IT training across Europe - tecnovy makes you future-ready.

Switch to English
E-Learning

iSAQB® SOFT - Soft Skills for Architects

The technically best solution does not carry itself. It fails in the meeting nobody facilitates, and in the conflict everyone mistakes for a technical disagreement. The tecnovy SOFT training drills the tools for that: stakeholder maps with the RACI matrix, active listening, moderation techniques such as dot voting. You then facilitate the room where the architecture decision is made, and you spot a conflict before it escalates.
iSAQB Accredited Training PartnerAttendance certificate4.8/5 on ProvenExpert

What this module delivers.

SOFT deliberately teaches no architecture method and no notation. The tecnovy training spends three days on everything that surrounds an architecture decision, from stakeholder analysis through facilitating the room to de-escalating a conflict along Glasl's nine stages.

How the training runs

Method
Exercises on your own cases, 555 of 1170 minutes
Outcome
30 credit points, all communicative, no course exam

Dates & booking

Choose a date that fits

3 dates

  • EUREuro
  • USDUS Dollar
  • CHFSwiss Franc

Sessions with this symbol offer up to 25% group discount. Click “Details & Registration” to learn more.

02–04 Sep 2026CEST
Wed–Fri 09:00–17:00
Germany Group Discount
City Munich
Language German
Trainer Nico Lausterer
Seats 5+ seats
15% Monthly Pick

2,450 €−368 €2,082 €

excl. VAT
11–13 Nov 2026CET
Wed–Fri 09:00–17:00
Germany Group Discount
City Frankfurt
Language German
Trainer Roger Rhoades
Seats 5+ seats
10% Earlybird Discount

2,450 €−245 €2,205 €

excl. VAT
24–26 Nov 2026CET
Tue–Thu 09:00–17:00
Online training Group Discount
Time zone CET
Language German
Trainer Nico Lausterer
Seats Only 3 left
10% Earlybird Discount

2,200 €−220 €1,980 €

excl. VAT

Fit

Who this module is designed for

Typical roles

  • You bring architecture decisions to a conclusion in rooms where nobody reports to you.
  • You translate technical designs for management, operations and the business side.
  • You stand between teams whose interests contradict each other and still have to deliver.

Prerequisites

No prerequisites

You can start right away. Helpful: knowledge of the communication challenges architects face, a current case from your own project for the exercises.

Consider instead AGILA Applies moderation and decision procedures directly to architecture work in a team for 300 of its 1080 minutes, where SOFT practises them without any architecture methodology.

Curriculum

CPSA® SOFT Course in Detail

Curriculum 2025.1 splits SOFT into five parts across 1170 teaching minutes. It starts at communication models and stakeholders, runs through conversations, visualisation and moderation, and ends at conflict management, its longest part. 555 of those minutes are designated practice time.

01Fundamentals of communication

The second-longest part settles why conversations fail that are factually right.

  • Telling technical, methodological, social and personal competence apart on the competence wheel
  • The four sides of a message, the 4-quadrant model and Reiss's 16 life motives
  • Giving, taking and actively requesting feedback along fixed rules
  • Stakeholder map, relationship analysis and RACI matrix through to a communication plan
02One-on-one and group discussions

Here you prepare conversations, run them and evaluate them afterwards.

  • The structure of a conversation, planned meetings and spontaneous situations
  • Active listening and questioning techniques in one-on-one and group settings
  • Aristotle's three sides of persuasion and what separates them from manipulation
  • Separating the factual and process levels, using follow-up as reflection
03Visualization techniques

The shortest part gets you to the board, with no artistic pretensions at all.

  • Whiteboard, flipchart, pinboard and cards compared
  • Digital whiteboards against classic office tools
  • Visualisation as a route to consensus and to conflict prevention
04Moderation techniques

This part separates two roles that everyday work keeps mixing up.

  • Facilitating against deciding: no stake in the outcome, or your own
  • Brainstorming, call and card queries, dot voting, time boxing, mind mapping
  • Decision tools from fist of five through MoSCoW and WSJF to the last responsible moment
  • Architecture decision records as documentation and as conflict prevention
05Fundamentals of conflict management

The longest part of the curriculum works on what sits below the factual level.

  • Freud's iceberg model and the different types of conflict
  • Glasl's nine stages of escalation as a map of a dispute
  • Recognising when you resolve it yourself and when you delegate or de-escalate
  • Reflecting on your own share in the conflict and deriving preventive measures
Official syllabus(external link)

Outcome

What you will be able to do afterwards

  1. 01

    You analyse your stakeholders with a stakeholder map and a RACI matrix and derive a communication plan from it.

  2. 02

    You break statements down along the four sides of a message and answer on the level that fits.

  3. 03

    You give and take feedback along fixed rules and actively request it from others.

  4. 04

    You prepare one-on-one and group conversations in a structured way and separate the factual level from the process level.

