Is your organization committed to better requirements?
Ten signs that management doesn’t merely “support” requirements process improvements.
Software organizations that want to improve how they develop and manage their requirements face several challenges. When the organization changes its requirements processes, the interactions it has with other stakeholder communities change as well. People don’t like to be forced out of their comfort zone, so you can expect some resistance to proposed process changes. It’s helpful to understand the origins of the resistance so you can both respect it and defuse it.
Much resistance comes from fear of the unknown. To reduce this fear, communicate your process improvement rationale. Point out the problems that have arisen from previous ways of working; the pain might not be visible to everyone involved. Explain the benefits that the various participants can expect to receive from the new process. Begin from this viewpoint: “Here are the problems we’ve all experienced. What are the issues from your perspective? Can we put our heads together to figure out a better way to do things here?” Engaging other stakeholders in the improvement initiative leads to shared ownership of the solutions.