In this Article we're going to look at what's the difference between a
project manager and a business analyst. The line between the roles of project
managers and business analysts is blurry, and the responsibilities of the roles
will vary from organization to organization. The common way to differentiate
the roles is to think of the project manager as being responsible for managing
the project as a whole, while the business analyst is often responsible for
managing all elements of requirements, from gathering at the beginning to
validating at the end.
This article explores the roles of both the project manager and business
analyst within the five standard phases of a project.
1-The Initiation Phase
After a business
case has been submitted and a project has been approved, the first big task for
both the project manager and business analyst will be to have a follow-up
conversation with the project sponsor to take a deeper dive into the project.
At that time.
The project manager's focus will be on gathering information around how
the project will be funded, what the timeline is, and how project success will
be measured.
The business analyst, however, will start identifying what stakeholders
will need to be involved in the project and start getting a feel for what the
high-level requirements are. This is primarily done through capturing user
stories around how they feel the new functionality or tool should work. All of
this information will feed into the project charter, which is an output of the
initiation phase.
2-The Planning Phase
During the planning
phase,The project manager works to build out a communication plan, which
details how often each specific stakeholder will be communicated to, and how
they will be communicated to. The project manager also pulls together a
detailed schedule, risk management plan, and works with the technical leads to
pull together the resources that will be required to do the work.
The business analyst takes this time to start breaking the users
captured user stories and high-level requirements into more detailed
requirements. To do this, she may lead brainstorming or process mapping
sessions, which will feed into the generation of wireframes that can be
referenced by the developers. The business analyst will then start breaking
those requirements down into specific tasks, which developers will provide
estimates for.All of this requirements information will live inside of the work
breakdown structure, which is owned and maintained by the business analyst.
All
of the information generated by both the project manager and business analyst
will get pulled into the project plan, which is managed by the project manager.
3-The Execution Phase
The primary job of
the project manager during the execution phase is keeping a thumb on the pulse
of the project and making sure that everything stays on track. The project
manager is responsible for everything from raising awareness of risks to
getting the work completed on time, and monitoring issues to ensure they get
resolved in a timely manner.
Alternatively, the business analyst should be generating test cases and
test plans that will be used during testing to validate that what was developed
is in line with what was asked for.
4-The Control Phase
The project manager will work to line up testers and distribute the test
cases and test plans to the necessary parties, ensuring they are returned in a
timely fashion.
The business analyst is responsible for reviewing the results that come
back through the testing, and logging issues and bugs for the developers to
resolve.
If there are questions and concerns about how specific issues or bugs
should be addressed, the project manager and business analyst should work with
the primary stakeholder to discuss the correct action, and then give direction
to the team based on that feedback.
5-The Closing Phase
The project manager is responsible for ensuring that all documentation
is signed and stored in the appropriate location, and ensuring that all bills
get paid.
The business analyst, on the other hand, is responsible for ensuring
that all of her updated documents make it into the hands of the project
manager, and for making a final lap through the project from a requirements
perspective to ensure that nothing was missed.
Both the project manager and business analyst, in addition to other key
players on the project, should pull together a list of lessons learned to
review with the team after the project is closed out.
Prepared by: Max Dalton
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