Mate of mine's small project

[MarillionFan]

Wd000hgyS.

As a process BA, I see too many process specialists up their own egos getting kicked off projects while I stay.

And the title I give them is 'Princess' - they are too precious about 'their way'. Their way is best and no other way is good enough.

You get your deliverables by working around the client - don't batter them over the head with what 'should' be done.

If the client are 'too busy' to want requirements don't call it a requirements workshop. Buy the head honcho a coffee and get him to talk about himself and his project for half an hour (they love doing that). You'll get high level requirements out of that.

In the time you've spent arguing about definitions you could have a good idea of what is needed by ferreting around the as-is stuff and talking to the people who use/will use the new stuff.

And as for the processes themselves - yes, there is 'best practice' and you should incorporate it (I use best practice processes as my 'strawmen'), but if the client doesn't want something, don't put it in. They'll come around to it later when they realise that they've missed something. Just treat that version of the process as the baseline for CSI.

As for backstops - I always do a Process Architecture document. Every time. When they say they don't need it I say not to worry, creating it won't affect my other deliverables and they don't need to use it if they don't want to.

It has ALWAYS ended up as core documentation.

A picture of Suity dressed as Gollum holding a requirements document and hissing 'my precious' now springs to mind.

[cojak]

In your case, I'd suggest (seriously) that you'd gain authority by being prepared to walk away. You have a job to do. If the client is actively disrupting your ability to do that job, then tell them to either start doing things your way, or you will simply quit. Do this a few times and you'll find your confidence increases. With confidence comes an aura of authority.

Alternatively, agree to everything, put your integrity to one side, smile pleasantly and keep billing. Some clients just will not be taught.

Yup.

I have a 'so terminate me' mentality to my backstops. But too often Princesses have backstops that just aren't worth it.

Don't confuse integrity with ego.

[d000hg]

Well put by Cojak, especially the "buy them a coffee" idea.

[doodab]

tell em Microsoft spent £X billion writing Excel, your chap is happy to rewrite it as a web version at their cost but he is pretty sure they will run out of money before he gets bored.

get a private phone & divert the work phone to voice mail. 10pm is a call out and they get charged accordingly.

This.

If they think you can write excel in a browser for a couple of grand they need to be told in no uncertain terms that they are living in la la land.

[d000hg]

I don't really understand why they don't just use Office365 or Google Docs.

[Bunk]

I don't really understand why they don't just use Office365 or Google Docs.

Because Suity has 17 kids to feed

[mudskipper]

I don't really understand why they don't just use Office365 or Google Docs.

Or buy a dev component that does the hard stuff for you

ASP.NET AJAX Spreadsheet Control | DevExpress

[RedSauce]

Is there a smiley for unboomed twice in a week?

[MarillionFan]

Because Suity has 17 kids to feed

None of them his.

[vetran]

None of them his.

Ssh don't tell him, the fathers can't afford the maintenance payments!