Introduction

1
Introduction

• The chapter will address the following
  questions
  
• How do you perform the six guidelines for doing
  effective listening?
  
• What are the four speaking styles and what are
  the situations where you would use each?
  
• What are examples of both benefit terms and loss
  terms, and what are the responses that they would
  elicit from the audience?
  
• What are body language and proxemics and why does
  a systems analyst care about them?

2
Introduction

• The chapter will address the following
  questions
  
• What are the procedures to be able to prepare
  for, conduct, and follow up on meetings, formal
  presentations and project walkthroughs?
  
• What are the proper methods in writing business
  and technical reports?

3
Communicating With People

• Introduction
• The systems analyst must have good if not
  impeccable communications skills.
  
• The systems analysts best chance for success,
  to rise up the corporate ladder is to possess
  outstanding communication skills.

4
Communicating With People

• Introduction
• Don Walton, a consultant on communications,
  quotes the CEO and chairman of The Prudential
  Insurance Company of America in his book, Are You
  Communicating?
• Starting my Prudential career as an agent, I
  understood quickly that although people may
  listen, they dont always here. I had to make
  sure, therefore that my presentations were clear,
  concise, and to the point. In addition, I
  taught myself to listen and understand others,
  another crucial point in making sales.Clear
  communication is an important component of any
  career foundation. I have seen bright, ambitious
  people fail simply because they were unable to
  understand the importance of this. The person
  who has the ability to make his or her point
  simply and effectively, while clearly
  understanding what is being said by others, will
  have the best chance of success in a society and
  business environment as complex and
  multi-dimensional as ours.

5
Communicating With People

• Introduction
• One of the earliest recorded stories of
  communication problems - The Tower of Babel.
  
• Once upon a time all the world spoke a single
  language and used the same words. As men
  journeyed in the east, they came upon a plain in
  the land of Shinar and settled there. They said
  to one another, Come, let us make bricks and
  bake them hard'' they used bricks for stone and
  bitumen for mortar. Come,'' they said, let us
  build ourselves a city and a tower with its top
  in the heavens, and make a name for ourselves or
  we shall ever be dispersed all over the earth.''
  Then the Lord came down to see the city and tower
  which mortal men had built, and he said, Here
  they are, one people with a single language, and
  now they have started to do this henceforward
  nothing they have a mind to do will be beyond
  their reach. Come, let us go down there and
  confuse their speech, so that they will not
  understand what they say to one another.'' So the
  Lord dispersed them from there all over the
  earth, and they left off building the city. That
  is why it is called Babel, because the Lord there
  made a babble of the language of all the world
  from that place the Lord scattered men all over
  the face of the earth.

6
Communicating With People

• Four Audiences for Interpersonal Communication
  during Systems Projects
  
• For years English and communications scholars
  have told us that the secret of effective oral
  and written communications is to know the
  audience.
• Who is the audience during a systems development
  project?
  
• There are at least four distinct groups
• System designers, other analysts and information
  systems specialists.
  
• System builders, the programmers and technical
  specialists who will actually construct the
  system.
  
• System users, the people whose day-to-day jobs
  will be affected, directly or indirectly, by the
  new system.
  
• System owners, who in addition to possibly being
  system users, sponsor the project and approve
  systems expenditures.

7
Communicating With People

• Listening
• The skill of listening may be the most important.
  
  
• For a systems analyst to be successful in working
  with customers or users trying to solve their
  system problems, they must be able to listen to
  their problems understand what they are asking
  them to do.
• As Thomas Gildersleeve states in his book,
  Successful Data Processing System Analysis, you
  must make a distinction between hearing and
  listening.
• To hear is to recognize that someone is
  speaking, To listen is to understand what the
  speaker wants to communicate.

8
Communicating With People

• Guidelines in Effective Listening
• Approach the Session with a Positive Attitude
• No matter what your feelings are for the person
  you are working with, or the project as whole,
  approaching it with a negative attitude is
  fighting a losing battle.
• Set the Other Person at Ease
• Its no secret that one of the best ways to open a
  person up to talking is presenting a nice,
  cheerful attitude.
  
