How?
* Identify an engaged sponsor/champion for your projects
*Partner your PM and BA on your projects
* Improve stakeholder engagement, buy in and management of expectations
*Use various tools to create documented and visual representations of requirements,
* Elicit business requirements from SMEs that are aligned with the organizations strategic goals/objectives
* Provide traceability of all requirements back to the goals/objectives of the project
* Deliver products and services that add value, provide innovation though competitive differentiation in the marketplace and realize a ROI.
* Manage in and out of scope, issues, and risks.
Certainly, more ideas and thoughts are worth sharing from the community. Join in...
Naomi Caietti, PMP
www.theglassbreakers.net
Saving Changes...
Edward KleinertClinical Assistant Professor| New York UniversityNew York, Ny, United States
Well stated Naomi, Projects are about 'solutions' in increasingly competitive and complex environments. The better our understanding of the business requirements the better our ability to translate them into deliverables with objective criteria for guiding and evaluating outcomes. Saving Changes...
Andy JordanPresident| Roffensian Consulting S.A.Cherry Grove, AB, Canada
I think that the role of business analysis as 'relationship building / management' is underrated. The business analyst role is ideally suited to engage with customer focused stakeholder groups and be the face of the project, not just in requirements development, but throughout. They are likely to have the best ability to express the project in terms that are relevant to those groups. Saving Changes...
Edward KleinertClinical Assistant Professor| New York UniversityNew York, Ny, United States
Thanks Andy, Your observations are right on target. An effective approach to business analysis will lead to significant returns to a project. Delivering more business value, by obtaining a better understanding of the various stakeholder perspectives and business needs is crucial. The importance of upstream activities to the downstream deliverables is key. Saving Changes...
Mike FrenetteManager, IT PMO| Halifax Water (retired)Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
... and to add to Naomi's points:
- Make sure we are executing the right projects - those that tie to business strategy and objectives - to ensure our projects are not only conforming to the iron triangle, but delivering business value.
One of the nine skits my colleague Beth Ouellette and I presented in our session "Requirements Management Top Ten" during the Phoenix Congress was entitled "Perfect Project - Imperfect Results" and spoke directly to this point.
Saving Changes...
Andy JordanPresident| Roffensian Consulting S.A.Cherry Grove, AB, Canada
That's a very undervalued element of business analysis Mike - the role of a BA as the 'sanity check' that the details that people so love to dive into are actually aligning with the purpose of the project. No one cares about on time, on scope and on budget if the business benefits are not achieved, and too many people forget that. Saving Changes...
Edward KleinertClinical Assistant Professor| New York UniversityNew York, Ny, United States
Good points Mike and Andy; in the absence of alignment with an organizations business model, its stated mission, or a ‘burning platform’ business need, the tasking of a project is at risk. The business analyst is at the center of the discussion to verify/validate the business problem or opportunity for which a potential project has been initiated. Of course…the ‘value proposition’ is the over-arching driver…let’s explore what this is about… Saving Changes...
Mike FrenetteManager, IT PMO| Halifax Water (retired)Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
This moves into portfolio management, where the value proposition is formal selection and funding of projects in a fiscal period that align with highest priority business goals.
Business Analysts can help with this while programs and projects are being defined and approved. Project Managers can help ensure projects remain on track and meet project goals that are aligned with target business goals. Program Managers can pave the road to ensure all projects in a program (those that require execution to achieve common business goals that cannot be achieved unless each project in the program is executed) are successful. All three roles work in concert to manage change, communicate to internal and external stakeholders and push for success.
In the end, not only must we be efficient in the way we work, we must be effective, and all three of these roles are necessary to achieve both.
Is there overlap? Yes... I think so. Can one person play all three roles at different times, or even at the same time? Perhaps. But each requires a different set of skills. So it is not a question of role titles, but one of having the skills required to do each job. Saving Changes...
Edward KleinertClinical Assistant Professor| New York UniversityNew York, Ny, United States
Thank you Mike for ‘connecting the dots’ in the eco-system of enterprise project management. One detail that stands out in your thread is ‘manage change’… How important is it to plan for change (‘Change Management’) in the delivery of a new product or service for which a projected has been tasked…? And what role does the project team, and its members, play in this regard…? Saving Changes...
Mike FrenetteManager, IT PMO| Halifax Water (retired)Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
You are welcome, Edward.
Change is an important topic - managing changes to requirements, specifications, scope (also called change control) and helping stakeholders through the changes that inevitably result from the introduction and use of the product of the project (organizational change management). The article at the link below addresses a few different aspects of this:
Of course, the old adage "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail" applies to the management of change just as it applies to all other project activities. Project Managers and Business Analysts are very good (or should be) at controlling changes to requirements and other aspects of a project, and are often good at planning for and conducting training necessary to help people with using the project's product, but there is probably plenty of room for improvement when it comes to making upcoming changes visible to stakeholders in the first place, instilling a desire to comply with the change, checking that training actually had an effect and providing support to help during and after the change. Those involved in change management will recognize these steps as part of ADKAR, a CM methodology from Prosci. ADKAR stands for Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability and Reinforcement, a handy acronym that has helped guide many people.
So planning for the management of both types of change is critical to project success.
As with any set of activities in a project schedule that culminate in a project deliverable, resources need to be scheduled. Change management activities are no different. Which activities should be assigned a BA, or a PM, or a Change Consultant? I would guess that those related to changes to business requirements would fall within the realm of the BA, those that relate to overall project change control would be the responsibility of the PM, and those relating to organizational change management would be the responsibility of the Change Consultant, if there is one. If there isn't, the role would need to be filled by someone within the project team who would be most suitable for the role. A BA might be close enough to the business to be a suitable candidate, but what is important is that someone with the right skills be assigned to change management tasks.
