An intensive one-day seminar, Requirements That Work™ (RTW) gives you a repeatable method for creating product plans that product managers can write and developers readily embrace, producing solutions the market wants to buy.

Going agile? Learn how to be effective in this rapid, iterative world. Not agile? That's fine, as this seminar introduces techniques for prioritizing and organizing market requirements, and establishes clear roles for team members that are applicable for any development methodology.

Requirements That Work extends the market-driven concepts from Practical Product Management beyond the product management and marketing departments to the entire product team.

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Who should attend?

Product managers who are responsible for defining and delivering technology products. Technical product managers get more from this seminar when trained with their counterparts in product development.

Seminar fees

$995 US per person for the 1-day Requirements That Work seminar. Tuition is due prior to the seminar and includes a complete set of training materials, continental breakfast and lunch.

Seminar agenda

I. Personas, Problems and Use Scenarios
Successful products require market input.* The planning team must balance input from customers, evaluators and future prospects to create products that sell. Internal customers, including the sales team and other departments, add input. Since anecdotes can't replace solid research, product managers must quantify market needs to help prioritize features and benefits for the next release.

* How to solicit the right input from the right segments of the market is discussed in the Practical Product Management seminar.

Topics Covered:

• Defining a persona
• Many requests, one problem
• The "problem" card
• Words to avoid
• Frequency of the problem
• Statistical anomalies
• Vendor considerations
  

II. Requirements
Product managers need to communicate market problems to Development in a meaningful way. Information that appears to be detailed to Marketing does not seem detailed enough for Development. When developers ask for more specifics, how should product managers communicate market requirements so the final product requirements match market needs? What is a requirement and how is it written? How can product managers help developers understand the intent and context of market requirements?

Topics Covered:

• Types of requirements

• Reqs vs. specs

• Persona problem and use scenario
• Specification
  

III. Prioritizing Problems
Once market problems are identified and articulated, product teams must analyze the business issues and technical feasibility. Which features are necessary for a successful product introduction? How do we incorporate the market into the process?

• Many inputs, one problem
  
• Market data, evidence and impact
• Prioritization

IV. Planning a Release
Many projects fail when the original project plan is altered. How do product managers get senior executives to support the release? What about "special" features needed to close a deal? Commitment means making a plan and getting the project team on the same page. Further, time lost in implementation phases of development can never be recovered. How can the project be monitored so problems are detected before they are out of control? The product contract summarizes release plans in a simple format that can be communicated and understood throughout the company.

Topics Covered:

• Too much to do?
• Organize and prioritize
• Product contract
• Communicating deliverables
• Product roadmap tips
  

V. Effective Product Teams
In most industries and occupations, roles are clearly defined. Yet, technology product teams are frequently in conflict because roles are unclear in the delivery process. Who collects requirements? Who writes specifications? How do you prioritize? How can you define a product to best meet market needs?

Topics Covered:

• Phases in the planning process
• Roles for effective teams
• Techniques for protecting the team
• Techniques for leading the team
• Affecting change
  

Included templates & checklists

• Personas
• Problems and Use Scenarios
• Requirements
• Product Contract
  
• Beta Sign-Off
• General Availability Checklist
• Internal Roadmap
• External Roadmap
• Roles and Responsibilities
  
• Personas and their Goals

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