• A good approach is to start by talking about the
  persons interest or hobbies. Showing an interest
  in their personal life sometimes can serve as an
  ice breaker and put them more at an ease.

9
Communicating With People

• Guidelines in Effective Listening
• Let Them Know You Are Listening
• Make it a habit to always maintain eye contact
  when listening and use a response such as a head
  nod or a uh-huh to indicate that you
  acknowledge what the other person is saying.
• Always maintain good posture and even sit on the
  edge of your seat and lean forward.
  
• Ask Questions
• To make sure you clearly understand what the
  person is saying or to clarify a point, ask a
  question to help you understand.
  
• This will show that you are listening and will
  also give the other person the opportunity to
  expand on the answer.

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Communicating With People

• Guidelines in Effective Listening
• Dont Assume Anything
• One of the worst things to do is to get in a
  hurry and be impatient with the speaker.
  
• For example
• You assume you know what the other person is
  going to say so you cut in and finish the
  sentence for them, possibly, missing entirely
  what the person was going to say, plus irritating
  the them in the process.
• You interrupt or stop the speaker because you may
  have already heard that information before or you
  believe it is not applicable to what you are
  doing, thus risking missing a valuable piece of
  information.

11
Communicating With People

• Guidelines in Effective Listening
• Dont Assume Anything
• Art Linkletter learned this lesson on his popular
  television show, Kid Say The Darndest Things
  when he asked a child a philosophical question
  
• On my show I once had a child tell me he wanted
  to be an airline pilot. I asked him what hed do
  if all the engines stopped out over the Pacific
  Ocean. He said First I would tell everyone to
  fasten their seatbelts, and then Id find my
  parachute and jump out.
• While the audience rocked with laughter, I kept
  my attention on the young man to see if he was
  being a smart alec. The tears that sprang into
  his eyes alerted me to his chagrin more than
  anything he could have said, so I asked him why
  hed do such a thing. His answer revealed the
  sound logic of a child Im going for gasIm
  coming back!

12
Communicating With People

• Guidelines in Effective Listening
• Take Notes
• The process of taking notes serves two purposes.
  
  
• By jotting down brief notes while the other
  person is speaking, gives them the impression
  that what they have to say is important enough
  that you want to write it down.
• It helps you remember the major points of the
  meeting when you reference your notes at a later
  time.

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Communicating With People

• Speaking
• Systems analysts need to be able to speak
  effectively in their work to be successful.
  
• To be effective speaker is to deliver a clear and
  concise message which is received and understood
  for its intended purpose, minimizing the risk of
  creating misunderstandings with your words.
• An Effective Speaking approach
• Before speaking, organize thoughts to think about
  what the purpose for speaking is, what is the
  main point, who is the intended audience and what
  are the desired results.
• During speaking obtain feedback via oral response
  or body language to see if the message is being
  received and the desired results are being
  obtained.
• If not, you have the opportunity to alternate
  your approach and try again.

14
Communicating With People

• Speaking
• Keep in mind that different situations may call
  for different speaking styles, just as different
  business writings call for different writing
  styles.
• There are four identified speaking styles
• Expressive style. Spontaneous, conversational,
  and uninhibited. We use this style when we are
  expressing our feelings, joking around,
  complaining, being intimate or socializing.
• Directive style. Authoritative and judgmental.
  We use this style to give orders, give
  instruction, exert leadership, pass judgment, or
  state our opinions.
• Problem-solving style. Rational, objective,
  unbiased, and bland. This is the style most used
  in business dealings.
  
• Meta style. Used to discuss the communications
  process itself. Meta language enables us to talk
  about our interactions.

15
Communicating With People

• Use of Words Turn-ons and Turnoffs
• Choosing the right words is important, especially
  to the systems analyst who must effectively
  communicate with a diverse group of system users,
  owners, and builders.
• There are two identified categories of terms that
  influence managers benefit terms and loss terms.
  
  
• Benefit terms are words or phrases that evoke
  positive responses from the audience. Benefit
  terms can be used very effectively to sell
  proposed changes. Managers will usually accept
  ideas that produce benefit terms.
• Examples are increase productivity, increase
  sales, and reduce cost.

