Define requirements

What is requirements definition?

Identifying, capturing, clarifying, and documenting the needs and expectations of stakeholders in relation to the development and delivery of a product or service.

In the context of local government transformation, requirements definition is most often carried out when there is a need to develop, or change software, or to deliver use cases that enable data insights.   

A well-defined set of requirements is an essential foundation in the development of solutions that meet stakeholder expectations.

Essential for:

• Technology and data enabled transformation.
• Service, process, and product-related change.

Knowledge

• Contextual awareness
• How to implement / follow effective governance
• Understanding of different requirement capture methods, techniques, and templates. 
• Understanding of different requirement types including functional and non-functional.
• Understanding of different project delivery approaches, including Agile and waterfall and the different requirements definition approaches needed for each.

Skills

Able to:

• Think strategically: Ensuring requirements align with the overall strategic objectives of the organisation and consider key constraints.
• Manage stakeholders: Identifying and working with stakeholders to understand their needs, drivers, and priorities.
• Elicit requirements: Gather information from stakeholders including end users and subject matter experts via workshops, surveys, one to one interviews and observation to understand their needs and expectations.
• Analyse data: To understand current service use and pain points, commonality in need and to enable prioritisation.
• Document requirements: In sufficient detail to ensure that the expectation is unambiguous, and the success or acceptance criteria is clear. 
• Validate requirements: Collaborating with stakeholders to confirm that what has been documented accurately meets their needs.
• Work at pace, with attention to detail: To ensure efficient requirements definition.
• Analyse and prioritise requirements: Ensuring requirements are prioritised in support of business objectives, considering dependencies.
• Manage conflicting needs: Where requirements overlap or conflict with one another, work with stakeholders to de-conflict requirements, focused on delivering the overall outcome.
• Manage requirements and ensure traceability: Linking requirements back to related documentation including design and testing documents.
• Manage change: Work within project or programme governance to ensure changes to requirements are well managed, documented and fully traceable.
• Communicate and collaborate effectively: With stakeholders at all levels, including technical and non-technical teams.
• Manage risk: Understand the risks associated with the requirement capture process and any risks created by requirements themselves, ensuring these are reflected in the risk register appropriately.
• Be emotionally intelligent: Recognise, understand, and use emotional responses effectively in the achievement of outcomes.

Behaviours

• Collaborative
• Analytical
• Solution focused.
• Decisive 
• Empathetic
• Inclusive
• Resilient
• Adaptable and pragmatic
• Committed to continual learning