Collective Wisdom from the Experts 9
It’s up to the project manager to spend time with those who are funding the
software project to help them define exactly what they want before the project
starts. Is it more important that it is done quickly, with few bugs, or on as small a
budget as possible? You can’t have it all. What resources and skill sets are crucial
to create the software they want? Are they making these resources available to
the team?
How will the software be used to run the infrastructure or make money for the
company? Are the time constraints realistic? Are they written into a customer
contract, tied to an important holiday date, or part of an elaborate marketing
plan?
Without serious, specific consideration of what is to be created on this project
during the requirement definition phase, the success of the project is severely
jeopardized. Remember, project owners need to convey what they want this
software to do, not how the programmers will go about producing that result.
Convince the project owners that they must be involved in the process from
start to finish. Solid requirements planning establishes a clear connection
between the business case, project goals, and the project outcome. Otherwise,
the project cannot produce the satisfactory result they are expecting.
A failed software project hurts the project owners most, since they have put up
the money to fund the project and were expecting to use the software to earn
back their investment.