IMPROVING REQUIREMENTS MANAGEMENT
Developing a Roadmap to Success
PRESENTED BY:
KATE GWYNNE, CBAP, CSM
INTRODUCTION

About . . .
In 2008, Kate Gwynne became the Business Analysis Practice
Lead at State Auto Insurance, after more than 20 years of
experience helping organizations successfully align and
implement their business and IT initiatives. As Practice Lead, she
has developed and implemented various initiatives to help define,
build, and guide the State Auto Analyst Community, including a
Business Analysis Academy geared towards improving the
knowledge and enhancing the skills of State Auto’s 120+
Analysts.
 As an industry leader, Kate has been a guest speaker at
numerous industry and corporate conferences, including most
recently: Baldwin-Wallace College and the 2012 IIBA Central
Indiana Professional Development Day.

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INTRODUCTION

Duly Noted . . .

While Kate, heretofore referred to as “Said Expert,” is employed
at State Auto Insurance, furthermore and henceforth referred to
as “Said Company,” the views and opinions expressed by Said
Expert are not necessarily the views and opinions of Said
Company. You can neither hitherto nor where-for-art-thou hold
State Auto responsible for any comments hence forth.

This presentation is an example of how implementing a
requirements management program and best practices can
improve aspects of projects. It is by no means prescriptive, nor
does Said Expert promise that utilizing information in this
presentation will be the sole variable that guarantees the success
of your project.
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AGENDA
o
o
o
o
o
Industry Statistics
Requirements Management
Current and Future State
Roadmap to the Future
Sustaining the Change
INDUSTRY STATISTICS . . .
62 %
Of projects . . .
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Information obtained on industry websites such as CNet, Mindtools, and PMTips
INDUSTRY STATISTICS . . .
62 %
Of projects fail to meet their schedules
6
Information obtained on industry websites such as CNet, Mindtools, and PMTips
INDUSTRY STATISTICS . . .
Top 5 reasons. . .





?
?
?
?
?
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Information obtained on industry websites such as CNet, Mindtools, and PMTips
INDUSTRY STATISTICS . . .
Top 5 reasons. . .





