Requirements Gathering:
What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
Dr Eugene O’Loughlin
Agenda
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Perception
Planning
Common problems facing BA
Project failures
Poor requirements
Methodology
Overcome problems
Lessons learned
Oops!
What does your Business Card say about you?
I’m Imperfect!
Perfect Results
Every Time!
Business
Analyst
Perception
What do you see in this picture?
Business Analysts are Organized People?
• Organized
• Methodical
• Planned
Dive in and get started
Fail to Plan, Plan to Fail
What the top 2% know that everyone else does not
• The best or “alpha” project managers spend more time
on every PM process group than their counterparts
except for execution, as follows:
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Initiating: 2% vs. 1%
Planning: 21% vs. 11%
Executing: 69% vs. 82%
Controlling: 5% vs. 4%
Closing: 3% vs. 2%1*
8 key areas were identified where alpha project
managers shine:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Attitude and belief
Communication
Alignment with the organization
Approach and organization
Priority management skills
Issue Management
Relationships and conflict
Leadership
Andy Crowe, Alpha Project Managers: What the Top 2%
Know That Everyone Else Does Not, Velociteach Press
(2006).
10
Competencies
Paul, Yeates & Cadle (2010) p17
Six Common Problems Faced By A Business Analyst
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5.
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Resistance in sharing information
Irregular attendance
Accountability for decisions
Resolving user conflicts
Real needs vs. perceived needs
Changing needs
Source: BA Times
The Top Challenges Facing Business Analysts
Source: Business Improvement Architects
Project Failures
Survey (2011)
Source: http://www.pmsolutions.com/collateral/research/Strategies%20for%20Project%20Recovery%202011.pdf
Federal Bureau of Investigation
US Census Bureau – Field Data Collection Automation (FDCA)
Swedish Navy
Why Projects Fail – Poor Requirements
• Most business requirements approaches fail
on two dimensions
1. Lack of a true process orientation
2. Lack of understanding of the neuroscience
involved in requirements definition
Being asked what you
want out of a system is
like being asked what you
want out of life! Where do
you start? What are the
parameters?
Impact of Poor Requirements
If business analysts provide
subpar requirements, it
causes a wide range of
negative consequences not
only for the current project
but for the business as a
whole.
Methodologies
Business Analysis Body of Knowledge
…BABOK Guide…should
not be construed as a
methodology for the
performance of business
analysis.
(BABOK p6)
BABOK = Panacea?
BABOK – works “most of the time”
Source: BABOK p1
Some Strategies (Austin, Runk, & Waters 2009)
Some Strategies (Austin, Runk, & Waters 2009)
Source: http://delphi.com/pdf/techpapers/2009-01-0529.pdf
Flaws
Five common errors in requirements analysis
1. Customers don't (really) know what they want
2. Requirements change during the course of the
project
3. Customers have unreasonable timelines
4. Communication gaps exist between customers, engineers and
project managers
5. The development team doesn't understand the politics of the
customer's organization
Source: http://www.techrepublic.com/article/five-common-errors-in-requirements-analysis-and-how-to-avoid-them
SAME O' SAME O'.…
• Every project is different, but…
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Same people
Same Team Lead
Same Project Manager
Same agendas
Same customs
Same needs
Negotiate – Polite – Change
Lessons Learned
• What works in Manufacturing will not work in Finance
• One-to-one interviews “brilliant”, especially if you want
to know a process
• Workshops only work if you bring in people from all
departments
• Use Visio for step-by-step walkthroughs
• Use templates
• Read legislation
• Get on with the Project Manager
• Know the issues, risks, and dependencies
Learning from our mistakes
• “The hardest mistakes to learn from are those that
lack consequence.”
Jasper Sole
• “No one is exempt from the rule that learning
occurs through recognition of error.”
Alexander Lowen
QQI Certificate in Business Analysis
• More information at:
• www.businessanalyst.ie
• www.ncirl.ie
My Book
Business Systems Analysis
Requirements
Elicitation
Analysis
Analysis Tools
Problem
Identification
Improvement
Priorities
Identification
Decision
Making
Process
Identification
Resource
Planning
Process
Improvement
Controlling and Improving Processes
Performance
Measurement
Benchmarking
Performance
Importance/
Performance
www.theliffeypress.com
Contact Me
eoloughlin@ncirl.ie
@eoloughlin
www.eugeneoloughlin.com
www.youtube.com/eoloughlin
www.slideshare.net/eoloughlin
Questions/Comments