Interaction with Managers and Users
Before beginning a preliminary investigation, a memo or an e-mail message would be sent out to managers and employees to know about the investigation and explain my role as a systems analyst. I would meet with key managers, users, and IT staff to describe the project, explain my responsibilities, answer questions, and invite comments. This starts an important dialog with users that will continue throughout the entire development process.
When interacting with users, I would highlight the point that this investigation is not about a problem that Riordan Manufacturing has, but rather the additional capability that the company would like to have. This would help employees to not focus on desirable new features and enhancements rather than on current system limitations. Instead of focusing on difficulties, I would question users about additional capability they would like to have. Using this approach, I hope to highlight ways to improve the user’s job, get a better understanding of operations, and build better, more positive relationships with users.
INFORMATION-GATHERING TECHNIQUES
A. Analyze Organization charts.
This would give me a fair understanding of how the department functions and identify individuals I might want to interview, keeping in mind that organization charts show formal reporting relationships but not the informal alignment of a group, which also is important.
B. Conduct Interviews
The primary method of obtaining information during the preliminary investigation is the interview. The interviewing process would consist of these seven steps for each interview:
1. Determine the people to interview.
2. Establish objectives for the interview.
3. Develop interview questions.
4. Prepare for the interview.
5. Conduct the interview.
6. Document the interview.
7. Evaluate the interview.
C. Document Review