From the course: Business Analysis for Project Managers

How to develop a shared vision of the product or project result

From the course: Business Analysis for Project Managers

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How to develop a shared vision of the product or project result

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- Can you imagine the final product or result? How clearly can you see it in your mind? How clearly can everyone else see your vision? Product vision is essential to delivering a successful result, and it's a perennial challenge to make sure that all-important vision is aligned across team members. To do this, we need to align on the core elements that determine that vision, specifically the project objectives. The vision is the full picture of the project elements or solutions, and their direct connection with the project objectives. Let's use an example. Say we have a room reservation app. Our users will vary in technical expertise, so ease of use will be especially important but simplicity alone is not enough. We also need to ensure certain features are included. Selecting the building, filtering the room size, a map of the rooms and actually making the reservation. So we can make a list of all these needs, then we can generate a vision, and in that vision we can identify which components are serving which needs. This helps everyone understand what is essential in the vision and what is not.` As we get a little better at understanding the needs or in PM terminology, the project objectives, we can start to drill down into more detail. Starting out with and maintaining a clear project vision will be helpful as we move into planning the project. As the PM, you can rely on the business analyst to ensure maintenance is done. The BA will continually question the vision, turning it over and looking at different perspectives. The BA will also make sure this vision is communicated completely to the team and stakeholders. In this way, nothing is missed and the team can move quickly because they know what is aligned with the vision and what is not. the more detail you can provide on the vision, the more your stakeholders will be able to see and verify the picture you have in mind.

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