I’ve been thinking for a few days now on how we can properly document all the data needed in a project. Currently, I’m trying to list down the documents needed and comparing it with what we learned in the ISAC training last April. Although we’ve created a list of documents last December, I don’t think that it’s enough - meaning the data captured by the documents we listed does not reflect all that is needed in a project (looking at it now). I’m also thinking on how we can fix the format in order to have the data in an organized manner, capture even at least 60-70% of the data needed upon creation (since I learned that it is impossible to understand everything at once, there will always be room for questioning and business analysis is not just captured in one stage) and, of course, not eat up too much time in creating the document since it will be needed for sign-offs and for communicating the business rules to the team.
Right now, I’m already done with some documents in my current project. The project’s going to end soon, hopefully, and I’m going to be focusing on completing my documents again, since I put it on hold in order to focus on coordinating the business rules with the team, assigning tasks compared to the schedule and testing. Although some documents are already done, I’m still going to “try” to revise the format of some documents in order to see if the new documents/format will capture the data required. I think it’s best also to try new formats/documents at this stage since I’m quite confident that around 90-95% of the business rules have been captured (thus, we’ll be able to check if the documents properly capture almost all the requirements). And thanks to version control, if I don’t finish on time, I can always revert back to the previous state. If I finish on time then I’ll be able to use my proposed format for this project.
After the project, maybe we BAs can criticize, analyze and improve the documentation process and create some standard procedure (or something) that can also help us improve our tasks or responsibilities in a project.
Note: “try” – since I’m not sure if I can add this to my current tasks during office hours… maybe I'll have to fix the documents after office hours… still have to see…
