For BAs, understanding the scope of work is essential to avoid confusion during the work process.
When joining a project, many BAs often skip this step and jump straight into project tasks. This sometimes leads to a lack of direction as it becomes difficult to keep track of where you are and what you're doing within the project/software.
The scope of work can be divided into two types: project scope and product scope. Each type has its own characteristics that you (as a BA) need to clearly define and manage.
Project Scope:
This encompasses the responsibilities, boundaries, and objectives of the entire project team. The project scope defines the tasks that need to be completed to deliver the project. Examples include coding, testing, and design.
For BAs, the project scope includes tasks such as:
Pre-project phase: Presales support (assisting with sales and bidding), assessment (evaluating the product and initial requirements), function design, proposal development, etc.
Development phase: Meetings (usually with clients, though some BAs might not be involved in this), wireframing/mockups/prototyping, documentation, requirement transfer (communicating and clarifying documentation for the development team), demos, testing (to ensure business logic and functionality), etc.
Post-development phase: UAT (User Acceptance Testing - guiding users through acceptance and usage), user manual documentation, document maintenance.
Product Scope:
This refers to the features, functions, and characteristics of the final product. Compared to the project scope, BAs need to pay closer attention to the product scope to avoid getting lost during the requirement gathering and analysis process. The product scope includes:
Modules that the project team is responsible for developing: For example, in ERP software products, multiple project teams might be involved in development, not just one.
Functions/features to be developed for the module based on requirements from clients and stakeholders.
Features and functions to be implemented by the team and by the individual BA.
Priority order for developing requirements.
In conclusion, when joining a project as a BA, you need to understand and clarify both the project scope for the BA role and the product scope before diving into project tasks.
Comments