❌ BA Mistakes to Avoid

Learn from Real Project Failures. Don't Make These.

Real Talk

I've made every one of these mistakes. So have the best BAs I know. The difference is we learned. The goal isn't to be perfect. It's to fail fast, learn, and never make the same mistake twice. Here are the biggest ones, with real stories and how to avoid them.

1
Assuming You Understand Before You Ask
The Mistake

You read an email from a stakeholder saying "we need a dashboard". You think "okay, a dashboard to show metrics". You spend two weeks creating detailed requirements for a metrics dashboard. Then you show it to the stakeholder and they say "This isn't what I wanted at all. I need a notifications dashboard."

Real Story from a Project
A healthcare client asked for an "improved reporting system". I assumed they wanted better visualizations. Spent three weeks on requirements. Turns out they wanted to consolidate data from 5 different systems into one place. Completely different scope. Had to restart.
What Happens Wasted time and effort. Stakeholders lose confidence in your ability to understand their needs. Team gets frustrated building the wrong thing.
The Lesson Your assumptions are usually wrong. That's not your fault. It's the nature of communication. Your job is to dig deeper before committing to a solution.
How to Prevent It
  • Ask "why" at least 3 times before you accept a requirement
  • Never assume terminology means the same thing to everyone
  • Clarify by repeating back what you heard, not what you think you heard
  • Example: "So when you say dashboard, do you mean showing real time data, historical trends, or consolidating multiple sources?"
  • Document your understanding and confirm with stakeholder before proceeding
2
Not Managing Scope Creep Early
The Mistake

A small feature request comes in mid sprint. Seems easy. You say yes. Then another. Then another. Suddenly the scope has doubled but nobody officially acknowledged it. The team is exhausted. The deadline is missed.

Real Story from a Project
Three week sprint. Day 5, Finance says "while you're at it, add export to Excel". Day 7, Sales says "also email capability". Day 10, Customer success says "and integrate with Slack". Original scope was password reset. It turned into a whole feature set. We shipped two weeks late.
What Happens Team burnout. Missed deadlines. Frustrated stakeholders because you said yes to everything but couldn't deliver it all. Loss of credibility.
The Lesson Scope creep isn't malicious. It's natural. People see something starting and think "while we're here, let's add that too". Your job is to be the guardian of scope. Say yes to the "why" but no to unplanned additions.
How to Prevent It
  • Define scope explicitly at project start. Document what's IN and OUT
  • When new requests come in: "That's a great idea. Let me assess impact and we'll decide if it fits in this sprint"
  • Create a "parking lot" for good ideas that don't fit now but might later
  • Protect the team's commitment. Be the blocker. They'll thank you
  • Use formal change requests if adding to scope. Make it visible, not invisible
3
Writing Vague Requirements and Expecting Developers to Know What You Mean
The Mistake

You write a user story: "As a user I want to manage my settings so I can customize my experience". Seems clear to you. Developers start coding. Mid sprint they realize they don't know which settings, how many, what default values, etc.

Real Story from a Project
User story: "Implement search functionality". Seemed straightforward. But did that mean: exact match or fuzzy search? Real time as they type or on enter? Search everything or specific fields? Include deleted records? We found out by coding the wrong thing and having to redo it.
What Happens Rework. Wasted development time. Developers get frustrated because they're blamed for "building the wrong thing" when really you didn't specify it clearly. Quality suffers.
The Lesson Your job is to be specific enough that there's only ONE way to interpret what you're asking for. If you leave gaps, the developer will fill them with their own assumptions. Good developers ask questions. Great BAs prevent the need for questions by being clear.
How to Prevent It
  • Acceptance criteria must be testable and specific. "Must work" is not testable
  • Use examples: "Acceptable input: email addresses, Unacceptable: phone numbers, special characters"
  • Specify edge cases: "If user enters invalid data, show error message [specific text]"
  • Define success: "Search returns results in < 2 seconds" not "search is fast"
  • If you can't write it clearly, you don't understand it well enough yet. Go learn more
4
Not Involving the Right Stakeholders Early
The Mistake

You gather requirements from Product and Design. Look perfect. Three weeks into development, Finance says "wait, this needs to track costs". Compliance says "this doesn't meet regulations". You have to redesign mid project.

