As a business analyst, how do you know which requirements to prioritize?

Prioritizing tasks ensures effective use of resources. This ensures equitable output with sustainable growth in future. By lower costs, the surplus resources can be allocated to secondary prioritized tasks and so on. Flexibility in decision making becomes easier after prioritization.

Usually getting the requirements prioritized is not a one-man job. You’ll find yourself working with many different stakeholders, be it board members, developers or subject matter experts. You can start by suggesting a solution you would like to take in approaching such task. Good examples are having brainstorming sessions where you agree on top priorities. Then categorize them using two most popular tools: MoSCoW technique or ABC method. Each one has it pros and cons, so decide within your working group which one you feel more comfortable working with. Remember that requirements fall under its own lifecycle management and thus can be changed and reviewed throughout the project duration.

Consider the importance of each requirement to the overall project goals and objectives. Prioritize the requirements that are critical to the success of the project. For example, if the project goal is to increase sales, prioritize requirements that directly impact sales, such as adding a payment gateway or improving the checkout process.

MosCow is what I would use to prioritise. Remember, if you are in a large organisation, after you do your prioritisation matrix with stakeholders, it is critical to get sign offs. This is what you need to do: 1. define requirements 2. categorise your requirements 3. prioritise your requirements by applying MoSCoW framework. for each requirement, based on conversations with stakeholders, flag it as one of these: *must-have *should-have *could-have *won't-have 4. Beware that in large organisations like the ones I usually consult for, the last 2 categories mean the requirement is acknowledge but most likely won't be implemented due to constraints: budget/resource/time etc 5. Review with sign off stakeholders to get approvals 6. Document it

There are different techniques and methods that you can use to prioritize requirements, such as: Grouping: You can group requirements into categories or levels based on their priority, such as high, medium, or low; MoSCoW; conditional, or optional. Ranking: You can rank requirements by assigning them a numerical score or a relative order based on their priority. Use criteria such as value, urgency, feasibility, risk, or cost to score or compare requirements. Time boxing: You can allocate a fixed amount of time or resources for each requirement or group of requirements, based on their priority. Negotiate with the stakeholders and the project team to reach a consensus on the priority of requirements.

There are several methods of prioritization. In Agile, backlog refinement is the most considered method. Work is broken down into tasks and user stories and these stories are placed in the backlog with the highest priority task on top and the lowest one at the bottom. Weighted scoring model can also assist as different tasks are weighed differently based on their importance and then voting is done to consider the overall priority of the task.

Through extensive collaboration with the stakeholders the necessary details on every requirement should be gathered in order to then use either MoSCoW method or Kano Model and prioritise them accordingly

While prioritising requirements I apply Moscow technique, the various factors need to be considered are, alignment of requirement with the business objectives, benefits and value it delivers i.e.return on investment and stakeholder needs. The Kano model is useful to apply in agile projects where incremental delivery and iterative development approach is considered .It is useful to consider some performance and excitement features along with mandatory requirements in the MVP to help build rapport. It becomes easier to collaborate with stakeholders if the needs are met early.

Some criteria that can help you prioritize requirements effectively: 1- Business Value: Prioritize requirements based on their direct impact on achieving business goals and objectives. Identify which requirements align most closely with the overall business strategy and prioritize those that provide the highest value to the organization. 2- Urgency: Consider the urgency of each requirement and prioritize those that are time-sensitive or critical for the project's success. Requirements that address immediate business needs or regulatory requirements should be given higher priority. Other important factors: 3- Risk Mitigation 4- Stakeholder Impact 5- Dependencies 6- Cost-Benefit Analysis 7- Feasibility 8- Alignment with Project Scope

Risk criteria measures the level of risk associated with a task or project. Tasks with a higher level of risk should be prioritized above those with a lower level of risk. A project with a high degree of uncertainty & A task that could potentially harm the company's reputation

Impact criteria measures the potential or actual impact of a task or project. Tasks with a higher impact should be prioritized above those with a lower impact. example: A project that will generate significant revenue for the company or a task that will improve customer satisfaction.

From my experience, I can not stress enough the importance of getting approvals and documented sign off on prioritisation of requirements. If you work in a bug organisation, your stakeholders might be from different departments, in different timezones, and can even change (company restructure) during your project. Hence, the sign offs are evidence of the consensus and the collective agreement on the priorities, particularly as the company would usually only implement the top priorities, and 'good to have' requirements most likely will end up in the backlog. This way, you will ensure that what is being implemented is what is signed off, and no scope creeps will mess up your analysis and delivery.