The Community Blog for Business Analysts

I remember as a 3rd grade student winning my school’s local Spelling Bee competition and going to compete in the county wide Spelling Bee. Part of the instructions we were given was that we could ask the judges two questions when we received our word. We could ask for the word to be used in a sentence and we could ask for the definition of the word.

As business analysts today we are well aware that when we elicit a requirement, we should clarify any potentially ambiguous word to make sure that we understand exactly what the stakeholder means by the requirement being given. But is that where we should begin? If, during the initial meeting, the stakeholder requests a deliverable of a high-level requirements document, detail requirements document or needs analysis - does the deliverable that we as business analysts visualize coincide with the deliverable that the stakeholder is visualizing?

When you begin a project and a stakeholder requests a specific document from you (high-level business requirements) you should begin by reaching agreement with the stakeholder concerning what a high-level requirements document will look like and what information it will contain. It could be that your stakeholder is using a buzz-word without really understanding what they are requesting. They could have also seen a template at another company or on a website of a high-level requirements document that you are not aware of, and that is totally different than the template you are planning to use.

Just as in the Spelling Bee, a good initial question to always ask is “Definition please?”