How to become more confident in requirements elicitation

The initial meetings with a stakeholder can be nerve-wracking. Oftentimes projects come to us for “analysis” with very little detail. It can feel like everyone else knows more and is better prepared. Yet we, the business analyst, own the next step. Especially as new business analysts or business analysts in new organizations who have not yet learned the business, a bit of fear and uncertainty can creep into these early days on a project.

As I’m reading about in The Introverted Leader, you can support your confidence in uncomfortable situations through preparation, presence, push, and practice.

Preparing to elicit requirements

To prepare for an elicitation session, conduct as much research as you can to inform yourself about the problem and the existing situation.

• Talk to the sympathetic people first. This might be the person that hired you or your designated go-to person in the department.
• Learn the business and explore the system. Obtain as much insight as you can into how the business operates and the system works using the available information and tools.
• Start a list of key terms. If a glossary exists, use it as a reference to find the definitions of terms. Often you will find additional or alternate terms that are not included in even the most up-to-date glossary. Keeping terms straight can help you carve a more efficient path to real understanding.
• Start a list of questions about the system, about the process, the people, and about the project at hand. Think why, what, how, when, who.  Keep this question list handy as you meet with people about the project and use it to guide your discussions.
• If system documentation is non-existent, create models as you learn about the business and the system.

Be present in your elicitation sessions

Presence relates to how you handle yourself with others. If you are prepared, you should be confident and 100% present in your initial discussions. To create presence in an elicitation session:

• Use your list of questions and agenda items as a guide, but go with the flow. Once your stakeholders start talking, let them speak through their thoughts. While later in the process you make need to practice guiding conversations and even interrupting, your initial meetings should follow the energy of the stakeholders.
• Focus on seeking to understand stakeholder perspectives. Avoid second-guessing the questions you have or what you do or do not know. Keep it top of mind that this is your opportunity to learn more about the project and the stakeholders’ opportunity to unfold their perspective.
• Be an active listener — summarize what you hear and ask intelligent follow-up questions. But don’t be so worried about your next question that you forget to listen!
• Be OK with momentary pauses. Collect your thoughts, review your questions, and continue the conversation.

Push yourself to become better at elicitation

Push refers to getting yourself outside of your comfort zone by taking on new tasks. Through push you advance your capabilities and your leadership. Some ways to push during elicitation include:

• Find gaps in your understanding and find ways to fill them. This might require involving an additional stakeholder or asking for a demo or observation.
• Seeking out the perspectives of higher level stakeholders. Drop by an executive’s office or take advantage of a chance meeting in the hallway and ask for what they value the most in the project.
• Use a new technique as part of elicitation. Learn a new way of modeling or a new tool and incorporate that into your elicitation activities.

Practice eliciting requirements

Practice is about repeating behaviors, even if they feel uncomfortable at first, until they become part of who you are. As an analyst you want to grow into a professional who loses that initial feeling of fear — the unknown becomes a sought after challenge.

Some ways to practice elicitation include:

• Practice asking your questions and listening to the answers with a friend or trusted colleague.
• Anticipate the types of feedback you might receive and practice responses.
• Keep the momentum going by scheduling elicitation sessions. After every meeting, define the next step and make it happen.
• Keep yourself informed about new skills. Read books about elicitation, especially Ellen Gottesdiener’s Requirements by Collaboration, and incorporate these practices into your elicitation activities.

With consistent practice, you will be able to spend less time preparing and more time being present in your elicitation activities. As your confidence grows, you will be able to handle more ambiguity in the initial phases and more dissonance among your stakeholders– i.e. more challenging projects.

Your reward: confidence!

By preparing, being present, pushing yourself, and practicing, that uncomfortable feeling will be replaced with excitement and confidence. As has been reinforced for me by Jennifer Kahnweiler’s The Introverted Leader: Building Your Quiet Strength, becoming a better leader is about continuing to invest in your own personal and professional development, increasing self-awareness, building on your strengths, and choosing new challenges.

Related posts:

1. What questions do I ask during requirements elicitation?
2. How do you capture stakeholder concerns?
3. Reverse engineering requirements: how to explore the system

Tagged as: Improving your Craft