An overview of requirements management

Keep track of all the requirements!

Requirements management has always been part of the project manager’s job. It was something that I handled as the project progressed without much thought. In today’s world, requirements management is an important part of the overall project.

What is “requirements management?”

In short, requirements management is the compilation, monitoring, and control of stakeholder needs for the project.

According to PMI, the Requirements Management Plan is a component of the Project Management Plan. This plan includes how requirements are determined, tracked, reported, and changed. The plan might also include the prioritization process, and how requirements are traced through the final deliverable. This plan is part of the Scope Management knowledge area and the Initiating Process Group.

An overview of Requirements Management

If the project manager has a business analyst on the team, the analyst handles much of the requirements process. For those who don’t have access to a business analyst, here’s an overview of the process.

Gather

Start working with the stakeholders and customer to determine the requirements. Begin listing and categorizing the needs and wants of the project. Do an initial prioritization of the requirements list.

Practicality

Review the requirements set with the stakeholder and customer to determine what is necessary for a successful deliverable. Work with the project team to get feedback on the requirements. Determine if the requirements can produce a product that the market is searching for and fits the stakeholder and customer vision and budget. Update the requirements as needed.

Design

Using the requirement set, create a design. Working with the stakeholders and customer, review the design. Again, determine if the product designed can be built within the budget and meet the stakeholder and customer expectations. Update the requirements as needed, working within budget and time constraints.

Build

Using the design agreed upon, build a working model. Review the working model, making changes to the design and requirements as needed to meet budget and time constraints.  Agree on the final set of requirements.

Produce

Once the final requirements are agreed upon, production can begin.

Finalizing requirements

As this process progresses, use the processes outlined in your Requirements Management Plan to document changes along the way. Try to maintaining requirements traceability throughout the project. Being able to trace the requirements from the initial stages to the final product is part of the final documentation delivered to the stakeholders and customer.

More information

This is a brief overview of the requirements management process. Find more information on requirements management in the Project Management Book of Knowledge (PMBOK)  and the International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA).

Would you like a hard copy of the information?  Click to get your copy!

How does your requirements management process differ from these steps? Let us know in the comments.