Lack of stakeholder involvement
Long or unrealistic time schedules
Scope creep
No change control system
Missed, inaccurate, no requirements
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Information obtained on industry websites such as CNet, Mindtools, and PMTips
THE IMPACT OF
MISSED AND INACCURATE REQUIREMENTS
Analysis
&
Design
Build
Test
Deploy &
Support
Orange = The Project phase in which defects
are typically introduced
Analysis
&
Design
Build
Test
Deploy &
Support
Orange = The Project phase in which
defects are typically discovered
9
* According to research performed by a national financial organization.
THE COST OF
MISSED AND INACCURATE REQUIREMENTS
“…results show as much as a 200:1 cost
ratio between finding and fixing errors
before sign-off vs. finding and fixing
requirements in the maintenance stages
of the project.” *
$$
$$
$
$
Analysis
&
Design
Build
Test
Deploy &
Support
Analysis
&
Design
Orange = The Phase in which
Defects are Typically
Introduced
Build
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$$$$
Test
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Deploy &
Support
Orange = The Phase in which
Defects are Typically
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Discovered
$ = The Cost to
Correct Mistakes
* According to research performed by a national financial organization.
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AGENDA
o
o
o
o
o
Industry Statistics
Requirements Management
Current and Future State
Roadmap to the Future
Sustaining the Change
REQUIREMENTS MANAGEMENT IS . . .
Planning &
Monitoring
Solution
Assessment &
Validation
Analysis
The activities
that control
requirements
development,
including
requirements
change control,
requirements
attributes
definition, and
requirements
traceability.
Elicitation
Management &
Communication
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Benefits of
Improving
Requirements
Management
13
Increases
likelihood of
achieving
business value
for chosen
solutions
Reduces
project costs
Expands
Bandwidth
Establishes
Clear
Expectations
Benefits of
Improving
Requirements
Management
Increases speed
to market
Improves
Estimates
Reduces Scope
Creep
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AGENDA
o
o
o
o
o
Industry Statistics
Requirements Management
Current and Future State
Roadmap to the Future
Sustaining the Change
3 KEY COMPONENTS
1
2
3
16
3 KEY COMPONENTS
People
Process
Technology
17
CURRENT STATE
FUTURE STATE
PEOPLE
PEOPLE
PROCESS
PROCESS
TECHNOLOGY
TECHNOLOGY
CURRENT STATE
PEOPLE
FUTURE STATE
PEOPLE
• Role descriptions are not
consistent across the enterprise.
• Not all Analysts have the necessary
skills to meet the project objectives.
PROCESS
TECHNOLOGY
PROCESS
TECHNOLOGY
CURRENT STATE
FUTURE STATE
PEOPLE
PEOPLE
• Role descriptions are not
consistent across the enterprise.
• Not all Analysts have the necessary
skills to meet the project objectives.
Roles and skills support
project objectives.
PROCESS
PROCESS
TECHNOLOGY
TECHNOLOGY
CURRENT STATE
FUTURE STATE
PEOPLE
PEOPLE
• Role descriptions are not
consistent across the enterprise.
• Not all Analysts have the necessary
skills to meet the project objectives.
PROCESS
TECHNOLOGY
Set Expectations
Provide Education
Roles and skills support
project objectives.
PROCESS
TECHNOLOGY
CURRENT STATE
FUTURE STATE
PEOPLE
PEOPLE
• Role descriptions are not
consistent across the enterprise.
• Not all Analysts have the necessary
skills to meet the project objectives.
PROCESS
Set Expectations
Provide Education
Roles and skills support
project objectives.
PROCESS
• Processes are not consistent across
departments or like projects.
• No way to measure process
effectiveness.
TECHNOLOGY
TECHNOLOGY
CURRENT STATE
FUTURE STATE
PEOPLE
PEOPLE
• Role descriptions are not
consistent across the enterprise.
• Not all Analysts have the necessary
skills to meet the project objectives.
Set Expectations
Provide Education
Roles and skills support
project objectives.
PROCESS
PROCESS
• Processes are not consistent across
departments or like projects.
• No way to measure process
effectiveness.
Processes are scalable,
consistent, repeatable,
effective, and welldocumented.
TECHNOLOGY
TECHNOLOGY
CURRENT STATE
FUTURE STATE
PEOPLE
PEOPLE
• Role descriptions are not
consistent across the enterprise.
• Not all Analysts have the necessary
skills to meet the project objectives.
PROCESS
Set Expectations
Provide Education
Align Requirements
• Processes are not consistent across Activities with Project
Objectives
departments or like projects.
Implement Best Practices
• No way to measure process
effectiveness.
TECHNOLOGY
Roles and skills support
project objectives.
PROCESS
Processes are scalable,
consistent, repeatable,
effective, and welldocumented.
TECHNOLOGY
CURRENT STATE
FUTURE STATE
PEOPLE
PEOPLE
• Role descriptions are not
consistent across the enterprise.
• Not all Analysts have the necessary
skills to meet the project objectives.
PROCESS
Set Expectations
Provide Education
Align Requirements
• Processes are not consistent across Activities with Project
Objectives
departments or like projects.
Implement Best Practices
• No way to measure process
effectiveness.
TECHNOLOGY
• Numerous tools used across
organization.
• Manual activities.
• Too much / too little
documentation.
Roles and skills support
project objectives.
PROCESS
Processes are scalable,
consistent, repeatable,
effective, and welldocumented.
TECHNOLOGY
CURRENT STATE
FUTURE STATE
PEOPLE
PEOPLE
• Role descriptions are not
consistent across the enterprise.
• Not all Analysts have the necessary
skills to meet the project objectives.
PROCESS
Set Expectations
Provide Education
Align Requirements
• Processes are not consistent across Activities with Project
Objectives
departments or like projects.
Implement Best Practices
• No way to measure process
effectiveness.
TECHNOLOGY
• Numerous tools used across
organization.
• Manual activities.
• Too much / too little
documentation.
Roles and skills support
project objectives.
PROCESS
Processes are scalable,
consistent, repeatable,
effective, and welldocumented.
TECHNOLOGY
Consistent tools and
templates support project
objectives.
Reporting enables decision
making.
CURRENT STATE
FUTURE STATE
PEOPLE
PEOPLE
• Role descriptions are not
consistent across the enterprise.
• Not all Analysts have the necessary
skills to meet the project objectives.
Set Expectations
Provide Education
PROCESS
Align Requirements
• Processes are not consistent across Activities with Project
Objectives
departments or like projects.
Implement Best Practices
• No way to measure process
effectiveness.
PROCESS
Processes are scalable,
consistent, repeatable,
effective, and welldocumented.
TECHNOLOGY
TECHNOLOGY
• Numerous tools used across
organization.
• Manual activities.
• Too much / too little
documentation.
Roles and skills support
project objectives.
Provide Accelerators
Consistent tools and
templates support project
objectives.
Reporting enables decision
making.
AGENDA
o
o
o
o
o
Industry Statistics
Requirements Management
Current and Future State
Roadmap to the Future
Sustaining the Change
Baseline
Current State
Requirements Management Roadmap
People:
• Role descriptions
are not consistent
across the
enterprise.
• Not all Analysts
have the necessary
skills to meet the
project objectives.
Desired
Future State
People:
Step 3 examples: Automation
•
•
•
Process:
Automate manual activities
Provide reports linking initiatives to strategic
objectives
Trace requirements from problem identification to
solution development and implementation and
finally to business satisfaction with implemented
solution
Step 2 examples: Training Program
• Processes are not
consistent across
departments or like
projects.
• No way to measure
process
effectiveness.
Step 1 examples: Requirements Mgmt Framework
Technology:
•
• Numerous tools
used across
organization.
• Manual activities.
• Too much / too little
documentation.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Develop training and coaching program
Update role descriptions so skills required match project
demands
Establish and implement knowledge sharing opportunities
Coordinate advisory group or steering committee to provide
guidance and perspective
Develop communication plan
Establish scalable requirements mgmt framework
Determine input / output to external and internal processes and
methodologies
Create document repository for templates, training materials, and
job aides
• Roles and skills
support project
objectives.
Process:
• Processes are
scalable, consistent,
repeatable,
effective, and welldocumented.
Technology:
• Consistent tools
and templates
support project
objectives.
• Reporting enables
decision making.
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MEASURING SUCCESS
AUTOMATE MANUAL ACTIVITIES
Goals:

