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Requirements are Slippery Little Suckers
By Susan de la Vergne
Warning: Reading this story may cause you to change how you manage requirements.
Roger was the business analyst in charge of gathering and documenting system requirements on a major business IT project when he was asked to assume the role of project manager. He happily accepted and, tucking his 200-page requirements Word document under his arm, moved into a new cubicle closer to the team.
He was new to project management and had been waiting for an opportunity like this. To say he was eager to be successful in this role would be an understatement. Thanks to his business analyst background, he knew the business and technical requirements work well and felt especially ready for project leadership.
Roger's requirements volume was huge, complex and impressive. He'd gathered requirements in sessions with subject matter experts (SMEs) and now considered himself a SME, which was not an opinion shared by other SMEs, alas.
Roger did not replace himself as business analyst on the project, deciding to be both PM and BA.
Changes to the Requirements
As the project moved into the design phase, questions came in from the design team about specific requirements, questions requiring answers from the SMEs. But some required significant research (like How is that data element used in other systems?). Others inspired debate among the SMEs, and Roger couldn't get them to come to consensus. Unwilling to fall behind schedule, he simply chose answers himself (his opinion of himself as a SME came in handy). He revised the document accordingly and moved on, intending simply to keep the project on schedule.
Occasionally he re-published to the SMEs the now-300-page requirements PDF, but he knew they weren't reading it. Each SME assumed some other SME was tracking the changes, but Roger was right: no one was reading it.
Until one day one of them did.
Read the rest of the story.
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New Book by Auxilium Instructor:
Engineers On Stage
We're delighted to tell you that Susan de la Vergne's new book, Engineers On Stage: Presentation Skills for Technical Professionals, comes out August 1!
Here's what reviewers are saying:
I love this book! Engineers On Stage is full of sound, actionable advice for every engineer who makes presentations--no matter whether to small groups of five or seven or huge auditoriums at international conferences. Susan de la Vergne really understands engineers and the challenges they face as presenters, and they're lucky to have a guidebook like this one to follow.
-- Nick Morgan, author of Give Your Speech, Change the World (Harvard Business Review Press)
Engineers On Stage is an excellent and much-needed handbook for anyone who does professional presentations. Susan de la Vergne has brought true wisdom and practical advice from her own years of experience. She'll capture you from the opening page and hold your attention to the end, just as she did with me.
-- Jim Cathcart, CSP, CPAE, past president of the National Speakers Association,author of Confident Communication: Public Speaking and Leading Meetings.
Susan's Technical Presentations Workshop has been a favorite with Auxilium clients for years because it tackles an engineering challenge most instructors don't get--how to prepare and deliver technical material.Now her book does the same.
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More from Auxilium Online
Fascinating Science - Ready for Market? Visionary physicist Michio Kaku's latest best-seller, Physics of the Future, describes amazing and exciting scientific advances ready for engineers to implement. But are engineering organizations ready with the kind of leadership to transform these advances from proven to practical?
Talking About Bacteria--With Gusto! (A Lesson for Technical Presenters) It's amazing to watch a molecular biologist describe how bacteria communicate--a wake-up call for anyone who thinks it's not possible to be engaging and impart enthusiasm when presenting technical material.
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Developing Leadership in a Vacuum
Just like technical proficiency, leadership ability rarely develops in a vacuum. And just like developing technical proficiency, developing leadership requires education, practice, coaching, feedback, and continuous improvement.
I started Auxilium 10 years ago because I wanted to help engineers become better leaders--to help them communicate their ideas, become more influential, be better listeners, manage conflict, be creative, lead teams ... all of it. That's what we're here for.
Are your engineers becoming better leaders? Are you? How can we help?
Sincerely,
Gary Hinkle
President and CEO
503-293-3557
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