Document Sign-off & Review

This is a good way to manage your documents, and the expected involvement from stakeholders during the life of a project.

Usually, there are enormous amounts of documents being produced in a project, and at some point or aother they should be signed-off/accepted/reveiwed by someone. Sometimes, achieveing this can be a challenge, especially when the final sign-off needs to be gained from busy stakeholders. Much better, where possible, to set the expectation up front with those VIPs about how much work they will have to complete.

So, map all your documents, map the stakeholder groups, and work out who needs to review or accept. If you have a RACI, this will make your job easier. Then publish it to everyone on the list - you might not have identified everyone, and stakeholders might like to nominate representatives if they can see truly how much effort will be required. They might also cut their normally nominated representatives some slack when they see just how much involvement they need to have in the project.

Describing the Levels of Requirements Detail

High Level Detail
This requirement specifies that the system must do something with some information. (Actor -Verb –Entity)
Example: “The system must display the details of the Customer’s last Order”

Mid Level Detail
This requirement specifies that the system must do something with some information under certain circumstances but it does not specify which Order details need to be displayed. (Actor -Verb –Entity -Condition)
Example: “The system must display the details of the Customer’s last Order when the Customer is an existing Customer”

Detailed
This requirement specifies that the system must do something with some information under certain circumstances. (Actor -Verb –Entity -Condition)
The difference between a mid level requirement statement and a detailed requirement statement lies in the visibility given to a screen display or a calculation/algorithm –what needs to be displayed and the actual calculation/algorithm are fully described in the detailed requirement.
Example: “The system must display the Products ordered, the quantity of each product, and any Options for each Product that was specified on the Customer’s last Order when the Customer is an existing Customer”

More Tips for Getting the Session Back on Track

Red Flag Conditions & Situations	Suggested Strategies
Off-Topic: conversation is straying to another activity potential “scope creep”	Drop it Come back to it
"Bogged-Down" on One Topic knowing when you are reaching diminishing returns	Assign to Issues List/Parking Lot
Side Bar Conversations Disruptive/distracting cliques	Deal with it directly
Impatient Participants Reading the group	Action item for later resolution
Deviating From Agreed to Guidelines business vs. technical requirements	Remind of their responsibilities