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"How to
Describe Your Needs To Achieve the Right Solution, Delivered Quickly"
A Sprint Course in Capturing Requirements for
Customers and Users
1 day
Good requirements will assure that you get a
workable solution that is delivered fast. This course is a complement to
another course: "How to Capture Customer
Requirements and Develop Project Scope" which is targeted toward helping
project staff skillfully ask questions and organize requirements specifications.
(We recommend that the organization get its project staff "up to speed" before
offering this course.) This course is rich with examples that will help you
recognize differences between good and bad practices.
Who should attend?
This course is for people who have
operational/managerial responsibilities and who must interact with business
analysts and technical staff who are asking requirements.
How you will benefit
Develop and enhance the contributions you make to
your organization by being able to:
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Anticipating the questions that a skilled
person will be asking you so that you can have good answers ready
- Recognize
that often
requirements are latent and unspoken
-
Avoid frustration, delay, and waste
during delivery and operation of the solution
-
Recognize the pitfalls that lead to enormous
costs, rework and errors (The #1 mistake is confusing design with
requirements!)
-
Ask better questions
- Participate
constructively in the development of a project, including making changes and
verifying that the solution meets your needs
- Having
the project team communicate in your language, not their technical jargon.
Recognize that value of concise straight-forward specifications.
Your seminar experience will cover:
You will work through an exercise to learn
about the following essential concepts of requirements capture:
What are your
rights as a customer or user?: You have a
"bill of rights" that you need to exercise in your dealings. Through a
facilitated discussion, you will come to understand what a skilled business
analysis and project manager should do, and how you can help them serve the
customer and the user. You will learn the importance of getting a complete and correct understanding of the underlying
business issues and scope, including unspoken requirements.
What questions
should you prepare for?:
Over 35 effective questions that anybody can ask. You will learn the
difference between and want and a need and a requirement.
What does a good
written requirement look like?: A straightforward, compact
template for writing unambiguous, verifiable functional and performance
requirements. Key points for reviewing and
approving requirements.
Tips for
resolving constraints and establishing priorities:
Techniques include a simple, straightforward
approach to developing and writing use
cases, field observation, contextual analysis, “V” model, mind mapping, the
includes-excludes table, and prioritization through the triple constraint.
Tailored
delivery: Develop a personalized action plan for
bringing the many course learnings back into your organization.
Instructional
Methods
Case for small group work that includes
solution sets. Lectures and discussions will enhance your understanding of this
complex and vital subject. E-learning
and webinar options are presently in development. We also perform a
pre-course learner needs assessment, methods review, and post course follow up.
How is this course
different?
First off, by our personal actions, we demonstrate
that we "walk our talk:" we ask questions and probe for your needs and then
tailor delivery to your specific needs. Second, we keep a balanced mix of
examples for learners: some are technical systems and some are ground in the
everyday reality of making a personal purchase. Third, we emphasize a "light
touch" and don't insist that people fill out mind-numbing templates and
checklists. Fourth, we stress that "fast to learn is fast to deliver" and show
how personal leadership skills - such as inquiry - can create positive work
relationships and innovative solutions to clients needs. Fifth, included
in our course deliverables are "key learnings" and "good questions" that people
can take back and put to immediate use. Sixth, you can personally interview your
instructor, Greg Githens. Seventh, this course has achieved high recognition by
the Project Management Institute's ® SeminarsWorld since 1998 as well as PMI®
chapters.
Catalyst offers
training and coaching, too.
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Trusted advisors delivering results
