Facilitated conceptual modelling: Practical issues and reflections

This paper discusses some practical issues relevant to facilitated conceptual modelling (CM). We consider facilitated CM as a process of undertaking CM primarily in facilitated workshops attended by a group of stakeholders. Facilitated workshops are a common practice in some fields of operational research (OR), System Dynamics (SD) and Problem Structuring Methods (PSM). The associated benefits of involving the stakeholders in the modelling process are reported in the literature such as enabling the mutual exploration of the problem situation and creating a strong ownership of the formulated problem. Further benefits related to CM are knowledge acquisition from domain experts, conflict resolution, fostering credibility and creativity. Reflecting on our experience, we consider the practical issues related to undertaking facilitated CM such as the group size and composition, team roles and the facilitator and the organization of workshops. The ideas put forward could be useful to modellers interested in undertaking facilitated CM.