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A question many organizations are increasingly asking is whether or not one person can be both a project manager (PM) and a business analyst (BA) on the same project. This paper explores the pros and cons of separating these two important project roles and discusses some of the key issues that need to be considered when making the decision to combine or separate them. The paper explains how the objectives of these two roles are different, but not mutually exclusive. It describes areas where the two roles seem to overlap and explains how to clarify responsibilities to minimize potential conflict. Finally, it looks at the relationship between the PM and BA and how they can work together to ensure a successful project.

So, Can the Same Person Function as a Project Manager and Business Analyst on the Same Project?
The answer, of course, is yes, they can. Another related question, though, is whether or not they should. There are many situations in which one person can and does perform both functions. One person could play multiple roles, including those of the BA and the PM; for example, in the following situations: if the organization does not recognize the importance of either role, if it doesn’t have enough money and resources for both roles, if the project is known to be “small,” or when the team has worked together and is a high-performance team. Functioning in both roles on one project can work, but can be risky, and we’ll explain this shortly.

Focus on Project versus Product
The PM typically focuses on the project—creating baselines and managing project constraints, communicating and resolving project issues, and getting the resources working on project activities. The BA typically focuses on the end product (solution). On sizeable projects, each role is a full-time effort and cannot be accomplished effectively when the roles are combined. Trying to do both will usually mean increasing the risk and compromising the quality of both the project and the end product. Although the PM may do some work related to the product and the BA may do work related to the project, there is still a need for both roles on most projects.

One of our clients recently completed a study on separating the two roles, which had previously been combined. This assessment was undertaken in part because during different phases of the project, the PM role was neglected and during other phases the BA role was neglected. They concluded that on most projects both roles were needed and recommended the separation

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Different Objectives
Because there is an inherent difference of objectives between the two roles, it is usually beneficial to have both on the same project. As stated in the Project Management Institute’s (PMI) A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide)—Fourth Edition, Section 1.6, the objective of the PM role is to meet the project objectives. As stated in the International Institute of Business Analysis’ (IIBA) A Guide to the Business Analysis Body of Knowledge (BABOK® Guide) 2.0, Section 1.2, the BA’s role is to help organizations reach their goals. This is a subtle but important difference. Organizations usually initiate projects to help them meet their goals. In order to help the organization reach its goals, the BA may recommend solutions that potentially do not align with the project objectives. This tension is actually healthy, because both objectives are important to the organization. Without a separation of roles, this tension would not occur, ultimately to the detriment of the organization. Because there are different focuses and different objectives, there is often a pull in opposite directions, especially when both roles report to different organizational functions. Project managers want to deliver the end product on time and within budget. Business analysts want to ensure that customers can actually use the end product once it has been implemented.
Imagine an internal conversation that the combined PM/BA might have: the PM voice, sitting on one shoulder, says “But this has to be complete by January 15th, so we need to take these shortcuts.” The BA voice, sitting on the other shoulder, says “But we need to take time to do this right. If we put this into production now, it will cause defects, rework, workarounds…” The PM voice replies “if we don’t meet the date, we’ll destroy all their trust in us.” The BA voice says, “If we don’t get this right, we’ll destroy all their trust in us.” When we wear multiple hats, which voice do we listen to?

Input and Handoffs
On projects of any size, successful PMs have learned that getting input from a variety of different roles is critical. The BA is one of the important roles supplying project information to the PM. The BA provides the PM with many inputs, including plans for how the business analysis work will be completed, how formal the work will be, what documents, if any, will be produced, what approach will be taken, and how the work will be tracked and reported.

Typical business analysis project work includes:
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How the business analysis work will be completed ?How formal the work will be?What documents will be produced ?Where do the Roles Overlap?**

Avoiding Conflict Between the PM and BA

At a recent conference, one of the authors sat next to a project manager who observed, “My organization hired a new consulting company to do business analysis work. They’ve completely taken over; now they do a lot of the work that I used to do, such as meeting with the sponsor to uncover the business problems, determining what we’re going to do on the project…I can’t believe it! I feel like I’m being treated like a second-class citizen!” Although this complaint pointed out some organizational issues, it also got us thinking about the potential overlap of the PM and BA roles.

When we first approach the subject of overlap between project management and business analysis work, we may see a clear delineation in the roles. As noted earlier, the BA is responsible for the product and the PM for the project. However, the closer we examine the roles, the more overlap we find. Once we look further it appears that there are significant overlaps. For example, collecting requirements, planning the business analysis work, the request for proposal (RFP) processes, scope management, and defining the business need all are areas of potential overlap.

It seems to us that although there are areas of potential overlap, there are some significant areas that require unique business analysis skills. The table below shows some of the areas of overlap, the uniqueness of the BA skill set, and how the two roles can work together to minimize conflict.

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