March 25, 2025 • 13 mins
🎙️ BA Bites: 5 Steps to Tackle Chaos in a New Job or Project
You’ve just stepped into a new job or project, and it’s a complete mess—deadlines are looming, nobody seems aligned, and chaos reigns. So, where do you even start?
In this episode of BA Bites, we break down five practical steps to help you regain control, bring structure to the madness, and start making an impact fast. Whether you’re a Business Analyst, Project Manager, or just trying to survive a new role, these insights will help you navigate uncertainty with confidence.
🔹 Observe before acting – Avoid knee-jerk reactions and analyse the situation first.
🔹 Find the key players – Who really drives decisions and progress?
🔹 Define success – Get clarity on what "good" looks like.
🔹 Tame the chaos – Cut through the noise and manage communication overload.
🔹 Show quick wins – Small victories create momentum.
Tune in now to learn how to turn a chaotic situation into an opportunity to shine.
🔗 Follow, subscribe, and share with someone who’s dealing with workplace chaos!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Hi, everybody, and welcome back to the Better Business Analysis
podcast with your host, BenjaminWalsh.
And today we're stepping into a very important topic for those
of us who have either experienced this on our first
project or our 100th project. And that is what do you do when
you step into a new project or even a new job and it's absolute
(00:25):
chaos. The Better Business Analysis
Institute presence, the Better Business Analysis podcast with
Kinsman Walsh. The view went well.
Everyone seemed so nice. And then on day one, you
(00:46):
realized you weren't hired into a smooth running machine.
You've been dropped into a storm.
Deadlines are looming, requirements are unclear, and
everyone is running in differentdirections.
So where do you start? Let's break it down.
Number one. We talk about this often,
(01:06):
actually, and I need to listen to my own advice.
And step one is to breathe and observe.
So before rushing into fixing things, pause.
The biggest mistake people make in chaos is to react too
quickly. OK?
They just start doing things, which can just make things
(01:28):
worse. So I think you need to do three
things here. You need to take a step back and
observe who's doing what. What are the loudest pain
points. Listen more than you speak.
So ask open-ended questions likewhy?
To understand what's really happening.
So that might be your project manager, you say.
(01:50):
I just want to understand a bit more about that.
Look for patterns. Chaos often follows predictable
loops. So for example, if the managers
getting angry or there's too much work to do, you'll figure
that out pretty quickly and justfigure out what's repeating.
Think of it like a detective arriving at a crime scene.
(02:12):
You don't just jump in with, youknow your assumptions, you
gather the facts first. So that step one is all about
really just observing situation and not ignoring it.
That's the strength of probably someone who's more in the senior
realm. It's a senior skill, but you can
activate that skill no matter ifyou're, if your first job or
(02:35):
you're like I said, you're, you know, thousandths job, which is
just to just breathe, understandwhat's going on.
So you're not standing there looking like a dummy.
You're just listening, taking a step back.
You're looking for these patterns and that'll set you up
because then you'll say, OK, this is acceptance of what the
situation's like, and then we'llmove on to Step 2.
(02:57):
So Step 2 is about finding the key players.
In Chaos, things are still happening, so we need to look
and find out who's actually playing, you know, who's ahead
of the game. And like I said, in Chaos, power
isn't always where you expect itto be.
(03:18):
The official project sponsor might be checked out.
Happens so often. Or they're the wrong sponsor or
the wrong product owner, and you'll find that there's
probably an informal leader who's keeping everything afloat.
New, it's usually the case. It might be the architect, It
might even be the another BA. So you need to, one, identify
(03:42):
the decision makers who's reallypulling the shots.
And this is different to who should be the decision maker.
It's actually who is making the decisions.
OK. You're not there to rock the
world. You're not there to say, oh,
well, you know, you shouldn't bemaking decisions.
You don't want to be telling them, especially on your first
job. You might get comfortable after
(04:02):
six months to say that, but not on your first date.
Number one is sorry #2 is find the doers.
So who's getting things done despite the mess?
And you need to latch on to those people because they're
the, I guess, the glimmer of hope, which you need to expand
on, even if they're doing thingsmaybe that are less traditional.
(04:26):
And the other one is build clicktrust.
So a few well placed, how can I help?
Conversations can get you alliespretty fast.
And that kind of environment, you might go to that person
who's obviously still deliveringand say, how can I, how can I
add value? So it's less about going on the
BA and I'm going to do my bit. Traditionally, it's about in a
(04:50):
chaotic environment, that might not be the right answer, might
be quite frustrating for you, and we'll talk about some
options you have. But in a situation like that,
it's like, how can I help? What would be the best?
What can I do? And it could be the fact that,
you know, what you really need to do is get on to helping write
some test scripts. That's a good example.
(05:12):
So your goal here isn't to solveeverything when we find the key
players, It's to understand the dynamics so you know where to
focus your energy. It's about, you know, adding
value and not wasting your time #3 is to define what good looks
like. So in a chaotic project,
everyone has a different vision for success.
(05:32):
One's like we're, we're stuffed.1 is like we're still, we still
have to hit the, the target, which is now unachievable.
So you need to see a clear shared target within the team.
So you can ask, you can ask thatquestion, we'll talk about how
we might do that. You can ask what does success
look like? OK, to your project manager or
to this shining light. If people don't know that's,
(05:54):
that's still a red flag. If they don't know what success
looks like, they say, hey mate, we're just trying to do our job.
That is a red flag. So you need to then find the non
negotiables. Are there any deadlines must
have features or compliance factors that you must meet.
So everything's turning to custard, but you have a piece of
legislation you have to meet. That is it.
(06:14):
Everything else drops by the wayside if there's a key date
and and it's dates are really interesting things usually
connected to ego and management decisions and dates can
sometimes move. So make sure that you don't just
lock on the fact that we said, oh, we we set the go live date.
That might not be a non negotiable, but definitely
(06:35):
features and taking features outis definitely your first
suggestion if you're ABA workingin an environment like this.
And the other one is to break things into smaller ones if
total success feels impossible. So if you feel like you can't
have a deadline that a manager'simposed and it's just they're
(06:56):
just not going to move it. And you might know that it's
negotiable, but you know, for the right people or for the
board, but you have to have a deadline.
Then define achieving checkpoints.
Go. OK, well, we'll do the following
things. We probably won't have that
deadline or we'll try our best, Sir, but we'll have these
checkpoints that you that you'resigning up for, OK?
(07:19):
And #4 is to tame the fire hose of information.
So what do we mean by that? Chaotic projects come with an
overload of emails, select messages, teams, meetings and
opinions, OK? And you just can't keep up with
everything. So when in a kind of
(07:39):
environment, you usually find that that information flows is
overloaded and and you need a control of flow, you need to
one, create a central source of truth.
So what a lot of BAS do on day one, you should do this anyway
really is just create a symbol shared document.
So one that for yourself maybe, but it's also shareable where
(08:03):
you are writing down everything that is actually critical.
So scope, just some of the real traditional aspects that you
want to help you along the way. So get rid of the noise.
What's the scope? It's a project manager, just the
facts. And then you can try and help
establish communication rules. So set out why, maybe suggest
(08:26):
how and when updates happen. So just say, hey, look, there's
a lot of information here. Could we use this channel for
that? Do you mind?
That would really help. May not be your call.
So just try your best and you'reasked for a suggestion, then
then then add that in. And then what you need to do so
you don't become part of the cows is you need to block out
deep focus time. If you're drowning in meetings,
(08:48):
right, that that's not going to help you fix the cows.
So if you're one of the key cogs, which you are anyway, but
if you're one of the leavers, that can help get us out of the
space and that requires real work time, like real thinking
time to plan that out and have abit of a pathway.
So you need to block that out. Think of this, this area around
(09:10):
the taming the fire hose of information as untangling a
messy web which is chaotic and you don't control.
And what you want to do is make the communication clearer, at
least in your area of influence,and make sure that less time is
getting wasted on confusion. So you go, right, Just want to
come back to the scope, the context, what you want me to do.
(09:34):
Now, Step 5 is important. OK, so you're doing all this and
you're taking a bit of a break and you're not doing the chaos,
but you don't want to be just standing there or looking like
you're not adding value. So Step 5 is really important
and it's about making a visible impact fast.
OK, you don't have to fix everything overnight.
(09:54):
It's not necessarily your job. And when I mean it's not your
job, I mean, I don't mean you can't just muck in, but it may
be bigger than you can solve, right?
And you can't lose focus of why you're there.
But small visible wins can change the energy in a team.
It's amazing. So number one is to tackle a
quick one to solve a main kind of, it could just be a minor
(10:19):
pain point, but it's a main minor pain point.
Does that make sense that everyone feels?
So if it's simply the fact that information's been sent
everywhere and there's not a clear repository, maybe you
could say hello. I'll take the action just to
organize us and save this there.It's I'll do it in the morning,
take me half an hour every day until we get that in place and
(10:40):
then I'll sit some rules around it.
You want to show value early, sowell organised summary of
project risks or a cleaned up backlog can work wonders.
That's a really good idea. You know, say I have written
scope here, I've got it clear and assurable documents.
I've added a context diagram. I've drawn a process diagram is
always amazing. The amount of times I've seen a
(11:02):
process diagram changed the dynamics of a project is pretty
amazing. The next one is B, the calm in
the storm. So when you bring structure,
others start following suit. They start going that's working.
And then they're even their subconscious jumps on it and go,
(11:23):
well, Ben's getting someone, so maybe I should do what Ben's
doing. So momentum is everything.
Everyone step forward can changethe team's mindset from pallet
panic to progress, actually. So there are five steps in which
you can take if you walk into a chaotic job.
(11:45):
I'm going to go through those and I'm going to give you one
last bonus tip. Walking into chaos is tough, but
it's also an opportunity, OK? And I have to say that more
times than not, I've walked intochaos than I have come.
If you can bring clarity to the mess, you become invaluable.
And you know being the clean up guy could be your clean up girl,
(12:09):
could be your focus. So next time you land in a
project that feels like a dumpster fire, remember 1
Breathe and observe. Don't react, Analyse first.
Find the key players. Who really moves the needle. 3.
Define success. What's the actual goal here?
What's the scope #4 tame the information overload, control
(12:35):
the chaos and communication and information.
And five, make a visible fast impact.
OK, start small, but show progress.
If you've been in an accounting project, I'd love to hear your
tips. So contact me on LinkedIn a drop
a message or a conversation. And I'm going to give you one
(12:57):
other tip. If the chaos continues and your
mental health is impacted, if you just can't find someone out
of here and it's not what what you signed up to do, there is no
shame in walking away from the job.
OK, I know the market could be tough, but there are situations
where you it would be better after you've tried and to try
(13:18):
first and you're not making any gains at all, right?
Then talk to your friends and colleagues and peers and make a
decision. And sometimes the best answer is
just to leave the job. OK, I'll see you next week.
I hope you enjoyed this episode.
Hi, everybody, and welcome back to the Better Business Analysis
podcast with your host, BenjaminWalsh.
And today we're stepping into a very important topic for those
of us who have either experienced this on our first
project or our 100th project. And that is what do you do when
you step into a new project or even a new job and it's absolute
(00:25):
chaos. The Better Business Analysis
Institute presence, the Better Business Analysis podcast with
Kinsman Walsh. The view went well.
Everyone seemed so nice. And then on day one, you
(00:46):
realized you weren't hired into a smooth running machine.
You've been dropped into a storm.
Deadlines are looming, requirements are unclear, and
everyone is running in differentdirections.
So where do you start? Let's break it down.
Number one. We talk about this often,
(01:06):
actually, and I need to listen to my own advice.
And step one is to breathe and observe.
So before rushing into fixing things, pause.
The biggest mistake people make in chaos is to react too
quickly. OK?
They just start doing things, which can just make things
(01:28):
worse. So I think you need to do three
things here. You need to take a step back and
observe who's doing what. What are the loudest pain
points. Listen more than you speak.
So ask open-ended questions likewhy?
To understand what's really happening.
So that might be your project manager, you say.
(01:50):
I just want to understand a bit more about that.
Look for patterns. Chaos often follows predictable
loops. So for example, if the managers
getting angry or there's too much work to do, you'll figure
that out pretty quickly and justfigure out what's repeating.
Think of it like a detective arriving at a crime scene.
(02:12):
You don't just jump in with, youknow your assumptions, you
gather the facts first. So that step one is all about
really just observing situation and not ignoring it.
That's the strength of probably someone who's more in the senior
realm. It's a senior skill, but you can
activate that skill no matter ifyou're, if your first job or
(02:35):
you're like I said, you're, you know, thousandths job, which is
just to just breathe, understandwhat's going on.
So you're not standing there looking like a dummy.
You're just listening, taking a step back.
You're looking for these patterns and that'll set you up
because then you'll say, OK, this is acceptance of what the
situation's like, and then we'llmove on to Step 2.
(02:57):
So Step 2 is about finding the key players.
In Chaos, things are still happening, so we need to look
and find out who's actually playing, you know, who's ahead
of the game. And like I said, in Chaos, power
isn't always where you expect itto be.
(03:18):
The official project sponsor might be checked out.
Happens so often. Or they're the wrong sponsor or
the wrong product owner, and you'll find that there's
probably an informal leader who's keeping everything afloat.
New, it's usually the case. It might be the architect, It
might even be the another BA. So you need to, one, identify
(03:42):
the decision makers who's reallypulling the shots.
And this is different to who should be the decision maker.
It's actually who is making the decisions.
OK. You're not there to rock the
world. You're not there to say, oh,
well, you know, you shouldn't bemaking decisions.
You don't want to be telling them, especially on your first
job. You might get comfortable after
(04:02):
six months to say that, but not on your first date.
Number one is sorry #2 is find the doers.
So who's getting things done despite the mess?
And you need to latch on to those people because they're
the, I guess, the glimmer of hope, which you need to expand
on, even if they're doing thingsmaybe that are less traditional.
(04:26):
And the other one is build clicktrust.
So a few well placed, how can I help?
Conversations can get you alliespretty fast.
And that kind of environment, you might go to that person
who's obviously still deliveringand say, how can I, how can I
add value? So it's less about going on the
BA and I'm going to do my bit. Traditionally, it's about in a
(04:50):
chaotic environment, that might not be the right answer, might
be quite frustrating for you, and we'll talk about some
options you have. But in a situation like that,
it's like, how can I help? What would be the best?
What can I do? And it could be the fact that,
you know, what you really need to do is get on to helping write
some test scripts. That's a good example.
(05:12):
So your goal here isn't to solveeverything when we find the key
players, It's to understand the dynamics so you know where to
focus your energy. It's about, you know, adding
value and not wasting your time #3 is to define what good looks
like. So in a chaotic project,
everyone has a different vision for success.
(05:32):
One's like we're, we're stuffed.1 is like we're still, we still
have to hit the, the target, which is now unachievable.
So you need to see a clear shared target within the team.
So you can ask, you can ask thatquestion, we'll talk about how
we might do that. You can ask what does success
look like? OK, to your project manager or
to this shining light. If people don't know that's,
(05:54):
that's still a red flag. If they don't know what success
looks like, they say, hey mate, we're just trying to do our job.
That is a red flag. So you need to then find the non
negotiables. Are there any deadlines must
have features or compliance factors that you must meet.
So everything's turning to custard, but you have a piece of
legislation you have to meet. That is it.
(06:14):
Everything else drops by the wayside if there's a key date
and and it's dates are really interesting things usually
connected to ego and management decisions and dates can
sometimes move. So make sure that you don't just
lock on the fact that we said, oh, we we set the go live date.
That might not be a non negotiable, but definitely
(06:35):
features and taking features outis definitely your first
suggestion if you're ABA workingin an environment like this.
And the other one is to break things into smaller ones if
total success feels impossible. So if you feel like you can't
have a deadline that a manager'simposed and it's just they're
(06:56):
just not going to move it. And you might know that it's
negotiable, but you know, for the right people or for the
board, but you have to have a deadline.
Then define achieving checkpoints.
Go. OK, well, we'll do the following
things. We probably won't have that
deadline or we'll try our best, