A modeling initiative will usually include an intent. In fact it is good practice to state this intent as a governance assertion within the model itself. Here are some typical assertion modeling initiatives.
Mostly, these initiatives will begin when an assertion model already exists. Then sections and parts will be added to accommodate the initiative.
Describing a Business Function
If the intent is to capture a full story of part of the business, start your modeling with an assertion of how well you have achieved the goal. In this assertion you will need to identify what must be satisfied. This assertion will be changed continuously as the modeling initiative progresses. The assessment itself is stored in the Frame as an example value. That assertion will be made by the Authority that allocates the resources. Identify that authority, and use their input to describe the intended state of affairs. The next step is to identify where you will get information to support your assessment. Perhaps ,if there are 3 subfunctions there are 3 assessments, one for each. The leading authority is sometimes called the champion. Your first assertion is a description of the to-be state. The target of the change. Your modeling will capture how existing assertions are determined and how future assertions will be implemented.
As you enlarge the model there will be additional authorities added. Some may assess progress, but most will be determining the assertions in the desired state.
Understanding Responsibilities
It may be that you are using AM to clarify staff responsibilities. At the end of this modeling initiative the list of authorities and the assertions they determine describe the responsibilities. The Assertum hyperlinked report includes this list of responsibilities.
Workflow Modeling
If you are familiar with process modeling you may want to take a workflow approach. There are certain states in a workflow that serve as milestones (tasks can be considered completed). Often this occurs when all the information needed for a subsequent assertion has been assembled. It is important to identify who states this milestone has been completed. So for a workflow approach there should be an authority responsible for this ‘completed’ assertion. It may be that business rules must be satisfied as part of this decision.
Requirements Analysis
Requirements initiatives require a scope. usually this is done as part of the Objectives assertion. As a requirements initiative progresses the scope will be more accurately defined by the included and excluded assertions. The authorities of the excluded assertions are stakeholders in the requirements and are important to understand how information flows into and out of the initiative. Assertum provides a comprehensive assertion report.
Strategic perspectives
When strategic planning is under way emphasis is on capabilities and value streams. These are used to document a higher level of the organization and provide descriptions of a desirable changed state. Assertum supports identification of assertions that describe a capability (current or desired)
Organizational Design
Responsibility of the authorities is a foundational element of assertion modeling. But the assertions that must be made may be automatic, augmented or manual. And the frequency of these decision is included in the description of the assertion. For some authorities working primarily at the operational level the assertions may be evaluated often. For Authorities at the management and governance level the decisions to be made and the information that supports these decisions are also part of the assertion model. The information flows and the ability to maintain them are important in organizational design. And the operational assertions that an authority is responsible for also clearly articulated in the assertion model.
Information and Content Management
Planning and implementation of organizational information management requires a strong picture of where and how information flows in the organization, where it is needed, how accurate it is. You cannot perform Information and Content Management without this picture, even partial, provided to support improvements in connections and in the fitness of purpose of the arriving information.
Sprint Planning
When changes are to be implemented with automated systems, the work effort must be subdivided and assigned resources. The assertion model provides the interaction of the parts of these efforts. A set of assertions to be built is selected and the model shows the information flows to and from that set.
Each of these initiatives will have a slightly different perspective and each will aim to produce a model perspective that supports change decisions.