When getting stakeholders to read your documentation is like pulling teeth and what to do about it using 7 techniques

One of the benefits of having a business analyst on the team is that they can ensure what has been discussed and agreed is written down to ensure a common consensus and understanding.  They can also ensure there is no ambiguity or gaps by elicitation from all impacted stakeholders, other sources of information and conducting analysis.

However, all this good work can be done to then find challenges in getting the different parties to read and understand the documentation.  This can be either business stakeholders or with the stakeholders delivering the solution.

This can lead to:

• A lack of understanding to what the requirements are
• Disagreements
• Missing requirements
• Gold plated requirements
• Etc.

There are several techniques that can be used to alleviate these problems

1. Ensure stakeholders involved early in the process so they are taken through the journey so less of leap for them when it comes to reading the documented output.
2. Organise walkthrough sessions or at least give all interested parties an opportunity to be walked through the documentation.
3. Requirement documents should not be 100 pages and full of text. Make sure you make use of diagrams as a diagram can be easier to explain and involves far less narrative.
4. If it is going to be difficult to get a stakeholder or group of stakeholders to read a document consider putting the key points into power point slides to present back to them.
5. Ensure documentation sign off. A stakeholder is more likely to read a document and ensure they understand it if they have to put their name to it.
6. Make use of story boards, wire frames or prototypes if applicable in the design stage. This can really bring to life what stakeholders want and be less abstract.
7. Construct a traceability matrix and conduct regular reviews to ensure solution being designed / built matches against the requirements. This will then highlight quickly where there are gaps.

Thoughts? Questions? Please share in the comments.