Where the roles overlap

- Project managers and business analysts are like a dynamic duo. A great relationship between the PM and BA makes for promising project results. But there's confusing overlap at times. So what are the areas where these roles overlap the most? Scoping and planning, communications, stakeholder relationships and management, and risk management. Let's look at each area. First, scoping and planning. Many PM's do some of this before a BA is assigned on the project. And since the BA's focus is the product and defining what the product is in varying levels of detail, it's imperative that the BA either do the scoping or clarify the scope of the product from a functional and user point of view. Scope clarification leads to better planning for the whole project team, which results in better detailed requirements, better estimates and involving the right stakeholders, and this benefits everyone. Next, communications. Many team members and stakeholders get communications from so many on the team, and the PM and BA may be the most common offenders. No really, communications are good, but great communications are coordinated, collaborated, and make sense to the audience. PMs and BAs work together to strategize key messages for various team members and stakeholders and work to communicate a consistent message that uses the team and stakeholder's time effectively. Next is stakeholder relationships and management. Together, PMs and BAs can create trusting and engaging relationships with project stakeholders. When not collaborating on the relationships, often trust issues build and engagement drops, creating a high risk for project failure. And last is risk management. Risk can come from many areas and the PM and BA typically have many of them covered. What's important is that PMs and BAs work together to discuss the risks and work through the mitigation and response plans together. BAs need to pay careful attention to the risk to the user and the customer experience and processes. Scope, stakeholders, communication, and risk. These are the key areas of overlap. If you're thinking, wow, this means I spend a lot of time with the PM or BA, you're right on. Yes, collaboration between these roles is intense and all for good reason.