Peer Review

Last Updated on Wednesday, 12 May 2010 18:52 Written by Phil Bailey Monday, 12 April 2010 20:36

The purpose of a peer review is to act as a quality check to make sure that the documentation we have produced is of sufficient standard and quality to be issued to the business.

Peer reviews are highly recommended step in every project to ensure that BA outputs are consistent in quality and content. They also act as a sense check by experienced colleagues to help identify potential errors in the requirements, which are cheaper to fix at this stage than changing the final system after the initial deployment

Peer review processes however must not be so cumbersome that by carrying them out will delay projects. It also must not be such a stringent gateway that stops the BA from discussing requirement drafts with stakeholders.

The process followed in this toolkit therefore is simple -

• Once the analysis approach has been agreed with the project manager / sponsor, you must agree with a senior BA or manager which documents will be subject to the peer review process
• Agree who will perform the peer review process
• Just before the document is to be issued for approval, request that the person(s) carrying out the review carry out the peer review

To help with the peer review process we have produced a quality checklist that can be used to help peer review each document. We have also produced a BA checklist that can be used to validate your requirements prior to requesting a peer review. This BA checklist is a prompt sheet / help guide and it is not mandatory that it is completed for every project. If however you are unsure as to what standards are expected,, it is encouraged that you complete the checklist and make any changes to your documentation prior to submission to the peer review process

The Record of the Peer Review

In each template we have provided space in the introduction section to capture the details of who has conducted a peer review on the document. This section acts as both an audit that this review has taken place and will confirm to the readers that the document has been through a quality check prior to issue. The details to be captured are:

• The name of the person that conducted the review
• The version of the document that was reviewed
• The date the review took place

There is no need to attach the checklist to the document.

Checklists