Timothy Stokes. PE, MBA Delcan Corp, Senior Principal Denver, CO

Transcription

1 Improving Project Management to Realize Successful Outcomes by Focusing on Requirements Management Timothy Stokes. PE, MBA Delcan Corp, Senior Principal Denver, CO

2 Introduction Begin at the beginning, the King said gravely, and go on till you come to the end; then stop. Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland It was a painful lesson to learn, but it was and engineer s dream I had a great time, but, in the end, it taught me a great lesson in business planning. You need to minimize investment as well the risks. We all need to think of business, not straight engineering anymore. Roger Taur

3 Requirements Drive Projects In 1994, the Standish Group found that the top three factors that caused project failure were: 1. Lack of user input, 2. Incomplete requirements 3. Changes to the requirements. Requirements Management was developed primarily in the software industry. Requirements Management is relatively new to the infrastructure industry. It is a process area within project management and systems engineering.

4 Infrastructure Delivery Traditionally delivered projects using a design-bid-build delivery method. New ways to be efficiently deliver projects. Construction management at risk, design-build, and public-privatepartnership models such as designbuild-operate-maintain.

5 Design - Build Design - Bid - Build Paradigm Shift: Design-Bid-Build to Design-Build Construction FACILITY 100% TRACK 100% SYSTEMS 100% Tendering Acceptance / Commissioning Design and Define Requirements Preliminary Design and Requirements Construction FACILITY < 30% 100% Design Support During Construction TRACK < 30% 100% Design Support During Construction SYSTEMS < 30% 100% Design Support During Construction Intense Development of RFQ / RFP Intense Design Review Acceptance / Commissioning Construction Oversight RFIs / Field Requested Design Changes / NCRs Design Tender / Bid Construction Accept / Commission

6 The Need for Requirements Management Requirements are explicit expressions of needs; what a process or product must accomplish. 6 traceability is a key concept

7 Classic V-Model of System Engineering System Requirements Verification and Validation System Integration & Acceptance Sub-System Requirements Construct / Inspect/Test Design Fabrication 7

8 Types of Requirements Functional Requirements What the resulting products or deliverables of the project should do in order to perform their intended function. E.g. design criteria Non-Functional Requirements Qualities, or properties the product must have in order for it to function as intended. E.g. safety and security, maintainability, reliability Project Management Requirements To assure the contractor implements management processes necessary to provide confidence, transparency, and accountability to the owner throughout the project that work is being performed to the satisfaction of the owner. E.g. quality, safety, public information management

9 Stakeholders Stakeholders commonly state their need through formal meetings or written communications. Understanding their needs is important so that they can be translated into technical requirements that are clear and understood by those implementing the project.

10 Requirements are used to Communicate What is Wanted

11 Requirements the Problem Requirements are the what s or the problem statements that are written in a technical manner that need to be addressed.

12 Design- the solution Specifications are the solutions or the how s to ensure that requirements are going to be fulfilled.

13 Design Solutions To Requirements Traditional Design Approach Requirements-Oriented Design Approach Good requirements can lead to more effective solutions. Advantage to develop innovative, optimum solutions. 13

14 Writing High-Quality Requirements Criteria Describes what, not how Traceable Single statement Necessary Clear meaning Correct Unique Consistent Feasible Verifiable Documented and accessible Terminology: shall, should, will 14

15 Requirements Management Process Involves the owner and stakeholders; Involves multiple engineering disciplines working co-operatively; Facilitates the contracted entities to transform a need into a reality; and Enables the owner to verify and validate whether the contractor has incorporated the requirements into the finished product.

16 Preparation of Requirements for a RFP For new rail and transit projects, requirements are communicated by the Request for Proposal (RFP) Transit Owner takes care of the Needs and the What's Design-Builder takes care of the How s If done properly, the owner only needs to confirm that requirements are being met. Should not need to inspect the work.

17 Requirements Management Process A formalized, planned and continually evolving series of activities. Output: Requirements that are incorporated into an RFP or similar document.

18 Needs Identification Approved RFP translates owner, operator, and stakeholder source needs into formal requirements 18

19 Categorization Approved RFP Checks for inconsistency, omission, duplication priority, WBS, responsibility, acceptance 19

20 Categorization WBS Concept

21 Documentation and Storage Approved RFP Inventory control, change history web-based tool with database engine 21

22 Validation with Stakeholders Approved RFP Stakeholders understand, agree, and support the requirements as presented in contracts 22

23 Verification Approved RFP Verify that requirements have been achieved. Traceability for confidence of acceptance.. 23

24 Verification Owner roles during project implementation is verifying or validating that requirements have been fulfilled. Design-Builder implements project management processes, which includes assurance methods (visibility that all work complies with requirements and design specifications, safety, environmental, systems integration, other management processes). Owner should not need to perform inspections (design checking or inspecting at the specification level)

25 Dealing with Changes Changes in scope should result in changes to requirements ensure change management at the requirement level.

26 Dealing with Interfaces Subsystem A Interfaces Subsystem B Develop Interface Requirements - ensure they are requirements - not something else. Verify that the design addresses each requirement, Validate that the construction and/or operations address each requirement.

27 Requirements Management Conclusions Offers a problem statement / solutions paradigm an enhanced way to manage projects. Offers a way to define and verify scope clear understanding of the Work that is traceable back to the overall project goals. Aids program management effort by offering visibility of dependencies, scope deviations, responsibilities and change control.

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