Architects often coordinate work that happens over multiple organizational units. I found it to be very helpful to spend a week or two full time with the org u

Architects often coordinate work that happens over multiple organizational units. I found it to be very helpful to spend a week or two full time with the org units involved in the projects or software systems. Ask if you can be an intern in there teams for a while, get an introduction and feeling for how they work, and after a few days, ask them (informally) about their challenges. Why? Because the architect is at least half a people person, working with the constraints and pressures felt by all the people and org units involved. Finally, I've learned that software architecture and business processes are very tightly linked. You already know about Conway's Law, I assume; the processes often define how different org units collaborate, and that greatly influences possible software architecture. So, try to learn about the processes as well, and get to know the people who define the processes.