Requirements are not a wish list – they are the only measure of ‘done.’

If you are designing, transitioning, or delivering a service and you are not working to defined requirements – you cannot prove your worth. You cannot prove realised value.

Do:

• Start with the why – help your customer to focus on items of value
• Challenge assumptions – it is always better to know than to assume
• Document decisions – traceability and the business logic behind decisions is critical
• Keep it measurable – define what value and done looks like otherwise its never ending. Write your acceptance criteria
• Get specific numbers – work with reality if you can

Do not:

• Leave requirements vague or defined at too high a level.
• Skip the stakeholders – you need that input and you are incomplete without it
• Rush the discovery – the investigation is critical for the detail and to clarify understanding
• Promise the impossible – the impact of the promise is dwarfed by the impact of failure to deliver

Critically – Listen and read more than you write. Requirements live in stories, not just the user stories you might create in Agile but the narrative that surrounds the documentary evidence you receive.

What is your biggest requirements headache?