Weekly Roundup: Requirements
The one topic that is guaranteed to sink or save your project
This week, we tackled the hidden driver behind most project failures and the overlooked lever behind the ones that succeed:
Requirements.
When they’re clear and aligned, delivery accelerates. But when they’re vague, conflicting, or outdated, it all unravels.
This Week’s Highlights:
📄 Monday Article: “The Requirements Riddle”
Requirements are the DNA of delivery, but only when they’re validated, aligned, and understood. We broke down the three levels of requirements (business, functional, technical) and made the case for why PMs must lead as facilitators, not scribes.
📝 Read here
🎥 Tuesday Video: “Requirements Done Right”
Three execs, three priorities, no alignment… until a single question flipped the room:
👉 “What outcome do we all need to deliver?”
This episode shows how starting with shared outcomes makes everything else easier to define.
🎥 Watch here
📰 Wednesday Article: “From Requirements to ROI”
A strategic look at how PMOs can lead through clarity. From linking requirements to ROI, to shaping prioritization and owning configuration management. This is about turning the PMO into a clarity engine.
📝 Read here
🎥 Thursday Video: “400 Requirements and No Real Plan”
What happens when you inherit 10 years of requirements without context? You stall, scramble, and lose. This episode unpacks the true cost of requirement overload and why some projects need a hard reset.
🎥 Watch here
🎧 PM Debate Throwback: “Virtual Teams Can Never Be As Effective As Collocated Teams”
In this throwback episode, we revisit one of the sharpest debates in project leadership. I argue for the motion. Mary Elizabeth argues against. We cover trust, communication, cultural gaps, and whether tech truly bridges the divide.
🎧 Listen here
This Week’s Message:
Requirements are the first business decision on every project.
They signal purpose. They shape scope. They make or break delivery.
Strong PMOs don’t just document them.
They challenge, translate, and trace them all the way to results.
Final Take
If the team can’t agree on what “done” looks like, you’re not managing a project, you’re managing chaos.
- Start with outcomes
- Align before you define
- Challenge anything inherited without context
The Riskiest requirement is the one no one questions.