16
Communicating With People

• Use of Words Turn-ons and Turnoffs
• There are two identified categories of terms that
  influence managers benefit terms and loss terms.
  
  
• Loss terms are words or phrases that evoke
  negative responses from the audience. Loss terms
  can also be used very effectively to sell
  proposed changes. Managers will usually accept
  ideas that eliminate loss terms.
• Examples are higher costs, excessive waste, and
  higher taxes.
  
• Avoid turn-off words or phrases such as jargon.
• These can kill projects by changing the
  attitudes and opinions of management.
  
• Avoid red-flag terms that attack people's
  performance or threaten their job.

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Communicating With People

• Electronic Mail
• One of the newer forms of interpersonal
  communication of particular importance to the
  systems analyst is electronic mail (E-mail).
  
• Electronic mail gives us the ability to create,
  edit, send, and receive information
  electronically, usually using some type of
  computer network.
• The advantages are as follows
• A person can send messages to and receive
  messages from someone almost instantaneously
  practically anywhere in the world (provided both
  people are linked together by some type of
  computer network). These messages can be read,
  stored, printed, edited, or deleted.
• Once the mail system software and computer
  network are in place, the actual cost of sending
  a message is very small.

18
Communicating With People

• Electronic Mail
• The disadvantages are as follows
• The sheer volume of electronic mail an individual
  receives may be overwhelming.
  
• Because it is so quick and easy to create a
  response to an electronic mail message and
  because mail users sometimes forget that they are
  communicating with another person via a machine,
  not with the machine directly, electronic mail
  messages are sometimes blunt, tactless, or
  inflammatory.
• Personal privacy is another concern.
• Electronic mail deprives its users of some of the
  richness of other forms of communication, such as
  tone of voice, facial expression, body language,
  etc.

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Communicating With People

• Body Language and Proxemics
• Body language is all of the information being
  communicated by an individual other than their
  spoken words. Body language is a form of
  nonverbal communications that we all use and are
  usually unaware of.
• Why should the analyst be concerned with body
  language?
  
• Research studies have determined a startling fact
  of a person's total feelings, only 7 percent
  are communicated verbally (in words), 38 percent
  are communicated by the tone of voice used, and
  55 percent of those feelings are communicated by
  facial and body expressions.
• If you only listen to someone's words, you are
  missing most of what they have to say!

20
Communicating With People

• Body Language and Proxemics
• We will focus on just three aspects of body
  language facial disclosure, eye contact, and
  posture.
  
• Facial disclosure means you can sometimes
  understand how a person feels by watching the
  expressions on their faces.
  
• Many common emotions have easily recognizable
  facial expressions associated with them.
  
• However, you need to be aware that the face is
  one of the most controlled parts of the body.
  
• Some people who are aware that their expressions
  often reveal what they are thinking are very good
  at disguising their faces.

21
Communicating With People

• Body Language and Proxemics
• Eye contact is the least controlled part of the
  face.
  
• A continual lack of eye contact may indicate
  uncertainty.
  
• A normal glance is usually from three to five
  seconds in length however, direct eye contact
  time should increase with distance.
  
• As an analyst, you need to be careful not to use
  excessive eye contact with a threatened user so
  that you won't further intimidate them.
  
• Direct eye contact can cause strong feelings,
  either positive or negative, in other people.
  
• If eyes are the window to the soul,'' be sure
  to search for any information they may provide.

22
Communicating With People

• Body Language and Proxemics
• Posture is the least controlled aspect of the
  body, even less than the face or voice.
  
• Body posture holds a wealth of information for
  the astute analyst.
  
• Members of a group who are in agreement tend to
  display the same posture.
  
• A good analyst will watch the audience for
  changes in posture that could indicate anxiety,
  disagreement, or boredom.
  
• An analyst should normally maintain an open
  body position signaling approachability,
  acceptance, and receptiveness.
  
• In special circumstances, the analyst may choose
  to use a confrontation angle of head on or at a
  90 angle to another person in order to establish
  control and dominance.

