In several previous posts I’ve written about the “R-word” (requirements) and why it is easy for users to say they are defining requirements but hard for them to articulate requirements in a meaningful way. As a result, I prefer to focus on “outcomes” or business objectives when I talk to stakeholders about portal and collaboration solutions. This Stakeholder Interview Guide helps frame that conversation.
In this week’s post, I am sharing another 2-page document – a Stakeholder Interview Guide that I use to help interviewees prepare for a stakeholder interview. I rarely conduct the interview by actually asking the questions in the document. Instead, I use the document to start the conversation – to get the interviewee to focus the discussion on business outcomes rather than specific actions for the solution. I also don’t expect anyone to write down the answers to the questions, even though I definitely appreciate it when they do. It’s not important that each interview cover each question. It’s very important to focus the interview on business outcomes. I usually allocate between 1 and 2 hours for the initial stakeholder interview.<!--[if gte mso 9]>
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Hanley is an independent consultant and president of her own firm, Susan Hanley LLC, where she specializes in the design and development of portal solutions and knowledge management consulting.
She is co-author of Essential SharePoint 2007: Delivering High-Impact Collaboration. Read a free chapter of the book.
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