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Criterion
Paper illustration of Shape Up with its method-specific working model.
Delivery
Shape Up
A hypothetical failure makes concrete risks, signals, and fitting mitigations visible.
Decision Making
Pre-Mortem
Paper illustration: scenarios and architectural decisions are connected to identified risks.
Architecture
ATAM (Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method)
Paper illustration for Communication Plan
Delivery
Communication Plan
Purposedifferent
Shape Up helps clarify scope, sequence, and delivery flow. It makes work boundaries and decisions explicit and captures results as pitches, bet-table decisions, and hill charts.In early initiatives with many uncertainties, planning quickly turns too optimistic. A pre-mortem makes the expected failure visible in advance and sharpens the view of causes, gaps, and countermeasures.ATAM helps teams weigh architecture decisions when quality goals compete. The team considers business goals, stakeholder expectations, and technical decisions together. The evaluation shows which risks need further investigation.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.
Complexitydifferent
MediumLowHighLow
Timedifferent
6 Wochen Cycle + 2 Wochen Cool-Down20–45 minSeveral meetings plus preparation and analysis; total effort depends on scope45-90 min
Participantsdifferent
2-4 pro PitchSmall cross-functional groupEvaluation team, architects, and relevant stakeholders2-6
Formatdifferent
Workshop + asyncWorkshopWorkshop + asyncWorkshop + async
Outputdifferent
Pitches, Bet-table decisions, Hill charts, Cooldown outcomesRisk list, Mitigation plan, Assumption logPrioritized quality scenarios in a utility tree, Architecture risks with reasoning and assumptions, Sensitivity and trade-off points, Findings report with open investigationsCommunication Plan, Channel Matrix, Message Cadence
Tagsno overlap
PlanningDeliveryAutonomy
RiskDecisionFailurePlanning
ArchitectureQualityRiskTradeoffsStakeholders
CommunicationStakeholdersDeliveryPlanning
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