  5. 05

    You tell persuasion apart from manipulation and name techniques such as reciprocity, authority or scarcity.

  6. 06

    You visualise on a flipchart or a digital board to make consensus in the group visible.

  7. 07

    You facilitate decision rounds with fist of five, dot voting or MoSCoW and record the result in an architecture decision record.

  8. 08

    You place a conflict on Glasl's nine stages of escalation and choose the de-escalation path that fits.

Credit points toward CPSA-A

Methodical competence
0
Technical competence
0
Communicative competence
30

30 of 70 points toward CPSA-A admission

Credit point rules Guide →

Trainers

Roger Rhoades

Roger Rhoades

iSAQB®
Niko Lausterer

Nico Lausterer

Solution Architect & Trainer

Why tecnovy

What you get on top with us

01

iSAQB® Accredited Provider

We are an officially accredited Training Provider of the International Software Architecture Qualification Board.

02

Certificate Showroom

Get your certificate of participation and, if you have one, add your exam certificate from E-Learning. Fully automated, beautifully designed. Just for you, only at tecnovy.

03

No Slideshow, Hands-On!

Promised: no PowerPoint marathon. We work in groups, tie theory to practice, and you get real project examples from our experienced trainers plus the exchange with like-minded people.

04

Attend Twice, Pay Once

You are welcome to attend the training online again within a year as a refresher.

05

Learn from Experts

We always guarantee you the use of didactically and methodically first-class qualified trainers who draw their knowledge from training experience as well as professional practical and project experience.

06

Flexible Date Change

If you are not able to attend the course, you can rebook your training free of charge up to one week before the start of the training.

Experiences

What participants say

tecnovy hires very experienced trainers from German-speaking countries. The "corona-related distance learning" was implemented very well. Appropriate collaboration platforms such as Mural were used and were sensibly applied in the group work. The collaboration with tecnovy is impeccable. The iSAQB courses Soft Skills and Flex are highly recommended.
Z. Tretinjak Solution Architect | Helvetia Versicherungen

FAQs

Frequently asked questions

01Do I need CPSA-F to attend the tecnovy SOFT training?
No. The iSAQB curriculum for the SOFT module lists only recommended knowledge of the communication challenges architects face, not a certification. For the later CPSA-A certification, CPSA-F is mandatory, together with at least three years of full-time professional experience in the IT sector and 70 credit points.
02Is there a SOFT examination?
No. There is no examination for the SOFT module. The tecnovy SOFT training earns you 30 credit points and a certificate of participation; the assessment comes later on the path to CPSA-A certification, and it is not tied to any single module.
03How many credit points does SOFT carry?
The tecnovy SOFT training carries 30 credit points, all of them in communicative competence; SOFT awards no methodical and no technical points. That is exactly what makes it valuable for your planning, because CPSA-A admission requires 70 points in total and at least 10 in each of the three areas of competence. The iSAQB may re-evaluate point allocations every 12 months; these figures are as of August 2026.
04How does the CPSA-A certification work?
CPSA-A certification consists of a written assignment. Two examiners recognised by the iSAQB assess it, and you then defend it in discussion with them. You can take it in German or English, and tecnovy is glad to help if you have questions about the process.
05How long is the SOFT training?
The tecnovy SOFT training runs for three days. The iSAQB curriculum sets a minimum of three days and 1170 teaching minutes, which is 19.5 hours; 555 of those minutes are designated practice time in the curriculum itself.
06What is the difference between SOFT and AGILA?
SOFT trains the communication itself and does so without any architecture methodology at all: stakeholder analysis, conversations, visualisation, moderation and conflict management across 1170 minutes. AGILA applies moderation and decision procedures directly to architecture work in a team and spends 300 of its 1080 minutes on group decisions, decision scopes and architecture decision records. The points follow suit: SOFT awards 30 communicative, AGILA 20 methodical and 10 communicative.
07Is SOFT content tested in the CPSA-A examination?
No, and the iSAQB curriculum states it explicitly: the content taught in the SOFT training is not tested in the CPSA-A examination. What is expected instead is that you use your soft skills to present and discuss your solution in an understandable way. The 30 credit points count toward your admission regardless.
08Why is conflict management the largest part of the SOFT curriculum?
Because the iSAQB gives it the largest block, 360 of the 1170 minutes, half of them as practice time. In the tecnovy SOFT training you analyse conflicts with the iceberg model and Glasl's nine stages of escalation, decide whether to resolve or delegate, and derive preventive measures.
09Do I get the flipcharts from the SOFT training?
Yes. The stakeholder maps, conflict analyses and facilitation results from the tecnovy SOFT training reach you afterwards as a photo protocol instead of staying on the board.
SOFTSOFT - Soft Skills for Architects

Ready for the next step?

Choose a public date or plan the course for your team.

Feedback Form
What should we improve?

Tell us what we can do better next time.

Success
Error

© Copyright 2026, tecnovy GmbH, All Rights Reserved