Who Defines Business Need?

Elizabeth is Co-Principal and CEO of Watermark Learning. She has over 30 years of experience in project management, business analysis and influencing skills. She has presented workshops, seminars and training classes since 1996 to thousands of participants on five continents.

  Requirements Management   ProjectsAtWork  

It is not in the best interest of an organization for either project managers or business analysts involved in defining business needs. They need to be focused on delivery of the solution and ensuring that it meets the business need. And they do that best when they are neutral facilitators, now owners of the project.

Ask a business analyst (BA) who should define the business need and you might hear that it is the BA’s role to do so. After all, the business need defines the business problem or opportunity, which BAs have to understand in order to recommend appropriate solutions. BAs know that all requirements should link to the business need, so it is important to spend the necessary time to truly understand it.

Ask a project manager (PM) the same question and chances are they will say the same thing — that they are the ones who should determine the business problem or opportunity. They know that their project will not succeed if it does not help support organizational goals and if it does not solve real business problems. The business need becomes the project’s foundation. Just as requirements link to the business problems, so does each project objective and deliverable. Since PMs are accountable for meeting the project’s objectives, many PMs want a part in defining the business need.

Who’s right? Who should define the business need? …

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