23
Communicating With People

• Body Language and Proxemics
• Individuals also communicate via proxemics.
• Proxemics is the relationship between people and
  the space around them. Proxemics is a factor in
  communications that can be controlled by the
  knowledgeable analyst.
• People still tend to be very territorial about
  their space.
  
• A good analyst is aware of four spatial zones
• Intimate zone -- closer than 1.5 feet.
• Personal zone -- from 1.5 feet to 4 feet.
• Social zone -- from 4 feet to 12 feet.
• Public zone -- beyond 12 feet.

24
Communicating With People

• Body Language and Proxemics
• Certain types of communications take place only
  in some of these spatial zones.
  
• For example, an analyst conducts most interviews
  with system users in the personal zone.
  
• But the analyst may need to move back to the
  social zone if the user displays any signs (body
  language) of being uncomfortable.
  
• Sometimes increasing eye contact can make up for
  a long distance that can't be changed.
  
• Many people use the fringes of the social zone as
  a respect'' distance.

25
Meetings

• Introduction
• During the course of a systems development
  project, many meetings are usually held.
  
• A meeting is an attempt to accomplish an
  objective as a result of discussion under
  leadership. Some possible meeting objectives are
  listed in the margin.
• The ability to coordinate or participate in a
  meeting is critical to the success of any
  project.

26
Meetings

• Preparing for a Meeting
• Meetings are also very expensive because they
  require several people to dedicate time that
  could be better spent on other productive work.
  
• The more individuals involved in a meeting, the
  more the meeting costs.
  
• But because meetings are an essential form of
  communication, we must strive to offset the
  meeting costs by maximizing benefits (in terms of
  project progress) realized during the meeting.

27
Meetings

• Preparing for a Meeting
• Step 1 Determine the Need for and Purpose of the
  Meeting
  
• Every meeting should have a well-defined purpose
  that can be communicated to its participants.
  
• Meetings without a well-defined purpose are
  rarely productive.
  
• The purpose of every meeting should be attainable
  within 60 to 90 minutes, because longer meetings
  tend to become unproductive.
  
• When necessary, longer meetings are possible if
  they are divided into well-defined submeetings
  that are separated by breaks that allow people to
  catch up on their normal responsibilities.

28
Meetings

• Preparing for a Meeting
• Step 2 Schedule the Meeting and Arrange for
  Facilities
  
• After deciding the purpose of the meeting,
  determine who should attend.
  
• The proper participants should be chosen to
  ensure that the purpose of the meeting can be
  attained.
  
• Some research indicates that the most creative
  problem solving and decision making is done in
  small, odd-numbered groups.

29
Meetings

• Preparing for a Meeting
• Step 2 Schedule the Meeting and Arrange for
  Facilities
  
• The date and time for the meeting will be subject
  to the availability of the meeting room and the
  prior commitments of the various participants.
  
• Morning meetings are generally better than
  afternoon meetings because the participants are
  fresh and not yet caught up in the workday's
  problems.
• It is best to avoid scheduling meetings in the
  late afternoon (when people are anxious to go
  home), before lunch, before holidays, or on the
  same day as other meetings involving the same
  participants.

30
Meetings

• Preparing for a Meeting
• Step 2 Schedule the Meeting and Arrange for
  Facilities
  
• The meeting location is very important.
• Seating arrangement is particularly important.
• If leader-to-group interaction is required, the
  group should face the leader but not necessarily
  other members of the group.
  
• If group-to-group interaction is needed, the team
  members, including the leader, should all face
  one another.
  
• Make sure that any necessary visual aids (flip
  charts, overhead projectors, chalk, and so forth)
  are also available in the room.

31
Meetings

• Preparing for a Meeting
• Step 3 Prepare an Agenda
• A written agenda for the meeting should be
  distributed well in advance of the meeting.
  
• The agenda confirms the date, time, location, and
  duration of the meeting.
  
• It states the meeting's purpose and offers a
  tentative timetable for discussion and questions.
  
  
• If participants should bring specific materials
  with them or review specific documents prior to
  the meeting, specify this in the agenda.
  
