Requirements are essential considerations in project development. Requirements set the project scope and therefore, determine what is and what is not covered in the project.

Successful projects are highly dependent on well-defined and well-understood requirements. Investments in requirements processes have proven to be key contributors to the ability to deliver projects on time and on budget with the required features and functions.

Poor requirements management processes (or lack thereof) have been identified as a leading cause of project failure. To address this problem a number of approaches help deal with requirements definition and requirement gathering.  However, requirements activities, as employed in many organizations today, are unstructured and ineffective. 

 This workshop deals with requirements management processes, and how they address project failures/problems.  The following processes will be discussed:

- Requirements planning
- Requirements development, which includes:

- requirements gathering and elicitation
- requirements definition, and
- requirements analysis< verification

- Requirements change management

Process deliverables will be defined as well as the inputs, tools and techniques that will be used to produce the deliverables. Elements of an effective requirements management process will be discussed to help participants develop a practical methodology for handling and managing requirements for their organization, implementing requirements management processes in a formal, standardized manner.

The challenges in implementing a requirements management process will be discussed, as well as how requirement tools and techniques can be applied to practical workplace situations to overcome challenges in implementing effective requirement management processes.

Requirements management, when implemented in collaboration with stakeholders, capitalizes on the major contributors to project success.

Using case studies and group exercises in this workshop, best practices in requirements management will be discussed and explored to enable participants to tailor industry best practices into practical ways that can be applied to their organization. 

A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK^® Guide) areas covered: Integration Management, Scope Management, Communication Management, and Risk Management.

Who should attend?

- Project managers and business analysts who have responsibility to run a project and/or develop requirements definition, functional requirements and business process requirements

- Program management office (PMO) managers/directors interested in developing a standard requirements management process for their organization

- Project management consultants interested in understanding the benefits and challenges of implementing a requirements management process and in learning how a requirements management process can impact customer satisfaction, project performance and the organizational performance.

What will my seminar experience cover?

- Reasons for project failure: A discussion of where requirements management process fits in the project management model. Real-world cases will be explored, including industry examples experiencing high percentages of project failure.

- The need for a requirements management process: How a requirements management process can address most causes for project delays and failures

- Handling requirements and requirement changes: Common approaches in handling requirements and requirement changes

- Implementing requirements development, verification and change management in your project life cycle: Workshop exercises in requirements processes

- Challenges in implementing a requirements management process: Understanding the challenges in implementing a requirements management process and effective ways to handle them

- Elements of an effective requirements management process: Workshop discussion and exercises to tailor a general approach

- Best practices in requirements management: A discussion of how these practices prove effective for many organizations.

How will I benefit?

- Develop and enhance the contributions you make to your organization by learning to:

- Identify the major causes for project failures

- Use requirement processes to address project failures/problems, instead of conducting ad hoc (or unstructures) requirements gathering activities

- Identify the elements of an effective requirements management process

- Understand how to use tools and techniques for requirements development (including requirements definition, gathering and elicitation, analysis), requirements verification and requirements change management in your project life cycle

- Apply requirement tools and techniques to workplace situations, e.g., in gathering, writing, analyzing requirements)

- Develop a requirements management plan

- Create a requirements definition baseline

- Process requirement change requests

- Involve users in requirements definition and in requirements verification

- Tailor a general approach in handling requirements into a practical requirements management methodology applicable to the workplace

- Handle challenges in implementing a requirements management process

- Utilize requirement management processes in improving organizational performance.

What instructional materials will be used?

Lecture, case studies, group discussion and exercises.