture Canvas
Stakeholder Mapping
Facilitation
Stakeholder Mapping