Rapid Requirements Gathering Workshop 

Gathering requirements is one of the first steps of project definition. Success or failure at this task usually sets the tone for the remainder of the project. Mistakes during the requirements collection phase can, at best, delay a product’s introduction and, at worst, result in catastrophic product failures. Yet, traditional requirements gathering is typically a black art of meetings, rounds of interviews, discussions with customers, and a large dose of gut instinct. Isn’t there a better way?

Rapid Requirements Gathering (RRG) offers an alternative to traditional approaches. An RRG exercise is a specific type of phased meeting that is designed to quickly elucidate requirements from a diverse collection of stakeholders. It takes the experiential base of all of its participants and, in a facilitated process, produces a rank ordered set of requirements that can guide product development.  It is well suited to help identify and order user stories in agile project backlogs.

An RRG exercise offers several advantages over traditional information gathering meetings.  It easily scales from six to thirty people.  It is massively parallel.  It is fun and highly chaotic.  Little to no preparation is required.  It has built-in anonymity and it very quickly returns high quality results.

The workshop will consist of a quick review of the process followed by a participative exercise.

Scott Killen’s Bio 

Scott Killen is founder and President of Agile Austin and the Agile Practice Leader at PayPal.  He is a Certified ScrumMaster and Certified Scrum Practitioner through the Scrum Alliance and a Certified Project Management Professional (PMP) through the Project Management Institute. He is co-instructor for an IT Project Management class as well as an Agile Project Leadership class at Austin Community College. He is a past President of the Austin Software Process Improvement Network, past Chair of the Austin PMI Technical Local Interest Group, and in 1997 he was awarded a CSQE from the American Society for Quality.

When not thinking about how to build better software, faster, he tells stories to children and adults of all ages. Recognized by the Texas Commission for the Arts, you may have listened to one of his tales at the Texas History Museum, O.Henry Museum, French Legation, Zilker Hillside Theater or another public venue. He has twice taken 2^nd place in the Austin Liar’s contest (See YouTube videos if you think this is a lie).

In addition, Scott is an active Toastmaster.  He earned his ACS in the West Austin II Toastmasters club and serves as Area K53 governor.

If you are passionate about Agile and would like to share your knowledge and facilitate a session contact ncancelliere@gmail.com.  You only need provide your talent and time, we take care of the rest (logistics, room assignment, advertising, etc.).

Sponsors

When you arrive for the workshop, refreshments will be present.  Agile Austin wishes to thank Rally Software and Austin Community College for their continued support of our community.

NOTE:  Please make sure you are able to attend this session.  Seating is limited and on a first-come, first-served basis.  We want to give everyone the opportunity to attend, so please only sign-up if you are committed to attending.  (These sessions are valuable to both newbies and experienced alike).