Friday 15 May 2015

Project Stakeholders not interviewed for requirements - Early warning signs of project failure

When checking the health of a project you need to establish that all stakeholders have been interviewed to establish their requirements of the project. If these interviews have not taken place it is an indicator of potential project failure. It can lead to incomplete functionality and function creep.

The interview results should be documented and signed off by the Project Manager and the Stockholder.  The process should ensure "informed consent" so the Stakeholder understands the process and the implications of the information he/she is providing. The interview process should provide iterative feedback where the analyst double-checks the information gathered.

It is helpful to have a structured process for the interview to establish full information and also the level of confidence in the data provided.

The documented requirements should be cross referenced to the proposed functionality, projected delivery time-scale, performance and reliability projections to enable the Stakeholder's   understanding of whether what is proposed will meet his/her requirements.

The project team should also document any requirements expressed by the Stakeholder which will not be met by the project. These gaps should be discussed with and signed off by the stakeholder.


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