Sometimes when we’re initiating a project, there is so much uncertainty that we don’t even know what questions to ask.

I’ve looked to Karl Wiegers (http://www.processimpact.com) for help identifying those important initial questions. Karl is an expert on the development of software requirements, but I have found that his questions apply to most projects.

For example, after asking us to identify the customer (the person paying the bills) and the stakeholders, the next question is:

What business problem are you trying to solve? (Requirements should describe the desired outcome from the point of view of the stakeholders. )

Merely considering this question honestly takes you far down the road towards effective project management. Note those key words "from the point of view of the stakeholders." If we can manage to hold that perspective throughout our projects, we’re almost guaranteed success.

Note that there are wrong answers to this question. For example, if you said, "the business problem is that the customer needs a web site," then you are not fully considering the problem. A better answer would be "our customers are having trouble easily finding answers to their questions.” At that point you can legitimately say that a web site is an appropriate solution.

Then there are two of my favorite questions. I believe they originally appeared in “Exploring Requirements: Quality before Design,” by Donald Gause and Gerald Weinberg. These are questions than are almost always appropriate, no matter what the goal of the project might be.

• What problems does this system solve?
• What problems does this system create?

It turns out that answering the second question starts us down the road of risk management, but that’s a topic for another evening.

I’ll just mention that at this point in the project we’re not supposed to be able to easily answer all the questions. We’re in the initiation phase of our projects and we’re struggling with the uncertainty that is an integral part of project management. These questions serve to focus our gaze. Work with your teams to ask these questions and develop answers. But be aware that the answers may change once we get further into the planning process. That’s why we say that projects are  "progressively elaborated."