Documenting and Managing Requirements

Familiarizing yourself with the business terminology is a fundamental component of establishing an informed understanding of a project domain. The semantics and terminology of the business 'language' bridges gaps between the business, technical and external stakeholders. Using a common terminology/semantics to communicate information about requirements ensures that the deliverable will fulfill the expectations of all stakeholders.

Your role as a successful liaison depends in part upon expanding your vocabulary to meet the project needs. The internet and an organization's intranet can be resources for gaining the additional vocabulary needed to assist in communicating clearly with all project stakeholders.

It is always useful to capture important terms and acronyms used within the requirements in a requirements glossary, especially where resources are shared and/or outsourced. Such a glossary may be held at the organizational level – if so, it can be a valuable resource for you to help in understanding the language of the business and as an aid to writing clear and concise requirements.