Requirements

Description

The Requirements document in a change project indicates the need that must be addressed, the outcomes that should be achieved and some indication of what this looks like.

Requirements are a key output of the Discovery phase.

Change projects fail when people come out of the woodwork with requirements that have not been previously considered. This document should thus include interests of all stakeholders and should identify the outcomes even for people who are targets of change.

Positive, desired outcomes are often called 'benefits'. Negative outcomes that are not desired by the people affected are sometimes called 'disbenefits' and are typical sources of resistance to change. Outcomes that are neither desired nor not-desired are just outcomes.

Change project vary greatly in what they deliver, and particularly where the deliverable is specified by key stakeholders then this may be detailed here.

It is important here also to identify the boundaries of the project in the overall scoping. This, along with other information here, allows the project to be realistically planned. Getting the scope right can be tricky and will require careful questioning of stakeholders, who often have a vague need but find it difficult to put a boundary on this. This can lead to an 'I'll know it when I see it' attitude that is almost impossible to satisfy. Time up front to bound requirements thus is often very important.

Template

Background

The background sets the project in context, with brief detail of how the project came about.

Stakeholders

This section describes customer and other interested parties and what they seek. This includes people who are targets of change and those who may be obliquely affected. From this initial analysis issues of resistance to change may be derived.

Stakeholder	Interest	Notes

Outcomes

Outcomes are what happens as a result of the project (do not confuse them with deliverables). Some outcomes are desired by the stakeholder (benefits) whilst others are not desired by them (but may well be desired by other stakeholders).

Stakeholder	Outcome	Notes

Deliverables

The requirement may also specify individual deliverables that are required, which may range from physical changes to education.

Deliverables achieve outcomes, and it may be useful to link these here.

Stakeholder	Deliverable	Notes

Criteria

Specified deliverable are provided to key stakeholders. There may well be measures or other criteria which may be applied to determine whether these are acceptable.

Criteria may include such as timescales for delivery, physical quality measures and satisfaction ratings.

Deliverable	Acceptance Criteria

Scope

The scope defines the boundary of project action and capture what key stakeholders want to be included and what they do not want to be included.

What's in	What's out

Constraints

This lists factors that limit what may be done in the Discovery phase, such as timescales, secrecy, standards and regulations that must be followed, etc.

Constraint	Note

Guidelines

This section offer non-mandatory suggestions that will help the Discovery phase to be successful, for example notes around organizational politics.

Detail

Depending on the project, there may be limited or very significant detail available about what is required. As appropriate, requirements may broken down from the summary above into further detail.

Requirements

Description

Template

Background

Stakeholders

Outcomes

Deliverables

Criteria

Scope

Constraints

Guidelines

Detail

See also

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