Overview

All projects arise in response to needs. In theory, the whole project effort should be geared toward addressing these needs. Unfortunately, needs are often incorrectly identified, poorly articulated, or simply ignored. Requirements, in turn, are the physical embodiment of the needs. If needs are poorly defined, then the requirements that address them will be off-target, no matter how brilliantly formulated. Ultimately, many project failures are rooted in the poor development of needs and requirements at the project outset. In this case, project work has not even begun when failure is hardwired into the project.

This course focuses on all aspects of the needs-requirements life-cycle, including needs recognition, needs articulation, development of business requirements, development of functional requirements, and development of specifications. It reviews the pitfalls practitioners face in identifying the full range of customers, sorting through the contending needs of multiple customers, articulating needs so that technical personnel can understand them, and managing changes to requirements (scope creep). It examines significant techniques that help in the elicitation and specification of both needs and requirements.

[Note: Students who sign up for Managing Needs and Requirements should not take UMT-IT282. Information Technology Project Management.]

Objectives

To help students to:

• Understand the central role of requirements in developing effective solutions
• Discover how to formulate clear requirements that reflect what customers need and want
• Identify different approaches that can be implemented in order to manage changes to requirements

PMBOK Knowledge Areas

• Project Human Resource Management
• Project Integration Management
• Project Time Management
• Project Scope Management
• Project Quality Management
• Project Communications Management
• Project Cost Management
• Project Risk Management
• Project Procurement Management

Instruction

• Course modules containing cutting-edge knowledge developed by renowned experts in project management
• Course Textbook: The New Project Management (2nd edition, 2002), by Dr. J. Davidson Frame
• "Think and Review" section that helps you review key points of the modules
• Answers to the "Think and Review" section
• A final exam which contains multiple choice and true/false questions
• Certificate of Completion, which makes students eligible for 15 PDU credits (given upon exam completion).

Take a Sneak Peak! Examine some sample Course Module Pages.

What You Will Learn

• The universal pitfalls associated with defining needs and requirements
• How needs evolve into requirements
• How projects always have multiple customers with contending needs and wants; and how to sort through these needs and wants
• How to bridge the requirements gap between business users and the technical team
• How to elicit requirements with techniques such as P/E diagrams, context diagrams, structured English, flow charts, rapid prototyping and JAD sessions

Topics Covered

• Business requirements
• Functional requirements
• Technical requirements (specifications)
• Needs-requirements life cycle
• Bridging the business-technology gap
• Capturing requirements with traditional system analysis
• Capturing requirements with rapid prototyping
• Managing changes to requirements with configuration management
• The requirements-quality link
• Developing requirements with joint application development (JAD) teams
• Hands-on workshop on needs definition and requirements development

Take a Course

This course costs $495. You can begin the course today, with no application necessary. There are four easy ways to sign up:

• Secure Online Payment (VISA, Master & American Express)
• Registration Form [Word]. Mail the form with your check to: UMT, 1901 North Fort Myer Drive, Suite 700, Arlington, VA 22209-1609.
• Fax the form to us at (703) 516-0985.
• Register by phone at (703) 516-0035.

Once the payment has cleared, you will be issued an ID name and a Password that will allow you to access the full course.

To access the course, log into the UMT online coursesite with your USER ID and PASSWORD at: coursesite.umtweb.edu.