Important rules for business demand interviews)

Without a doubt, the source of any enterprise informatization project is the system business demand survey, which is at the forefront of the software engineering value chain, it is self-evident that a thorough investigation of business needs is important for project success or failure. But it is not easy to do a good job of business demand research, because it is both a science and an art, and requires long-term experience. Business demand surveys are conducted in a variety of ways, including review of existing forms and descriptions, hosting of business interviews with users, prototype creation, distribution and collection surveys, and research of supplier solutions.

The business demand interview is a proven technique and method. However, how to effectively obtain and analyze business needs plays a vital role. We should pay attention to the process and rules of managing business interviews as much as we pay attention to the software development process, so as to achieve "preparations before interviews, results during interviews, and summaries after interviews ". In this way, our demand interview work can enter a virtuous circle, and our software development can be guaranteed.

Just as the history of human development contains hidden rules, business demand interviews also have internal rules. This article aims to mine these rules so that colleagues can make some reference and gains in business demand interviews.

1. carefully prepare the content and objectives of the business needs interview.

We know that system requirements are the functions and limitations required by the new system. System requirements are certainly not inherent, nor are they inherent in the minds of demand analysts. Where are the business needs? It exists in the minds of business personnel and in the practice operating system of enterprises. Or they do not necessarily exist. The role of the demand analyst is to display the system requirements clearly by means of business needs interviews. In essence, business demand interview is a process of knowledge migration. The business needs interview needs analyst finally completes the migration from business to demand.

Since business demand interviews have such characteristics, we are doomed to have to prepare for them. In general, we should have a dedicated plan for the objectives and content of the interview, so that we can be prepared.

Now let's give an example to illustrate how we can do this. We have prepared for it. Suppose Wang is a new demand analyst of a trading company, it is responsible for improving the company's existing order management system, so he will conduct a business interview with the company's business department.

First, we should determine the target of the interview. Through the organizational structure of an enterprise, we know that the business department usually has three roles: Business supervisor, business, and assistant. So who should Wang Wu choose for the first interview? It is necessary for us to have a deep understanding of each role. We will find that the so-called supervisor, who is always quite familiar with the entire business, is responsible for coordinating the overall Department; the business is the main business executor of the Department; the Assistant is the direct operator of the management system. The mission of this interview is to clarify the overall process of the business department. We naturally choose the supervisor as the target of this interview.

Next, we need to determine the interview time. The supervisor is usually busy and will not always wait for you. Therefore, it is a good way for Wang to make an appointment with him in advance by phone and visit the door. After the appointment, it is reasonable to negotiate a specific time and then enter the in-depth interview.

Now we have only one interview to prepare. We can draw up some specific questions. The more specific these questions, the better. It is best to print out a list so that the access process can be carried out step by step. Of course, I also learned that some people think that it is not just a meeting. Why is it like a program ticket? But we think this is actually necessary. This is the inspiration from xianxian standing at the height of philosophy.

The specific questions in the Wang Wu interview are not listed here due to the limited length. You can find good answers on relevant materials.

2. Select an interview object from the line and point, and from the point.

This is a question of selecting an interview object. Generally, there are two methods. First, select a job role, such as a salesman or sales assistant. Second, start with the main business line and call this online role. Obviously, the previous method is easy to implement, but it is easy to fall into the trap of not seeing the main line. That is to say, the main job of this role is to serve the main business line. You must be aware of it. Otherwise, the interview will become a cross-river. A successful business interviewer is the rule maker of the interview game. He must know his object chain and be aware of it. In this way, the interview will not run out of the question, and will not make a direction error.

Let's take the preceding Wang Wu as an example. Assuming that he has completed the first interview with the business supervisor, how can he perform the interview?

In accordance with the dot-line principle, we can arrange for him to interview the related sales staff and business assistants. As the work of these employees is related, we can use joint conferences as an effective supplement to business interviews. In fact, the methods of business interviews and other demand surveys are complementary.

On the other hand, we can also interview each role on the main business line based on the operation process of the business department. For example, the main line of the Order business of Wang Wu's trade is: Pick up the order-> place the order-> purchase-> warehouse receiving-> collect the money. Then, he should make the corresponding interview roadmap. In this way, he can effectively carry out the interview within a period of time.

3. I am the main user in the interview process, and I am good at guiding the interviewees.

In the interview process, we should keep a rational mind, focus on me from beginning to end, and firmly grasp the initiative of the interview. Only when the interviewer has mastered the direction and content of the interview can the quality of the interview be ensured and the effect can be expected.

Excellent demand analysts should be rational people. We cannot disrupt the interview plans we have prepared because of the emotions of the interviewees. It is necessary for us to establish a rule of purpose, because we do not have to care about the resistance of the interviewees. For example, when Wang Wu and a business assistant are talking, when he learns that Wang Wu's system plan is likely to damage his potential interests, he will become emotional and give excuses, for example, his salary is too low and he is unwilling to cooperate. If you encounter a similar situation, you must analyze the crux of the problem calmly and rationally, and appropriately guide the target audience to continue the interview.

In addition, the interviewees always have some "defense" means for the interviewees. For example, the interviewees often answer your questions as "this is a habit, then you must realize that this is not the real answer, and you can point it out in person, let him gradually introduce the answer to the question into your preset Track-and you can go deeper only by talking about it in this way. A good analyst and interviewer can explore the real business rules behind the surface, and have the patience and toughness to discover the truth of the demand. At the same time, he must be very assertive and be able to guide each other, achieve the established interview objectives.

4. Be good at finding exceptions and errors during the interview.

Never think that the interviewee is always right. He often says "should" or "may" is the answer, but does not tell the current situation ,. Therefore, you often need to think differently to face your interviewees, because only in this way can you mine more business details. Ask "what do you do if the conditions are not met ?"," If not, what would you do ?", But less "yes ".

We can think that the effective mark of business interview is whether the problem of business needs can be further explored ,. However, whether or not the demand analyst can enter the interview status is very important. The demand analyst must be the kind of owner, not the kind of owner. If the user says anything, you can only say "yes ", this means that the interview should be completed ahead of schedule-this is also a taboo for business interviews.

The correct attitude should be an objective and rational attitude. No matter what the user says, you should first analyze and then doubt it to guide the user to express their real needs. In fact, we also need patience. We feel that we can learn the questioning skills from excellent news reporters. In short, a good demand analyst is good at saying no, but can only say yes. A demand analyst will never have a real demand.

5. The "4W1H" needs to be clarified in the business demand interview ".

The business needs interview should clarify "4W1H ".

Some people say that news is 4W1H, and business needs have the same characteristics. To clearly understand a requirement, the demand analyst should be able to clearly understand the business's 4 W and 1 H, 4 W is "What, Who, When, Why", and 1 H is "How ".

What: What is the business content.

Who: Who is involved in the business process.

When: When and how long the business process occurs.

Why: Why is this problem.

How: the method used to accomplish the business objectives.

6. The business needs interview should be conducted in depth to investigate the details.

The important responsibility of modern system analysts is to investigate the details of system requirements. The details will not appear out of thin air, but the results of in-depth follow-up and in-depth interview research. Not only do you need to "know this is the case", but you also need to know "Why is this case?" and "What if this is not the case ".

Before drawing conclusions on requirements, we must first investigate and grasp all the business details in both positive and negative directions, so that the demand analysis conclusions and solutions are feasible. There is a good example here. Generally, material encoding is implemented by the system automatically providing rules, while the order system of a trading company does not provide system self-encoding. In the face of this problem, we must clarify two problems: one is the encoding rules of the enterprise, and the other is the pre-conditions and post-conditions involved in the encoding rules of the enterprise. It is the main topic of demand analysts. After investigation by multiple parties, two of the enterprise coding rules are the customer's version changes, which cannot be provided in the system. Therefore, automatic material coding will lose its implementation ground. Therefore, it is far from enough to satisfy the business phenomenon. We need to clarify the reasons behind the phenomenon and be able to provide many solutions to explain and transform the current situation.

Layer-by-layer questioning is also a frequently used method for in-depth investigations.

For example, customers who recently received more than ever returned goods because of poor production quality, poor production quality, poor procurement quality, and poor procurement quality, because the unit price of the purchasers is low, why is the price low, because the performance evaluation of the purchasers is now based on the procurement cost as an important indicator. After several questions, we finally found that there were problems in the procurement cost-based performance evaluation.

7. Learn how to ask questions. First, think about the answer from the perspective of the other party.

 

It is best to have a more specific and responsive question. Don't ask too much. It's hard for anyone to answer. Do not use full technical terms. Many interviewees prefer to use professional terms, which makes it impossible for both parties to fully communicate with each other. We advocate talking about what both parties can understand and ask questions from the perspective of the other party. For example, if you want to know what the business process and operations are, you can ask, "what are you doing? "Or," What are your main responsibilities? "," What are your main daily work items? ". If you want to know how the business process should be completed, you may ask, "how do you complete it? What steps are required? "If you want to know what information you want, you will ask," What forms or reports do you want to use? ".

8. Four words to remember at all times: "Be bold and careful"

"Daring" means you should not worry too much during the interview process. You should open your mind and maximize the interview effect.

"Heart-to-heart" refers to the business operation details of the interviewees you observed during the interview to carefully identify, summarize, and summarize the background reasons. At the same time, the mind improves the ability to observe, and the ability to observe the modern demand analysis is like the third eye of Erlang, you can always find unexpected demand interview direction, find the demand that has not been mentioned.

9. recording business interviews helps improve the interview capability.

Once this interview is over, it is necessary to go back and make a summary. We should not only summarize the extracted demand conclusions, but also recall the entire interview process so that we can study the gains and losses carefully afterwards, this will greatly improve the business interview capability. This process is equivalent to replay in go. Excellent Players are also meticulous about the replay process, and good demand analysts are also involved.

Business interview is a matter of such personality. Just as reporters have their own styles but the rules are hidden, the above are the business "rules" I have summarized during the business interview ", I am here to introduce myself to my colleagues.

Author: iron burning Source: IT168