If the question is could the BA and PM play the same role on the same project, my answer is that I can think of many situations where a single person could perform both functions. For example, if the organization does not recognize the importance of either role, if it doesn't have enough resources for both roles, if a project is known to be "small," when the team has worked together and is a high-performance team, one person could play multiple roles. Functioning in both roles on one project can work, especially when it is clear to everyone which "hat" is being worn at any given moment.

On the other hand, we might ask under what circumstances would it make sense for the BA and PM to play the same role. For me this is a harder question to answer. Here are some considerations:

1. Generally speaking, there is an inherent difference of objectives between the two roles. The PM's role is to meet the project objective (PMBOK® Guide Fourth Edition Section 1.6). The BA's role is to help organizations to reach their goals (BABOK® Guide 2.0 Section 1.2). This is a subtle but important difference. Organizations usually complete projects to help them meet their goals. Project objectives are more specific than organizational goals. Put another way, the project objectives help the organization meet its business goals and objectives. The PM focuses on the former; the BA on the latter.
2. Another difference is one of focus. The PM typically focuses on the project-creating baselines and managing project constraints, communications about the project, resolving issues about the project, getting the resources working on activities and tasks. The BA typically focuses on the end product. However, those lines are not always clear- cut. According to the BABOK® Guide 2.0, BAs do need to focus on the project when they plan and monitor the business analysis work, which is part of the project. That is, planning 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, how the work will be tracked and reported etc. is project work. The focus is on the project, not the end result.
   
   However, doing project work as part of business analysis does not mean that the roles of PM and BA overlap. The project manager gets input from a variety of people on the team including the BA and uses that information to manage the project.

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, I think, for both roles on most projects. It seems to me that:

1. It takes time to do both jobs well. Certainly on "large" projects, it is a full-time job to manage the project and to manage the end product requirements. Trying to do both will usually mean increasing the risk and compromising the quality of both the project and the end product.
   
   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. They concluded that on most projects both roles were needed and recommended the separation.
2. Because there is a different focus 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.
   
   I can almost hear an internal conversation the combined PM/BA might have: the PM voice, sitting on one shoulder, says "But this has to be complete by Jan. 15^th 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?

Personally, I have found it helpful to have both roles on projects, even when the project is "small." So although it may not be necessary to have both a PM role and a BA role on every project, it sure makes sense on most.

Don't forget to leave your comments below.

Elizabeth Larson, PMP, CBAP,CEO and Co-Principal of Watermark Learning (www.watermarklearning.com) has over 25 years of experience in business, project management, requirements analysis, business analysis and leadership. She has presented workshops, seminars, and presentations since 1996 to thousands of participants on three different continents. Elizabeth's speaking history includes, PMI North American, EMEA, and Asia-Pacific Global Congresses, various chapters of PMI, and ProjectWorld and Business Analyst World. Elizabeth was the lead contributor to the PMBOK® Guide - Fourth Edition in the new Collect Requirements Section 5.1 and to the BABOK® Guide - 2.0 Chapter on Business Analysis Planning and Monitoring. Elizabeth has co-authored the CBAP Certification Study Guide and the Practitioner's Guide to Requirements Planning, as well as industry articles that have been published worldwide. She can be reached at elizabeth.larson@watermarklearning.com.

Comments (12)

Subscribe to this comment's feed

...
written by J LeRoy Ward, November 24, 2009

Hi Elizabeth; always enjoy reading your thoughts and I agree with your assessment. Under certain conditions, it's fine to have one party do both roles, but I think under most, it's better for the two to be separated. I often see this particular issue just related to project management alone. For example, I have noticed through the years that many project managers are also their own project schedulers. What this means is that for every minute they spend working through Microsoft Project or some other piece of PM software, that's one minute not spent on talking to stakeholders, building team morale, ensuring client success, or making sure the BA is doing his/her job right! (just kidding of course). To be sure, people can do multiple roles, but it becomes self-defeating when we try to have people do too many things at once. Project managers should not be their own schedulers (in most projects), nor should they be their own BAs. What's next, having them drag a broom around after them so they can clean the halls at the same time?

• 
• +1
• 
• 

...
written by David Wright, November 24, 2009

There was an article/blog written a while back that recommended that both roles MUST be combined, generating a lot discussion, mainly against this strong of a position. Was it here on BAT?

Anyway, no surprises from me: they should be different people. They are two different disciplines with two different BOKs and certifications. It would be like saying your doctor should also be your lawyer. Now, I am sure therer are people out there who have both degrees...and I have done the PM and BA job on really small projects... but can/could is lot different from should... something will suffer.

• 
• +2
• 
• 

...
written by Devon Johnston, November 24, 2009

95% of my projects require me to do the jobs of BA and PM. I enjoy doing both, but there is no doubt they both suffer some. There are some positives though. I don't have a PM telling me what or how to do my job. I know exactly what is going on and there are no surprises. I have more influence and can make things happen. I get to work with a wider range of folks, from execs to IT. Also, there is a tendency at my current company to ask BAs to do everything the developers don't want to do,, basically they are used as the developers' admins/assistants. Playing the PM role helps alleviate this kind of behavior. (Somewhat)

• 
• +0
• 
• 

...
written by Ida, November 24, 2009

Truth be told. When I am evaluating resumes for BA opportunities, I look for BAs with solid Project Management experience. When I evaluating Project Managers, I look for solid BA experience.

