Berry.kevin
- 1. “Bring Me A Rock” Getting the Right Requirements Kevin M. Berry, PMP 1 Copyright © 2009 by United Space Alliance, LLC.
- 2. Let’s Play! 2 Copyright © 2009 by United Space Alliance, LLC.
- 3. Bring Me A Rock! What Went Wrong Here? • Insufficient thought – Too much deciding, not enough developing • Confusing the means with the end – “Requirements should be free of implementation details” • Blind Obedience 3 – “Yes Sir, No Sir, Three Bags Full, Sir!” Copyright © 2009 by United Space Alliance, LLC.
- 4. Bring Me A Rock! When Do We Play? • Management “Go Do’s” • Early in a Project • Defining broad, top level outline of a big Project – Project Charter 4 Copyright © 2009 by United Space Alliance, LLC.
- 5. Bring Me A Rock! Did Anything Really Go Wrong? – Insufficient thought • Visionary personality ≠ Detailed personality • Do you want your leader to be a micromanager? – Confusing the means with the end • Leaders lead, planners plan, doers do • Different skill sets – Blind Obedience • Natural tendency of hierarchical organizations 5 • Building two way communication requires two people Copyright © 2009 by United Space Alliance, LLC.
- 6. But How Do You Communicate Up? – People Skills • Got ‘em or Get ‘em • A choice, not an instinct – Interview Skills • Time honored techniques • Invest early for greatest returns 6 Copyright © 2009 by United Space Alliance, LLC.
- 7. Interviewing The Boss Why Am I So Annoying? – Avoid direct challenges • “Do you even have a clue what you are asking?” – Make the paper the enemy • “How do I write this down so I remember exactly what you want?” – Engage in a positive conspiracy • “I need to be sure I can tell the team exactly what we need” 7 Copyright © 2009 by United Space Alliance, LLC.
- 8. Interviewing The Boss The One Word Question: Why? – The Five Why’s (Root Reason) • Why do you need a rock? • Why do you need a nail in the wall? • Why do you need a motivational poster? • Why do the employees need to be motivated? • Why do you need to impress the CEO? – (Sometimes Four is enough!) 8 Copyright © 2009 by United Space Alliance, LLC.
- 9. Interviewing The Boss Could You Please Tell Me A Story? – Operations Concept – “A Day In The Life Of:” • The Product • The User – The Two Word Question: “Then What?” – The Three Word Question: “Tell Me More” 9 Copyright © 2009 by United Space Alliance, LLC.
- 10. Interviewing The Boss “Then What?”: Leading Them On – “A floor worker walks up to the terminal and types in their name, and there’s all the information” • “Then What?” – “They mash the “print” button and take it back to their station” • “TW?” – “When the job is done, they take it back and scan it in” • “TW?” – “The file goes to Work Control” – Etc. 10 Copyright © 2009 by United Space Alliance, LLC.
- 11. Interviewing The Boss “Tell Me More”: Drilling Down – “A floor worker walks up to the terminal and types in their name, and there’s all the information” • “Tell Me More” – (ie: “Oh, Really?”) – “Well, they probably ought to have a password” • “TMM” – “And, the info might be just an hour’s work, not a week’s worth” 11 – “Oh, and maybe it should …” Copyright © 2009 by United Space Alliance, LLC.
- 12. How Do I Deliver A Vision? Visions and Goals are Ideas But … Projects make Deliverables What The Customer Sees What The PM Sees 12 Copyright © 2009 by United Space Alliance, LLC.
- 13. But What Do I Make? – “Begin with the end in mind” – “I need a metric” vs. “I need a chart” – “We need a database” vs. “We need a report” Widget Quality? Progress Towards Zero Defects? Hours Lost Due To Illness? ? Personal? Work Related? d All? Major? oo G Manager? Site? Bad ? Name? Anonymous? Timecard Data? Government Billed? Failures? Successes? 13 Copyright © 2009 by United Space Alliance, LLC.
- 14. How Does The Product Affect The Process? – Does the data exist? – Does the process exist? Is it followed? – Who owns the data stream? Existing Hours Lost Due To Illness? Personal? Work Related? New Code Manager? Site? Name? Anonymous? New Manual Process Timecard Data? Government Billed? 14 Copyright © 2009 by United Space Alliance, LLC.
- 15. What If The Customer Isn’t Here? “Nd ur $$$ by thrs am inn mtg cant tlk till wed pm” • Huh? • “Death By Blackberry” – First and overarching choice – face to face meeting – Second choice – telephone and (hopefully) video conference or on line collaboration to build draft product – Third choice – detailed email of Q&A and suggested product – In all cases, written follow-up of understanding & 15 intentions Copyright © 2009 by United Space Alliance, LLC.
- 16. What Should I Wind Up With? – A well defined rock? – What the customer wants? – What the customer needs! • The Requirement that matches their Need • The Deliverable Item that documents their Requirement 16 Copyright © 2009 by United Space Alliance, LLC.