How do you use RTM tools to facilitate communication and collaboration among stakeholders?

I agree, but this only defines forward traceability. Its important to also acknowledge backwards and lateral traceability. Backwards traceability traces requirements back to business objectives, OKRs and/or KPIs, and other higher level strategic alignment needs. Lateral traceability traces requirements information to other requirements information. For example: User Stories to Visual Models, Business Rules to Requirements and Process Steps, and Functional Requirements to the Functional and user requirements they support.

It also helps provide an end to end view of all teams involved within a process and system/application touch points. This provides detailed and crucial insight into existing and required system interactions plus integrations which in turn ensures a robust solution and comprehensive user acceptance and system integration testing.

A good RTM tool is only as good as the data entered. That data entry is a crucial aspect which is not often emphasized as much as it should. The major difference between the RTM tool and the numerous spreadsheets is the consolidation into a single collaborative platform. The data being entered or uploaded or imported must be of excellent quality to get optimal value from the RTM tool.

A good RTM tool should not only allow define and maintain dependencies, but also should be able to help identify / suggest potential dependencies.

RTM tool could be low key like Excel. Even a complex project may sometimes need simple RTM format. It is better to have one than not. The scale of visibility incorporated can vary, based on stakeholder/project needs, all the way from Business requirements to Test cases. Specifically, during project execution, I have found RTM to be a great tool for mapping user requirements to corresponding system features. Then use it for QA and configuration management.

Choosing the right RTM tool involves evaluating your project's size, complexity, and specific requirements. The tool should efficiently manage the diversity of your needs, support various formats, integrate with existing tools, and be user-friendly. Cost-effectiveness and robust support are also key considerations. From my experience, the ideal RTM tool enhances stakeholder communication and collaboration, ensuring all requirements are clearly understood and tracked throughout the project lifecycle. This strategic selection process is critical for project success, aligning technical capabilities with project demands and facilitating a smooth development process.

What I have done is to document in detail or for elaboration the system requirements separately and use RTM as a meta-document for easy use and easy communication.

An "RTM Tool" can be low tech, like using Excel, or a specific Requirements Management Software. Agile teams use traceability differently. On an agile team the Forward traceability is naturally built into a team with a solid Product Vision, Product Roadmap, Release Plan, and effective story splitting technique. As functionality is prioritized and put into iterations, the smaller chunks of work in progress and usage of cross functional teams makes forward traceability less needed as it is naturally built into the agile ways of working. So, the Backwards and Lateral tracing becomes more important as we deploy and reuse requirements models, user stories, etc...