The prepare for elicitation task is used to understand the elicitation activity, decide on the appropriate technique and get the needed resources.
To prepare for this activity the business analyst has to define the desired outcomes, decide on the stakeholders who would be involved and state the goals of the activity.
To achieve all this, the techniques to be used would have to be decided, the expected elicitation results should be stated and all the additional resources should be defined.
There are two inputs which are used in the prepare for elicitation activity and they are:
1. Business needs: the business analyst has to understand the needs of the business in order to define the scope and purpose of the elicitation activities.
2. Stakeholder engagement approach: to plan the elicitation activity the business analyst has to understand the stakeholders collaboration and communication needs.
There are five elements which are used in this task and they are:
a. Understand the scope of elicitation: to understand the type of business analysis information which would be needed, the business analyst has to consider numerous factors.
These include such as the business domain, stakeholder locations, solution approach, scope of the solution and expected outputs of the elicitation activities.
The scope of the elicitation activity ensures that the activity is kept within the confines of that scope and helps with managing the available resources.
b. Select elicitation techniques: There are numerous techniques which are available for eliciting requirements.
To decide on the right ones to use the business analyst should consider the time, cost, stakeholder availability, organizational culture and the desired outcomes.
The business analyst can use information such as techniques previously used in similar initiatives and techniques suited to the situation to help with the select elicitation techniques decision making.
c. Set up logistics: stakeholders may not be centrally located and readily available so the business analyst would have to plan logistics in order to achieve the elicitation objectives.
To set up logistics the business analyst would have to identify the activity goals, stakeholders, available resources, locations, communication channels and language.
d. Secure supporting materials: a great deal of information might be available and the business analyst has to be able to analyse this information to determine what is relevant to the solution.
Sources of available information include system documents, business rules, organizational policies, regulations, and contracts. Supporting information may also include analysis work output and analysis models.
e. Prepare stakeholders: the stakeholders would have to prepared for the elicitation activity and educated on how the process works.
Information such as the elicitation techniques to be used should be shared with the stakeholders to help them understand what is to be achieved and its relevance to the success of the solution.
Stakeholders can also be helpful in reviewing the available information to identify those that are relevant to the solution.