Congratulations – you’ve been asked to start a new project as a business analyst! While it can feel quick and effective to jump right in and start requirements documentation, this habit is likely to lead you down the wrong path, really, really quickly.
In this video I share the 3 things you should do first, that will set the stage for an effective requirements process.
How Can I Start a New Project as a Business Analyst Most Effectively?
These 3 steps will get you started on a new project as a business analyst in the most effective way possible.
- Get context about the project, particularly whether this is a new project or one that’s been worked on before.
- Meet with key business stakeholders to start building relationships.
- Understand the key business objectives for the project, and each stakeholder’s perceptions of those objectives.
(For an end-to-end project approach that will help you be more effective as a business analyst, check out my FREE Quick Start to Success workshop.)
For those who like to read instead of watch, here’s the full text of the video:
Today, I wanted to talk about three things that you really should do when you’re assigned to a new project as a business analyst and you wanted to get started quickly and effectively – just three things to keep in mind on your next project or maybe the project that just landed on your desk today.
Start a New Project as a Business Analyst – Step #1 – Get Context
The first thing to do is to get context. It’s not unusual for you to just receive an email about a project and go make it happen, and go start writing the requirements. You really want to take a step back and just get a little bit more context.
- Is this a new project or is it a project that’s been worked on before?
- What kind of stakeholders have been involved and how have they been involved?
- What systems and processes does it impact? Like if there’s that level of detail around it so far.
- What’s the context of the team like?
- Is there a specific methodology that you’re supposed to be using or is that something that you’re going to have to come up with from scratch?
So, first, get context. Figure out where you are and where to jump in, because if you jump in and start writing requirements not really know about the history of what’s happened before in a little bit bigger picture detail, you could get started quickly, but in a super wrong direction. So, quickly, but not really effectively.
Start a New Project as a Business Analyst – Step #2 – Meet with Key Stakeholders
The second is to meet with any key stakeholders. Typically, it’s going to be that person who sent you the email. Again, to get a little bit more context and establish a working relationship. But it might not be somebody you’d met with before. So, you do want to introduce yourself, share what you know about the process and the project, and just get to know them and start that positive working relationship.
Cultivating relationships is absolutely key to engaging stakeholders effectively, and building stakeholder engagement is key to effective business analysis. Nothing you do happens in a vacuum.
In a lot of projects, it’s not just one sponsor that you’re responsible for working with. Usually, there are a couple of key business stakeholders. So, take some time and meet with each of them. What you really want to be asking about, which is the third thing to do on the start of the new project, is partly the context that we talked about before, but also, what are the business objectives?
Here’s a video with some great strategies on building engagement with stakeholders:
Start a New Project as a Business Analyst – Step #3 – Understand the Key Business Objectives
“Business objectives” is just a fancy word for, “Why are we doing this?” What you’ll find, especially if you have a couple of different key stakeholders, is often, their sense of the business objectives is a little bit different from person to person to person. By meeting with them and understanding what’s important to them about the project and why they feel like it’s an important thing to do here, you’re going to start already creating that bridge.
You want to create a shared understanding and context for the project so that when you do start jumping into defining the scope and holding requirement solicitation sessions, you are going to know what they want to have achieved through that project. You’re going to know what differences to expect among those stakeholders. You’re going to be able to plan more effective meetings to make sure that we’re getting everybody on the same page quickly and effectively.
Facilitating effective, working meetings is such a critical aspect of business analysis. This video is loaded with quick and easy tips to make your meetings more effective.
Quick Recap on How to Start a New Project as a Business Analyst
Those are the three things to do before you jump into writing requirements or even before you jump into writing a scope statement for a project.
To review:
- You want to get a little bit of context about why this is happening, what’s been done before – if it’s new or if it’s something that you’re bringing up. Or if it’s been revisited before, but then it was put on a shelf. Context is all about your team and who you’ll be working with.
- You want to meet with those key business stakeholders and start building those relationships that you could leverage over the course of the project.
- And, finally, you want to understand why we, as an organization, are investing in this project. And what is each key stakeholder’s perception of that “Why?”
Those are three things to do before you jump in and just start writing the requirements that are super important. And even though they take a little bit of time up front, they’re actually going to help you move more quickly and effectively to getting clear requirements, to creating meetings that truly get work done, and to really shine in your role as a business analyst.
>> Start YOUR Path to Success
If you are looking for more success as a business analyst, the absolute best next thing to do is to join my free Quick Start to Success Workshop. In that workshop, you will learn more about the business analyst career path, as well as details about the business analysis process framework that will give you the structure that you need to manage your day and your projects appropriately.
Amplify Your Effectiveness with the Step-by-Step Business Analysis Process Framework
Once you get started, you are ready for an end-to-end business analysis process framework.
This video covers the framework in depth. Leveraging a structured process like this will set you apart as a business analyst, and help you add more value and create credibility within your role.