, Project Management, Reporting
ProjectManager
by Peter Landau | Oct 2, 2019
A project isn’t a success when it finishes on time and within budget: the real test of its success or failure is stakeholder satisfaction. If the quality is not up to their standards, then no matter how efficiently the project was managed, it failed.
This is a very important aspect of any project and not one that should wait until the last minute. Before the production of the final deliverable, it is critical to make sure you start in the right direction. That direction is determined by the end-user, client, customer or whomever the deliverable is targeting.
Therefore, you want to understand the requirements of the project fully before starting. That means not only gathering them but analyzing them to make sure they fit into the project plan. That’s where requirements analysis comes in.
What Is Requirements Analysis?
Requirements analysis is nearly self-explanatory: it’s the process of defining the expectations of stakeholders on a project. It analyzes, documents, validates and manages all of the identified requirements—while considering the possibility that there are conflicting requirements among stakeholders. For this reason, you should identify and categorize your stakeholders through stakeholder analysis before you begin with your requirements analysis.
Related: Stakeholder Analysis Template
Aspects of Project Requirements
Requirement analysis can be used for any project and is key to effective stakeholder management, but it is most commonly used with a systems or software project. Therefore, the requirements that are usually being analyzed are those related to a system or software.
Requirements must be:
- Documented
- Actionable
- Measurable
- Testable
- Traceable
- Related to identified business needs or opportunities
- Defined with enough detail to be enough for system design
Requirement Analysis Activities
There are three types of activities included in a requirements analysis. Eliciting requirements is the first step, which is akin to a project charter, in that it collects business process documentation and conducts interviews with stakeholders. Next comes analyzing the requirements, which evaluates whether they’re clear, complete, consistent and unambiguous. Finally, the requirements are recorded.
Requirements Analysis Process
The process of determining the requirements of the stakeholders and analyzing them to fit a project plan is briefly outlined above. It requires identifying, analyzing and recording those requirements. But that’s just bare bones. A more fully fleshed-out process follows.
Requirements
Before you can analyze the requirements, you must collect them. You can start by using our free requirements gathering template. Collection is primarily done by interviewing the stakeholder to assess what they require from the project.
Again, you can think of this as you would a project charter, in that it’s a document that describes the project’s objectives. While a project charter is more formal and speaks to the project in its entirety, the requirements phase of a requirements analysis focuses on the stakeholders, what their reason is for the project and its objectives.
Analyze
The analysis can only be effective if the requirements elicited from stakeholders are accurate. Therefore, it’s important that the information is clearly understood. Listen and confirm what you record to make sure that it is accurately reflecting the requirements of the stakeholders. This is the only way you can determine the quality of the requirements.
Not only must the requirements be understandable, but complete, unambiguous and not contradict another requirement. During the analysis process, you make sure that any issues of that sort are resolved before moving on.
Modeling
The data collected during this period must be documented, as it will serve as the lodestar for the project. Modeling is just a way to take that data and document it in a variety of formats to help with the next step. These formats can come in a few different forms. They could be use cases—which is putting the product or service in a real-life context where it’s being used—or user stories, a tool used in agile approaches to projects that looks at a feature, product or service from the end user’s perspective. They could also be natural-language documents—which use tools, techniques, etc., to understand natural language-based data—or process specifications, which analyze output data from process input data.
Review
Looking over the previous three steps, it’s now time to review and determine if there are any improvements that can be added to the process going forward. This is the step that speaks most directly to the planning process and helps the project plan work efficiently while remaining firmly aligned with the stakeholder’s requirements.
Techniques for Requirements Management Plan
In order to ensure that the requirements are addressed throughout the life of a project, it’s recommended that one makes a plan for effective requirements management. There are different techniques that project managers use for developing a requirements management plan. For example, there is the use of flowcharts, which allows for the flow of process to be visualized. This helps make the process easy to understand and can be shared with both technical and nontechnical members of the team for communication purposes.
