Three Requirements Gathering Warning Signs

Joe Wynne is a versatile Project Manager experienced in delivering medium-scope projects in large organizations that improve workforce performance and business processes. He has a proven track record of delivering effective, technology-savvy solutions in a variety of industries and a unique combination of strengths in both process management and workforce management.

  Requirements Management   Stakeholder Management  

A successful requirements definition phase takes a lot more than a good BA and enough time. You have to be alert to evidence that the process itself is going bad. There are time bombs hidden out there, but you can find them if you listen for the ticking. Here are three problems that can blast the success of your requirements gathering, how to spot them and how to react constructively.

Ticking Time Bomb #1: Stakeholder suddenly stops participating

What you hear from your project team:

• “I’ve sent several messages, but I have heard nothing back for over a week.”
• “We have all approvals except for one and it is a couple of days past the deadline.”

The problem: Disagreement with something in the requirements document has caused passive-aggressive behavior. This is worse than outright disagreement. You can respond to outright disagreement but it is difficult to respond to nothing.

What to do:

• First make sure your team is not embarrassed by an explanation, such as the individual is scheduled away from the office, suffering from a surprise death in the family or something similar
• Arrange personal contact by a trusted friend of the stakeholder.
• Report in regular reporting, but you must have made defensible efforts to make contact with the stakeholder using multiple forms of contact
• Escalate the …

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