Hi there RBA 01, 

First of all take a deep breath...….and relax !! There is no need to stress.

I am a BA Manager and have to say I am rather disappointed that you have been left on your own with no guidance. That rather smacks of laziness on behalf of the dept manager if I am honest. 

That aside, lets see if we can help you?

A couple of questions which might help me understand your situation:

1. Does your department and the projects you have been assigned, have a Project Manager assigned to them or anyone else for that matter (PMO resource)?

2. Do you have a mentor system where a more experienced BA acts as your guide?

3. Do you know the dept’s general BA processes that your department carries out?

4. Are there other BAs in the dept?

If the answer is yes to 1, 2 or 4 then ask them where you should start etc. A PM will be able to give you an overview of the project for starters and should also be able to give you some guidance as to timescales, stakeholders and general way of doing things.

If the answer to 3 is ‘yes’ then all you need to know is how to start your project. Find out who the Project Sponsor is (Who initiated the project?). Talk to them for a general overview of what they expect/want and when they want it. 

If the answer is no to all of the above, then that's not the end of the world - we can work with that. Ask yourself:

1. Do you understand what is being asked for (in your project) - even at a high level?

2. Do you know who the final solution would effect - these people are your stakeholders.

3. Do you know who currently carries out this work (for example if your project is to automate a payment process, then who currently makes those payments manually). List all the names you know of and expect to add to that list. This, along with point 2 above is your list of Stakeholders.

I won’t go into detail about how to get requirements, 'As-Is' and 'To-Be' processes as I would hope you have a good idea on how to do this. If you don't, send me a message and I'll take you through it. 

As a BA Manager, any new BA joining my team would get an introduction to the rest of the team, a general "these are where things are" overview and a overview of the department =s methodology. 

Initially, I would either introduce you to the PM that you are working with or give you a brief overview of the project myself.

If you haven't got any of the above, and you still have no idea who to talk to, it’s not the end of the world - you just need to do the digging for answers yourself. 

Don't panic, ask questions (start with your line manager) and don't feel embarrassed by doing so - you are a BA, asking questions is your job!

Finally, you asked:

1.     Should you reach out to stakeholders yourself?

If you have a PM on your project, get their advice. Normally I would say yes, absolutely, but if you do have a PM, it is courteous to ask them first if they have any objection. I doubt they will. As a BA, you will be expected to ask questions yourself, not via a manager. So if you are not sure or you don't have a PM assigned to your work - ask as many people as you think appropriate. If nothing else, they may gve you additional names of people you should speak to.

Make sure you document everything they say and who said it. These conversations will form part of your requirements. 

Don’t get depressed or stressed out just because you do not know the answers to some questions. That will occur with every project you do as a BA. As you gain more experience, you will have the confidence to carry these fact finding missions out without any stress. It forms a key part of the role.

I can’t answer every possibility of what you should or shouldn’t do on here, but if you have any specific questions please feel free to send me a message on this site – I am more than happy to help.