Reduce time to create test cases by integrating requirements management tool with QA
team’s testing tool.
Measuring Success:

Baseline is 30 minutes per test case on current projects for QA team to manually develop
test cases.

Establish reports that track time from completed/approved requirements to test case
development.
REQUIREMENTS MANAGEMENT ROADMAP TIMELINE
Milestones
Automation
Training
Program
Requirements Mgmt
Framework
Steps
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Coordinate advisory group or steering
committee to provide guidance and
perspective
Develop communication plan
Establish scalable requirements mgmt
framework
Determine input / output to external and
internal processes and methodologies
Create document repository for templates,
training materials, and job aides
Develop training and coaching program
Update role descriptions so skills required match
project demands
Establish and implement knowledge sharing
opportunities
Automate manual activities
Provide reports linking initiatives to strategic
objectives
Trace requirements from problem
identification to solution development and
implementation and finally to business
satisfaction with implemented solution
2012
Q2
Q3
2013
Q4
AGENDA
o
o
o
o
o
Industry Statistics
Requirements Management
Current and Future State
Roadmap to the Future
Sustaining the Change
MANAGING CHANGE
Hurdle #1
Hurdle #2
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MANAGING CHANGE
Resistance to
Change
Not managing
the People side
of change
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SUSTAINING THE CHANGE

Provide a culture of continuous change
Define how success will be measured
 Encourage idea exchange for ways to improve


Communicate with perspective and transparency




Be a change leader






Learn from the past, be in the present, live for the future
Be fueled by passion and inspire passion in others
Be self-motivated
Take time to understand people
Develop strong communication skills
Be committed to continuous improvement
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THANK YOU!
Please feel free to contact me at:
Kate.Gwynne@StateAuto.com
or
Kgwynne@hotmail.com
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