Integrating Requirements Management and
Project Management

by Elizabeth Larson, PMP, CBAP and Richard Larson, PMP, CBAP
Co-Principals, Watermark Learning, Inc.

On most projects, we cannot effectively manage the project unless the requirements are managed as well. Likewise, if we try to manage requirements without understanding the principles of project management we are apt to return to the chaos of unmanaged projects, resulting in cost and schedule overruns, an uncontrolled scope, and a dysfunctional project team. In this article we will show how the two disciplines and frameworks are interrelated yet distinct, and that both are needed for successful projects. We will consider the relationship between managing the project and managing the product requirements. We will also look at highlights form the two related bodies of knowledge, the BABOK® and the PMBOK®. This article is an excerpt from our upcoming book on Requirements Management, due to be published in early 2009.

A Closer Look at the BABOK® Areas

Business Analysis Planning and Monitoring
This knowledge area addresses the activities that are included in planning the business analysis phase or phases of a project. It also includes the activities to monitor the work for variances, and taking any necessary action required to bring the work in line with the requirements management plan. Although not all project life cycles include a formal phase or set of phases for business analysis, the activities that comprise business analysis need to be taken into account, either formally or informally.

The deliverable(s) from this knowledge area, such as the estimates for completing business analysis tasks, the business analysis communication plan, and the responsibility assignment matrix, are all incorporated in the overall project management plan. The work that the business analyst completes during business analysis is done in partnership with the project manager, and becomes part of the entire project. It is not uncommon for the work to be completed by project managers, just as it is not uncommon for business analysts to perform project management functions. It is important, however, to remember that we are referring to the work that needs to be completed, rather than the title of the person doing the work.

Below, we have listed the PMBOK® Knowledge Areas (KAs) that are related to the BABOK KAs. We refer to the PMBOK® GUIDE - Third Edition, unless noted.

Exhibit 1: Business Analysis Planning and Monitoring in Relationship to the PMBOK® Knowledge Areas and Processes

Highlights:

• On most projects both the project and requirements management plans are comprised of subsidiary plans. Each subsidiary plan needs to be complete in itself. That is, each management plan is really a set of documents consisting of subsidiary plans that can stand-alone, but are coordinated and updated as a unit. Stakeholders need to be able to view and understand each of these subsidiary documents, but they also need to understand the relationship of each plan to the all the others.
  
  
• Integrated Change control is where the impact of each change is analyzed and where subsidiary documents and the Project Management Plan are changed. Likewise, all changes to the Requirement Management Plan and the subsidiary documents must be analyzed and changed as needed. The BABOK® task Plan, Monitor, and Report on Business Analysis Performance is to complete impact analysis of requested changes, and as such is related to Integrated Change Control.
  
  
• Collect requirements, which is where the PMBOK® GUIDE - Fourth Edition discusses requirements management.
  
  
• Quality and Scope. The PMBOK® GUIDE distinguishes between Verify Scope and Perform Quality Control by distinguishing between the acceptance of the deliverables and the correctness of the deliverables. The BABOK® makes the distinction by ensuring that the requirements meet the business need (validation) vs. ensuring that they have been implemented correctly (verification). Validation, per the BABOK®, is in the realm of those who test the solution.
  
  
• The tasks, activities, estimates, dependencies, and schedule are all processes that need to be done as part of both project and requirements management. During the business analysis phase(s) of a project AND for each key deliverable that is produced as part of the project, the BABOK® acknowledges that these planning activities must be performed, but suggests that scheduling tasks belongs in the project management domain.
  
  
• Project Quality Management as it relates to the planning and monitoring the metrics, which include metrics to determine the health of the business analysis phase(s).
  
  
• Communication Planning. Planning how to communicate with stakeholders, how to document and present requirements, and how to report on the health of the business analysis project phase(s).

Enterprise Analysis
This knowledge area focuses on clarifying the business need, problem, or opportunity, defining the product scope, ad developing a business case. The focus of Enterprise Analysis is on the product, or solution to the business problem, rather than on the project.

A distinction between Enterprise analysis and Scope Management is that the latter covers the scope of the entire project and Enterprise Analysis covers the scope of the product. The product scope will affect the project scope. For example, a new piece of software that requires new technology, that interfaces with many other systems, and that will cause a significant change to the business process will have a larger projects scope than a new piece of software that is run on an existing technical platform, and which causes only minor changes to the business process.

The relationship between this KA and the Business Analysis Planning and Monitoring is that the former defines the solution scope, or cope of the end product and the latter defines the effort, or scope to complete the business analysis phase or phases of the project. The relationship between this KA and the PMBOK® GUIDE is as follows:

Exhibit 2: Enterprise Analysis in Relationship to the PMBOK® Knowledge Areas and Processes

Requirements Elicitation
This set of activities includes gathering stakeholder requirements and ensuring that their needs have been understood. Effective elicitation requires the ability to ask the right questions, listen to and synthesize responses, and record customer requirements. These skills are required for effective project management as well.

