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Requirements Gathering & Development
(1-day, 8 PDU's)
More projects fail due to inadequate requirements than for any other reason. Every project manager learns the importance of “good requirements” during their initial training. Unfortunately, the term “good requirements” has never been clearly defined. Therefore, it is not surprising that projects suffer significant problems due to requirements that are vague, missing, or incorrect.
The most important result of attending this class is learning what is meant by “good” when talking about requirements. Students of the class should be able to leave the class and immediately start writing requirements that are “good”, meaning that they are highly effective in driving a project to an efficient and successful conclusion. The techniques taught in this class are simple techniques that can be, and have been, used to write requirements documents of a few pages up to 100’s of pages. By repeating these simple techniques over and over it is possible to drill down to the lowest possible level of detail and still provide information in a logical and organized
The class will emphasize the following topics related to requirements (not necessarily in this order):
- Why Develop Requirements?
- Gathering Requirements
- When to Develop Requirements
- Using Requirements to Drive Project
- Design
- Execution
- Support
- Mistakes to Avoid
- Writing Requirements
- Requirements Contents
- Tips and Tricks
Exercises shall be provided to allow the students to practice the techniques that are taught. The exercises shall include:
- Class Project
- Gathering Requirements
- Writing Requirements
- Student Project
- Writing Requirement
Course Instructor: Dow Presley, PMP
Reference:
From: Jennifer Murphy
Sent: Wednesday, October 27, 2010 8:55 AM
To: 'Sharon McNamara'
Subject: RE: Jennifer Murphy - Course Materials - Recorded Class - Requirements
Dear Sharon McNamara,
Thank you for sending the course materials! After our conversation yesterday I signed up for the course and completed it. It was excellent, exactly what I was looking for and needed. It is rare to find a software training that is actually geared to human communication and interaction. Usually there is so much showing off of technical prowess that actual communication gets lost by the wayside. The result is documentation that suffers from vagueness, redundancy, obscure references and undefined acronyms. Finally! Here is a course that puts communication and organization of information first and foremost. The ‘neighbour statement’ technique is a sure-fire way to avoid the slippery slopes of technical gobbledegook. I am looking forward to putting it into practice. The kick off meeting and the KPI’s is a great idea and the tools, such as the feedback log are excellent also.
One thing that I question is setting a KPI for ‘number of feedback items’. I think that I would make a slight adjustment and say number of responses. I am afraid that saying number of feedback items would encourage nit-picking instead of honest response. I am saying this because of the times that I sat in meetings to review bad documentation, feeling lost and nit-picking like crazy trying to make things better. What was needed was some honesty to say, “This documentation is way too complicated!” I applaud Dow Presley’s honesty throughout the training. His success has been won through honest effort and he shows by example how to be successful. Thank you, Mr. Presley!
Before taking this course I was on the verge of quitting software development and finding another way to make my living. It seemed that I was the only one who knows the value of clear communication and honest interaction and it was starting to scare me. Mr. Presley’s approach reaffirmed what I know and gave me clearly defined ways to apply my knowledge. So, I am feeling refreshed and invigorated as I search for my next contract assignment. Thank you, Mr. Presley and thank you F L McNamara!
Sincerely,
Jennifer Murphy, BBA, MBA, CTFL
Arbutis Grace, Ltd.
Bolton, Ontario
