ANSWER

Business Analysts need to show that they approach any issue in a structured and methodical manner.  This includes evaluating the impact of changing requirements on a project. When a requirement change occurs, business analysts often assist the project manager in the evaluation of it’s impact. Together they determine the appropriate course of action. Proposed changes should be evaluated based on how they might impact eight distinct project areas:

• Scope: What is changing and why is it needed?
• Time: How much additional time will the change take?
• Cost: How much with the change cost in terms of time, materials, and labor?
• Quality: Will the change impact the quality of the end deliverable in any way; good or bad?
• Human Resources: Will the change require additional people?  It can mean that more man hours are needed or maybe new skills are required.
• Communications: Who are the affected parties with whom the new change will need to be communicated?
• Risk: Does the new requirement introduce risk into the project?
• Procurement: Will new materials or services need to be procured (which can impact time and cost)? 

Many of these project areas are interconnected, so be aware that a change in one of these areas may, in turn, impact one or more of the other areas. These areas may seem familiar since they represent eight of the nine PMBOK Knowledge Areas. The ninth PMBOK Knowledge area is called Integration Management and includes a number of processes including Change Management or what project managers call Integrated Change Control.

--
Chris Adams
LinkedIn Profile