Stakeholders
Who should be involved in the Requirements Definition process?
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Stakeholders are individuals who have some sort of vested interest in the process. One individual has a requirement for, or demand on, a service or product. Another individual possesses the knowledge or skill required to produce the product or service. A stakeholder may be one of the following:
Project managers coordinate the overall project and ensure completion within timeline and budget. Analysts and engineers understand the technical aspects of the project and ensure viability of the solutions. Customers and users have a say in whether the final product or service works as intended. In some cases certain individuals may exhibit resentment of, or resistance to, Requirements Management. The process represents a work disruption until the benefits are properly explained. You might also need to consider a rewards system to encourage people/s involvement. The reward can be as simple as providing feedback or encouragement. All potentially interested people should be identified and included in the process. To achieve this result, early planning sessions should include the use of checklists to ensure that no one who could contribute to the requirements is missed. An overlooked individual or group may lead to further resentment as well as minimizing the validity and effectiveness of the overall requirements. An overlooked individual may even lead to missed requirements.
Interview your stakeholders in order to gather their requirements and suggestions. Hold multi-person workshops so they can share their existing ideas and brainstorm new ones. Furthermore, keep them involved throughout the process in order to achieve the best possible results.
ClearlyPUT helps identify the
stakeholders
who need to participate in the project. Summary
Stakeholders are individuals who have some sort of vested interest in the process. They may be broken down into two groups--users and contributors--and include project managers, analysts, engineers, customers, users, testers, and quality specialists, among others. Proper identification and inclusion of the right people is essential to the establishment of valid and effective requirements.
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