• The agenda may include any supplements for
  example, reports, documentation, or memoranda
  that the participants will need to refer to or
  study before or during the meeting.

32
Meetings

• Conducting a Meeting
• Try to start on time, but do not start the
  meeting until everyone is present.
  
• If an important participant is more than 15
  minutes late, then consider canceling the
  meeting.
  
• Discourage interruptions and delays, such as
  phone calls.
  
• Have enough copies of handouts for all
  participants.
  
• Review the agenda so that the discussion items
  become group property.
  
• Cover each item on the agenda according to the
  timetable developed when the meeting was
  scheduled.
  
• The group leader should ensure that no one person
  or subgroup dominates or is left out of the
  discussion.

33
Meetings

• Conducting a Meeting
• Decisions should be made by consensus opinion or
  majority vote. One rule is always in order
  
• Stay on the agenda and end on time!
• If you do not finish discussing all items on the
  agenda, schedule another meeting.
  
• Sometimes, the purpose of a meeting is to
  generate possible ideas to solve a problem. One
  approach is called brainstorming.
  
• Brainstorming is a technique for generating ideas
  during group meetings. Participants are
  encouraged to generate as many ideas as possible
  in a short period of time without any analysis
  until all the ideas have been exhausted.

34
Meetings

• Conducting a Meeting
• Brainstorming is a formal technique that requires
  discipline.
  
• These guidelines should be followed to ensure
  effective brainstorming
  
• Isolate the appropriate people in a place that
  will be free from distractions and
  interruptions.
  
• Make sure that everyone understands the purpose
  of the meeting (to generate ideas to solve the
  problem) and focus on the problem(s).
  
• Appoint one person to record ideas. This person
  should use a flip chart, chalkboard, or overhead
  projector that can be viewed by the entire group.

35
Meetings

• Conducting a Meeting
• These guidelines should be followed to ensure
  effective brainstorming
  
• Remind everyone of the brainstorming rules
• Be spontaneous. Call out ideas as fast as they
  occur.
  
• Absolutely no criticism, analysis, or evaluation
  of any kind is permitted while the ideas are
  being generated. Any idea may be useful, if only
  to spark another idea.
• Emphasize quantity of ideas, not necessarily
  quality.

36
Meetings

• Conducting a Meeting
• These guidelines should be followed to ensure
  effective brainstorming
  
• Within a specified time period, team members call
  out their ideas as quickly as they can think of
  them.
  
• After the group has run out of ideas and all
  ideas have been recorded, then and only then
  should the ideas be analyzed and evaluated.
  
• Refine, combine, and improve the ideas that were
  generated earlier.

37
Meetings

• Following Up on a a Meeting
• As soon as possible after the meeting is over,
  the minutes of the meeting should be published.
  
• The minutes are a brief, written summary of what
  happened during the meeting -- items discussed,
  decisions made, and items for future
  consideration.
• The minutes are usually prepared by the recording
  secretary, a team member designated by the group
  leader.

38
Formal Presentations

• Introduction
• In order to communicate information to the many
  different people involved in a systems
  development project, a systems analyst is
  frequently required to make a formal
  presentation.
• Formal presentations are special meetings used to
  sell new ideas and gain approval for new systems.
  They may also be used for any of the purposes in
  the margin. In many cases, a formal presentation
  may set up or supplement a more detailed written
  report.
• Effective and successful presentations require
  three critical ingredients preparation,
  preparation, and preparation.

39
Formal Presentations

• Introduction
• Formal Presentation Advantages
• Immediate feedback and spontaneous responses.
• The audience can respond to the presenter, who
  can use emphasis, timed pauses, and body language
  to convey messages not possible with the written
  word.
• Formal Presentation Disadvantages
• The material presented is easily forgotten
  because the words are spoken and the visual aids
  are transient.
  
• That's why presentations are often followed by a
  written report, either summarized or detailed.

40
Formal Presentations

• Preparing for the Formal Presentation
• As mentioned earlier, it is particularly
  important to know your audience.
  