The relationship between this KA and the PMBOK® GUIDE - Fourth Edition as follows:

Exhibit 3: Requirements Elicitation in Relationship to the PMBOK® Knowledge Areas and Processes

Highlights:

• Project Scope Management. Collect Requirements has a new section in the Fourth edition of the PMBOK® GUIDE which addresses how to gather and manage requirements. These following techniques are referenced in both bodies of knowledge:
• Interviews
• Focus groups
• Facilitated workshops
• Questionnaires and surveys
• Observation
• Prototyping
  
  
• Communications Management. Although there are no direct links to the PMBOK® GUIDE, Requirements Elicitation relies on effective communication skills, which is addressed as a tool/technique for Information Distribution. In addition, eliciting requirements involves managing conflicts, and tracking issues, as well as a variety of communication methods.

Requirements Analysis
This set of activities includes the progressive elaboration of requirements from highest level to subsequently lower levels of details as more about the product becomes known (PMBOK® GUIDE). Its purpose is to ensure that the business needs are truly understood. The requirements need to be elaborated in enough detail so that business clients are satisfied that their needs have been met and the development team can create the end product or service. This knowledge area also includes verification and validation, meaning confirmation that the product or service does, indeed, solve the stated business problem, and that the requirements will produce quality results.

The relationship between this KA and the PMBOK® GUIDE - Fourth Edition is as follows:

Exhibit 4: Requirements Analysis in Relationship to the PMBOK® Knowledge Areas and Processes

Highlights:

• One of the techniques in Scope Definition is called Product Analysis, which includes such things as systems analysis and functional analysis. This technique directly relates to Specify and Model Requirements in the BABOK® Requirements Analysis KA. Another PMBOK® technique is Stakeholder Analysis, which selects, prioritizes, and quantifies stakeholder needs, wants, and expectations. This technique corresponds to the BABOK® task Prioritize Requirements.
  
  
• Perform Quality Control, which involves monitoring specific project results to determine whether they comply with relevant quality standards set forth in the quality plan. The BABOK® KA includes the tasks to verify the requirements to ensure they are correct, and validate the requirements to ensure each meets a business need.

Requirements Management and Communication
This set of activities includes baselining the requirements, managing changes to the baseline, managing issues and conflict, packaging the requirements, and communicating the requirements to stakeholders in accordance with the Business Analysis Communications Plan.

Exhibit 5: Requirements Management and Communications Relationship to the PMBOK® Knowledge Areas and Processes

Highlights:

• Integrated Change Control, which ensures that the changes that occur on the project are accounted for across the project. It looks at the impact of changes on the entire project management plan and all the appropriate subsidiary documents and provides updates accordingly. This relates to the BABOK task of Manage Solution and Requirements Scope which manages changes to requirements.
• Configuration Management, which monitors changes to the product and/or product components.
• Quality Planning, which establishes the quality baseline. this is important in baselining the requirements, which happens in Manage Solution and Requirements Scope.
• Manage Stakeholders, which involves managing the communications to satisfy the stakeholders and resolve their issues. In the BABOK® task of Managing the Solution and Requirements Scope has the sub-task of managing requirements conflicts and issues.

Solution Assessment and Validation
This knowledge area describes how well the solution, or end product, solves the stated business problem and meets the approved requirements. The knowledge area includes allocating requirements to the appropriate release, recommending a release strategy, determining how the changes, affected by the end product, will impact the business and technical organizations, and activities related to making sure the end product matches the stated requirements.

The relationship between KA and the PMBOK® GUIDE is as follows:

Exhibit 6: Solution Assessment and Validation in Relationship to the PMBOK® Knowledge Areas and Processes

Highlights:

• Human Resource Planning includes organization factors (inputs), which help assess the organizational areas that will be impacted by the project, and the informal and formal relationships that exist among the business areas. It also recommends organizational theory tools/techniques. These tools relate to the BABOK task to Determine Organizational Readiness, which looks at the organizational behavior affecting the organization's ability to assimilate the changes required by the new solution.
  
  
• Quality processes of Perform Quality Planning, Assurance, and Control. These activities establish the quality metrics not only for the project, but for the end product, ensure that there are processes in place to meet the requirements, provide confidence that the product is built according to the requirements, and monitor results to ensure they comply with the standards set out in the Quality Planning.

Finally, the Underlying Competencies in the BABOK® map to many of the tools and techniques in the PMBOK®, as both bodies of knowledge recognize the importance of ethics, industry/product knowledge, and of influencing skills, such as negotiating, managing conflict, and facilitation.

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© 2008 Watermark Learning, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide. Do not copy, distribute, or present without written permission from Watermark Learning. Published as part of 2008 PMI Global Congress Proceedings - Denver, Colorado, USA