To Be or Not to Be: Why the Requirements Gathering Process Doesn’t Work

Understanding what a project will deliver or how implementing change will benefit both a company and individuals within it, is important for any businesses. The requirements gathering process enables this understanding to be established by exploring and discussing issues or concerns via representatives.

The requirements gathering process, however, is often rife with issues. This can result in a range of issues development including a misunderstanding of individual needs or a lack of knowledge on that benefits changes will have on a business in the long run. Here are three key points you need to follow to ensure that the requirements gathering process is successful.

Representatives aren’t Representative

This is the first hurdle that many businesses fall on when approaching requirements gathering.

Recently I have been working with the leadership development consultancy OPDC, and they have come up with two great suggestions for choosing representatives for your project champions or informal “eyes and ears”.

1) Representatives must be given a diagonal slice through the organisation. This means that they can cut through the hierarchy and function in order to gather requirements from a range of fields.

2) Make sure that in your representative group, you have noisy, passionate and influential people. They must be prepared to challenge others and the ‘way they do things’; if they aren’t passionate and unable to make an impact, they will not suit this role.

Representatives aren’t Engaged and can’t Imagine and Better Future

This point shares similarities to the first point made, but there are differences that make this important in its own right.

If representatives aren’t passionate and don’t care about the organisation, this will result on them failing to perform. This attitude is usually down to their resignation to the status quo; they are often unable to imagine a better future and can’t envision how establishing change will create a better future for the company and its employees.

Requirements Gathering needs to be: Dynamic, Iterative, Tested in

Projects involving change can not be rigid. There are three points of action to take-away here, each as important as the next.

1) Be dynamic: By this I mean ensure you are forward thinking and approach the requirements gathering process open-mindedly and with far-sighted perspective. Representatives must be proactive and able to consider different scenarios and options.

2) Be iterative: Simply put, representatives should continue to question a process and why change is required. This will help them answer deeper levels of questions that will make it easier to initiate change down the line.

3) Test in Public: By airing thoughts, you’re able to get feedback throughout the requirements gathering process. It confirms the need for change by checking that different groups of people that behave in similar ways and will be positively impacted by alternations.

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