For software R & D project management, frequent change of requirements is a very headache and helpless problem, ranging from the change of a document title to the proposal of a new product function ...
Once the requirements change, it is often easy to cause revaluation and rework. At that time, you have to modify the design, rewrite the code, modify the test cases, adjust the project plan, and so on.
Any proposed change in demand will almost increase the cost of the entire R & D project. If the control is not good, it will also lead to many problems such as project scope spread, schedule delay, quality but excessive cost, and serious cost overruns. .
What should we do in the face of constant changes in R & D project requirements?
First of all, it is important to realize that the needs in R & D projects cannot be completely eliminated and avoided.
All we can do is find the reason for the change in demand and take effective measures to minimize the damage caused by the change in demand to the R & D project.
1. Reasons for changes in R & D project requirements
Generally speaking, the process of software development projects is: requirements analysis—development department architecture and development system—test department test system—user test system—system goes live.
Demand changes can occur at any time, and the causes usually come from internal and external sources, including product managers, developers, users, and company-level policy market changes.
Although the manifestations of demand changes vary greatly, the following reasons can be investigated in detail:
The scope begins to be refined without delineation, there is no baseline for specifying requirements, there is no good software structure to adapt to changes, the requirements are not clear, the understanding of requirements is different, business requirements change, and the project implementation cycle is long.
Second, how to properly respond to changes in research and development needs
Requirements change control should not only be considered in the project implementation process, but should be distributed throughout the project life cycle.
In order to reduce the impact of project changes to a minimum, we need to adopt a comprehensive change control method, which can be started from the following aspects:
at the start-up stage of the project, do a demand analysis and clearly define the scope of the benchmark file
In the implementation phase of the project, analyze the change request, control the demand, reduce the source of the demand, and filter the unreasonable demand. At the same time, carry out documented management so that it is available for inspection and evidence;
At the end of the project, systematically analyze and summarize the countermeasures for risks identified in advance in the project and unforeseen changes and other risks, and archive them.
Since demand changes are inevitable, then there must be a set of standardized processing procedures, and it is best to standardize the management of demand changes through appropriate R & D project management tools.
The CORNERSTONE R & D project management tool is recommended here . The integrated real-time global view can help managers make effective decisions and measure whether each requirement change is meaningful and affordable. It effectively manages the review and acceptance of requirements to promote demand communication. .
3. Submission and approval of change requests
The project team can use CORNERSTONE 's demand module to deal with transactions, problems, defect reports, and improvement needs.
Each item has a "change request" sub-page, project team members or authorized users can submit and project-related changes on this page, please
ask the person in charge after receiving the request can be made to communicate with stakeholders to complete "denial "," Accept "," Re-delegation "and other change request operations.
4. Severity and priority queue
The urgency of a change request may change as circumstances change.
In CORNERSTONE , change requests can be distinguished according to severity, can be queued up at different priority levels to control access rights, and priority can be reassigned or change requests transferred.
V. Impact of retroactive changes on the project
CORNERSTONE associates change records of project plans, costs, and resource allocations with specified change requests to help managers track various changes in project planning and execution.
The audit trail function of the system can also automatically track and record the behavior of all submitters and reviewers in real time.
R & D project personnel can clearly see which project activities are affected by each change in demand and how they are affected on the planning and execution page, which can help project personnel make more effective and accurate decisions and measurements.
A software R & D project will undergo various changes throughout its entire life cycle from start to finish. The ability to prepare for changes and manage changes effectively is the key to the success of the project.
The CORNERSTONE R & D project management system creates a transparent communication and execution platform for the project team, helping project personnel track all status of the entire task life cycle from the request to the completion of the request, better control the project execution, and improve the project success rate. Now apply for a team of less than 20 people can use it for free.
