The output of requirement gathering and business impact analysis would be
As a business analyst, we strive to deliver the projects as per the client expectations and take necessary steps to ensure that the user experience turns out be great at the end of project cycle. No matter what kind of project you have to deal with, to meet the clients requirements you have to understand their work and what are they expecting as a project deliverable. That is why requirements gathering process helps the business analysts and project team to jot down all the requirements, needs, resources, risks involved, stakeholders etc to plan the project in a proper way. Show
What is a requirement gathering?Requirement gathering is a process of understanding what needs to be developed and the reason behind developing the product or services. Basically, as a business analyst, your role is to understand the pain point of the client and the problems they are facing in the current environment. Thus, understanding why they want to build a product or a service in place. Defining the project requirement’s scope and goals early on during the project initiation can help you solve the risk factors and issues much more intuitively than without proper understanding. Who is responsible for gathering requirements?Business analysts, system analysts, product owners, and project managers are mainly responsible for meeting with stakeholders and clients and jotting down the project’s requirements, goals, and scope. Why is Requirement Gathering Important?Depending on the type of project methodology you implement (agile or waterfall), this step is carried out during the project initiation or discovery phase or every meeting/sprint cycle. If requirement gathering is not done correctly, then there is a likely chance that the project deliverables(product/service) will not meet the business requirements, and hence the client will be left unsatisfied. The project deadlines can also extend the working hours of the development team if there are issues in following the requirements properly. This issue will ultimately lead to the wastage of time, money, and resources. Once the requirements are gathered, the business analyst will utilize the information for preparing BRD, aka Business Requirement Document, and SRS, aka System Requirement Specifications. These documents will include the client’s vision or mission statement, which defines the overall objectives and business plans. When a project falls short of expectations, the following things happen
Stages of Requirements Gathering Process As we have already discussed, gathering business requirements is the critical step for the project. A business analyst needs to thoroughly understand the business needs and align them with business objectives to bridge the gap between business and technical requirements. Also, a responsible BA has to communicate the needs to the stakeholders and the development team. Stages of Requirement Gathering:
Identify the Right Stakeholders: Project stakeholders are those who are impacted by the project outcomes. These may include:
There might be other stakeholders who might add value to the project’s definition and scope. Ensure to probe essential questions to internal stakeholders like project managers, product owners, and business owners to gather more data as to who can help streamline the requirement gathering processes. Project DefinitionProject definition is the stage where we define the project’s objectives and try to understand the goal and the scope of the project so that once we jot down all the necessary requirements based on the interaction with the stakeholder and the client, we can start the process of project initiation. Things that take place in this stage:
Requirement ElicitationRequirement elicitation is a process of gathering the correct information from the internal and external stakeholders. Requirement elicitation can be performed in several ways:
This step helps ensure taking information from the right people and taking notes, enabling you to prepare the documents based on the requirements gathered during these elicitation techniques. Requirement Documentation In this stage, we document the requirements that we have gathered. Proper documentation is required to understand the stakeholder/client’s needs and ensure the same is communicated to the development team who is involved in project deliverables. The documents include product requirement documents, system requirement documents, business requirement documents, etc. Ensure to prepare the document in such a way that the development team can easily decipher the requirements and prioritize the work based on the requirements specified. Confirmation of the Requirements Once the requirements are adequately documented, take approvals from the clients and stakeholders so that you can start the project. Without taking approvals from the client, you may delay the project. Furthermore, as requirements might change with time and without proper permissions, scope creep, project delays, or even cancellation will occur. Prioritizing the Requirements Although the clients may give you many requirements for a project, it is your job to simplify the tasks by understanding the high-priority and not-so-important tasks. This helps you determine how to plan the task and prioritize tasks one by one. Also, requirements change with time, so whenever a customer requests changes in the scope of the project, try to understand how it will impact ongoing tasks in the project and if the project timeline and budget will be impacted. Based on this discussion, prioritize the new requirement accordingly to ensure successful completion. Techniques for Requirement GatheringRequirements gathering techniques are deemed successful when they are complete, non-ambiguous, verifiable, traceable, and modifiable. Since every project scope is different, the techniques that might be chosen to elicit requirements will be based on the project type, complexity, and types of stakeholders involved. They are explained below: One-on-One Meeting/Interview: This is one of the most commonly used gathering techniques. Here the business analysts need to plan