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New Post 11/10/2019 2:51 PM
User is offline pramodh555
9 posts
10th Level Poster


Should we produce only what PM wants ? 

Hi All,

I recently joined a company as a BA. One of their business units requires a Ticketing solution to manage their incidents / requests. Already there is a high level requirements document related to it. 

My PM wanted to me to provide an excel document which explains the types of requests / incidents that needs to be handled, who approves, fulfillment levels, severity, status and SLA, and the information that should get captured.

As a BA should i limit to what the PM asked from me or should  produce requirements documentation ?

I would love to here all your feedback on this.

 

 
New Post 11/15/2019 12:54 AM
User is offline Stewart F
119 posts
7th Level Poster


Re: Should we produce only what PM wants ? 
Modified By Stewart F  on 11/18/2019 10:51:51 AM)

HI pramodh555

First of all - good question !

This is a an age old problem for BAs - do you do what's right or do you do what your told?

As a Manager of Projects and the Project Teams, I am responsible for both the BAs and the Project Managers, so I can probably see this from both sides of the fence. 

First of all, a question. You say that there is already a high level Business Requirements Document? How long ago was it written and do you know the person who wrote it? Do they still work for the company?

If it Is fairly recent (in the last year lets say) then I would use that as your bible. It should have much of what your PM wants. I suspect that the PM may be looing to take that BRD and take up another level to get things to a state whereby they can actually be built. In which case, his request seems a sensible step. 

However, if he is looking for things that go against that original BRD, then beware. If you can, speak to the person who wrote the BRD. Ask them what challenges they faced and why the project seemed to stall (assuming it did).

If the PM is trying to move things on, which is perfectly sensible, then make them aware of the BRD and ask them if they (the PM) believes any of the stakeholders have changed. There are two reasons for asking this. First, the PM may not realise that there is a BRD, so you are subtlety reminding them, and second, you will need to speak to the stakeholders to get the extra information that you require.

As a side issue, I wouldn't have thought Excel was the best choice of software to write what he has requested. It doesn't lend itself very well to lots of text. I'd do this in Word personally. A small point I know, but it will save you trouble later on.

To answer your question directly "Should I do what the PM want or produce a new BRD?" I would do both! I think the PM is asking for the next level of detail for the project, so I would take the original BRD, save a copy of it, and working on that copy (so you still have an original version available) add the greater detail as you go. This way you do what the PM wants AND you produce some meaningful documentation.   

 
New Post 11/17/2019 3:05 PM
User is offline pramodh555
9 posts
10th Level Poster


Re: Should we produce only what PM wants ? 

Hi Stewart F,

Thank you very much for your valuable input. That was really helpful.

 
New Post 8/9/2020 8:46 PM
User is offline sureshbrady
11 posts
10th Level Poster


Re: Should we produce only what PM wants ? 

Just doing what the PM says means they play the role of lead BA. Best to determine what is needed yourself and present this back to the team. 

 
New Post 10/7/2021 1:13 AM
User is offline TimNickson
1 posts
No Ranking


Re: Should we produce only what PM wants ? 

THANKS!

 
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