Summary

This course provides a one day overview of gathering, organizing, documenting and writing project requirements. Upon completion of this course, students will have a basic understanding of how requirements are gathered, and written. Lecture and exercises are used during the day to explain the salient aspects of proper requirements writing as recommended in The PMBOK® Guide, the International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE) Systems Engineering Handbook and the Institute of electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Guide for Developing System Requirements Specifications (IEEE 1233).

Detailed

Stakeholder Management. Within the project management framework, Stakeholders needs and expectations need to be considered and management with the same priority as project deliverables. Project Managers are challenged with balancing the needs of the Triple Constraint (Scope, Time, Cost) with the needs of project stakeholders. This continual balancing act must be done effectively for projects to be successful. Students will learn how to solicit information from stakeholders so they can write complete, understandable, and verifiable requirements.

Edwards Industries Workshop Methodology. Edwards Industries uses a thorough and comprehensive methodology in working with stakeholders and project team members. Based on the IBM Joint Application Design (JAD) Process, students will learn how to implement the EI BMPPTM Project Management Methodology. BMPPTM (“Big Mother Piece of Paper”) is a structured top-down approach used to develop requirements, detailed work plans, and schedules for a project and to control project progress. Students will learn the BMPPTM Project Planning and Scheduling Methodology and how to use it in the requirements gathering process. Students will be provided with a specific approach to the BMPPTM Requirements Collection and Definition Methodology and Project Control Methodology.

Project Scope. Scope of a project is the sum total of all the projects products and their requirements or features. Sometimes scope is used to mean the totality of work needed to complete a project. The primary tool to describe a project's scope (work) is the work breakdown structure. From a requirements perspective, students will learn to focus on the project’s scope for the purposes of capturing all relevant requirements. Students will understand how scope relates to the entire Project Management Lifecycle and the Project Management Knowledge areas required developing a clear and thorough project scope statement. Course participants will also learn how scope relates to the development of a project’s Change Control process.

System Engineering. Students will walk through a number of system engineering models and learn how system engineering directly relates to securing good project requirements.

Defining Requirements. Students will learn how to specifically define a project requirement and how to structure project requirements and requirements documents so they are clear, concise, and understandable. Several requirements examples will be provided to illustrate poorly written and well written requirements. Course participants will gain a thorough understanding of how to write excellent requirements by reviewing many examples and identifying the components that made them either too vague or very well written.