BUSINESS ANALYSIS PLANNING AND MONITORING

Business analysis planning and monitoring is a business analysis knowledge area that ensures that business analysis activities are planned correctly. Business requirements need to be planned, identified, communicated and managed. Planning also involves control of these activities as they are being performed and monitoring of the performance of the work. Its main goal is to guide the development of a plan for the work that needs to be done to perform business analysis. The purpose of such a plan is to define the approach, stakeholders, deliverables, roles and responsibilities, and, most importantly, the communication aspects of the business analysis work. Planning the business analysis approach is an important activity in this knowledge area. The BA must determine the approach that will be used for the work. Adaptive and predictive are the traditional approaches. Hybrid approaches are increasingly being used as well, especially in large, complex, multi-faceted projects. The approach that you choose will depend upon a variety of factors. The BA will need to evaluate project characteristics, such as complexity; stakeholder characteristics, such as their preferences, location, and availability; organizational characteristics, such as culture and structure; and any regulatory or policy requirements that may exist. Another essential area in Business Analysis Planning and Monitoring is Stakeholder Engagement Planning. Customers, users, project managers, developers, testers, sponsors and other stakeholders have an interest in the projects. The BA must identify the stakeholders, analyze their influence and expectations, and plan approaches that encourage their participation. Effective stakeholder engagement leads to improved communication, better understanding and higher probability of success. Communication Planning is equally important. The BA must plan for communication channels, meeting schedules, reporting and documenting practices. These enhance transparency, keep all stakeholders informed of requirement changes, progress, risks and decisions, and build trust. Leadership also plays an essential role as the BA plans Business Analysis Governance. Governance determines how requirements and business analysis related decisions are taken. This engages the BA in approving activities, change control, prioritizing and quality standards. Information Management Planning is also essential. Here the BA along with the stakeholders plan how business analysis information is stored, accessed, maintained, and shared. This includes requirement documents and meeting notes, process models and stakeholder feedback and will ensure easy access and traceability of information. Monitoring business analysis performance is the last stage in this knowledge area. The BA regularly reviews how well business analysis activities performed. The dashboard element ensures that all identified KPIs measuring the business analysis performance (such as involving stakeholders, quality of requirements, timeliness of requirements and problem resolution state) are monitored regularly. Finally, the status of KPIs is compared against predefined targets and characteristics of business analysis activities and impact on performance is analyzed. If necessary, the performance is enhanced by taking corrective action or making process improvements. This knowledge area is part of the BA Guide. The purpose of this knowledge area is to lay a strong foundation for all other business analysis activities. Proper planning ensures systematic coverage of requirements, ongoing stakeholder engagement and communication and successful project outcomes. With Business Analysis Planning and Monitoring, a BA, created a clear plan for the business analysis work. He has identified stakeholders and established successful communication. He has ensured ongoing stakeholder engagement and has ensured to apply the required governance to the project. Finally, he and the stakeholders have monitored business analysis performance to assure value for the organization. Business Analysis Planning and Monitoring is a critical knowledge area. It is crucial to success in the other knowledge areas. The conclusion to this article is that organizations that invest time and effort into the planning and monitoring of their business analysis activities will see positive results.