Foundations for Well-Formed Requirements

Guiding principles

• The requirements process: elicit, analyze, specify, validate and manage
• The top five challenges to creating well-formed requirements
• Elements of a high-quality requirements document

Key writing skills

• Principles of well-formed requirements
• Word sensitivity, syntax and active voice
• Well-formed vs. ill-formed requirements
• Editing and rewriting requirements

Applying validation skills

• Selecting the best validation methods
• Writing test cases

Organizational skills

• Organizing requirements into a readable document
• Sequencing and numbering strategies
• Validation checklists
• Methods for conducting a walkthrough

Planning a Requirements Project

Interpreting existing documentation

• Requirements throughout the organization
• Analyzing business cases and project history
• Identifying stakeholders
• Determining project scope

Creating a project action plan

• Identifying and managing requirements
• Elements of an action plan
• Writing a plan for a simulated project

Eliciting Requirements from Stakeholders

Planning elicitation meetings

• Choosing the right people to interview
• Selecting the best interview methodology
• Constructing questions that deliver results
• Identifying other data sources

Facilitating elicitation meetings

• One-on-one meetings
• Group meetings
• Dysfunctional meetings
• Meetings with senior executives

Analyzing Requirements with Process Maps

Process mapping methodologies

• Process mapping procedure and materials
• Creating process maps

Other analysis methodologies

• Creating outlines
• Applying alternative graphical models
• Performing gap analyses

Completing the analysis

• Prioritizing requirements with creative techniques
• Completing a requirements analysis worksheet

Assembling the Requirements Document

Gathering the pieces

• Extracting requirements from a requirements analysis worksheet
• Writing test cases for requirements

Ensuring traceability

• Linking requirements to business needs and test cases
• Creating a traceability strategy for the organization

Building the elements

• Templates for documents
• Planning document distribution
• Conducting a walkthrough for completeness

Managing Changes to Update Your Document

What you can expect

• Types of changes
• Frequency, magnitude of changes

Navigating the change process

• Conducting a change meeting
• Managing change requests
• Accepting and rejecting changes

Integrating Requirements into Your Organization

• Choosing the right requirements management tools
• Selecting appropriate requirements standards
• Defining an ideal requirements process