Our Six-step guide to requirements gathering at your Clinic Meeting  

We will gather requirements as our process of identifying your project’s exact requirements from start to finish. This process starts during the  first meetings and is our project initiation phase, but you will continue to be heavily involved in how we collectively manage your project requirements throughout the project timeline. 

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Some questions will include:

• How long will your project schedule be?

• Who will be involved in the project?

• What risks may we face in this project?

Requirements gathering will not be complex, but it will be an important component of the project initiation process.

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To gather your requirements, we will use the following six-step process. Once we are finished, we should have a comprehensive requirements document outlining the resources we need to move forward through the project phases.

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Step 1: Assign roles

The first step in our requirements gathering is to assign roles in your project. This is when we confirm the project stakeholders and the key roles for each stakeholder in turning the proposal into a viable funded project for implementation.

 

For example, 'The Academic Partner' is the 'Innovation Project Management' stakeholder, who will allocate a Project Academic Lead' and the Industry / Commerce  Partner' is the 'Innovation Project Client' stakeholder who will allocate a Project Practitioner Lead'.

 

Identifying these roles first will help determine who should analyse your project scope later on. 

 

Other roles include the PhD Intern(s), Project Administrator, Academic Supervisor(s), Industrial Practitioner Mentor(s). These people can help identify the requirements and resources needed to deliver project goals. 

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Step 2: Meet with stakeholders

Once we have identified the project stakeholders, we will arrange a meeting with everyone to provide ideas of what we are hoping to get out of the project. Being clear in providing and overview of what matters will create a focus of what the project aims to deliver. 

Areas for discussion:

• Goals for this project

• What will make project successful

• Concerns about project?

• What the product or service should do 

• Request recommendations about this project?

The stakeholders are the people who will ultimately influence the project therefore this discussion can help create the list of requirements.

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Step 3: Gather and document

Step three in the process happens at the same time as step two. We will gather information as we ask the Academic Lead and the Practitioner Lead. The goal is to document everything we can, so we have all of the answers we need to write the Project Proposal for the start of the project.

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We will use a project management tool to collect and document this information. That way, we can keep the project plan, project requirements, and project communication all in one place. Some examples of what we might document include:

• Answers to interview questions

• Academic and Practitioner Leads questions

• Academic and Practitioner Leads requests

• Academic and Practitioner Leads general comments

• Questions and comments that arise during interviews with PhD Intern(s), Project Administrator, Academic Supervisor(s), Industrial Practitioner Mentor(s).

We don’t have to use every answer we receive, but having everything documented can clarity to perspectives, which will help with requirements management. At this stage we will create a project initiation template.

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Step 4: List assumptions and requirements

Now that we have completed the intake process, we will create a requirements management plan based on the information we have gathered. 

 

We will consider all the questions we initially set out to answer during the requirements gathering process. Then, we will use them to create the requirements goals, including: 

• Length of project schedule: This will us to map out the project timeline using a Gantt chart and use it to visualise any project requirements that depend on project milestones. Some requirements will apply for the full duration of the project, whereas others may only apply during distinct project phases. For example, we will need a specific budget for team member salaries throughout the entire project, but we may only need specific material during the last stage of your project timeline.  

• People involved in the project: At this stage we will identify exactly which team members will be involved in the project, to execute every step. People are part of the project requirements because if we don’t have the team members we need, we won’t be able to complete the project on time. 

• Project risks: Understanding the project risks is an important part of identifying project requirements. we will use a risk register to determine which risks are of highest priority, such as project staff feedback, timeline delays, and lack of budget. Then, schedule a brainstorming session with the project team to figure out how to prevent these risks.

Like SMART goals, the project requirements will be actionable, measurable, and quantifiable. We will go into as much detail as possible when listing out the project budget, timeline, required resources, and team. 

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Step 5: Get approval

Once we formalise the project requirements, we will need approval from the client to ensure we are meeting their needs. Encouraging clear communication will prevent scope creep by ensuring your client know the limits of the project from the beginning. We will then proceed with our implementation plan, which will include acquiring resources and assembling a team. 

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Step 6: Monitor progress

The last part of the process is monitoring the progress of your project. We will use project management software to track the project budget and other requirements as we move through project execution. The benefit of project management software is that we can see changes to your project in real-time and take immediate action when things go awry.