Estimating and planning

- So how do Pat the PM and Bailey the BA work together to plan and estimate? The BA is responsible for defining the product and the PM defines the project. The project delivers the product. How could anyone plan a project without a great understanding of the product? Well, depending how much the product has been defined when the planning happens, planning can be impacted dramatically. In some ways, I've always thought it was silly to estimate and plan for requirements when the requirements are not yet known. At the same time, with experience, we learn to work with ambiguity by working in layers. And we also learn to plan to replan as we learn more. And Bailey and Pat plan to replan as they go too. They realized that planning with ambiguity helps leaders make decisions and replanning is expected. So what is there to be planned and estimated and how do Pat and Bailey collaborate on this? First, Bailey and Pat plan what the actual product is and understanding what outcomes are expected and for whom. For some projects, these are backlog items, releases or iterations of a product. Pat and Bailey discover and communicate the big picture of the product and the upcoming pieces that will be in the next focus area. Pat needs to estimate and plan for resources and with Bailey's help, understands more about the product. Bailey does planning related to requirements and business analysis process. And this planning informs Pat on estimates and dependencies for the analysis pieces, and also has a critical role in stakeholders understanding what's expected of them and when. Bailey might have a BA plan with the analysis deliverables, activities, timelines, and stakeholders outlined. Bailey may also have a requirements management plan showing how decisions and requirements will be tracked and approved. Bailey also has models that serve as assets to the team to show the product scope, context and environment or ecosystem of the product. All of these help inform the project plan that Pat is working on and all of these are great dialogue and collaboration points for Pat and Bailey. They all tie together and need to be aligned. Together, Pat and Bailey work in leveraging their expertise and past experiences in planning and estimating. Pat and Bailey also worked together on complexity and impact assessments for the project. Together, they look at the various aspects of complexity and how many areas and groups are impacted. They look at the risk profile of the project and how big of a change it is for each group. This also informs the project plan and risk planning. Planning and estimating are key areas of PM and BA collaboration. It's hard to imagine a project being successful without it.