Business Analysis Planning and Monitoring: What a Business Analyst Really Does
When people hear the term Business Analyst, they often think about requirements, meetings, documents, and asking stakeholders what they need.
Those things are important, but they are only part of the job.
A good Business Analyst also needs to think about how the analysis itself will be carried out. Who needs to be involved? What approach should the team use? How will decisions be made? Where will requirements and other information be stored? How will we know whether the analysis is working?
This is where Business Analysis Planning and Monitoring becomes important.
The BABOK Guide describes Business Analysis Planning and Monitoring as a knowledge area covering five key tasks:
- Plan Business Analysis Approach
- Plan Stakeholder Engagement
- Plan Business Analysis Governance
- Plan Business Analysis Information Management
- Identify Business Analysis Performance Improvements
These tasks are not necessarily performed once, in a strict sequence. Business analysis work is often iterative, and several tasks can happen at the same time.
What is Business Analysis Planning?
Business Analysis Planning is about deciding how the Business Analyst will approach the work.
Before jumping into workshops, interviews, requirements documents, or process models, the analyst needs to understand the situation.
For example, suppose a company wants to replace an old customer management system.
There might be several questions to answer first:
Who needs to be involved?
How will requirements be gathered?
Should the project follow a predictive approach such as Waterfall, or an adaptive approach such as Agile?
Who has authority to approve requirements?
How will changes be controlled?
Where will project information be stored?
How will progress and performance be measured?
These decisions form part of the Business Analysis Approach.
The goal is simple. The team needs a clear way of working before analysis begins.
The Five BABOK Tasks
The five tasks provide a useful structure for planning and monitoring Business Analysis work.
Each task produces an output that supports other activities. The outputs are not necessarily large documents. Depending on the organisation and project, an output might be a formal document, part of a project plan, a set of records, or another form of business analysis information.
1. Plan Business Analysis Approach
The first task is deciding how Business Analysis work will be performed.
The Business Analyst considers the methodology, activities, tasks, deliverables, timing, resources, and level of formality required.
For example, a large regulatory project might require formal documentation, defined approval points, and detailed traceability.
A small Agile product team might work through shorter planning cycles, with analysis performed alongside each iteration.
The important point is to select an approach that fits the situation.
Output:
Business Analysis Approach
The Business Analysis Approach describes how the analysis work will be performed, including planned activities, tasks, deliverables, and the way the work will be organised.
Frequently used BABOK techniques include:
• Business Cases
• Financial Analysis
• Functional Decomposition
• Item Tracking
• Risk Analysis and Management
These techniques help the analyst understand the work, break down activities, consider costs and risks, and track relevant work items.
A useful way to think about this task is:
“How are we going to do the Business Analysis?”
2. Plan Stakeholder Engagement
The second task focuses on people.
A Business Analyst needs to identify the stakeholders involved in the initiative and understand their roles, interests, influence, concerns, and communication needs.
Stakeholders might include:
• Project sponsors
• Customers
• End users
• Subject Matter Experts
• Project Managers
• Business owners
• Suppliers
• Regulators
The analyst then decides how to establish and maintain effective working relationships with these stakeholders.
Output:
Stakeholder Engagement Approach
The approach describes how stakeholders will be involved, communicated with, and supported during the initiative.
Frequently used BABOK techniques include:
• Brainstorming
• Business Rules Analysis
• Document Analysis
• Interviews
• Lessons Learned
• Mind Mapping
• Organisational Modelling
• Process Modelling
• Risk Analysis and Management
• Scope Modelling
• Stakeholder List, Map, or Personas
• Survey or Questionnaire
• Workshops
For example, a stakeholder map might show who has high influence and who has high interest.
An interview might help the analyst understand the concerns of a Subject Matter Expert.
A workshop might bring several stakeholders together to reach agreement.
The question behind this task is:
“Who needs to be involved, and how should we work with them?”
3. Plan Business Analysis Governance
Governance is about decision-making.
A project might involve dozens of people. Without clear governance, disagreements over requirements, priorities, scope, and changes can slow the project down.
Business Analysis Governance defines how decisions will be made about requirements and designs. This includes reviews, approvals, prioritisation, and change control.
