When you are at the initiation phase of a project, it is unclear as to what you want to achieve, and how you want to reach there. However, it is important that you have a clear understanding of this; otherwise you will not know how to get there. You need to first have a clear idea regarding user requirements. If you are able to chalk out a good requirement model, half of your planning is done. An efficient requirements model as per project management best practices cuts down on time and expenses of a project, and enhances customer satisfaction.
Before going deeper into the discussion, let us first try to understand what a model is. A model is a representation of reality, but not reality itself. You must have come across model cards, planes etc. They give you a picture of how the actual thing is going to look. Likewise, a business model gives you a small scale representation of the actual business. Models usually relate to the basic requirements of a project and hence, come with text, graphic, diagrams etc.
A few questions need to be addressed when you start preparing a model such as why do we need it? What are we trying to achieve through it? And what benefits are expected out of it? A failure to gather the requirements before preparing a business model may lead to unfavorable consequences like increased cost, longer duration, and requirement for resources for a project. You may feel that you have all information needed. However, the requirements gathering process will throw light on how much information you have and how much more you need to know.
Requirements Gathering Process
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Good Requirements Gathering provides Strong Foundation:
A good requirements gathering document provides a foundation which enables you to understand what to work, how to work. Developers need to understand what to develop exactly, and testers need to know what to test. When you create the document, it is important that you involve everyone starting from the end user, to developers, testers, account managers, and any stakeholders involved with the project. Always remember that a requirement gathering is a consolidated effort from everyone involved in the project and not the sole responsibility of business analysts or project managers.
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Running Requirements Gathering Meeting:
A requirements gathering meeting is where everyone associated with a project gathers together (director, project manager, stakeholders, end users) sit together and draft out the plan regarding what they are striving to achieve and in order to get there, what are the key requirements. Few key topics need to be covered in the meeting such as the following.
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- Introduction of everyone associated and their interests
- The key objectives of the meeting
- The goals of the project
- Customer requirements
- Expected benefits
- The key steps to be followed
The key requirements (resources, money, training, staff etc)
One meeting may not suffice. A series of meetings may need to be scheduled in order to be clear on the requirements. Customers may not be able to articulate their needs properly. It is important to be in close contact with customers and understand their requirements. These requirements are written by business analysts in a clear, concise, and thorough manner.
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Importance of Gathering Requirements:
A few key reasons why requirement gathering is important include:
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- Grouping your ideas and thoughts in a logical manner
- Grouping other people’s ideas in a logical manner
- Understand what the project needs to bring about based on which ideas can be drawn
- Making a decision regarding whether the solution should be built or bought
- Requirements gathering document should act as a point of reference throughout the life of the project
- The documents provide a basis for testing before the project is executed
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Elicitation and Modelling:
It is not possible to start with gathering modelling requirements without having answers to a few questions. Therefore, we should be able to ask the right questions to have enough answers and the ground to start off with the requirements gathering process. Once we have answers to certain questions, we will be able to identify the existing gaps. These gaps will lead to asking more questions. The process of asking questions is referred to as iterative solicitation. Modelling requirements provides you the ground to ask further questions and ultimately deliver the product that your stakeholder is expecting.
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How Important is the Process for Project Managers:
Project managers usually do not disregard the importance of the requirements gathering process as there are several risks involved if the approach is not followed. Project managers may or may not be directly involved. Sometimes it is carried out by the business analysts, with all the requirements being sent and approved by project managers. Regardless of who is doing and at what phase of the project (preferably at the beginning), and the approach followed for the project (Agile or Scrum) the work needs to be done to avoid delays, risks at all times.
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Reasons for not following Requirements Gathering:
Although, very crucial for a project, the requirements gathering method is not considered as a valid approach by organizations. Below are a few reasons for this:
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- Requirements gathering are considered to take a reasonable amount of time. Therefore, it is avoided in case the project is running on short and strict deadlines.
- It is very difficult to get hold of a customer or end user to discuss and be a part of requirements gathering meeting.
- Few organizations consider requirements gathering to be a time consuming and expensive process and chose not to have it thinking it is a waste of time.
- A common perception of organizations is that they assume that they are well aware of customer requirements without actually being in contact with them.
- Another reason of avoiding the process is that it requires a lot of documentation which consumes a lot of time and energy for business analysts. Hence, they try to avoid the process.
Often you may find yourself to be clueless when you start a project with a strict deadline, having a variety of requirements. The requirements gathering process enables you interact with a lot of people associated with the project, and have enough ideas to have a solid foundation so that you can go ahead with your project in the correct direction.
