A common problem I tend to notice is that many Business Analysts take a passive requirements gathering approach, that is to simply write things down like a scribe or court stenographer. This can happen when the business whom you are to represent, fail to give the BA access to quality SME's. Experienced BA's should see through this and escalate problems to the program director or project managers immediately, realising they could botch the requirements up if they don't have access to the people in the know.

This has happened to me recently. I couldn't get a hold of key people. I simply outlined the points or areas I needed to cover, stated that only "such and such" resources can help me and without them, "we will not have a sound platform" to move the project forward. Never be afraid to get what you want as a BA. You are critical to the whole project. Requirements gathering is such an important phase well worth investing time and money into.

Requirements are generally considered good enough if:

• The business can understand them and can validate them
• They solve the business problem
• Your business reps and stakeholders are happy
• Requirements are not wedded to design