Using Adaptability as a Guide to Navigate the Uneven Terrain of Requirements Elicitation _ BA Times

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Monday, 18 June 2012 04:00

Using Adaptability as a Guide to Navigate the Uneven Terrain ofRequirements ElicitationWritten by Josh Jones

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Adaptability is a word that is not used enough in the context of business analysis and collectingrequirements. Though it is used in the project world, adaptability is more synonymous with project

methodology or project teams as a whole than it is with requirements elicitation or requirementsmanagement. Being adaptive to your surroundings is what can save you from the perils of uncertain

environments, non-engaged subject matter experts or the dreaded analysis paralysis effect. When itcomes to adaptability, one things is certain: if you, as a BA, cannot adapt your approach for gathering

requirements when something doesnt go as planned (because all good BAs always have a plan) then

youre greatly reducing your chances of delivering top-quality requirements. Two of the more prominentareas that lend themselves to easy adaptability of BA styles are environment and facilitation.

Environment

As soon as an assignment or project starts, one of the first things BAs can do is figure out what kindof environment they are in. Not just figuring out the project environment, but more importantly, therequirements-gathering environment. Is it hostile? Is it new? Is it friendly? Or is it something

completely different? One of the quickest ways you can establish what kind of environment yourewalking into is to focus your senses to the pulse of the project. Is the projects health good? I.e., is the

project teams moral good/positive? Is the project status green? Are deliverables being met? If theproject environment is healthy (good or green), then you, as the BA, should be able to easily adjustyour styleif necessaryto be supportive in that environment so you can grow your knowledge and

help promote the positive vibe. And it could be that you dont have to adapt anything at this point. Youcould find yourself in a situation where everything is running smoothly and all you have to do is join in

the fun and perpetuate the positive environment.

Conversely, if the environment is hostile (or bad) then it is essentialalmost imperativefor BAs toadapt their style so they can be successful in that environment. Some signs to look for to determine if

you could be in a hostile project environment are: project team member morale is low, people

(stakeholders, SME, IT, QA, etc.) do not get along due to project-induced stress, deliverables are notbeing met or the project is in a red status. One of the simplest, easiest things BAs can do to adapt

their style to be successful in a hostile environment is to ask questionsbut not just any questions. Besure the questions you ask are thought-provoking and open-ended. Your goal is to foster insight and

feedback from your project peers, not insult them due to a lack of knowledge or their potential

ignorance. Additionally, you dont want to make an already hostile environment worse by askingquestions that are rhetorical (unless when proving a point or trying to get someones light to come onfor their ah ha moment) or questions that could make you lose credibility. Steer clear of questions

like, Why didnt we discuss this sooner? Why is that in scope? or, What are we tryingaccomplish? These types of questions can incite frustration and can possibly damage your credibility

as the leader of the requirements-gathering session. Try asking questions like, What can we do from

a process and functionality standpoint to fulfill the customers needs? or, What would the user think ifwe added this widget?

Another thing a BA can do to find success in a hostile environment is create partnerships with project

team members, SMEs and stakeholders built on credibility, trust and knowledge. Use your skills,strengths and past experiences to bridge gaps with other team members who are generating

obstacles or who may be difficult to work with. The sooner you find common ground and create ahealthy relationship with these folks, the easier it will be for you to extract requirements from them.

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The reason for this can be chalked up to the old adage that its easier to catch flies with honey than

vinegar. Creating a partnership and building trust with project team members, SMEs and stakeholderswill make it easier for you to have the conversations necessary to elicit requirements, especially in

hostile/challenging situations where it can be difficult to pull information out of a resource that doesntplay nicely in the sandbox. Is it possible? Yes. But its not easy. Trust me, Ive been on both sides ofthat fence.

Facilitation

Whether you are in a healthy or hostile project environment, how you adapt your facilitative style is

what could make or break your requirements gathering experience. Not only is good facilitation one of

the key components for eliciting requirements, but its the one adaptive characteristic that a BA can tapinto for quickly switching gears, changing directions and altering the landscape of requirements

gathering. Picture this: youre a lead BA facilitating a three-day JAD session with a mix of SMEs, ITresources and a couple project stakeholders. Everything is going smoothly. Your requirementssessions are fruitful (generating requirements), on time and on scope. Then, on day three you hit a

snag when trying to drill down a business requirement to capture the des ired technical functionality.You find yourself standing at the front of a room full of people who cannot agree on what therequirements should/can be. Something like this can happen at any time during the first session or over

the course of a few weeks, depending on how fast your JAD sessions are moving and how muchground you are covering. But no matter when it happens, its crucial for the BA to 1) recognize that it

has happened, and 2) adapt a facilitative style to get the group to reach a consensus on requirements

and resume moving forward.

In my ten years of experience, this has happened to me numerous times and the one quick change Ihave found that provides an immediate positive effect is to spend 510 minutes taking a step back and

reminding the group of the problem you are trying to solve (or new functionality you are creating).Often, JAD sessions stall because of a loss of focus. Whether its scope, project goals or the

requirements themselves, when your audience loses focus, momentum slows and agreement dries up.Remind them of the purpose of why they are in the room to begin with. Doing so will remind everyonethat they are on the same team and trying to achieve the same goal. After that, spend a few minutes

rewinding the progress you have made to that point to show the group of the teamwork theyve put

forth to get to that point.

The next thing that helps get a JAD session back on track is to verify that the right people are in the

room. Maybe your JAD session has run aground because no one in the audience feels comfortable

making a decision about the functionality or problem being solved. Or, more realistically, they do nothave the power to make the decision. (If you have run aground at the very beginning of your JAD

session you might want to escalate to the PM to revisit the project scope with the team. I bring this upbecause more often than not, stalling out early in requirements-gathering efforts is usually due to

unclear scope or a lack of agreement on scope.)Likewise, if you find your JAD sessions going well andyou finish up early, take the opportunity to shift gears and adjust your facilitative style to be more

thought-provoking by requiring a deeper level of detail in order to cover any extendedrequirements/functionality/process steps/needs if there is extra time. As a BA facilitating arequirements-gathering sessions, you must always be prepared for the worst- and best-casescenarios. The last thing you want to do is leave time on the table or possibly lose credibility by

appearing to not be fully prepared for all scenarios. Though it is unlikely that the audience will see youas the latter, my motto is to over-prepare to keep yourself from under-delivering.

These are a few of the best practices that Ive used to find successes when adapting my BA style to

deliver top-quality requirements. And while there are other key components of adaptive adjustmentsfor the BA space, use those mentioned above to get you started down the path of consciously thinking

about adapting your BA style w hen environmental and/or facilitation conditions change. And dont b e

afraid to challenge yourself to adapt to your surroundings; thats how good BAs become great BAs.

Don't forget to leave your comments below.

Last modified on Tuesday, 19 June 2012 12:22

Published in Articles

Tagged under Requirements management elicitation

Josh Jones

Josh Jones is a seasoned BA with over 9 years of experience in the BA

and PM space. Josh has successfully applied project and analysis

leadership expertise to deliver project initiatives in a wide variety of

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Using Adaptability as a Guide to Navigate the Uneven Terrain of Requirements Elicitation _ BA Times

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