Gantt Charts for Your Requirements Management Plan
Gantt charts are another technique for requirements analysis and one that is well-suited to project planning. They, too, are a visual representation of the project, but not of processes, rather tasks as they are scheduled across a timeline. With the online Gantt chart from ProjectManager, project managers have more control over their requirements analysis and the project plan.
ProjectManager Gives You Complete Control
ProjectManager is a great tool for making a requirements management plan. For starters, you can put the requirements as you collect them from the stakeholders into the software and then attach it to a task, amending it as more requirements come in. All the documentation can be attached to these tasks and any comments are also collected, so if there are any questions about specific requirements, they can be clarified at the task level.
Beyond the requirements analysis, when creating the project plan, our online Gantt chart gives project managers greater control over meeting the stakeholders’ requirements. For example, tasks might be dependent upon each other, in that one cannot start until another has been completed. Such task dependencies can be linked so that there is no risk that teams are left idle or bottlenecks choke the schedule.
Live Data for Managing Changing Requirements
As noted earlier, change is part of any project plan. ProjectManager makes those changes easy to apply with our online Gantt chart. On the timeline, each task is defined by a line from its start date to its end date. If those change over the course of the project, all the project manager needs to do is click on the date, drag and drop it to the new date. It’s that simple.
Because ProjectManager is cloud-based, once you execute the project and the plan is being worked on by your team, their status updates are instantly recorded. This means not only that the project is kept on track, but when stakeholders want to see that their requirements are being met, you can show them in real time.
Requirements analysis is how project managers make sure their plan aligns with their stakeholders’ needs. It’s an important first step towards successful project completion. It’s a smaller project before the larger one, and both need a robust project management tool to make sure you’re in control. ProjectManager is a cloud-based project management software that delivers on the requirements management plan and the whole project. Try it today for free with this 30-day trial.
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Requirements Gathering Template
What Is a Project Analyst?
FAQs
How do you ensure that your stakeholders are satisfied? ›
- Identify your primary stakeholders. ...
- Determine contact methods. ...
- Discover what they enjoy. ...
- Ask for areas of improvement. ...
- Use rating systems. ...
- Share information widely. ...
- Choose ideas to implement. ...
- Build stakeholder focus groups.
The four steps in the process of stakeholder analysis are - identifying the stakeholders, clarifying the interest and Influence of stakeholders, agreeing on the process of engagement between stakeholders, and managing the relationship with stakeholders.
What is an example of stakeholder satisfaction? ›Satisfied stakeholders respect the business and the way it operates. Because of the respect they hold, they're more likely to treat the business well. For example, a supplier may feel satisfied because the business responds promptly to orders and negotiates fairly.
What is keep satisfied in stakeholder analysis? ›High power, less interested people (Keep Satisfied): put enough work in with these people to keep them satisfied, but not so much that they become bored with your message. Low power, highly interested people (Keep Informed): adequately inform these people, and talk to them to ensure that no major issues are arising.
What are key stakeholder requirements examples? ›They define how a system should be. Information Management, Availability, Backup and Recovery, Compatibility, Maintainability, Reliability, Transferability, Performance, Capacity, Scalability, Security, Usability, and User Interface requirements are examples of this type.
What 3 steps should you take in stakeholder analysis? ›Whatever approach is used, there are three essential steps in stakeholder analysis: 1) Identifying the key stakeholders and their interests (positive or negative) in the project; 2) Assessing the influence of, importance of, and level of impact upon each stakeholder; and 3) Identifying how best to engage stakeholders.
What are stakeholder needs and requirements? ›Stakeholder needs and requirementsStakeholder needs and requirements represent the views of those at the business or enterprise operations level—that is, of users, acquirers, customers, and other stakeholders as they relate to the problem (or opportunity), as a set of requirements for a solution that can provide the ...
What are the five key questions for stakeholder management? ›- Describe the purpose of this project in your own words.
- What's the most important thing for us to get right?
- How would you characterise the target audience?
- If you could ask users one thing, what would it be?
- How will you know if this is successful?
