Catalyze Webcast - Finding Requirements - 092007

Hidden Requirements 10 Tips to Ensure You Find Them Carol Miller

Introductions
Where are you participating from?
What’s your Job role?

Finding Requirements
At the end of today’s session, you should:
Have a better understanding of the challenges associated with requirements elicitation
Understand that planning is critical to the success of elicitation
Be able to identify at least one technique that is worthwhile apply to your next project

Requirements Elicitation The process, tools, and techniques used to actively obtain information from stakeholders regarding their view of the requirements Source: IIBA - A Guide to the BA Body of Knowledge v1.6 If only it was this easy! To Elicit: 1. to draw forth or bring out (something latent or potential) 2. to call forth or draw out (as information or a response) Source: Merriam Webster

Elicitation Challenges
The Stakeholder
Lack of a Framework
Scope Definition and Scope Management
No training in Elicitation techniques or supporting skills
Unrealistic constraints (schedule, scope)
The BA Ego

The Jungle Can You Find? Functional Requirements Business Requirements Quality of Service Requirements Implementation Requirements User Requirements

Tips for Staying Alive in the Jungle
Get to know the other people in your group and study the wildlife and plant life you may encounter
Carefully plan your excursion. Make sure you consider your personal limitations. Talk to others who have been on similar excursions.
Prepare for dangerous encounters
Stay in close communication – Buddy up
Learn to build a fire and other critical skills before your excursion departs
Bring the right tools and know how, and when, to use them
Stay on the path
Travel with speed and efficiency
Know when you’ve reached your limit.
Ask questions and admit when you need help

Elicitation Tip #1
Put in the effort to really “know” your stakeholders
A Stakeholder is anyone who:
Could affect your project
Is part of your project team
Could be affected by your project
Needs and Expectations Of Stakeholders Scope and Quality Time Cost Jungle Tip: Get to know the other people in your group and study the wildlife and plant life you may encounter Identify Analyze Prioritize

Stakeholder Identification
Consider those that:
Use the system
Pay for the system
Direct/manage the system
Build the system
Are replaced by the system
Regulate the system
Count on the system
Are impacted by the system
Are you using a stakeholder checklist? Do you have a template for your stakeholder inventory and analysis?

Stakeholder Template SME Infrequent user Decision maker Casual user Information keeper (information is power) Frequent user Has ear of decision maker Spokesperson Charismatic leader Champion Controls funding Supporter Examples of Influence: Examples of Interest: Desired Current Commitment Level (HML) Influence Interest Name Stakeholder Role Stakeholder Information and Analysis

Analyzing Stakeholders
What problems do they have that need to be solved?
What are their success criteria?
What financial or emotional interests do they have in the project?
What motivates them?
What obstacles or constraints do they foresee that may threaten the project?
What information do they want from you?
Who influences their opinions?
Do you have an analysis question list? Do you have a template for stakeholder inventory and analysis?

Prioritizing Stakeholders Influence High Low High Interest Low Keep informed Monitor Critical Stakeholders Engage early, Manage closely Engage early, Keep informed periodically

Establish a plan and a framework that supports elicitation success
Elicitation Tip #2 “ If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll probably end up someplace else” Planning is a Critical Success Factor
Know your process (including your responsibilities)
Know your team
Research company and industry best practices
Jungle Tip: Carefully plan your excursion. Make sure you consider your personal limitations. Talk to others who have been on similar excursions.

A Requirements Framework Knowledge Area Tasks Deliverables Requirements Communication and Management Training Enterprise Analysis Quality Assurance Techniques Guidelines, standards, reviews and inspections Requirements Planning Requirements Elicitation Reqm’ts Analysis & Documentation Solution Assessment and Validation

A Requirements Elicitation Approach Identify, Analyze, and Document Stakeholders Choose Elicitation Technique(s) Develop Questions for Each Chosen Stakeholder For Each Stakeholder or Group of Stakeholders Entry Criteria: Do You Understand Project Objectives and Scope? Plan Session, Develop & Send Materials Conduct the Elicitation Session Document the Stakeholder Requests Exit Criteria: Questions Answered? Requirements Analysis and Documentation Create/Update the Glossary of Terms

Which Requirements Are You Eliciting? Business Requirements Functional Requirements Quality of Service Requirements Constraints Assumptions Problem Space Solution Space What is the Scope of Your Responsibility?

Be prepared for Typical Stakeholders Issues
Elicitation Tip #3 The Know-it-all Clueless Tired and Tuned Out Overbooked Uninterested The Overzealous Team The Meeting Dominator Quiet Jungle Tip: Prepare for dangerous encounters

Typical Stakeholder Issues
Expectations:
Stakeholder has expectations which are higher/lower/different than “reality
Stakeholder doesn’t understand the objectives of the project
Conflicting needs of multiple stakeholders
Gathering Session Issues:
Stakeholder dominates a meeting
Stakeholder has not received enough information about the project so they can’t provide the information being requested
Stakeholder can only express their requirements in terms of the current system functionality
Stakeholder sends a delegate to the meeting who might not be the “right” person
Stakeholder doesn’t know the BA and may not understand the BA’s role on the project
Stakeholder feels threatened and doesn’t want to give away their knowledge (perceived job security)
Commitment Issues:
Stakeholder has not done their requested/required homework before coming to a meeting
Stakeholder feels annoyed about participating in yet another time consuming project
Stakeholder feels annoyed about participating in yet another useless or unsuccessful project
Stakeholder doesn’t care about the project
Stakeholder doesn’t see the benefit of the project
Stakeholder doesn’t see his/her role on the project
Stakeholder current job is being replaced by system and are unwilling to participate
General:
Requests that change from meeting to meeting
Lack of involvement by the right people
Late involvement of the right people
Resistance to change
Scope creep
Develop your own list. Share your list and examples of success with other BAs.