Real Story from a Project
Built a whole user management system. Week 4, IT Security said "this doesn't have the encryption we need". Week 5, Legal said "we need audit logs to meet GDPR". I hadn't talked to either of them during planning. Massive rework needed.
What Happens Scope changes mid project. Timeline extends. Budget overruns. Stakeholders don't feel heard. You get blamed for not thinking about compliance or security upfront.
The Lesson You need to identify ALL stakeholders who care about the outcome. Not just Product. Finance, IT, Compliance, Operations, Support. Different people see different risks and requirements.
How to Prevent It
  • Before gathering requirements, ask "who else needs to be involved?"
  • Think about different domains: financial, technical, compliance, operational, customer service
  • Hold a stakeholder kickoff meeting with everyone. Get their perspective upfront
  • Document who you talked to and who you didn't. Proactively fill gaps
  • Create a RACI matrix early so everyone knows who decides what
5
Being the Decider Instead of the Guide
The Mistake

Finance wants feature A. Sales wants feature B. They're arguing. You say "okay, we're doing B because it's better". Finance feels unheard. Sales didn't get true buy in. Now when things go wrong, Finance blames you.

Real Story from a Project
Support wanted to build better reporting. Finance wanted automated billing. Product wanted new UI. I was asked to prioritize. I just made a call. Everyone who didn't get their priority questioned my decision for months. One stakeholder didn't trust me after that.
What Happens You own the decision instead of the stakeholder owning it. When it doesn't work out, they blame you. You lose influence and credibility. Worst case, you become the bottleneck for every decision.
The Lesson Your power isn't in making decisions. It's in helping people make GOOD decisions. Big difference. Get the data, present options, facilitate the conversation, but let them decide. Then they own the outcome.
How to Prevent It
  • When conflicts arise, don't decide. Ask "what data do we need to make this decision?"
  • Gather the data. Present it neutrally. Show pros and cons of each option
  • Facilitate conversation. Let stakeholders hear each other's perspective
  • If there's a business priority (revenue > operations), use that framework to decide
  • Once decided, document who decided and why. Ownership is clear
6
Skipping UAT or Not Getting Real Users to Test
The Mistake

You test it internally. Looks great. You launch. Users say "this doesn't work the way we need it". You realize you tested it wrong. Or you tested it with the wrong people (BAs and QA instead of actual users).

Real Story from a Project
Built a reporting feature. We tested it in the office and it worked perfectly. Launched to production. Turns out the workflow assumed internet that was always available, but in the field (where actual users were), internet was spotty. The feature was almost unusable. We hadn't talked to actual field users during testing.
What Happens Launch bugs. Unhappy users. Quick fixes needed. Your credibility takes a hit. Users lose trust in your team's ability to build things they actually need.
The Lesson Testing with yourself or QA is not UAT. Real UAT means real users in real scenarios doing real work. Only then do you find out what actually breaks.
How to Prevent It
  • Plan UAT early. Budget time for it. Don't squeeze it into the last week
  • Get real users. Not stakeholders. Not product managers. Actual people who'll use this
  • Have them test in conditions similar to how they'll use it (their actual environment)
  • Watch them use it. Don't help them. See where they struggle, get confused, or get stuck
  • Document issues. Separate critical (blocks work) from minor (annoying but works)
7
Not Documenting Your Decisions and Why
The Mistake

Three months later, someone asks "why did we design it this way?" and you can't remember. Turns out the original reason doesn't apply anymore. You end up redesigning something that didn't need redesigning because you didn't document the "why".

