Why BA and PM Skills equal Project Success

8/19/2015

In one of my previous posts, I mentioned that the Business Analyst is in charge with "what to do", while the Project Manager is responsible with "how to do". This is a very simple approach and it is true from start-ups to big companies. This pair will "bridge" in a better way the biz needs with the IT needs, they will form a stronger Biz-IT Bridge.

However, there are situations when these two roles are performed by a single person, which is not the best possible thing, in my opinion. BA and PM still need different skills, sometimes obviously for everybody.

If this pair of a BA and PM is present on a project, a few benefits will appear soon:

Reduce Rework on the Projects
Manage the Project Better from the Start
Control Change
Improve Communications Between IT, the Business Team, and the Project Team
Increases the project/company Value in the Marketplace
Acquire Project Success, in the end

I believe these are quite obviously for you and if you do agree them and want more details, please read this article.

8 Comments

Jim

4/18/2016 05:11:49 am

I agree that both skills are necessary for a project to be successful. However I disagree that they should be performed by different people for this reason: When changes are required throughout a project, it is up to the project manager to control the change, and to control any change you need to understand EVERY consequence of making or not making the change. Only a business analyst (or person performing BA responsibilities) truly understands at that level of detail in a project. There will be times when a project is so large that a PM truly can't perform ANY BA responsibilities, but it still is beneficial for the PM in this case to possess BA skills.

Cristian-Stefan Turcu link

4/18/2016 05:16:06 am

Interesting thoughts, Jim. Thank you for sharing them!

Jeremy

7/8/2016 02:04:10 am

Although it always depends on the specifics of the project, it is unlikely that the PM deals with 'How to do'. I see that as a matter of detail. The PM may set quality standards that impact on the deliverables but shouldn't dictate how they are achieved. That is micro-managing which is usually seen as a bad thing.

7/8/2016 04:23:58 am

Thank you for your comment, Jeremy.
I feel sorry that you got it like this. Here are my opinions:
- according to Wikipedia, "A Project Manager is a professional in the field of Management. Project managers have the responsibility of the planning, procurement and execution of a project, in any domain of engineering." Please see it here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_manager
- knowing that the PM is in charge with planning, procurement and EXECUTION of a project, isn't it obviously that he is in charge with "how to do"? The BA defines the project scope, the PM will assure the execution of the project.
- I often give to people this understanding of things, translating the discussion into the construction field: the BA is the "architect" and the PM is "the construction" manager;
- I know what you suggested in your comment and this is indeed something wrong; sometimes PMs dive too deep into "helping" the team(s), so they fall into the micro-management mistake you mentioned it. Anyway, my view isn't and wasn't like this.

Tom

7/9/2016 06:10:09 pm

In my experience the organizations that expect a PMs to also function as a BA, have set the stage for problems if not failure. These are two separate skill sets. Similar, but different. besides that, if a PM is doing their job they are spending their time doing PM and project leadership functions.

Now, a PM MUST understand the BA function, and carefully follow the requirements development process. I said following, not becoming immersed in it. During the requirements phase there is a lot of other work the PM needs top be doing, in addition to making sure that requirements development is progressing properly.

7/10/2016 04:17:29 am

I know what you're saying, Tom, and I totally agree with you. This is partially solved in Agile, by having (a) smaller requirements gathering phase(s).

Tom Hussey link

7/15/2016 07:22:03 am

Whilst logically one person could where a BA hat and a PM hat, I think there's a danger that this could lead to schizophrenia - a BA needs to approach things from a listening, empathetic perspective whereas a PM needs to be more focused on driving and milestones. It's not always easy to switch between the two modes.

7/15/2016 08:13:37 am

I agree with you, Tom.
From my experience, it is indeed tough to act as both BA and PM same time, same projects, though this didn't lead me to any kind of schizophrenia. It's like you were the orchestra conductor, same time the first guitarist and... the pianist! Why not?!

Probably this way it would be easier for us to see why the rock-stars often have psychic issues...

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