• The systems analyst is frequently thought of as
  the dreaded agent of change in an organization.
  
• As Machiavelli wrote in his classic book The
  Prince,
  
• There is nothing more difficult to carry out,
  nor more dangerous to handle, than to initiate a
  new order of things. For the reformer has enemies
  in all who profit by the old order, and only
  lukewarm defenders in all those who would profit
  from the new order, this lukewarmness arising
  partly from fear of their adversaries and
  partly from the incredulity of mankind, who do
  not believe in anything new until they have had
  actual experience of it.
• People tend to be opposed to change.

41
Formal Presentations

• Preparing for the Formal Presentation
• A successful analyst must be an effective
  salesman.
  
• To effectively present and sell change, you must
  be confident in your ideas and have the facts to
  back them up.
  
• Step 1 Define your expectations of the
  presentation for instance, that you are seeking
  approval to continue the project, that you are
  trying to confirm facts, and so forth.
• A presentation is a summary of your ideas and
  proposals that is directed toward your
  expectations.
  
• Step 2 Organize your presentation around the
  allotted time (usually 30 to 60 minutes).

42
Formal Presentations

• Preparing for the Formal Presentation
• Step 3 Prepare visual aids such as predrawn flip
  charts, overhead slides, Microsoft Powerpoint
  slides and the like to support your position.
  
• Just like a written paragraph, each visual aid
  should convey a single idea.
  
• To hold your audience's attention, consider
  distributing photocopies of the visual aids at
  the start of the presentation.
  
• This way, the audience doesn't have to take as
  many notes
  
• Step 4 Practice the presentation in front of the
  most critical audience you can assemble.
  
• Have somebody raise criticisms and objections.
• Practice your responses to these issues.

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Formal Presentations

• Conducting the Formal Presentation
• The following are guidelines that may improve the
  actual presentation
  
• Dress professionally. The way you dress
  influences people.
  
• Avoid using the word I when making the
  presentation. Use you' and we to assign
  ownership of the proposed system to management.
  
• Maintain eye contact with the group and keep an
  air of confidence. If you don't show management
  that you believe in your proposal, why should
  they believe in it?
• Be aware of your own mannerisms. Some of the most
  common mannerisms include using too many hand
  gestures, pacing, and repeatedly saying you
  know'' or okay.''

46
Formal Presentations

• Conducting the Formal Presentation
• Ways to Keep the Audience Listening
• Stop talking. The silence can be deafening.
• Ask a question, and let someone in the audience
  answer it.
  
• Try a little humor. Everybody likes to laugh.
  Tell a joke on yourself.
  
• Use some props. Use some type of visual aid to
  make your point clearer.
  
• Change your voice level. By making your voice
  louder or softer, you force the audience to
  listen more closely or make it easier for them to
  hear.
• Do something totally unexpected. Drop a book,
  toss your notes, jingle your keys.

47
Formal Presentations

• Conducting the Formal Presentation
• Answering Questions
• Sometimes answering questions after a
  presentation may be difficult and frustrating.
  
• We suggest the following guidelines when
  answering questions
  
• Always answer questions seriously, even if you
  feel that it is a silly question.
  
• Answer both the individual who asked the question
  and the entire audience.
  
• Summarize your answers.
• Limit the amount of time you spend answering any
  one question.
  
• Be honest.

48
Formal Presentations

• Following Up the Formal Presentation
• It is extremely important to follow up a formal
  presentation because the spoken work and
  impressive visual aids used in a presentation do
  not usually leave a lasting impression.
• For this reason, most presentations are followed
  by written reports of some kind that provide the
  audience with a more permanent copy of the
  information that was communicated.

49
Project Walkthroughs

• Introduction
• A special type of meeting conducted by the
  analyst is called a project walkthrough.
  
• The project walkthrough is a peer group review of
  systems development documentation. Walkthroughs
  may be used to verify almost any type of detailed
  documentation such as ERDs, DFDs and program
  listings.
• Peer group review tend to identify errors that go
  unnoticed by the analyst who prepared the
  documentation.