A stakeholder analysis map is a way to identify your project stakeholders and the impact they might have on the project based on two key aspects: stakeholder impact and stakeholder interest.
What are the 7 C's of stakeholder management? ›These seven dimensions (7C's) are: customers, competitors, capabilities, capital, channels, communication, and coordination.
What is requirement analysis in simple words? ›
Requirements analysis (requirements engineering) is the process of determining user expectations for a new or modified product. It is usually a team effort and demands a variety of human soft skills, such as critical thinking, communication and judgment.
What are the three requirements analysis? ›Conceptually, requirements analysis includes three types of activities: Eliciting requirements: (e.g. the project charter or definition), business process documentation, and stakeholder interviews. This is sometimes also called requirements gathering or requirements discovery.
What are the two main techniques of requirement analysis? ›Below is a list of different business Requirements Analysis Techniques: Business process modeling notation (BPMN) UML (Unified Modeling Language) Flowchart technique.
What are five 5 examples of stakeholders? ›Typical stakeholders are investors, employees, customers, suppliers, communities, governments, or trade associations. An entity's stakeholders can be both internal or external to the organization.
What are three 3 examples of stakeholder interests? ›- Costs. Costs are how much money a business spends to operate. ...
- Profits. The profits of a business are often a primary interest for investors and leaders. ...
- Social impact. ...
- Employee happiness. ...
- Health and safety. ...
- Job security.
Stakeholder Analysis Definitions
Stakeholders include any people or groups involved in (or impacted by) a project, organization, or action. Some common examples of stakeholders include employees, shareholders, customers, government bodies, members of the public, businesses, and regulatory bodies.
A stakeholder analysis is a process of identifying these people before the project begins; grouping them according to their levels of participation, interest, and influence in the project; and determining how best to involve and communicate each of these stakeholder groups throughout.
Which stakeholder will need to be kept satisfied most? ›People with high power need to be kept satisfied, while people with high interest need to be kept informed. When a stakeholder has both, make sure you manage his or her expectations very closely. The diagram above shows the different approach you should have for the segregated stakeholders.
What are the 4 stakeholder attributes? ›A study conducted by [77] suggested that project success is highly related to four key stakeholders' attributes: power, legitimacy, urgency, and proximity. According to them, these attributes have a direct impact on project success. ...
What are the three important stakeholder attributes? ›In their theory they suggest that three stakeholder attributes – power, legitimacy, urgency – affect stakeholder salience and influence managerial decisions.
How do you write a stakeholder analysis example? ›
- Identify all of different example of stakeholders.
- Document the needs of every stakeholder.
- Access and analyse the interests as well as influence of each stakeholder.
- Manage stakeholder expectations.
- Take actions.
- Review status and repeat.
Generally the stakeholders may fall in one of the five levels of engagement, namely, “Unaware”, “Resistant”, “Neutral”, “Supportive”, and “Leading”. It is important to see the current levels of engagement of each stakeholder and ensure that they all become supportive towards the project.
What are the four 4 major components of the stakeholder management plan? ›- Identify stakeholders. ...
- Identify and document each stakeholder's role and impact. ...
- Prioritize stakeholders. ...
- Develop a communications plan for stakeholders.
The importance of stakeholder identification cannot be overstated. If you know who your stakeholders are, you'll be in a much better position to manage and engage them, and turn them into advocates and supporters.
Why are stakeholder requirements important? ›Important stakeholders can provide constraints or requirements based on information from their industry. This will help you understand the project risks (positive and negative) and constraints. The more you involve and engage stakeholders, the more you will uncover and reduce risks on your project.
What are the four C's of stakeholders management? ›Based on BSR's 20 years of developing such integrated strategies for dozens of companies and in collaboration with a panoply of stakeholders, we have created the "Four Cs" to help companies build integrated strategies by looking at customers, competitors, the corporation, and civil society and government.
What are 6 effective way to communicate with stakeholders? ›- Make Communication A Two-Way Conversation. ...
- Be Empathetic. ...
- Conduct A Stakeholder Analysis. ...
