6

MONITORING AND CONTROLLING

The Monitoring and Controlling Process Group consists of those processes performed on a continuing basis to:

• Promote ongoing and appropriate levels of communication and engagement with stakeholders;
• Assess the impact of proposed product changes within portfolios, programs, and projects; and
• Improve business analysis performance by assessing how well business analysis activities are being performed.

From a business analysis perspective, Monitoring and Controlling focuses on tracking and reviewing the product and business analysis work used to define the solution. It is complementary to Monitoring and Controlling from a project management perspective, which focuses on tracking, reviewing, and regulation of the project.

A significant amount of the work performed in the Monitoring and Controlling Process Group involves using outputs from the Executing Process Group to assess changes to requirements, other product information, and the business analysis plan itself. The Monitoring and Controlling Process Group includes evaluating whether there are any cascading impacts to requirements and other product information, and involves determining whether proposed changes are aligned with the achievement of the business goals and objectives. These proposed changes may trigger additional elicitation, analysis, and evaluation activities. While the team is performing processes from other Process Groups, these processes are key to enabling resources to work well with one another, confirming that all stakeholders are involved at the necessary level and verifying that communications among all participants are working properly. These processes are performed to check that the methods used in other Business Analysis Process Groups are working well individually as well as together, when applicable. When problems are found in or between processes, this process supports making changes to them, so that their interactions are more effective and efficient. Continuous business analysis performance improvement is essential for improving project and organizational outcomes.

Table 6-1 depicts the relationship between the processes within the Business Analysis Monitoring and Controlling Process Group and project management.

^A For the business analysis processes, the numbers in parentheses refer to the section numbers for the processes that appear in The Standard for Business Analysis; the other numbers refer to the sections in The PMI Guide to Business Analysis.

6.1 MANAGE STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT AND COMMUNICATION

Manage Stakeholder Engagement and Communication is the process of fostering appropriate involvement in business analysis processes, keeping stakeholders appropriately informed about ongoing business analysis efforts, and sharing product information with stakeholders as it evolves. The key benefits of this process are that it promotes continuous stakeholder participation in the business analysis process and in defining the solution, and maintains ongoing communication with stakeholders. The inputs and outputs of this process are depicted in Figure 6-1.

6.2 ASSESS BUSINESS ANALYSIS PERFORMANCE

Assess Business Analysis Performance is the process of considering the effectiveness of the business analysis practices in use across the organization, typically in the context of considering the ongoing deliverables and results of a portfolio component, program, or project. Practices that are working well at the project level can be elevated to best practices and standards for use by the organization across future projects. The key benefit of this process is that it provides the opportunity to adjust business analysis practices to meet the needs of a project, its team, and ultimately, the organization. The inputs and outputs for this process are shown in Figure 6-2.

6.3 MANAGE CHANGES TO REQUIREMENTS AND OTHER PRODUCT INFORMATION

Manage Changes to Requirements and Other Product Information is the process of examining changes or defects that arise during a project by understanding the value and impact of the changes. As changes are agreed upon, information about those changes is reflected wherever necessary to support prioritization and eventual product development. The key benefits of this process include facilitating the incorporation of important solution changes for projects, limiting unnecessary changes, and providing understanding of how changes will impact the end product. The inputs and outputs for this process are shown in Figure 6-3.