By: Sean Luster, MBA Candidate
Respected author, consultant, and national speaker Karl Wiegers visited Boise State University to speak to students, faculty, members of the Western Idaho International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA) , and members of the Western Idaho Project Management Institute (PMI) about software requirements. Wiegers, a Boise State Junior College alumnus, titled his presentation “Software Requirements: 7 Critical Success Factors,” which included insight garnered through an extensive career in the world of business analysis. Although targeted to an audience of people in the business analysis and software development fields, he emphasized that many of the principles he would be discussing also apply to many other aspects of business.
One of these principles is to define and understand what your team is working toward. Without this base-level structure, you might find yourself both not knowing the goals to be accomplished and wasting time on activities that don’t add value. Another universal concept is the importance of identifying scope. Scope is basically a filter so that a team only includes the activities that fit within the parameters of the project and does not spend time on activities outside those parameters. In addition, having the ability to understand the big picture of a situation and articulate the details is a major skill to have in any leadership position.
The biggest takeaway during the presentation may have been the supreme importance of communication, which applies to all aspects of business and in personal experiences. In the setting of being a business analyst, communication is key in order to understand the needs of the client or company; an analyst must be able to ask good questions and articulate ideas so that all parties are on the same page. In any other business situation, it is important for everyone to be on the same page so that resources (time and money) are not wasted and value can be added.