Working as BA in a startup & not sure if I'm growing
Hi all, this might be a long one but I'd really appreciate it if anyone has time to read and give me any insights.
I started as an entry level BA 2 years ago at a startup (with 2 software projects) with 3 Devs and a contractor PM. The founder/PO had these projects developed with a consulting firm as internal tools for his other companies so the products are quite mature for a startup. A couple of years ago, he brought the projects in house and retained the PM on a few hours/week basis.
When I came on, I discovered the development happened without documented requirements (i.e. no BRDs, FRDs, user stories, process maps). That seemed to have become the culture of this startup. Because the PM is almost non-existent, I find myself wearing multiple hats (testing, data analysis reporting, CMS, CRM) including responsibilities of a PM/Scrum Master. As a result, I have had to abandon a lot of my actual BA tasks and got through with just basic user stories and acceptance criteria to keep up with the Dev cycle and pumping out tickets. As a result, the Dev team doesn't get the thorough requirements that they need, leading to scope creep and unclear requirements. Now I feel like I'm failing as a BA and actually not progressing as the typical BAs. I'm worried about my not being able to showcase any skills as a BA even if I want to get a job elsewhere.
I don't know if this is normal and I'm just being whiny and it's actually a performance issue from my end. I would love to hear from anyone who has been in this position and I want to ask how you navigate the situations. Thank you in advance 🙏