Are you ready to slice and dice?
While hosting a party, we may have already engaged ourselves in the ’technique’ of ‘slice and dice’. For example; we may have cut a watermelon or a cake into several pieces and served the different pieces to our guests. One way we may have differentiated the pieces is by inspecting the size of the piece based upon the age of the recipient of the dessert. We may given a bigger slice to an adult and a smaller piece to a kid. We may be adept in slicing and dicing the fruit or the dessert but we often come to a standstill when we come to real life problems.
We can overcome our dilemma if we focus on the principles of the ‘slice and dice’.
As in our earlier example, our customers may seek different outcomes of the data. The desired outcome is called as the business requirement and can describe the size of the expected data. Depending upon the desired size, a different criteria may be required. The tool acts as a filter in the technological world of business objects but is merely a criteria that depicts a way the outcome is expected.
The best way to determine the parameters for the tool is to perhaps to ask the end-customer their requirements, slowly proceed towards creating the requirements and then develop a buy-in. Remember the kid who asks for a bigger piece of the fruit or the adult who asks for a smaller piece of the dessert. The kid or the adult acts as our customer and may not be happy if they see a piece that does not match their perceived outcome or simply what they had in mind. However; if the kid or the adult agrees that they want a smaller piece or alternatively a bigger piece, then the expectations are more specific and hence easy to meet. One way to get the kid or the adult to agree is to ask them before the host is engaged in the process of ‘slice and dice’. Asking them is a way of managing their expectations.
Depending upon the number of iterations of cuts required, the number of slices and dices may vary. Managing the expectations of the guests (kids and adults) during the party can contribute to a successful party and the right slice and dice can definitely help. However; care should be taken while cutting the dessert as a wrong cut can definitely spoil the mood of the party.
Similarly, a service provider can provide services to the guests in the same way as the host of a party serves the guests. The host may want to manage the mood of the party by managing the dessert of the party as the guests often forget the party but rarely forget the dessert and the best way to manage the dessert is by engaging the technique of the ‘slice and dice’.
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