Tools, Methods, and Techniques
This domain tests whether you can choose a tool for the decision at hand and use its rules correctly. A tool used without its discipline is decoration.
Tools and their discipline
- RACI - one Accountable per activity; Responsible does the work; Consulted gives input; Informed receives updates. Multiple accountable people means no accountability.
- MoSCoW - Must, Should, Could, Won't. "Must" means the outcome fails without it, not "we really want it".
- Risk matrix - probability × impact with defined scales and tolerances; a colour without a defined threshold is decoration.
- Stakeholder power/interest grid - determines engagement style, not popularity.
- Gantt vs Kanban - Gantt shows time and dependencies; Kanban shows flow and work-in-progress limits.
- SIPOC and SWOT - boundary and context tools, not delivery plans.
Worked example
A RACI shows two "A"s for go-live approval and three "C"s who are never consulted. Reasoning: collapse to one accountable approver with delegated authority; either consult the named parties and record their input, or reclassify them as Informed. Then test the chart against a real decision: who can say no? If the answer is unclear, the chart is wrong regardless of how neat it looks.
Traps
- Using MoSCoW to avoid prioritisation by marking everything Must.
- A risk matrix with no agreed appetite or defined scales.
- Confusing a Gantt chart with a plan; it is a view.
- Producing a stakeholder grid but no engagement actions.
- Choosing a tool because it is fashionable rather than because it fits the decision.