Has anyone ever attempted applying requirements specification to non-IT projects? Does anyone have requirements specification models or templates for non-IT projects? Saving Changes...
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Anonymous
Good day.
Please allow me to first state my position about IT Projects vs. Business Projects…
There is no such thing as an IT Project, only Business Initiatives which are fostered and enabled by or with technology.
I’m anxious to read response to that statement .
Yes, in your situation a “requirements specification” may not fit. Do you have access to “Business Requirements Document” template? There are plenty on Gantthead.
A Project Charter is an artifact that would be the pre-requisite to moving forward with a Business Requirements Document.
I have run projects (many years back) that have not had any real IT involvement. They are mainly process and change based. The basic PM rules still apply. You still need a charter, you still need to have the scope defined and signed off, you still need to manage comms and risk etc and most importantly, you still need to define the requirements as this dovetails into test planning, training planning and provides a basis for change control on the project. So a Business Requirements Specification is essential. I'm sure if you google it or search on Gannthead you will find a template. Saving Changes...
I have managed both IT and non-IT projects, and so far I have to say the requirements gathering phases have been nearly identical. The differences come in during execution (SDLC, implementation, etc). All projects should meet business needs. To determine how to meet a business need "correctly," requirements should get gathered independent from thoughts related to solutions. The important question remains: what does the business need? Perhaps they can solve their problem or need without technology? That would deliver a sure win (particularly if little money is needed). In any case, phases that determine what the business needs should use similar, if not identical, processes and tools for IT or non-IT projects. Saving Changes...
Anonymous
I have been doing non IT projects manily in Telecom networks - i.e. construction of towers, laying of telcom cables and power supply equipments etc. The processes we use are siimilar to PMBOK. I have problems with using tools such as Microsoft project to get the earned values etc. I can use the tools for schedules & tracking delays. My main problems are in the area of rosources & costing of the project. I can not get the value of the project from the MS project. Some how my knowledge of the tools may be insufficient to make use of it well. Otherwise I was managing projects sucessfully with mannual methods. I will be greatful if somebody can throw some light on the resorces & costing with some examples using MS Project.
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Anonymous
Thanks for the comments. Specifically, I want to find out if there are any existing models/templates for requirements elicitation for projects like planning an conference or any other kind of event. What are the specific functional and non-functional requirement types? For example, # sq. footage is a requirement...but I've never seen any document that lists requirement types for events. How do these people who plan large scale events or weddings elicit requirements? I find it hard to believe that there is no generic model/templates for these kinds of projects. Saving Changes...
From "Anonymous":
"My main problems are in the area of rosources & costing of the project. I can not get the value of the project from the MS project."
I have found MS Project's cost-tracking tools to be inadequate also. After really digging into the tool, I found one key problem -- you cannot associate each type of cost with accounting codes. It is possible to do, but it requires having separate tasks for each accounting code type, and custom macros or reports. It always seems more trouble than it is worth.
So MS Project can do a good job of tracking the fact that I will be spending $21,000 on SOMETHING in a particular time period, but it has trouble producing the report that I need to give to accounting:
* $18,000 on consulting services
* $2,000 in capital equipment purchase
* $450 in travel expense
* $200 in equipment rental
* $350 in meals
It is all possible to create in MS Project, through VB code, but out-of-the-box the budget creation and tracking tools are weak.
I have always done my primary budget tracking on Excel spreadsheets, created in consultation with my accounting area. I reconcile those spreadsheets against my MS Project schedule, but I do not try to create the budgets directly from MS Project.
MS Project 2007 has some enhancements in this area, but it is still not a complete solution in my view. I still cannot (out of the box) accurately create a budget, track actual costs vs. the budget, produce a variance report, and do a reconciliation to my accounting entries. Using Excel is easier than fighting to make MS Project work the way I want it to. Saving Changes...
Back to the original question:
"Has anyone ever attempted applying requirements specification to non-IT projects? Does anyone have requirements specification models or templates for non-IT projects?"
This is a big pet peeve of mine -- IT project managers forcing IT jargon onto non-IT projects. For most non-IT project types there is no "requirements document" and no "requirements phase". That is IT-specific jargon. If you are going to manage a non-IT project, take the time to learn their terms, and use terms that are appropriate to your application area.
Some technical and engineering projects do still have a "requirements gathering phase". Hardware and telecom, for instance, share these phases and this language.
In the construction industry, there is no "requirements gathering". There are "initial drawings", "blueprints", and other early deliverables that require a basic understanding of the customer's requirements. Rarely do I see construction people actually make a list of "customer requirements", though. The architect or designer typically interviews the client about their lifestyle and needs for the building, and then they start making drawings and physical models. Everyone works out the early decisions by changing these diagrams and creating new models.
In construction, very often final finishing decisions, like paint color and the style of doorknobs, are made at the very end of the project, shortly before the items are installed. Sometimes these last-minute finishing changes can drive the budget much higher than expected. Perhaps you could say that construction projects "should" have a complete requirements-gathering phase at the start, but they typically do not, and construction project managers do not talk about such a thing. Honestly, I think a client would go insane if he or she had to specify every single closet, hinge, doorknob, carpet runner, and paint color before construction began.
One of the posts asked about event planning. Talk to an event planner, and they will be able to share some similar plans for events. You can borrow the top-level WBS items from their plan, if the plan is good. I am not aware of a methodology for event planning, but there probably are some. Events that I have planned are usually organized around a set of milestones like "two weeks before" and "12 weeks before", to recognize various deadlines that must be met to keep the event on track. Decisions like the location are made as early as possible, but decisions like flowers are often made as close as possible to the actual event, to give the designer plenty of time to coordinate everything about the event and to see what types of flowers are available and within the event's remaining budget.
Overall, my advice for any IT person starting to manage non-IT projects: drop the IT jargon and learn your new application area's jargon.
I did a paper and speech on this topic a few years ago. If anyone is interested in more thoughts around this, take a look at:
http://www.alexsbrown.com/crossing-over.html Saving Changes...
Anonymous
Thanks for the notes & infomration by Alex regarding the MS-project for project values. I have been using excel for arrivng at the figures. Also thanks for note on IT jargon in non-IT projects. The jargon is very different in non-IT industry though the processes are similar. I am new to this site and reading various discussions, thanks to Gantthead for giving good space for discussions, clarifications & help. Saving Changes...
