Agile Way of Requirements Management

Need for Agile Concepts

1. Shifting from the traditional way of software development
2. Avoid huge cost of poor or misplaced requirements
3. Stop creating artifacts that mean nothing to the project in reality
4. Make recommendations on solutions during requirements
5. Optimum Utilization of all available resources with iterative approach
6. Create requirements that are on priority first
7. Cost advantage balanced with technology availability
8.  Managing reasources spread across the globe
9.  Avoiding wastage of time, efforts and resources
10. Do only what is good enough!

Agile Principles in Requirements Management - as defined by Forrester Research

1. Be Lean

Add Value, Eliminate Waste, Fit-to-Purpose

2. Iterate

Breakdown Work products,  Progressive Definition, Just Enough!

3. Use Pictures

Less Text and more visualization, flow charts, wireframes and prototypes

4. Collaborate

Team Orientation, Business and IT coordination and Trust.

5.  Accept Change

Anticipate, Accept, Involve and  Proactive Management


Challenge is

Having the experience of having handled requirements that need huge documentation and process effort, and also having practised the Agile way of handling requirements in a more leaner, progressive development, interim user reviews, fixed and simple templates, change control and collobrate multi-cultural, multi-regional teams, I find doing the second one, makes not only better sense, but also a practical approach going forward.  But the challenge is to make this a practice and people at large accepting the framework.   This provokes a change in the Organizational DNA having the traditional ways of handling software delivery.

A Tribute to Rita Mulcahy

Experts and Aspirants of Project Management would know that a woman was making waves in bringing about great books on the Project Management and PMP certification close to last 2 decades. Rita Mulcahy. First I opened her book, I thought what a negative approach..but later when I went through the pages, I realized that it is not an negative tone of a writer, but a mitigation plan of going negative in the most valued certification in the world. Unless you know the pitfalls, you will not be able to control them, mitigate them and make contingent plans to avoid such lapses. She proved to be a great writer, a global speaker and above all a good human being.

In her last post on the Twitter account just a day before she died on 15th May 2010, she wrote "Have a wonderful weekend, everyone. The sun is finally out here in the Midwest!". In her pain and courage fighting a 5 year old cancer and catering to the needs of 7 and 5 old kids at home, she managed to bring out 10 great books to the community she believed in translating leadership with her team at RMC. This shows that here was a woman, who looked at sunshine all through her life setting examples of courage, managing time, balancing in all ways possible, both her personal and professional priorities with such a frail health.

No day would be more appropriate to pay our respects than today as she is laid to rest, to a woman of substance who not only promoted her books and webinars, project management courses and seminars but stand as a testimony, that no matter what, a true interest, strong leadership, an active elicitation always elevate our expectations in her, even after she reached God's greatest shore.  She will live for long in her books and followers... in everything she left behind.