Real Story from a Project
We designed a feature to work a certain way. Made sense at the time. Six months later, a new PM wanted to change it. I couldn't explain why we designed it that way because I hadn't written it down. Spent two weeks reworking something that was fine, just because the original logic wasn't documented.
What Happens Rework that could have been avoided. Decisions get questioned because nobody understands the reasoning. Future BAs on the project have to guess why things are the way they are.
The Lesson Document the "why" as much as the "what". Future you will be grateful. Future BAs will understand context. When stakeholders ask "why", you have an answer ready.
How to Prevent It
  • In requirements doc: "We chose X because [reason]" not just "We chose X"
  • In project wiki: Keep a "Decision Log" with decisions, date, who made it, and why
  • In meetings: Capture action items, decisions, and the reasoning behind them
  • When someone asks why, write it down. Even if it seems obvious now, it won't later
8
Assuming Stakeholders Understand BA Terminology
The Mistake

You present requirements using BA terminology: "Here are the functional and non functional requirements based on the use cases I documented". Stakeholders nod but have no idea what you said. Later they're confused about what's actually happening.

Real Story from a Project
I gave a presentation on system design with lots of technical BA terms. Everyone seemed engaged. Later, in review meeting, it was clear nobody understood what I was talking about. They just didn't want to look stupid by asking questions. I had to completely re explain everything in plain English.
What Happens Poor communication. Stakeholders don't truly understand the plan. They approve things they don't fully grasp. Later confusion about scope and expectations.
The Lesson Your job is to translate complex ideas into language your stakeholders understand. Not to use fancy terminology. If a business person doesn't understand "non functional requirements", explain it in plain English.
How to Prevent It
  • Know your audience. Business people ≠ Technical people. Use language they understand
  • For business: Talk about impact, benefits, outcomes. Not technical details
  • For technical: Use proper terminology. They appreciate precision
  • Use examples and visuals instead of text. People understand pictures better than words
  • After explaining, ask "does this make sense?" and actually listen for clarity
9
Not Staying Close to the Team During Execution
The Mistake

You finish requirements and then disappear. Three weeks later you check in and find the team built something totally different than what you specified because they encountered ambiguities and made their own decisions.

Real Story from a Project
I wrote detailed requirements and handed them off to the dev team. Thought I was done. Two weeks later I checked in. They'd made 7 different assumptions about edge cases that I hadn't explicitly covered. The end result didn't match what I had intended. Should have stayed involved throughout.
What Happens Misalignment. Team builds something that doesn't match the vision. Late discovery of gaps in requirements. Rework needed because problems found too late in the cycle.
The Lesson Requirements are the start, not the finish. Your job is to be available during development to clarify, answer questions, and adjust when necessary based on what the team learns.
How to Prevent It
  • Attend daily standups if Agile. Know what's happening, what blockers exist
  • Make yourself available for quick questions. Don't wait for scheduled meetings
  • Proactively check in: "How's the implementation going? Any questions on the requirements?"
  • Test continuously. Don't wait until end to see if it matches the vision
  • Be ready to adjust requirements when you learn new things during development
10
Not Learning from Failures
The Mistake

Project goes wrong. You move on to the next one without reflecting on what went wrong. Six months later you make the same mistake again because you never learned from it.

Real Story from a Project
Project 1: Bad scope management. Scope crept, timeline missed. Moved on to Project 2. Same thing happened. Scope crept again, timeline missed again. I didn't stop to ask "why did that happen? What could I have done differently?" So I repeated the mistake.
What Happens Repeated failures. You don't grow. Your reputation suffers. People lose confidence in your ability to learn and improve.
The Lesson Every project teaches you something. Great BAs reflect on failures and adjust. It's not about being perfect. It's about getting better each time.
How to Prevent It
  • After every project, do a retrospective. Ask "what went well? What didn't? Why?"
  • Document lessons learned. Don't just think about them, write them down
  • On next project, review your lessons from the last one. See what applies
  • Be honest about your mistakes. Don't blame others. Own it. Learn from it
  • Share lessons with other BAs. Help the team improve together