The business requirements gathering / scope definitions phase is the litmus test for a project’s success. If you don’t get the right information at the right time, you’ll experience cost overruns, poor quality, and dissatisfied customers. The project will be a failure. For over thirty years, the statistics have been virtually unchanged. More than 50% of ERP implementations have “failed.” (An internet search engine identified about 8 million results for “ERP failures” and 114,000 results for “HRIS failures.”) Just as the failure rates have been unchanged, the solutions have also been unchanged: “Let’s spend millions of dollars to implement the “latest and greatest” methodology.”  The methodologies included everything from high-priced consulting firm’s “proprietary” methodologies to the SOP (seat of pants) non-methodology. Despite this investment, over half of ERP and other IT projects have been unsuccessful.

 Major non-IT projects are more successful because their business requirements are well defined before the development phase begins. Unfortunately, gathering business requirements is like nailing gelatin to the wall. It’s possible with the right skill set. This presentation can help any methodology become more successful.  During this session, we’ll examine the underlying requirements gathering problems, their causes, and some real (cheap) solutions towards improving this process. You’ll learn to:

• Understand the real reason behind project failures
• Sell business requirements gathering to stakeholders and team members
• Gain control over and stopping project scope creep
• Gather and build data and process flows
• Renegotiate the project constraints.

In this session, we’ll encourage each of you to introduce yourself to the PMs in the room, concisely describe your background, and name your target industries/companies – in effect, give your ‘elevator speech’.  By announcing to all who you are and what you want, you are maximizing the impact of networking, enabling a person with the contacts who are important to you to meet you and share that critical information.
 
 Join us for this casual get-acquainted meeting, bring business cards, perhaps your marketing plan, and prepare to share.  As Barbara A. Fuller emphasized at the September session, you never know who has the contact that will catapult your career into stardom.  We’re hoping that you’ll find that connection here!

The PMINJ PMO LCI will host its quarterly Panel Discussion facilitated by Fareed Hosain and Snigdha Mitra. It will be an interactive session where participants will have an opportunity to discuss best practices, challenges, and other information about PMOs.  We look forward to your active participation and welcome your input to make each panel discussion useful to you and fellow LCI members.