Understanding the customer and how to determine their “real” requirements.

On the surface, requirements gathering would seem to be a rather simple process of just sitting down with the customer and asking them what they want. It’s been my experience, however, that requirements are a lot like minerals found in nature. They are rarely found in their pure state and require a great deal of refinement. You don’t want the customer to tell you that you gave them [...]

Adequate communications with BOTH the customer and the project team is key.

Communications is a critical component of any successful project. It governs not only how well the project team works together, but also impacts the public perception of how well the project is going. Communications is a multi-faceted function that serves a variety of different purposes. I would like to focus on just two aspects of project communications; managing the customer’s perception of the project, and internal project team [...]