This session covers various real-world challenges encountered by business analysts (BAs) throughout the project delivery lifecycle, including strategies for resolution.

Project Lifecycle and Challenges

The speaker explains that projects operate in a cycle centered around a business case, consisting of stages such as alignment, definition, design, development, implementation, and realization. Challenges can emerge at any of these stages.

 

Key challenges discussed include:

Scope Creep: When projects grow beyond the initial agreed-upon scope without adding corresponding time, budget, or resources.

Shifting Requirements: Difficulty in managing constant changes to requirements or priorities as stakeholders often struggle to define needs early on.

Stakeholder Issues: Challenges include delayed sign-offs, lack of engagement, changes in project ownership, and non-alignment of goals between stakeholders.

Regulatory/External Factors: Changes in government or industry regulations requiring requirement rewrites.

Inability to Showcase ROI: Difficulty in proving the value of a project, which the speaker emphasizes should be measured in financial or operational metrics, such as time saved or increased customer satisfaction.

User Resistance: Human nature often leads to resistance against new systems; the speaker suggests involving users early to build trust and demonstrate the benefits of the change.

Resolution Strategies

 

The speaker provides several “superpowers” or tips for BAs to navigate these challenges:

Communication & Documentation: Maintain open, frequent communication and document everything—specifically using signed-off emails for validation rather than relying on word-of-mouth.

Processes and Frameworks: Utilize tools like change control processes, requirement prioritization (e.g., MoSCoW: Must have, Should have, Could have, Won’t have), and RACI metrics (Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed).

Stakeholder Management: Map stakeholders by power and interest to tailor communication strategies effectively.

Preparation: Always identify backup contacts for key stakeholders and build foundational knowledge of the industry.

Practical Activities

 

The session included two breakout group activities:

Handling Scope Creep: Participants discussed how to respond to a stakeholder requesting additional features mid-project, concluding that BAs should acknowledge the request, evaluate the “why,” and propose agile solutions like moving features to a later phase.

MoSCoW Prioritization: Teams practiced prioritizing features for an online clothing store (e.g., credit card payment as a “Must have,” search filters as a “Should have,” and a chat bot as a “Could have”).

The speaker noted that documentation for these tasks, as well as tracking project progress, is typically handled in tools like Jira or Azure DevOps.