Hi all,
I read the replies to this question with interest. Some people's replies clearly show that clarity is required.
First of all, I should add that I am a BA Manager, who currently also heads the PMO unit. In short, I am one down from the Director of Change. I am responsible for everyone and everything project related. Formerly I was a BA for better part of 25 years.
So, as I said earlier, clarity seems to be the order of the day here. Firstly, you must appreciate that every company works differently. Some will work with Senior BAs and Junior BAs, others wont. So let me give a little bit of information about the different roles:
Head Of Change (aka Director Of Change) - this person probably sits on the Board of Directors and will have overall responsibility for change. They wont be involved in projects directly or in daily tasks around projects, but can be used to help with any blockers for a particular project, if that blocker is of a senior level in the company. The BA Manager, or Head Of Business Analysis will report directly into them and occasionally stand in for them.
Head Of [Business] Analytics/Analysis - This is usually a management role and the likelihood of that person actually doing any BA work (e.g. Requirements) is very slim. They are more a man manager.
Senior Business Analyst - This is a BA role and he or she is likely to be experienced either in the company or as a BA, or probably both. They will act as a mentor to Junior BAs. They may be assigned to more complex projects, and if the manager is half decent, will have a junior BA assigned with them, so that the Junior BA can gain experience. They are unlikely to have any management responsibilities, but the Manager may ask for their input.
Business Analysis - The mid level role that is the most common. A company can have 1 or many BAs, all working on one or multiple projects. They carry out solely BA tasks such as requirements gathering
Junior Business Analysis - These are entry level BAs, they don't have to be young school leavers, just someone who happens to be new(ish) to the role. A good manager should provide a training/learning PDP to help them reach the middle level Business Analysis role. They wont have any managerial responsibility and may only work on projects where they are in tandem with a more experienced BA.
All of these depend on the size of the organisation - smaller companies wont have Junior BAs and the Head Of Change is probably also the Head Of Business Analysis.
So, as the Head Of Business Analysis which Hadeel's question seemed to be about, I would say that Adrian M's reply is probably the closest to my particular role. Having said that, I a now working less and less on actual projects and taking more and more Management responsibility after our Head of PMO left (I am now doing their role as well as mine).
So ultimately, the answer is - it depends on your organisation. I would say though that you are 1st of all a Man Manager, and second a Project Worker. Unless a project is really getting political, I tend not to get involved in them so much now. I especially wouldn't get involved in a very complex project as they can go on for a long time, and I know I wont be able to allocate that much time to it.
If you aren't sure how much time you have to allocate, spend a normal week writing down everything you do and how long it takes. Base your working day on a standard one for your company, e.g. 7.5 hrs a day. Don't go over that total. Then at the end of the week, see how much time yo had spare (if any). That will tell you how much time you can allocate to projects. Managing isn't for everyone, and don't be fooled into thinking its the holly grail, it isn't for everyone.