How to Elicit Business System Requirements

It is very early in your project. How will you, the business system analyst, and the business subject matter experts (SMEs) determine what the system should do when you are finished? There are many people involved, each with different expectations and needs. How can you deal with these difficulties, gather reasonable requirements quickly, and not waste the effort?

This training workshop offers techniques for determining how to gather, capture, elicit (whatever you want to call it) business requirements from subject matter experts. Whether you are preparing for a 1-on-1 interview or creating an email survey to get requirements, you will find a useful, proven set of techniques and tricks for identifying problems and gathering requirements, organizing the answers and checking the completeness of the results. You will learn how to identify the events and responses that focuses on the business needs or goals for the system. Business requirement statements ultimately define what the solution has to do. Capturing critical business requirements is the primary goal of during early project phases.

1. Introduction to Requirements Elicitation

Who Needs Requirements, Anyway?

The Fate Chart

A Question File

Exercise: A Problem with Language

Exercise: Initial Requirement Statements

2. Interviewing Techniques

Who Do You Talk to about What?

Identifying Stakeholders

Using an Org chart

Exercise: Stakeholder Identification

Interviewing Techniques

Exercise: Characteristics of a “Good” Interviewer

Interviewing Steps

Plan for the Interview

Perform the Interview

Follow Up the Interview

Exercise: Interviewing: Some Other Ideas

Exercise: Using Interviewing Techniques

Email Interviews 10 Steps

Exercise: Face-to-Face Interview versus Email Interview

Analysis by Walking Around (Site Visits)

Exercise: Analysis by Walking Around (site visits)

Walking Around Notational Technique

Requirements Elicitation Critical Questions

Critical Questions

Applying the 10 Critical Questions

3. Extracting Requirements from Existing Documentation

Document Analysis

System Vision

WasteTheWaist “Vision Statement” from CEO

Exercise: From Vision to Requirement Statements

Vision Statement Evaluation

Exercise: Structured Vision Statement

Using Surveys to Elicit Requirements

The Delphi Technique (Survey)

The Delphi Technique

Considering Prototyping

Prototyping and Requirements

Four Levels of Prototyping

Prototyping & Ten Critical Questions

4. Business Problem Analysis

Problem Definition

Defining the Real Problem

Exercise: Problem Identification

Aristotelian Problem/Symptom Reduction

Rewriting a Problem Statement

Getting Written Problem Statements

Exercise: Aristotelian Problem Symptom Reduction

Exercise (cont.): Problem Statements

From Problems to Requirements

Exercise: Getting Requirements from Problems

5. Event-based Requirements Elicitation

Business Event/Response Analysis

Business Events and Responses

Business Events Defined

Business Event Naming Convention

Defining Business Events

Exercise: Finding Business Events

Identifying Project Scope

Exercise: Confirming Project Scope

Determining Event Responses

Event Response Naming Convention

Exercise: Documenting Business Events

Exercise: Event/Response Table (v 1.0)

Understanding Triggers

Non-Triggered Events

Scheduled Events

Exercise: Adding Event Triggers

Exercise: Event/Response Table (v 1.1)

Additional Event/Response Information

Event/Response Table (v 1.2)

• Manage questions and open items lists
• Identify the value of good requirements
• Creates requirements during "analysis by walking around"
• Develop and process surveys
• Prepare, perform and follow up requirements interviews
• Use 10 critical requirements questions to guide the requirements capture process
• Evaluate a management vision statement
• Contrast the pros and cons of prototyping for requirements
• Write business requirements that solve business problems
• Create business event/response tables
• Develop requirements based on business events and responses

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Web-based	Oct 12 - 13, 2010	Internet	$495	Register
Web-based	Dec 6 - 7, 2010	Internet	$495	Register
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