Client miscommunication is the archnemesis of project management. The problem is a bit too familiar — you’ve been working hard on a project for weeks, only to realize that you and your clients weren’t on the same page from the very start. According to some studies, the lack of well-defined objectives is the most common cause (37%) of project failures. Though the figure varies from one industry to another, the solution is the same: You need to ask the right requirements gathering questions upfront to mitigate risks. This demands a consistent, strategic approach and a well-defined requirements elicitation questionnaire. In this post, we’ll show you how to gather requirements using a carefully planned questions template (you can download it for free). Note: Feel like learning more about the requirements elicitation process? Check out our comprehensive requirements gathering guide.
Content Snare is a simple tool that helps you collect project requirements, information, and files from clients. Send our questionnaire template to your clients as-is, or customize it as you see fit.
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The following list of questions is applicable to almost all types of projects. However, you are free to add more questions or edit the ones that don’t suit your business or your stakeholders.
1. What is the purpose of the project? 2. What are the project goals and objectives? 3. What is the expected outcome or deliverable? 4. How do you define success for this project? 5. Who is our primary contact point for this project? 6. Who is your target audience?
7. What is the expected timeline for the project? 8. Are there specific milestones that need to be achieved? 9. What is the allocated budget for the project? 10. Are there any resource constraints?
11. What specific functionalities are required? 12. Are there any specific features or capabilities that are crucial? 13. What are the testing requirements?
14. What are the performance expectations (e.g., speed, scalability)? 15. Are there any security or compliance requirements? 16. What are the usability and user experience expectations?
17. What technology platforms must be supported? 18. Are there any integration requirements with other systems? 19. What types of data will be handled by the system?
20. Are there any legal or regulatory requirements that must be met? 21. What are the potential risks associated with the project? 22. How should these risks be mitigated? 23. Are there any specific quality assurance standards to be followed?
24. Upload documents critical to the success of the project. Related: Improve your project intake process: A step-by-step tutorial
The requirements gathering questionnaire helps you obtain accurate information about the project from the outset. It’s a simple way to confirm and document requirements early on, so you can establish a shared understanding among team members, clients, and any other parties involved in the project. Besides that, you’ll enjoy other benefits.
A comprehensive requirements-gathering questionnaire often leads to significant time and cost savings in the long run. The idea is clear — if you capture detailed project specifications upfront, the need for extensive revisions later on will be minimal. Related: How to organize client files: A comprehensive guide
A well-structured questionnaire allows you to tailor the project to the specific needs of a given client. It gathers detailed insights into their goals as well as constraints, so you have enough data to tailor solutions that are more likely to meet (or exceed) expectations.
Consequently, project managers are much more likely to build successful relationships with clients — involving them in the requirements gathering process fosters a sense of ownership and engagement.
If you don’t have the time to create a structured list of requirement gathering questions, the ones mentioned above will be of great help. However, we encourage you to walk the extra mile and tailor this list to perfectly match the delicacies of your next project. Content Snare is the best information-gathering assistant because it lets you customize intake forms and communicate with clients within the questionnaire itself. You are free to write instructions (textual or visual) for any given field, post comments, and answer your client’s comments. That way, you’ll get rid of annoying back-and-forth emails, unnecessary phone calls, and messages that create an even bigger confusion.
Sign up to get our pre-loaded requirements gathering form template. You can send it to clients as-is, or edit/expand on the questions as you please.
