Current Articles | Search | Subscribe (RSS)

Entries for the 'Elicitation (BABOK KA)' Category

» FEATURED: The Whole Requirement and Nothing But the Requirement

(3809 Views) (1 Comments)

The Whole Requirement and Nothing But the Requirement

It is wise to use whatever techniques we can to discover the 'real' requirements and business rules before embarking on development. We all seem to know that it is cheaper to fix problems earlier rather than later in an IT project. So why do so many of our projects exhibit the same mistakes?

» FEATURED: 3 Ways to Conduct Elicitation Even If You Aren’t in a Business Analyst Role

(4034 Views) (1 Comments)

3 Ways to Conduct Elicitation Even If You Aren’t in a Business Analyst Role

In this article, I’ll show you how you can apply three specific business analysis elicitation or requirements gathering techniques as part of facilitating all or part of a meeting even if you aren’t in a business analysis role.

» FEATURED: Six Ways to Avoid Requirements Workshop “Traffic Jams”

(4197 Views) (0 Comments)

Six Ways to Avoid Requirements Workshop “Traffic Jams”

As we travelled around India we were initially amazed at how the traffic flowed. India is a populous country, of course, and they have an ever-increasing number of vehicles. No matter what time of day it was, the traffic seemed heavy. So, how can their constant flow of traffic work?

» FEATURED: Facilitating virtual meetings

(3962 Views) (0 Comments)

I learned this in a virtual meeting where about 10 stakeholders were invited to give input to a mock-up created by our project. They were all subject matter experts within the area, and had earlier provided some input on an individual basis. I walked through the whole thing, and what happened? There were no comments or suggestions. I couldn't ...

» FEATURED: Business Analyst Checkpoints: Checkpoint Alpha

(5339 Views) (2 Comments)

Business Analyst Checkpoints: Checkpoint Alpha

There are three basic checkpoints the business analyst can facilitate to help ensure that he or she is on the right track. Two are informal, merely a get-together with other parties to review the situation and not fraught with the imprimatur of approval. The other is a more formal presentation. I’ll address each of the three checkpoints in this ser...

» The Process of Determining Business Requirements

(6706 Views) (2 Comments)

The Process of Determining Business Requirements

Taking time to determine business requirements before launching into a new IT or process-based project is a critical component of good planning and protecting company assets. Clearly defining the current process, the problems that need to be focused on, and working with the people in the organization before beginning your project will allow for a m...

» FEATURED: The Virtual BA (Business Analyst)

(5050 Views) (4 Comments)

As I've had the honor and privilege of mentoring and coaching business analysts (BA’s) one of the areas that has been a challenge to some is moving from facilitating and eliciting face to face meetings to facilitating and eliciting virtual meetings. More and more BA’s are working remotely, work for companies who have global businesses as well as co...

» FEATURED: The Six Blind Men and the Requirements

(7573 Views) (6 Comments)

There’s an old fable about six blind men who encountered an elephant for the first time. Although they couldn’t see it, they wanted to learn what an elephant was like. Each of them touched a different part of the elephant.

» FEATURED: How Detailed Should Requirements Be? Part 3 - When More Requirements Detail Is Advisable

(8635 Views) (4 Comments)

How Detailed Should Requirements Be? Part 3 - When More Requirements Detail Is Advisable

There are several situations in which recording only high-level requirements information increases the project’s risk. When you encounter situations such as the ones described in this article, expect to spend more time than average developing detailed requirements specifications.

» FEATURED: How Detailed Should Requirements Be? Part 2 - When Less Requirements Detail Is Appropriate

(6939 Views) (2 Comments)

How Detailed Should Requirements Be? Part 2 - When Less Requirements Detail Is Appropriate

Several conditions make it appropriate to leave the requirements descriptions at a higher level of abstraction. Recognize that these are broad guidelines. The BA should perform a risk-benefit analysis to balance the potential downside of omitting important information against the effort required to include it.

» Requirements Reuse: the State of the Practice

(3056 Views) (0 Comments)

Requirements Reuse: the State of the Practice

For several decades, software reuse has been a recognized solution to improving efficiency of software development. However, implementing reuse in practice remains challenging and the IT community has little visibility into the state of the practice specifically as it pertains to reusing software requirements. This paper presents the results of a s...

» FEATURED: Ambiguity, Uncertainty or Both?

(5731 Views) (8 Comments)

We have always been fascinated by the exceptional business analysts who can create order out of total chaos. The ones who can ask those great questions, who can figure out what’s important and what’s less so, who can synthesize lots of information, put it all into their magic hat and come out with requirements that make sense to all the stakeholder...

» FEATURED: How Detailed Should Requirements Be? - Part 1

(12474 Views) (15 Comments)

How Detailed Should Requirements Be? - Part 1

Recently I was chatting at a wine tasting event with a couple of lawyers, who I had just met. One was surprisingly inquisitive about my work in the software requirements arena. Apparently she was working on case involving software at that very time. At one point she asked me, “How do you know how detailed to make the requirements?”

» FEATURED: The Real Brains Behind Better Facilitation

(7315 Views) (13 Comments)

The Real Brains Behind Better Facilitation

Facilitation is one of the most critical soft skills of the business analyst, as well as one of the most difficult to master. Working with various stakeholders requires tremendous preparation, insight and finesse in addition to an understanding of key principles of the facilitation process.

» FEATURED: The Influencing Formula for Business Analysts

(5976 Views) (2 Comments)

The Influencing Formula for Business Analysts

I often get asked, “How can I get stakeholders to attend my meetings?” or “How can I get stakeholders’ buy-in on the project?” These are complex questions and the easy answer is that you can’t. As BAs and PMs we can’t get anyone to do anything, but we can certainly influence them so that they want to.

Page 1 of 4

First Previous [1] 2 3 4 Next Last

Join the Premier Community for
Business Analysts, Business Process Professionals,
Systems Analysts, Data Analysts, and more…

Business Analyst Articles: Business Analysis & Systems Analysis

Entries for the 'Elicitation (BABOK KA)' Category

Join the Premier Community for Business Analysts, Business Process Professionals, Systems Analysts, Data Analysts, and more…

Business Analyst Articles: Business Analysis & Systems Analysis

Entries for the 'Elicitation (BABOK KA)' Category

Join the Premier Community for
Business Analysts, Business Process Professionals,
Systems Analysts, Data Analysts, and more…