Project Management

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Why Do Business Analysts become Project Managers?

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Deepesh Rammoorthy ICT Project Manager ( PMP®AgilePM®Certified ScrumMaster® (CSM®))| Australian Red Cross Blood Service Tarneit, Vic, Australia
Just out of curiosity I have a question to the Business Analysts in this group who became Project Managers . Why did you take that step?
Was it purely experimental to see what the PM side looks like?
Was it accidental?
Was the PM side presented to you as being more interesting and/or Glamorous?
Did you wish for something more political or challenging?
Was it for more money?
And now after the transition , is the grass really greener on the PM side of the fence or do you wish you were better off as a BA?

Would be interesting to know your thoughts.
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Eric Simms Senior Program Manager Baltimore, Maryland, United States
I'm a BA who became a PM. I did it primarily for the following reasons:
1. I got sick of working for incompetent PMs, and making them look good to their superiors with my work.
2. I wanted to advance in my career, and being a PM opened many more possibilities than being a BA.
3. The pay as a PM was better than that of a BA.
4. Being a PM seemed more challenging because I got to make decisions regarding the project's path, instead of just carrying out whatever tasks I was given as a BA.

After being a PM for several years I'd never return to being a BA; I couldn't imagine any reason why I'd want to give up the control or the pay.
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Deepesh Rammoorthy ICT Project Manager ( PMP®AgilePM®Certified ScrumMaster® (CSM®))| Australian Red Cross Blood Service Tarneit, Vic, Australia
Thanks Eric
"Being a PM seemed more challenging because I got to make decisions regarding the project's path"

is exactly the quest to get a grip on the Holistic picture that also encouraged me to follow a PM path .

However I morphed into a PM from Application Development and Application Support.
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Tamer Zeyad Sadiq Assistant Cost Manager| Turner & Townsend Riyadh, Ar Riyad, Saudi Arabia
Interested topic
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Natalia Suarez VP of Information Technology| Massimo Zanetti Beverage USA Suffolk, VA, United States
I think for me it was a normal progression. The business analyst position was very helpful to build the necessary hands on experience which helps in the planning control executing. The PM role nevertheless is more about putting together many different pieces of work allowing you to have some control overall. In the end, from working with very limited staff my position required me to wear many different hats, so even as a certified PM I've had to do as well many tasks in the plan. I am very happy with the PM role and all its challenges.
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Abolfazl Yousefi Darestani Manager, Quality and Continuous Improvement| Hörmann-TNR Industrial Doors Newmarket, Ontario, Canada
Career development.
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Sergio Luis Conte Helping to create solutions for everyone| Worldwide based Organizations Buenos Aires, Argentina
The history is in other direction: project managers becomes business analyst most of the time. Business analyst is strategical position. Project Manager is tactical. The only reason I found to go from business analyst to project manager is inside those organizations where both roles were incorrectly definied and implemented.
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Deepesh Rammoorthy ICT Project Manager ( PMP®AgilePM®Certified ScrumMaster® (CSM®))| Australian Red Cross Blood Service Tarneit, Vic, Australia
That's a very good Thought Sergio.

I always think in terms of Tactical direction and strategic direction in an organizational context , never in terms of career paths. That's indeed a very good point you have made .

Maybe strategic thinkers do / should choose Business Analysis over Project Management
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1 reply by Sergio Luis Conte
May 03, 2019 5:33 AM
Sergio Luis Conte
...
Both are totally different roles. Business Analyst is focused on solution definition and solution monitoring (solution is putting strategy into action and monitoring is chcking if benefits are achieved). Project Manager is focused on creating the defined solution in the framework of the needed parameters because the opportunity windows. Both can have strategical thinking but the scope of vision is different. In fact, no project/program/portfolio items exists if a business analyst do not make her/his work inside the organization. With that said, the implementation of both roles differs inside the organizations and that is most of the times wrong. But in my personal opinion because the actual conditions of the world that is going to be clarifying. For example, today a new role emerges called BRM that has to close to business analyst.
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Sergio Luis Conte Helping to create solutions for everyone| Worldwide based Organizations Buenos Aires, Argentina
May 03, 2019 2:15 AM
Replying to Deepesh Rammoorthy
...
That's a very good Thought Sergio.

I always think in terms of Tactical direction and strategic direction in an organizational context , never in terms of career paths. That's indeed a very good point you have made .

Maybe strategic thinkers do / should choose Business Analysis over Project Management
Both are totally different roles. Business Analyst is focused on solution definition and solution monitoring (solution is putting strategy into action and monitoring is chcking if benefits are achieved). Project Manager is focused on creating the defined solution in the framework of the needed parameters because the opportunity windows. Both can have strategical thinking but the scope of vision is different. In fact, no project/program/portfolio items exists if a business analyst do not make her/his work inside the organization. With that said, the implementation of both roles differs inside the organizations and that is most of the times wrong. But in my personal opinion because the actual conditions of the world that is going to be clarifying. For example, today a new role emerges called BRM that has to close to business analyst.

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