Elicitation Tip #4
Build Rapport and keep your stakeholders informed
Get to know your stakeholders and build business relationships Building trust and respect are essential elements Jungle Tip: Stay in close communication – Buddy up

Identify your Stakeholder VIP’s I’m the “subject matter expert”. I’m well-respected, I know many important details, and I have lots of specific experience. You need me! I’m the “champion”. I may not know all the details, but I really like what you’re doing. I am influential and can convince people why they should like it too. You need me! I don’t necessarily ‘do’ the work around here, but I know lots of people in the organization, and can put you in touch with just the right one. You need me! Maven Salesperson Connector

Elicitation Tip #5
Seek out information/training on facilitation skills
The role of the facilitator
Help the group to achieve consensus
Manage the group dynamics
Keep the group on track to achieve its objectives
Encourage the participation of all, while avoiding the dominance of a few
Manage the behavior of individual participants
Jungle Tip: Learn to build a fire and other critical skills before your excursion departs

Don’t be the Problem
The facilitator is in a powerful position
Facilitate, don’t manipulate
Listen, and solicit feedback!
Watch body language, yours and theirs

Elicitation Tip #6
Fill your toolbox with a variety of elicitation tools.
Know the techniques
Know which work best for a given type of stakeholder
Know which work best for the requirement type you are eliciting
Don’t be afraid to use them in combinations
Jungle Tip: Bring the right tools and know how, and when, to use them

Requirements Elicitation Techniques
Brainstorming
Document Analysis
Focus Group
Interface Analysis
Interviewing
Observation
Prototyping
Questionnaires and Surveys
Facilitated Sessions/Requirements Workshops
Reverse Engineering
Source: IIBA: A Guide to the BA Body of Knowledge v1.6

What and Why - Interviewing
Why: To collect general information that only this stakeholder can provide. To build a relationship.
Who: One-on-one
What: High level requirements, business objectives, business issues, as-is or to-be business process, to identify sources of other requirements
Where: Stakeholder’s office, sometimes phone or web meeting
How: Prepare question list, use open and closed ended questions, use active listening
Weaknesses:
Structure may lead to missed information
Quality depends on the skills of both the interviewer and interviewee
Can be time consuming and not good for achieving consensus

Elicitation Tips #7 & #8
Define scope collaboratively. Manage scope aggressively
Always be aware of the grey area between analysis and design
Jungle Tip: Stay on the path

Context Diagram
A context diagram is a “top-level” graphical representation of the system and its interfaces with the actors
a visual modeling technique you can use to help define and communicate the scope and the boundary of the system
Automatic Teller Machine System ATM Patron Bank Courier Brinks Thief ATM Technician

Example: ATM Context Diagram « keypad » identity account amount ATM Patron Bank Employee Bank Manager Bank Teller Courier ATM Technician Nightly Backup « display » balance status « printer » receipt « router » atm id patron info account amount atm status « router » patron status account balance terminal status ATM System « actor » Bank

The Grey Area
Gather the what’s, not the how’s
Utilize your technical SMEs to help you identify design ideas that might be hard for your stakeholders to resist
Work with your stakeholders to sketch out the line
tell them why it’s important to focus on the requirements before the solution,
ask them to be patient…. design will come
Let them know when they are stepping over the line
Don’t rule out stepping over the line when there is a compelling reason
Be consistent

Elicitation Tip #9
Establish and monitor exit criteria – How do you know when you’re done?
Jungle Tip: Know when you’ve reached your limit. Avoid analysis paralysis

A Requirements Elicitation Approach Identify, Analyze, and Document Stakeholders Choose Elicitation Technique(s) Develop Questions for Each Chosen Stakeholder For Each Stakeholder or Group of Stakeholders Entry Criteria: Do You Understand Project Objectives and Scope? Plan Session, Develop & Send Materials Conduct the Elicitation Session Document the Stakeholder Requests Exit Criteria: Questions Answered? Requirements Analysis and Documentation Create/Update the Glossary of Terms

Elicitation Tip #10
Lose the Ego – Ask Questions
Jungle Tip: Ask questions and admit when you need help

Ten Tips for Requirements Elicitation
Put in the effort required to really “know” your stakeholders
Establish a plan and a framework that supports elicitation success
Plan for how you will deal with typical stakeholder issues
Build rapport and keep your stakeholders informed
Seek out information and training on facilitation techniques
Fill your toolbox with a variety of elicitation techniques
Define scope collaboratively. Manage scope aggressively
Always be aware of the grey area between analysis and design
Establish and monitor exit criteria – how do you know when you are done?
Lose the ego!

Questions? Thanks for Attending! Carol Miller [email_address] www.acclearning.com

http://www.betterprojects.net	191
http://www.mycatalyze.org	77
http://info.fm.rbsgrp.net	21
http://mycatalyze.org	11
http://www.linkedin.com	2
http://www.catalyze.org	1

Catalyze Webcast - Finding Requirements - 092007

by Tom Humbarger on Sep 20, 2007

Accessibility

Categories

Upload Details

Usage Rights

6 Embeds 303

Statistics

Catalyze Webcast - Finding Requirements - 092007 Presentation Transcript