Requirements Clinic: Analyzing the Results of Business Analysis

A requirements clinic is a focused inspection of a set of business requirements, often led by an external facilitator or a third party. The goal is to assess stakeholder alignment on requirements and evaluate the requirements for: Completeness Consistency Clarity…

Business Analysis Pitfalls: We Only Capture System Requirements

What is a requirement? Most definitions describe a requirement as a “condition or capability needed by a user to solve a problem or achieve an objective”. A condition or capability could be anything – a process step, a new template,…

Shared Understanding Tip #6: Structure the Requirements, Do Not Pile Them Up

Creating a shared understanding of business requirements is like picturing a building instead of a pile of bricks. You cannot achieve it without organizing requirements in a structure that makes sense. More than that: how can you, a business analyst,…

Shared Understanding Tip #5: Review, Refine & Repeat

Achieving a shared understanding of business requirements is an iterative process. Recap the main points after each requirements discussion – reconfirm agreement. Restate the problem, objectives and findings before the next meeting. If you see confused faces – recall previous…

Shared Understanding Tip #4: Share As You Go, Requirements Are Not a Secret

Achieving a shared understanding of requirements is a process, not an event. Business requirements are just a format for capturing shared understanding of the problem and required solution. So, requirements are not a secret that needs to be kept from…