All project stakeholders should be involved and aligned during the requirements gathering phase of enterprise software selection initiatives to accelerate digital transformation and achieve higher user adoption. This blog outlines the stakeholders to involve and explains why choosing the correct ones is crucial to selecting and implementing enterprise technology.
How to identify the right stakeholders for requirements gathering?
Establishing the appropriate criteria is essential for the success of any digital transformation project. Without communicating to and involving the appropriate stakeholders in order to fully comprehend their demands, this is not possible. The danger of selecting the incorrect solution is decreased by working with the appropriate stakeholders from the beginning and continuing to involve them throughout the implementation project. The eventual end users are the only ones who can help you prevent failure!
Consider who needs to be heard carefully. Valuing the appropriate voices during the software purchasing process ensures smoother implementation and higher user acceptance with the proper input and validation. Important questions to consider when identifying the stakeholders for your project are:
- Which stakeholders should be asked for their requirements?
- Should everyone have a voice?
- Who has been overlooked or forgotten?
What Defines a Stakeholder for Requirements Gathering?
Anyone who chooses the solution, whether as a user or a beneficiary, is a stakeholder and will come from both within the organisation or external influencers, either way, they are without doubt the most relevant people to consult while gathering the requirements.
Groups of stakeholders are:
Direct Stakeholders
The individuals who will use the software most frequently are direct users. Whose problems you are trying to solve, whose job it will be to use this programme, or which department would be most affected.
Direct stakeholders in software development include the end users of the software, the project team who is developing the software, and the organization that is commissioning or funding the software development.
In some circumstances, there will be a large number of direct users, all with varying relevance. Make sure you give the most significant stakeholder the appropriate amount of weight when going through the end users. The primary stakeholders can typically be identified based on how significantly the new software would affect each one of their roles.
Indirect Stakeholders
The secondary users who are affected by using the programme are considered indirect stakeholders. These parties are typically the end users of the output produced by the software’s direct users or the ones that created the input that the software needs.
Indirect stakeholders in software development include suppliers and vendors, regulatory bodies, and the general public. These groups may be affected by the software, but they are not directly involved in its development or use.
You can make sure that the new software makes life easier for direct users and benefits indirect users by taking into account those users. Companies who fail to consider indirect stakeholders frequently benefit one department at the expense of the others, which presents challenges and hurdles.
Beneficiaries
Beneficiaries are the people who reap the rewards of the labours of the primary and secondary users. Customers, customer service personnel, leadership team members, or anyone else who gains from an enhancement in the entire service mechanism can all be considered beneficiaries.
Why is Eliciting Requirements From the Right Stakeholders Important?
Stakeholders provide information on requirements – why is this solution required? What problem is this solving for the organisation? When analysing solutions, they assist in identifying the demands of the company. The key to successful digital transformation is finding and collaborating with the proper stakeholders, who can assist you with:
- Identifying the appropriate business issues to address.
- Recognising essential software characteristics.
- Preventing omissions.
- Avoiding temporary fixes.
- Assessing the demands made by others.
- Prioritisation or requirements
- Identifying incompatibilities
- Supporting the use of the programme.
- Plan and create the optimum workflow procedure.
The Project Team
Finding the best software to satisfy your users’ needs is the responsibility of the project team, who are important stakeholders and collaborators. They must be able to compile, incorporate, and arrange the demands from the required stakeholders.
The team is the leading force in balancing the stakeholders’ wish lists with the company’s best interests, purposes, and operational goals at the forefront of decision making. Their success depends on locating software that is approved for a smooth implementation within the constraints of the budget.
What are the Risks of Asking the Wrong Stakeholders?
You end up paying more for features you don’t need
Don’t ask everyone if you aren’t sure who to ask. Many people have a tendency to behave in this way, but there are serious risks involved. If you consult stakeholders who don’t have a stake in the outcome, you could get a tone of expensive features that don’t benefit the target audience.
You dilute the opinion of key stakeholders
Furthermore, you should avoid skewing the perspectives of important stakeholders when selecting what should be a priority and what should not. The search for the best answer is undermined if you consult everyone.
Conclusion
To speed digital transformation and ensure high user acceptance, the appropriate stakeholders should be consulted and aligned during the requirements gathering phase of software projects. It is crucial to involve all stakeholders to ensure no requirements are missed. Furthermore, using requirements gathering software ensures the most in-depth requirements are identified.
Read our ‘Complete Guide to Requirements Gathering in 2023‘ for more! Find out more in our other blogs ‘Why You Should Use Software for the Requirements Gathering Process.’