The Many Manners of Gathering Requirements

Home  >  Articles  > 






The Many Manners of Gathering Requirements

by Sainath Nagarajan, PMP, SCPM

September 24, 2007


It is indeed ironic that despite our proclamations on why requirements gathering is important, scant thought is given to what might be the most appropriate means and ways to get requirements. Trade press and clichéd rhetoric would have us believe that the problem is to bridge business and IT and get someone that can “speak both languages”.
 
So the hunt begins for the right people from each IT and business group, who embark on the quest to find requirements, patiently goaded and cheered on by the project manager. Sure, you will find what you need! The key to smarter requirements gathering lies in understanding the audience and respectfully tailoring the means of information gathering in order to reach the desired goal.
 
The underlying principle expanded upon here is that we need to effectively become better artistes that can successful gather discrete informational inputs and insights through consciously tailored methods, and actively integrate the information into various tactical repositories.
 
Some of the many manners of gathering requirements which I’ll outline here can be used by any savvy professional, whether in IT or business, and won’t require any special language, codes or roles.
 
Shadowing the Most Senior Executives
Engaging most senior executives requires a very light-touch, high-impact approach.



Please login/register to read the entire article.





sponsored announcements and special offers
Position yourself for success with Florida Tech's MBA in Project Management, accredited by PMI® GAC. There's no GMAT or GRE required, and you'll also qualify for 1,500 experience hours that can be used toward earning a prestigious PMP® credential.
The Enterprise PPM and PMO Blue Print. Learn strategies and best practices for taking a top-down, enterprise-wide approach to PPM processes and system deployment. To learn more and register now, click here!



Maybe the dingo ate your baby.
- Elaine Benes