2 | Project Manager and Business Analyst: Sorting Through the Role Confusion
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monitor and mitigate project risks along the way,
as well as discover ways to adapt to change, since
no project ever seems to go exactly as planned.
Project managers have the responsibility for the
initiation, planning, execution, and closure of
a project.On the other hand, business analysts
are mainly concerned with the end product
and ensuring it meets the requirements and
demands of the project's key stakeholders.
Business analysts' primary responsibilities are
communicating with stakeholders, gathering
requirements, and making sense of these
requirements in order to ensure that the end
products will solve the business problems at
hand.
One source of contention between business
analysts and project managers is often the issue
of change. It's not unusual for project managers
to strongly advise against changing the project
scope by adding functions or features to a
product (as this could significantly impact project
schedule and costs), while business analysts often
recognize that changes to the project scope
are necessary in order to effectively meet their
stakeholders' requirements.
While it's very common for a single individual
to perform both roles, especially in smaller
organizations with limited budgets, most experts
will agree that the best case scenario is a project
with an effective project manager and an effective
business analyst. Assuming the rest of the
project team is capable, the project will strike the
perfect balance between thorough requirements
gathering and project progress.
When a project manager and a business analyst
are both present on a project team, the project
manager can focus their efforts on project
schedule, cost, and resource management, and
the business analyst can spotlight their time
and energy on ensuring accurate requirements
management — all critical components of a
successful project.