interviews with the key stakeholders and probe a set of questions that gives the BA an idea about the project. These interviews usually involve both open-ended and closed-ended questions. Questions like who will interact with the system, what processes can impact the modules, what are the pain points of the current system etc. Group Meetings: This happens when all the key stakeholders have issues scheduling one-on-one interviews and may request a group meeting to answer all the questions you might have about the project. This is a great way to gather different requirements in one go. Thus plenty of valuable ideas and thoughts are generated. All the team members participating will come to a consensus to fasten the project initiation process. Brainstorming: This technique is primarily used during the project discovery phase, wherein the project’s requirements are not clearly identified. In this session, make sure that you include the stakeholders who are aware of the system and also identify the project needs, benefits, and costs incurred. Document Analysis: In this technique, a business analyst collects the existing documents for a deeper analysis. The benefits of using document analysis are:
Workshops: Workshops aka JAD(Joint Application Development) can help you get the design right the first time and decrease the number of iterations. Benefits of using JAD sessions include:
Prototyping/ WireframingPrototypes and wireframes are visual techniques that are used as a vital requirement gathering method. Here, Wireframe refers to the blueprint of the system to be developed, thus giving an idea about the function and layout. Prototype is considered the system’s model that explains the system’s behavior and functionalities. This method helps both the business team and users to understand and relate to the requirements & expectations of the future system. This also allows the users to recommend any visible changes that can make the system design even more robust and desirable as a part of the project outcome. Once everything is finalized, the final prototype is referred to build the system. Key Benefits
Surveys/Questionnaire Gathering requirements from key stakeholders can be difficult if the stakeholders are residing in multiple places. Also, collecting feedback from focused groups of end-users can seem hectic if there are plenty of existing customers of the system. Hence, surveys seem like a viable option to send out to various people and record their responses based on the project requirements. Key Benefits
Shadowing/User Observation There are times when the client is very busy and can’t find dedicated time to offer individual interviews. In such cases, shadowing the client for a couple of days seems helpful in understanding the office environment, current system design, and processes in place, recording the user behavior and understanding the underlying needs based on the problems in the current process. Key benefits:
Tools For Gathering RequirementsIt is important to have the right set of tools to gather the requirements effectively
Use the toolbox approach to elicit requirements By implementing the toolbox approach, the project teams can use various tools to define the current & ongoing business requirements. Depending on the type of project methodology implemented, requirements tools can be different. The below-mentioned tools can be beneficial in eliciting excellent requirements and offer clarity in transforming the business needs into solutions.
Tips for Writing a Requirements Document as a Business AnalystUsually, a project requirement document can include a short, concise document or a lengthy record explicitly specifying the scope, the goal, and the objectives of the project. Nonetheless, here are the following things your document should have to understand the project requirement more clearly:
Tips for Collecting Requirements as a Business AnalystGathering requirements effectively is considered as an incredible art with a hint of organization skills. There are a few tips that can help you document the requirements with minimal error:
Conclusion on Business AnalystEven though requirement gathering techniques can be lengthy and quite detailed procedure, it is still important to initiate the project plan with this process. A successful requirement gathering can help you control the budget of the project, avoid scope creep due to changing requirements, and help you execute every step of the project with clarity. Key Takeaways on gathering requirement as a Business Analyst
Always remember, for a successful project execution and client satisfaction, Confirmation is better than Assumption. The media shown in this article is not owned by Analytics Vidhya and is used at the Author’s discretion. What is the outcome of business impact analysis?A business impact analysis (BIA) predicts the consequences of disruption of a business function and process and gathers information needed to develop recovery strategies. Potential loss scenarios should be identified during a risk assessment.
What would be one of the key outcomes of business impact analysis?A business impact analysis helps you predict the consequences of disruptions to business processes, so you have the data you need to proactively create recovery strategies. For example, a manufacturing company could create a BIA to measure how losing a key supplier would affect company operations and revenue.
What is requirement gathering in business analysis?What is a requirement gathering? Requirement gathering is a process of understanding what needs to be developed and the reason behind developing the product or services. Basically, as a business analyst, your role is to understand the pain point of the client and the problems they are facing in the current environment.
What is requirement gathering and analysis?Requirement Analysis begins with: Requirement Gathering, which is also known as Elicitation. It is followed by Analyzing the collected requirements to understand the feasibility and correctness of converting the requirements into a possible product. Then, Documenting the gathered requirements.
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