DataWebTect

There are quite few project management blogs but among them “Project Management Blog” seems to nail the topics. In post about “Requirements Gathering: Why  Context matters?” the blog illustrates the importance of requirements phase.

Requirements gathering is a big challenge and it is not limited to a single representative or a group. It should be agreed upon by the customer and the developing company’s stakeholders. For this the Agile methodology helps significantly because of the interactions with the client at each stage. This is very important as only 39% of the projects are completed on time and budget. The rest of the projects fail because they have not met the requirements of the client or plagued by “Scope creep”. One of the ways to mitigate this situation is to educate the client about the product and highlight the features that would be important to them when arriving at the business requirements/rules. Then review with them to see if they understand at least 50% of the requirements. At this point we can go back and write the business rules/requirements which need to be reviewed by the client. Once approved we can go ahead and create the planning for the project and assign resources. It would be helpful if the project is created in phases(Agile) and each unique phase is completed and shared with the client. If there is any requirement mismatch it would be apparent at this stage. Finally after the execution, it would be helpful to share first cut version(without much bells and whistles) with the client. That way the client is involved all the way and will be able justify the additional cost, if any, because of their change in requirement.