• 
• +0
• 
• 

...
written by Mark Tattersall, November 24, 2009

I may be moving to a PM/BA type role and it is unnerving coming from a straight BA position. However the cross-over in responsibilities and tasks is clear. Like any job it comes down to discipline and time management, to split you work effectively and efficiently between the two roles. If you can do that I don't see why you cannot exploit the cross-over of roles to develop new efficiencies and understanding within the team. Being a more hands-on PM will mean you have a real grasp of the work involved and the time needed to complete. Likewise as an project minded BA you will always have the big picture clearly in mind to guide your analysis and focus your attention where it needs it most.

I am looking forward to the challenge......if it happens!
http://buddingba.wordpress.com

• 
• +1
• 
• 

...
written by Holly Martin, November 24, 2009

I think another factor is the skills of the individual. Some people are skilled in both PM and BA work and can easily shift from one role to the other. Balancing the focus of keeping the project on task while also making sure business needs are met is not a difficult job for some people. We've been a one-person/two-hats shop for a long time, but have experimented with splitting the role and having two people on a project (one PM and one BA per project). I'm not sure this has been totally successful in our company, primarily because the skills sets of the individuals don't blend well.

For example, if you pair up a junior PM with a senior BA, or a senior PM with a junior BA, do you get personal conflicts? When a PM feels they can do the BA's job better than the BA assigned to the project, what happens then? Do you find folks mentoring each other in this situation, or does this turn into a project roadblock? If you have folks trained in both, how do they "turn off" the PM or BA in their head so they can focus on just the one role?

So I think it's more than just a question of "should" the roles be split. I think it's also a question of skill set, corporate culture, and what makes sense for your organization.

• 
• -1
• 
• 

...
written by Abhishek Kashyap, November 24, 2009

My answer to your question will be a "Yes". A person can perform a BA role and a PM role on the same project. The key differentiator would be the presons skill set and his/her experience in previous projects. In my view there is already a overlap in terms of responsibilities between the two for a project. A BA eventually getting into a PM role or vice versa is possible if the person have been in the same domain for a longer period and is capable of handling team dynamics.
In the end the answer to this question depends more on the organization work culture than on an individual.

• 
• +0
• 
• 

...
written by Elizabeth Larson, November 24, 2009

Thanks to everyone for weighing in on this controversial topic. I’m not surprised at the wide variety of responses. All you have put forth compelling arguments on both sides of the issue.
•Wardl—I love your point about separating the project scheduling from other aspects of project management. I hadn’t thought about that separation of roles before and I find it intriguing. On one project a project lead did the scheduling and it sure made it easier. He loved the work, whereas I did not.
•Dwright—Good points! I love your analogy about the doctor/lawyer. We have a financial advisor who’s also a CPA and lawyer, but her role on our “projects” is financial advisor. She advises us to get our CPA or lawyer involved as needed, but she plays one role only.
•Johnstde—you and others have pointed out the importance of corporate culture—absolutely. What about other cultures? What kind of factor does culture in general play, if any?
•Gmmba—agreed! To me it seems like there are huge advantages in understanding both roles, both disciplines, handoffs required, etc. It also provides empathy and an understanding of possibilities.
•Buddingba—again, understanding both roles is immeasurably helpful. I do have a question: which role sees the big picture and which sees the details?
•Hkmartin—excellent questions!! You must be a BA. Anyone want to weigh in?
•abhikashyap22-ah, again the importance of work culture. Such a good point.

• 
• +0
• 
• 

..., Low-rated comment [Show]

...
written by Joseph Ruffolo, November 30, 2009

I manage a department of 6 BA's and was also given program management responsibility over our data warehouse projects. I often have the internal conversations that Elizabeth portrayed. I don't regularly recommend this because it is a bit like serving two masters.

• 
• +0
• 
• 

...
written by Gerwin Cuenca, December 01, 2009

It seems to me that BA and PM are 'joined at the hip' so to speak and the intersection/overlap between the two disciplines is inevitable. With most companies trying to drive costs down further and yet expecting to be more efficient by reducing headcount and creating high-performance teams and developing high-performing individuals, roles with overlapping BA and PM responsibilities would probably increase and be more pervasive. Yes, it will probably be very difficult and risky to handle and manage both roles at the same time, but the fact of the matter is that this overlap will become more of the norm especially for small to medium-sized companies. I would be very much interested to see a forum discussing how BA and PM responsibilities can be managed effectively and successfully.

• 
• +1
• 
• 

...
written by A Kaseno, December 01, 2009

From a ivory tower perspective, of course they cannot be the same person. From a real-world perspective where the proof is in completing a sucessful project, the stakeholders don't care if there is one, two or twenty people doing the tasks (just as long as it doesn't cost them more).

If you are a theorist, you'll note that a lot of the foundation work for which the BA is responsble occurs prior to PMBOK's theoreticaly project management tasks begin.

If you are a practalist, you'll discover that many PM's really just want the BA to "go away" -- particularly when the PM has already decided the "solution" to the project.

Real World should be recognizing both roles as critical to a project's success, but real world doesn't care or understand about the alphabet soup of PMBOK and BABOK (or EWOK for that matter). In order to get the realworld's attention, we have to be able to show empirically that a good BA and a separate good PM are vital to a successful project.

• 
• +1
• 
•