Making requirements-gathering fun
Are your requirements-gathering interviews and workshops a pleasure, or a form of torture? This cartoon from Modern Analyst made me smile – and wince.
The thing is, I know that finding out what people really want can be great fun!
Three key factors include:
The analyst’s expectations. Don’t expect people to be able to describe, off the top of their head, exactly what they want or how it drives business value. People just aren’t made that way. It’s up to you, as the analyst, to discover what they really want and how it will benefit the business. Do it well, and the users/customers will be delighted to be learning something they didn’t know they knew.
The users’ engagement. If they experience the process as a grilling, in which they are made to feel inadequate by questions they can’t answer wrapped in layers of jargon, they aren’t going to enjoy it. But if you as the analyst are genuinely interested in what they have to say, and use their language (and jargon) in your questions, your attitude will draw them in – and keep them on board.
The analyst’s skillset. Even today, many analysts have not been taught interviewing and facilitation skills to even a basic level. The skills required nowadays – to elicit the complex requirements of modern systems in a way that people enjoy – are at the next level. Could it be time for you and your colleagues to upskill?