Four Requirements That Make a Difference in Creating Solutions

Recently I was working with a group of 25 professionals in developing their business analysis capabilities. Business Analysis as a profession has gained a lot of popularity over the last 10 years. All sorts of professionals and consultants are focusing on creating a tool kit so they can help businesses make better decisions.

One challenge I often see is the lack of understanding of the various types of requirements that a business has, and the ability to link those requirements.  It concerns me, as there are a lot of professionals and business leaders doing things that are in no way connected to the business needs and the key strategic agenda items of the company at hand.

The first thing to consider is the definition of a requirement, and the second is to know the four key requirements and how to apply them.

A requirement is a condition or capability needed by a stakeholder to solve a business problem or enhance an opportunity. It must satisfy a business constraint like a contract, standard, specification or formally imposed business rule.

There are four key requirements to consider when working on solving business problems or enhancing opportunities.

Business Requirements: These are generally high level statements as to what the business wants to achieve. They are inclusive of the business goals, objectives and needs. When creating business requirements that team must understand what is on the strategic agenda of the organization and why it is important. The values, guiding principles, strategic agenda items, strategic initiatives, stakeholders and outcomes of the company must be considered.

Stakeholders Requirements: These are bridge requirements. They are representative of stakeholder needs and the way they will interact with a business solution. This is often missed. Stakeholder requirements require the business to capture key needs that link and align with the business requirements.

Solution Requirements: These requirements describe the characteristics of a solution and need to align with both the business and stakeholder requirements. Solution requirements are functional and qualitative and are indicative of the behaviour and environmental conditions that a business solution needs to remain effective. Unfortunately it’s way to easy to offer solutions without taking into consideration the whole picture. This is a mistake. Jumping to solutions without first aligning them with the business and stakeholder needs can negatively impact the business, and leads to ineffective use of time, money and resources.

Transition Requirements: These requirements are about implementation and change. They are the requirements needed to efficiently and effectively transition a solution that meets the business and stakeholder needs into the environment. They need to be well thought out, and require a plan of action that creates business success.

The thinking that goes into understanding business problems and opportunities crosses all professional and business leadership boundaries. It does not matter if you are in Human Resources, Information Technology, Finance, Corporate Services or any other department. The reality is that understanding what a requirement is, gathering and capturing the right requirements, and linking requirements together is key to creating successful business solutions. 

Question: In what way is your organization checking the requirement boxes to ensure they connect to the business?

What Do Your Words Say About Your Business Direction?

It's all Good!

How many times have you heard this statement and wondered what it really meant?

Maybe when we hear this phrase we need to think about what it implies and whether we should probe a little further. It is a simple platitude that may or may not have additional meaning. Understanding this point is important. How often do we use empty phrases to describe our business?

A platitude is a statement that's used so often, it sounds dull or trite instead of interesting, thoughtful or helpful. When someone is coping with a life problem, a platitude is the typical reaction of another person who has nothing genuinely heartfelt or sympathetic to say. It helps fill the silence in an uncomfortable conversation, and can be a very an indirect way of letting people know they should look elsewhere for meaningful dialogue.

Interestingly, leaders and employees use platitudes to describe their business all the time without realizing it. But the stakeholders notice. They see the emptiness in the words.

There is a great article in the Harvard Business Review by Greg McKeown, "If I Read One More Platitude-Filled Mission Statement, I'll Scream". McKeown point in the end is clear.

"Achieving strategic clarity is hard. It takes asking tough questions about tradeoffs, deep concentration to get to the very essence of the issues and real courage to cut off competing priorities. It is worth the effort because with real clarity, people, teams and organizations can fully mobilize, break through to the next level and achieve something truly great," Says McKeown.

Having spent a lot of time working on the strategic plans and actionable roadmaps of many companies I am overly familiar with the rhetoric used to inspire people. The best solution is to be more meaningful and purposeful in your use of business words that provide direction. Achieving this is a process and hard work. It requires commitment.

'It's all Good' has many meanings. It is a platitude that sums up what stakeholders may think about your words; sometimes good, sometimes bad and sometimes indifferent. We have to wonder what business leaders mean by the phrases they use and the way they are interpreted by their stakeholders. Clarity of focus is a challenge to create but a necessity. But maybe, it's all good.

Question: What platitudes are you using to describe your business?