CSSLP Tutorial: This part is about S.M.A.R.T. requirements.
There’s nothing like having completed a project we feel like we’ve done the job and met the requirements of what the customer wanted but we actually hadn’t met their expectations at all. A great method of ensuring clear communication and avoiding miscommunication are to write the requirements which are to Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timely. This part of the module is discussing each aspect, is you can write stronger, more meaningful requirements agreed upon by you and your customer. We start with specificity.
CSSLP Tutorial: The more specific and less general of good writing
The better or stronger requirement you will have.. We want to make sure we don’t have vague terminology which leads to misinterpretation. Instead, we want to have all the stipulations nailed down. Any use of the all-inclusive adjectives leads to problems. For example, all, always, etc. and others which are too vague like sometimes, important, and can all contribute to a weak requirement. Part of the specificity is also what helps drive the requirements to be stronger because what’s important to customers today, may not necessarily be important tomorrow. Also, what’s important to me may not be all that important to the customer. So a strong requirement would be basically a listing out of whatever aspects like named, labelled out and written specific. This way you can be on the same page as the customer as to what all will be included for their complete package.
CSSLP Tutorial: Measurable is the second quality when writing a strong requirement.
This is the way that you and the customer will know that what you were trying to do has met what they said they wanted. We need a way to make sure that what was said is what actually is being accomplished. How would you measure success? So, as a weak requirement, the application will improve customer service. What does that even mean? Instead, there should be some mile markers indicated in the requirements like customer satisfaction as measured by a 2% decrease in how long the customer stays on hold before being helped. Another example indicator where it shows as being measurable is having customer service feedback surveys showing an improvement score of 0.5% or greater. So, these are clearly communicated as to whether or not they have been reached. This lessens the opportunities for misinterpretation and miscommunication as to by how much has the goal been met and that’s what makes a stronger requirement.
CSSLP Tutorial: The next aspect is whether or not the goal or aspect is even attainable or not.
Some of the synonyms are achievable, actionable, appropriate, and others. Any of these are appropriate to use. We’ve got to be able to logistically accomplish the project. For example, one that may be weak where the requirement says the printing and distribution of brochures with no time for processing or proofreading to make sure it is all copied and folded correctly. At first glance it might look ok, but upon closer inspection, really doesn’t account for the logistics of the one or two days worth of time it takes to proofread and look at the copies. Rather than stating the requirement in that way, a better, stronger method would be first separate the two tasks into two separate sentences. Kept together, it makes it difficult to sort out which one needs to happen first, which is dependent on what, and so on. So, it is much better overall to separate the tasks and then also choose to select dates that are more attainable.
In other words, if the printing is done on Mondays then the distribution factor would be completed in the 2 day span, as indicated earlier and so it’d be on Wednesdays that the distribution would be expected. So, how you’d write the requirement to be a stronger one is that printing would be completed on the first day of the week. Distribution will take place two days after that. Notice that this allows for the brochures to be inspected and ensure the items printed and/ or copied according to specifications before sending them out. This is associated with attainable. The next aspect has to do with how realistic is the project aspirations.
CSSLP Tutorial: The next aspect of what to consider when writing a good set of requirements for your project is realistic.
Can the project be completed considering all the constraints given? A weak requirement is that the project can be completed at a specific date, let’s say on December 22. In of itself, this is not a bad requirement. However, in order for the date to be realistic, there may be mitigating circumstances which make it impossible to make it by the deadline. For example,there may be staffers who are pulled off the job and end up having to work on another project.or perhaps there are not enough in terms of resources. So, may want to document some assumptions concerning the budget being approved, the resources being available as promised, and the staffers being able to stay on the project rather than being called onto other projects. Having the assumptions documented then makes it to where then if there’s problems in the deadline, then there is some opportunity for negotiation.
CSSLP Tutorial: The last S.M.A.R.T. requirements is timeliness.
This is a time-bound issue.On this aspect, you will want to avoid such vague phrases as “as soon as possible” or “as soon as we can”. Instead, want to use specific like the end of the third quarter, or something that’s somewhat vague. Just want to be careful to avoid miscommunication because your idea of as soon as possible may not be the same as what the customer considers as “as soon as possible”. So, this last aspect is time-bound as it is timely. Overall, using the S.M.A.R.T. methodology to making sure that the requirements are clearly communicated. Your writing for the requirements means that they are specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely. These all make for good solid requirement writing.