Many business analysts and heads of industry find themselves in compromising situations. Their team is down and they can’t seem to move the business properly towards the goal. It seems your competitor across the field is always one step ahead, providing results and fan [customer] satisfaction. But how did they do it and why can’t you come back? Ga...

A Promise to have a Conversation I’ve been writing user stories for a couple of years now, and the best way I’ve heard how to describe them is that they are a promise to have a conversation.  Enough information should be written down to give the reader an idea of what the gist of the story is (and to be able to roughly estimate a story point ...

One of the more controversial techniques fostered by some in the agile community is ‘Pair Programming’. It is a practice that originates from Extreme Programming, a specific Agile process pioneered by Kent Beck. It is controversial, particularly for larger corporates because it seeks to adjust human behaviour patterns. In Pair Programming, develop...

I know you are going to call me crazy, but I just have to let everyone know.  Machines are controlling us.  Don’t say I didn’t warn you.  You don’t believe me?  Okay, I’ll explain. People come and go in organizations.  Systems tend to stay much longer.  Simple enough right?  Here is the kicker.  When that sy...

At Mendix, we find that our customers appoint a particular kind of person to work with our products. Sometimes they’re from IT, sometimes they’re a business analyst or project manager – in any case, they practice the skills of both fields. Times are changing, departmental lines are blurring, and a new breed of business superhero has risen: the BE. ...

We look for the best and brightest when hiring for Requirements Analysts and Product Managers. It’s a long and difficult process with many people applying; only a fraction get through the first interview and even less are able to hang in the process as it continues. This has brought great strain to our company: as we expand we simply aren’t able to...

A lot of our clients bring us in to fix their requirements issues. Based on the literature a lot of what you see about requirements is geared towards making sure that you write a requirement in the correct way – measurable, testable, traceable and atomic.  Our experience with many Fortune 500 companies leads to a different issue being the most...

  Telecommunications companies are looking to cloud computing to clean up inefficient processes throughout the sales channel. The products and services in this industry change so often that these companies have become more competitive than ever, with continuously shrinking margins. Flexible front end solutions bring agility to the sales proce...

Its being held in Sydney Australia September 27th- October 1st 2010.If you are attending this conference don’t miss out on the  Requirements Engineering Education and Training Workshop that is taking place September 28th. Do you want to broaden your skills? Learn new techniques?  This is the workshop for you. This workshop will add...

Last year, I wrote about my Lessons from a Bad Haircut. I’m please to say I finally have a lesson from a good haircut. How did I finally get a good haircut? It was what the stylist did after I explained what I wanted. She drew a quick sketch. It took about 15 seconds. And, with that sketch, I was able to say “No, that’s not what I want.” 60 ...