So, after going through the process, you’ve elicited your requirements, analyzed your requirements, and documented your requirements. The final and most important step is to obtain official approval. And there are three major processes to obtaining approval:
- Business Team Approval: Who gave the requirement?
- Technical Team Approval: Who will develop the system?
- Project Sponsor / Committee Approval: Who is writing the cheque?
Qucik Link to Specific Topic:
Gaining Business Approval
You’ve gone through and defined, redefined, and redefined again, ensuring that the requirements are correct and match their needs. And second, there are no missing or unsolicited criteria that must be recorded. So, obtaining business permission on what, the needs, and how you will be able to go forward on this to accomplish their business purpose and meet their need is a critical first step.
Business Approval: Schedule
- Schedule multiple review sessions
- Separate business units
- Never exceed four hours per session
- Involve Subject Matter Experts (SME)
- Keep it relevant to the audience
- Create meeting agenda
Business Approval: Conduct
- Explain the purpose of the meeting and the agenda
- Review project and objective
- Go over each requirement
- Address questions and concerns immediately
- Change and update requirements
- Table all new requirements unless deemed critical
If critical requirements are determined, reschedule the approval meeting
Technical Approval
So, you got the business approval and are now working on getting the technical approval. You want to make sure that your architects and developers all agree on the criteria and that they are all technically and financially achievable. As a result, this will be fairly similar to the business approval.
Technical Approval: Schedule
- Session 1 - Schedule initial high level review
- Session 2 - Schedule in-depth follow up review
- Include technical Subject Matter Experts (SMEs)
- Include Technical Lead / Architect
- Create agendas for both meetings
Technical Approval: Conduct (Session 1)
- Explain the purpose of the meeting and the agenda
- Review project and objective
- Touch on each section of requirements
- Identify any major technical concerns
- Answer questions
Technical Approval: Conduct (Session 2)
- Explain the purpose of the meeting and the agenda
- Review project and objective
- Go through each requirement to validate technical feasibility
- Identify any troublesome requirements
- Verify enough detail for design phase
- Make or Buy decision:
- Make: Create high level design architecture
- Buy: Determine options (Competitive Comparison Matrix)
- Update project estimated cost
Sponsor/ Committee Approval
So you now have business approval as well as a technical understanding of the architecture and design that will be used to finish this project. And now it’s all about going and getting authorization from the sponsor or committee, essentially the person who sent the cash to make this vision a reality.
Sponsor Approval: Schedule
- Create presentation to talk high level about project
- Update project schedule, cost, and risks
- Summarize the business requirements
- Define recommended solution
- Anticipated transition to the solution (training, policies, job aids, etc.)
- Majority of the presentation should be visuals and charts
- Schedule approval meeting with sponsor / committee
- Invite business and technical project leads
- Create meeting agenda
Sponsor Approval: Conduct
- Explain the purpose of the meeting and the agenda
- Review project and objective (sell it)
- Give your presentation (stay at a high level)
- Address questions and concerns immediately
- Gain official sign-off on the project
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Rafayet Hossain
I help organizations bridge the gap between business and technology. With expertise in business analysis, project management, and software quality assurance, I deliver solutions that drive growth and digital transformation.
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