A business analyst’s role in an IT project is to ensure that all requirements of the client are captured and analysed. He should identify the key problems and pain points of the client and then recommend the most optimum solution so that the client’s organization achieves its objectives. A business analyst has many other responsibilities as well –
- Document all requirements and the business solution such that stakeholders, the development team and test team understand them clearly to go about their tasks.
- Assess the impact of the solution on various stakeholders
- Assess the feasibility of the recommended solution from a business perspective
- Ensure that the solution development team understands the problem and the solution
- Manage changes to business requirements and do an impact analysis.
- Work with the test team during the test phase to ensure that solution is accurate and free of bugs and issues.
- Work with the end users to help them understand the changes. Help the users to work with the new solution. Help the client in managing the solution such that there is minimum resistance to organizational changes due to the newly implemented solution.
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are certain criteria used to evaluate a team member’s performance in an organization. KPIs are set after identifying the Key Result Areas (KRAs) of the team member. For example the key areas of work and achievement for a Business Analyst are capturing requirements, eliciting the key problems, recommending the solution, ensuring the solution built solves the issues of the client etc. KPIs for Business Analysts should be set around these key result areas. It is important to set effective KPIs. Effective KPIs for a business analyst means they should be specific to his/her role, measurable, achievable and relevant to performance in the project and should adhere to a defined timeline. If the KPIs are not relevant to the role one is playing, it could lead to demotivation and frustration. Based on the considerations mentioned above, here are some KPIs that should be set for business analysts to evaluate their performance fairly and effectively-
Do let us know how business analysts are evaluated in your organization and if you are happy with the KPIs set for you as a business analyst. What will you change in the process of setting and managing KPIs for business analysts in your organization if you had a chance?