- Focus On Meeting The Needs Of Stakeholders. ...
- Implement A Consistent Communication Medium. ...
- Determine Which Channel Is Ideal. ...
- Keep Conversations Relevant And Engaging.
Successful stakeholder management demonstrates good communication and organisational skills, alongside a strong grasp of the business's goals. In interviews, candidates will often be asked how they would navigate stakeholder management, as it is crucial to the success of a business and team member performance.
What is the objective of stakeholder analysis? ›The purpose of a stakeholder analysis is to: better address the distributional and social impacts of projects, programs, and policies. identify existing or potential conflicts and to factor appropriate mitigation strategies into your methodology.
What is Six Sigma stakeholder? ›A Stakeholder is any individual who is affected by or can affect a process improvement project. In other words, a Stakeholder is anyone who has a “stake” in a project. Stakeholders' interests should always be considered in project.
What are the 6 stakeholders theory? ›
The six principles of stakeholders theory are the principle of entry and exit, the principle of externalities, the principle of agency, the principle of governance, the principle of contract cost, and the principle of limited immortality.
What are the four types of requirement analysis? ›Types of Requirement Analysis
The main types of requirements analysis include business, customer, product, functional, and non-functional requirements. Each one represents a stakeholder or stage of the project and communicates the project needs.
Goals. The purpose of the Requirements Analysis Phase is to transform the needs and high-level requirements specified in earlier phases into unambiguous (measurable and testable), traceable, complete, consistent, and stakeholder-approved requirements.
What are requirement analysis principles? ›Description. Principles of Analysis: Measure, Integration, Functional Analysis, and Applications prepares readers for advanced courses in analysis, probability, harmonic analysis, and applied mathematics at the doctoral level. The book also helps them prepare for qualifying exams in real analysis.
What and what are the two issues of requirement analysis? ›Explanation: Economic feasibility (cost/benefit analysis), Technical feasibility (hardware/software/people, etc.)
What are the three functional requirements? ›Some of the more typical functional requirements include:
Administrative functions. Authentication. Authorization levels. Audit Tracking.
Types of Functional Requirements
Here are the most common functional requirement types: Business Regulations. Certification Requirements. Reporting Requirements.
- Elicitation. The Elicitation step is where the requirements are first gathered. ...
- Validation. The Validation step is where the “analyzing” starts. ...
- Specification. ...
- Verification.
Here are the main activities involve in requirement analysis: Identify customer's needs. Evaluate system for feasibility. Perform economic and technical analysis.
What are different kinds of requirements give examples? ›Different kinds of requirements meet different kinds of needs. For example, functional requirements describe what the system should do, while non-functional requirements describe how the system should act. Specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound requirements are needed (SMART).
How do you keep stakeholders satisfied when you have competing priorities from them? ›
- Determine Your Priorities. ...
- Practice Transparency And Equality. ...
- Establish Broad Engagement And Shared Governance. ...
- Listen. ...
- Open The Lines Of Communication. ...
- Set Expectations. ...
- Focus On Your 'Why' ...
- Table Disagreements Until The End.
The simplest method is for a group of stakeholders to work down a list of requirements and decide for each if it's in or it's out. Refer to the project's business objectives to make this judgment, paring the list down to the bare minimum needed for the first iteration or release.
Which three criteria should you consider when prioritizing stakeholders? ›Busy project managers must prioritize their time and energy when working with stakeholders. This can be accomplished by using a simple matrix to gauge their impact on your projects, based on attributes such as power, interest, influence and knowledge.
What three aspects should be considered when prioritizing stakeholders? ›Prioritise stakeholders
their ability to influence change outcomes • the extent to which they are impacted by the change • their level of awareness of the program • their level of support.
Stakeholder management is difficult because it involves different people with different expectations and different information needs.
What is the best approach for a team to keep the stakeholders continuously? ›Status reports:
Status reports are another great way to keep your stakeholders updated on the project. These reports can be sent out via email or shared at stakeholder meetings.