50
Project Walkthroughs

• Who Should Participate in the Walkthrough?
• A walkthrough group should consist of seven or
  fewer participants.
  
• All members of the walkthrough must be treated
  as equals.
  
• The analyst who prepared the documentation to be
  reviewed should present that documentation to the
  group during the walkthrough.
  
• Another analyst or key system user should be
  appointed as walkthrough coordinator.
  
• The coordinator schedules the walkthrough and
  ensures that each participant gets the
  documentation well before the meeting date.
  
• The coordinator also makes sure that the
  walkthrough is properly conducted and mediates
  disputes and problems that may arise during the
  walkthrough.

51
Project Walkthroughs

• Who Should Participate in the Walkthrough?
• The coordinator has the authority to ask
  participants to stop a disagreement and move on.
  
  
• The coordinator designates a walkthrough recorder
  to take notes during the walkthrough.
  
• The remaining participants include system users,
  analysts, or specialists who evaluate the
  documentation.
  
• Walkthroughs should never last more than 90
  minutes.

52
Project Walkthroughs

• Conducting a Walkthrough
• All participants must agree to follow the same
  set of rules and procedures.
  
• The basic purpose of the walkthrough is error
  detection, not error correction.
  
• The analyst who is presenting the documentation
  should seek only whatever clarification is needed
  to correct the errors.
  
• The analysts should never argue with the
  reviewers' comments.
  
• A defensive attitude inhibits constructive
  criticism.
  
• Reviewers should be encouraged to offer at least
  one positive and one negative comment in order to
  guarantee that the walkthrough is not superficial.

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Project Walkthroughs

• Conducting a Walkthrough
• After the walkthrough, the coordinator should ask
  the reviewers for a recommendation. There are
  three possible alternatives
  
• Accept the documentation in its present form.
• Accept the documentation with the revisions
  noted.
  
• Request another walkthrough because a large
  number of errors were found or because criticisms
  created controversy.

54
Project Walkthroughs

• Following Up on the Walkthrough
• The walkthrough should be promptly followed by a
  written report from the coordinator.
  
• The report contains a management summary that
  states what was reviewed, when the walkthrough
  occurred, who attended, and the final
  recommendation.

55
Written Reports

• Introduction
• The business and technical report is the primary
  method used by analysts to communicate
  information about a systems development project.
  
• The purpose of the report is to either inform or
  persuade, possibly both.

56
Written Reports

• Business and Technical Reports
• Systems Planning Reports
• While studying the business mission, the analyst
  will usually prepare a planning project charter
  for review, correction, and approval by the
  appropriate managers and staff.
• During the definition phase, the analyst must
  prepare and present the information architecture
  and plan.
  
• This architecture and plan must be approved by
  both information systems manager and staff and
  system owners and users.
  
• The evaluation phase, results in several
  important reports, including the business area
  plan, planned database and/or network development
  projects, and planned application development
  projects.

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Written Reports

• Business and Technical Reports
• Systems Analysis Reports
• After the survey phase, the analyst normally
  prepares a preliminary feasibility assessment and
  a statement of project scope, both of which are
  presented to a steering committee who make a
  decision concerning the continuation or
  cancellation of the project.
• During the study phase, the analyst prepares and
  presents a business problem statement and new
  system objectives to verify with system users
  their understanding of the current system and
  analyses of problems, limitations, and
  constraints in that system.

58
Written Reports

• Business and Technical Reports
• Systems Analysis Reports
• The definition phase, results in a business
  requirements statement.
  
• This specification document is often large and
  complex and is rarely written up as a single
  report to system users and owners.
  
• It is best reviewed in walkthroughs (in small
  pieces) with users and maintained as a reference
  for analysts and programmers.

59
Written Reports

• Business and Technical Reports
• Systems Design Reports
• The next formal report, the systems proposal, is
  generated after the selection phase has been
  completed.
  
• This report combines an outline of the system
  user requirements from the definition phase with
  the detailed feasibility analysis of alternative
  solutions that fulfill those requirements.
• The report concludes with a recommended or
  proposed solution.
  
• This report is normally preceded or followed by a
  presentation to those managers and executives who
  will decide on the proposal.

