Requirements 101: Balance

  Business Analysis   Estimating   Requirements Management   Work Breakdown Structures (WBS)   ProjectsAtWork  

Project leaders rush or minimize the requirements management process at their own peril. However, if we spend too much time on requirements, we are at risk of creating a burdensome process that will delay the project. It is important, then, to apply the appropriate amount of requirements rigor to our projects.

This is the final installment in a four-part series on the crucial relationship between the disciplines of requirements management and project management. Part One provided an overview of requirement management and addressed the tendency of many project professionals to shortchange business analysis activities. Part Two looked at the relationship between the BABOK and PMBOK. Part Three gave an overview of the key planning activities, sub-processes and deliverables involved in requirements planning.

Choosing appropriate requirements management processes is critical. It is important to find the balance between the extremes of a burdensome process and no process at all. All levels of rigor can be appropriate, depending on the project and the organization where the process is followed. On some projects, following a great deal of rigor is required; on others little is. Scott Ambler, a proponent of the Agile approach, discusses the importance of “just-in-time JIT requirements elicitation.” Alan Davis discusses his “Just Enough” …

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