Balancing act

The most important task of a requirements manager is to control the scope of a software project, but sometimes it can be a case of divided loyalties.

A requirements manager is sometimes employed by the company developing the software, sometimes by the business commissioning the software. Either way, the RM can find himself caught between the two parties when it comes to judgments on scope.

It’s not unusual for a RM to be called into a meeting to decide whether a requirement being discussed is within the documented scope of the project. Strictly speaking, both the business and the software company should have agreed at the beginning of the project that the RM would have the final say on issues of scope. However, the RM might find that both sides are bending his ear. The business want the requirement ruled “in scope”, because then they will get more functionality. The project manager might want it ruled out because it is a fixed-price project and he does not want the extra work load.

Regardless of which side the RM actually works for, he has to make an objective judgment, based on the language used in the scope document.  In this sense, he is very much like a judge who is called upon to interpret the law. In such circumstances, he is likely to upset one party or the other, at least for a while. It is then that the RM needs to show he has a spine of steel, but a flexible one; he has to be as much a facilitator as anything. He must make a judgment and persuade both sides that his judgment is in the best interests of the project.

Projects can fail because a weak RM fails to control the scope and lets the customer add requirement after requirement. Relationships on other projects can go sour because a rigid RM interprets the scope too strictly.

Takeaways:

• Requirements managers, be firm, be fair.
• Customers and project managers, trust the judgment of your RM. If you cannot, perhaps you have the wrong RM.

Kind regards,

Declan Chellar