Business analysis

100 Common Risks for Business Analysts | Free Risk Tracker

1 min read

8/1/18 12:00 AM

We fully understand the danger of writing this article. Many of my learned BAs will jump to the conclusion that this is a futile exercise and hence not necessary.

Clients, projects, and teams vary widely, therefore there is no way that one can get a comprehensive risk list.

What's the point in trying to develop such a checklist?

To all those, I ask, "Why should we wear a seat-belt when there are hundreds of risks one faces while driving?"

We possibly can't manage all risks, but some risks can actually be predicted and hence better managed.

Some of the major business analysis risks that I have come across in my career as a BA are:

(These are not in the order of priority- We can do that later).

Lack of stakeholder engagement
Uncontrolled changes
Assumptions about language, currency, time zones
Implicit requirements
Inadequate planning
Incomplete stakeholder list
Silent stakeholders
Incomplete non-functional requirements
Stakeholder dis-agreement on requirements
Lack of adequate details in requirements
Stakeholder dis-agreement on priorities
Non-availability of stakeholders
Regulatory changes
Changing scope
Lack of adequate time for business analysis
Lack of BA domain knowledge
Stakeholders pushing through requirements
Delay in stakeholder acceptance
Lack of stakeholder domain knowledge
Stakeholder conflicts

Fellow business analysts, I invite you to add to the above list. If together, we can come up with 100 common risks, it will be a great value for the entire BA community.