Documenting and Managing Requirements

After the initial discovery, there is generally time involved to gather associated information and finalize the requirements. Each requirement should have a complete set of attributes captured and express the business need, or 'what?', that will be supported. The actual requirement text should be written clearly and concisely so that all project reviewers and approvers will share a common understanding of each requirement.

The process that results in requirements approval involves all project team members, business experts, and technical oversight. Requirements are distributed to those designated as responsible for review. Reviewers will accept requirements as written, dispute requirement information, elaborate on the rationale or dependencies, and generally provide feedback to correct or complete requirements. It is important for requirement reviewers to understand their role in this process. Clear direction for reviewers should be provided, including criteria for evaluation and sign-off procedures for validation.

Once the requirements are reviewed and adjusted for any corrections or missing information, they must be approved by designated operational and/or technical authorities. The approval process involves a review of the operational and technical accuracy of the requirements and considers the feasibility to implement. An approved requirement will provide a 'baseline' for purposes of the requirements management process, setting user and other stakeholder expectations for the project deliverable. For IT projects where the deliverable will be accomplished in phases or sprints, approval for the requirements that will be supported in later phases of a project does not have to be completed before initial development work can begin.

During the period of review and approval, a process should be used to resolve conflicts and/or issues. This process will provide a framework to support forward movement on the project. Each project may have a unique process for resolving problems, depending on the business, culture, and team members involved. Regardless of the process that is established, it should be clearly communicated to all project team members. And then, it should be followed. Consistency in the resolution of problems will enhance the ability to execute the project and meet objectives.