As BAs we need to know where projects originate so that we can pick the right techniques to apply to analysis and documentation. So, where do projects come from? Projects originate from many sources. They can come top-down, bottom-up, from the middle, or from the outside.
Senior management originates project needs based on their strategic goals and directions. This requires the development of business cases and using high-level requirements analysis strategies, such as business use cases, context analysis, and business benefit statements.
Click-level end-users are a frequent source of projects. They encounter problems with a system or a business process during their daily work and based on those complaints they force us to launch projects to repair those defects. Requirements catalogs, use cases, storyboarding, and prototyping work best for those situations.
Middle managers often need information to make decisions. They need reports and dashboards that consolidate data from different sources. For those types of projects use cases, context analysis, and prototyping work best as requirements analysis techniques.
Finally, many projects come from customer complaints, market changes, competitive landscape updates, and regulatory changes. Depending on what the changes are, different requirements analysis strategies will work. Commonly, SWOT analysis, Fishbone diagramming, brainstorming, and prototyping are well suited for these types of projects.
So, know where your project’s coming from — it’ll help you understand where it’s going, who you need to consult, and how to get there…
