As you will know from my earlier Blogs, I regard structured analysis tools as learning tools.
The question is "When should analysis (learning) stop?"
Learning should stop when the risk of something significant being missed has been reduced to a level that is acceptable to the project sponsor. Note that the risk preference of the sponsor may be different to that of other project members such as the project manager. It is however the sponsor that is most important. The risk preference of the sponsor will be affected by their trust in the business coach. If the sponsor trusts the business coach it is likely that the business coach can simply tell the sponsor that enough work has been done. Otherwise the business coach may have to do more work in proving to the sponsor that they understand the problem/domain well enough to proceed. This does not mean more documentation but rather more time spent with the sponsor to demonstrate your knowledge about the problem.
From the business coach's perspective. Enough learning means that there are no really bad smells associated with the business domain. i.e. The business coach doesn't have any bad feelings about the gaps in their knowledge. There are no questions that are nagging at the back of the mind.
There will be gaps in their knowledge. After all it is best if the development team resolves the issues rather than the business coach as it helps to build the relationship between the development team and the business. It is more a matter that the business coach does not feel there are anymore significant questions they have missed rather than questions they have not answered.
Posted by chrismatts at June 6, 2004 10:16 AM