60
Written Reports

• Business and Technical Reports
• Systems Design Reports
• The design phase results in detailed design
  specifications that are often organized into a
  technical design report.
  
• This report is quite detailed and is primarily
  intended for information systems professionals.
  
• It tends to be quite a large report because it
  contains numerous forms, charts, and technical
  specifications.
  
• The acquisition phase can generate several
  reports.
  
• The most important report the request for
  proposals is used to communicate requirements
  to prospective vendors who may respond with
  specific proposals.
• Especially when the selection decision involves
  significant expenditures, the analyst may have to
  write a report that defends the recommended
  proposal to management.

61
Written Reports

• Business and Technical Reports
• Systems Implementation Reports
• In a sense, the most important report is written
  during the construction and delivery phases.
  
• The user's manual and reference guide.
• This document explains how to use the computer
  system (such as what keys to push, how to react
  to certain messages, and where to get help).
  
• In addition to computer manuals, the analyst may
  rewrite the standard operating procedures for the
  system.
  
• A standard operating procedure explains both the
  noncomputer and computer tasks and policies for
  the new system.

62
Written Reports

• Length of a Written Report
• The written report is the most abused method used
  by analysts to communicate with system users.
  
• The following are guidelines to restrict report
  size
  
• To executive-level managers one or two pages.
• To middle-level managers three to five pages.
• To supervisory-level managers less than ten
  pages.
  
• To clerk-level personnel less than fifty
  pages.
  
• It is possible to organize a larger report to
  include subreports for managers who are at
  different levels.
  
• These subreports are usually included as early
  sections in the report and summarize the report,
  focusing on the bottom line What's wrong? What
  do you suggest? What do you want?

63
Written Reports

• Organizing the Written Report
• Every report consists of both primary and
  secondary elements.
  
• Primary elements present the actual information
  that the report is intended to convey. Examples
  include the introduction and the conclusion.
  
• Secondary elements package the report so the
  reader can easily identify the report and its
  primary elements. Secondary elements also add a
  professional polish to the report.

64
Written Reports

• Organizing the Written Report
• Primary Elements
• Primary elements can be organized in one of two
  formats factual and administrative.
  
• The factual format is very traditional and best
  suited to readers who are interested in facts and
  details as well as conclusions.
  
• We would use this format to specify detailed
  requirements and design specifications to system
  users.
  
• This format is not appropriate for most managers
  and executives.

65
Written Reports

• Organizing the Written Report
• Primary Elements
• Primary elements can be organized in one of two
  formats factual and administrative. (continued)
  
• The administrative format is a modern,
  result-oriented format preferred by many managers
  and executives.
  
• This format is designed for readers who are
  interested in results, not facts.
  
• This format presents conclusions or
  recommendations first.
  
• Readers can read the report straight through,
  until the point at which the level of detail
  exceeds their interest.

66
Written Reports

• Organizing the Written Report
• Primary Elements
• Both formats include some common elements.
• The introduction should include four components
  purpose of the report, statement of the problem,
  scope of the project, and a narrative explanation
  of the contents of the report.
• The methods and procedures section should briefly
  explain how the information contained in the
  report was developed for example, how the study
  was performed or how the new system will be
  designed.
• The bulk of the report will be in the facts
  section.
  
• This section should be named to describe the type
  of factual data to be presented (e.g., Existing
  Systems Description, Analysis of Alternative
  Solutions, or Design Specifications).
• The conclusion should briefly summarize the
  report, verifying the problem statement,
  findings, and recommendations.

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68
Written Reports

• Organizing the Written Report
• Secondary Elements
• No report should be distributed without a letter
  of transmittal to the recipient.
  
• This letter should be clearly visible, not inside
  the cover of the report.
  
• A letter of transmittal states what type of
  action is needed on the report.
  
• It can also call attention to any features of the
  project or report that deserve special attention.
  
  
• In addition, it is an appropriate place to
  acknowledge the help youve received from various
  people.

69
Written Reports

• Organizing the Written Report
• Secondary Elements
• The abstract or executive summary is a one- or