Event Storming

Event storming is an adaptive workshop-based method of learning and discovery that promotes involvement from stakeholders with different backgrounds.

When facilitated correctly, Event Storming can be an extremely powerful tool for evaluating existing business processes or exploring new business ideas.

Event Storming helps you

• Leverage the combined knowledge of your entire team
• Gain a more complete understanding of your business processes
• Learn how your business can become more efficient
• Explore new business opportunities

Event Storming basics

Not just another meeting

The format of an Event Storming workshop helps ensure people are actively engaged in the process. Even people who were skeptical about the process come out excited at the end at the work that was achieved.

Want an example? If possible, there are no chairs allowed during an Event Storming session.

Bring your whole team

Cross-discipline collaboration leads to a deeper and more accurate understanding. Event Storming celebrates this by encouraging stakeholders and Subject Matter Experts (SME) with different backgrounds to work together solving problems.

Accessible tools

Event Storming uses phsyical real-world tools that many people are already used to using. This makes it easier for people with no previous Event Storming experience to feel comfortable right from the start.

The list of tools?

• Stickies
• Markers

That's it.

Modeling with stickies

An Event Storming session starts out with the attendees placing a healthy amount of orange stickies on what Event Storming practitioners refer to an unlimited modeling surface.

On these orange stickies should be words describing facts that happen within your business process. These facts are called events. Therefore, orange stickies represent the events that happen in your business process.

Stickies are great because they come in many colors and sizes. As we add other colors or sizes, we add them to the workshop's legend. In this way, the vocabulary used by Event Storming can be learned as you go.

Making changes is a good thing

Another added benefit of modeling with stickies is that they are easy to move or crumple up. Both are allowed and encouraged during Event Storming sessions.

Nobody gets a model right the first time. If this happens to you, chances are your Event Storming team hasn't asked the right questions or the people with the right questions or answers aren't in the session.

Keeping the crumpled stickies visible until the end can be a powerful way to see the amount of misunderstandings or better understanding the Event Storming workshop uncovered.