Output:
Governance Approach
The Governance Approach identifies decision-makers and explains how approvals, prioritisation, reviews, and change control will operate.
Frequently used BABOK techniques include:
• Document Analysis
• Interviews
• Organisational Modelling
• Process Modelling
• Workshops
For example, suppose a stakeholder asks for a new feature halfway through a project.
The Business Analyst should not simply add the request to the requirements.
The request needs to be assessed.
What is the business reason?
What impact will the change have?
Will the deadline change?
Will the budget change?
Does the change affect other requirements?
Who has authority to approve it?
The governance process gives the team a structured way to answer these questions.
The question behind this task is:
“Who decides what, and how are those decisions controlled?”
4. Plan Business Analysis Information Management
Business Analysts deal with a large amount of information.
This includes:
• Requirements
• Meeting notes
• Stakeholder concerns
• Business rules
• Process models
• Designs
• Decisions
• Workshop outcomes
• Policies
• Regulatory information
Without proper information management, important details become difficult to find.
People might start working from different versions of the same requirement.
A decision made three weeks earlier might be forgotten.
A stakeholder might challenge a requirement because there is no clear record showing where the requirement came from.
Output:
Information Management Approach
The Information Management Approach explains how Business Analysis information will be captured, organised, stored, accessed, traced, and used during and after the change.
Frequently used BABOK techniques include:
• Interviews
• Item Tracking
• Lessons Learned
• Mind Mapping
• Process Modelling
For example, the analyst might establish a naming convention for requirements, define access permissions, agree where documents will be stored, and establish how changes will be tracked.
The question behind this task is:
“How will we manage the information we create and use?”
5. Identify Business Analysis Performance Improvements
The final task focuses on learning and improvement.
Planning does not end when the project starts.
The Business Analyst needs to monitor how well the analysis is being performed.
Questions might include:
Are stakeholders providing information on time?
Are requirements clear?
Are requirements being approved efficiently?
Are there recurring misunderstandings?
Are workshops producing useful results?
Are analysis activities taking longer than expected?
What should we do differently next time?
Output:
Business Analysis Performance Assessment
The assessment records the results of evaluating Business Analysis performance, including identified causes of performance gaps and potential improvements.
Frequently used techniques include:
• Brainstorming
• Interviews
• Item Tracking
• Lessons Learned
• Metrics and Key Performance Indicators
• Observation
• Process Analysis
• Process Modelling
• Reviews
• Risk Analysis and Management
• Root Cause Analysis
• Survey or Questionnaire
• Workshops
This task is particularly important because the Business Analyst is not only interested in whether the project delivers a solution. The analyst also needs to understand whether the analysis process itself worked well.
For example, if requirements repeatedly needed clarification because stakeholders were not involved early enough, the analyst might change the stakeholder engagement approach on the next initiative.
The question behind this task is:
“How well did our Business Analysis work, and what should we improve?”
BABOK Planning and Monitoring at a Glance
Task 1: Plan Business Analysis Approach
Output: Business Analysis Approach
Main question: How will we perform the analysis?
Key techniques: Business Cases, Financial Analysis, Functional Decomposition, Item Tracking, Risk Analysis and Management.
Task 2: Plan Stakeholder Engagement
Output: Stakeholder Engagement Approach
Main question: Who needs to be involved, and how will we work with them?
Key techniques: Brainstorming, Interviews, Mind Mapping, Stakeholder List, Map, or Personas, Risk Analysis and Management, Workshops.
Task 3: Plan Business Analysis Governance
Output: Governance Approach
Main question: Who makes decisions, and how will decisions be controlled?
Key techniques: Document Analysis, Interviews, Organisational Modelling, Process Modelling, Workshops.
Task 4: Plan Business Analysis Information Management
Output: Information Management Approach
Main question: How will Business Analysis information be captured, organised, stored, and accessed?
Key techniques: Interviews, Item Tracking, Lessons Learned, Mind Mapping, Process Modelling.
Task 5: Identify Business Analysis Performance Improvements
Output: Business Analysis Performance Assessment
Main question: How well is Business Analysis performing, and what should improve?
Key techniques: Brainstorming, Interviews, Lessons Learned, Metrics and KPIs, Observation, Process Analysis, Process Modelling, Reviews, Root Cause Analysis, Surveys or Questionnaires, Workshops.
The IIBA describes techniques as methods Business Analysts use to perform tasks. The BABOK technique list is broad, so the techniques above represent those commonly associated with these planning and monitoring tasks rather than a requirement to use every technique on every project.
Choosing the Right Technique
One thing worth remembering is that BABOK does not mean a Business Analyst should use every technique available.
The technique should match the situation.
For example:
If you need detailed information from one stakeholder, use an Interview.
If you need several stakeholders to reach agreement, use a Workshop.
If you need to understand existing policies or procedures, use Document Analysis.
If you need to understand relationships between stakeholders, use a Stakeholder List, Map, or Personas.
If you need to understand why a problem keeps occurring, use Root Cause Analysis.
If you need to measure performance, use Metrics and Key Performance Indicators.
If you need to identify possible risks, use Risk Analysis and Management.
If you need to understand how a process works, use Process Modelling.
The Business Analyst uses judgement to select the technique or combination of techniques most suitable for the situation. IIBA also states that BABOK techniques are not intended to be an exhaustive list, and practitioners are expected to select and adapt techniques according to context.
A Simple Example
Consider a hospital introducing a new electronic appointment system.
The Business Analyst starts by understanding the need.
Patients are experiencing long waiting times when booking appointments.
The analyst then identifies stakeholders.
These might include patients, reception staff, clinicians, IT teams, managers, and external suppliers.
The analyst then plans the Business Analysis approach.
Interviews might be used with staff. Workshops might be used to agree requirements. Process Modelling might be used to understand the current appointment process.
Next, stakeholder engagement is planned.
The analyst identifies which stakeholders need to be consulted, informed, involved, or asked to approve decisions.
Governance is then established.
The team agrees who approves requirements, who makes priority decisions, and how changes are handled.
Information management is also planned.
Requirements, workshop notes, decisions, and stakeholder feedback need to be stored consistently and securely.
Finally, performance is monitored.
The analyst checks whether stakeholder engagement is working, whether requirements are being completed as expected, and whether the analysis approach needs improvement.
This example shows how the five BABOK tasks connect.
Why the Outputs Matter
The outputs from these tasks are useful because they create a clear structure around Business Analysis work.
The Business Analysis Approach tells the team how analysis will be performed.
The Stakeholder Engagement Approach explains how people will be involved.
The Governance Approach establishes decision-making and change control.
The Information Management Approach explains how analysis information will be managed.
The Business Analysis Performance Assessment captures lessons about how the analysis performed and where improvements are needed.
These outputs also support other Business Analysis activities. For example, the Business Analysis Approach feeds into stakeholder engagement, governance, information management, and performance improvement. The Governance Approach then helps control requirements decisions and changes.
How Everything Fits Together
Business Analysis Planning and Monitoring brings several activities together.
The Business Analyst:
Understands the need and context.
Selects an appropriate Business Analysis approach.
Plans how stakeholders will be engaged.
Establishes governance and decision-making responsibilities.
Plans how Business Analysis information will be stored and managed.
Monitors Business Analysis performance.
Identifies opportunities for improvement.
These activities are connected.
The chosen approach affects stakeholder engagement.
Stakeholder roles influence governance.
Governance affects how requirements and changes are approved.
Information management supports traceability and communication.
Performance monitoring helps the analyst improve the approach throughout the work.
Final Thoughts
Business Analysis Planning and Monitoring is about creating the conditions for effective analysis.
A Business Analyst needs to think about the approach, stakeholders, governance, information, and performance before and throughout the work.
The BABOK tasks provide a useful framework:
Plan the approach.
Plan stakeholder engagement.
Plan governance.
Plan information management.
Improve Business Analysis performance.
The techniques then provide practical ways to carry out those tasks.
The key lesson is simple.
Good analysis needs structure.
You need the right approach.
You need the right people involved.
You need clear decision-making.
You need organised information.
You need measurable performance.
And you need to learn from the work as the initiative progresses.
When these areas work together, the Business Analyst has a stronger foundation for helping an organisation understand problems, manage change, make better decisions, and deliver value.
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