Project management - The needs are endless

the project was postponed again, the boss hated to criticize the entire project team, invested so much, where was the output? checking the reason, it is found that it is due to the constant change of the needs of the project, which is probably something that many project managers and programmers have experienced.

let me turn here to an important factor in the postponement of the project: the issue of demand

this picture is all too familiar to everyone, i will fry the cold rice again, and list the main possible situations:

customer-requested requirements

why can't customers ask for real needs?

1, business department: business personnel basically stand in their own point of view of the problem, from their own responsible for the business, did not analyze the problem from the department or a higher level, resulting in a relatively low focus on demand. the final demand formed on this basis is to summarize the needs of various departments and simply deal with them. moreover, the lack of technical knowledge in the business unit also leads to the lack of consideration of the technical aspects when making demands.

2, technical personnel: customer technical personnel due to limited business knowledge, can not tap the deeper needs, can only be based on existing needs, or mildly explore part of the needs, can not fundamentally solve the problem of demand.

according to the above requirements, it is conceivable how the project will end. there are also some projects, in the demand analysis stage, generated a complete demand specification, and the user signed and pledged, the final result is that if you can not really solve the problem of customer business, even if the system is put into production, it will inevitably lead to various complaints from users, which is bound to have various adverse effects on the company's image and follow-up projects.

while we complain all day about changing needs, can we look at the changes in demand from a different perspective, assuming that the demand is changing, and the truth is the same. from the perspective of the development of the enterprise and the business itself, the enterprise is constantly developing, and the business is also constantly developing, in order to meet the needs of business operations and business development, the demand itself should be constantly changing and developing.

so, where is the real need?

from the perspective of enterprise operation, why do you want to do the system? its purpose is to meet the needs of enterprise operations, only from the perspective of enterprise operation to examine the needs, in order to truly help the demand initiators, the formation of a complete demand. this requires us to:

1, really grasp the purpose of doing the system

2, programmers should have a deep understanding of the business, more communication, it is best to have the assistance of domain experts, from top to bottom to sort out business needs, correct unreasonable needs, tap potential needs

3. solve the problem of demand change by technical means, so as to respond to changes with no change, so as to minimize the change of demand and bring about changes in procedures. in this regard, the requirements for programmers and project designers are relatively high.

demand changes are not terrible, demand changes are not terrible, terrible is that we do not know the nature of change and change, but stay in the appearance; terrible is that we do not know to embrace this change, but blindly reject; the terrible thing is that we do not know to use our own strengths (technical means) to maximize the solution to this change, but to expose our weaknesses (business) to customers.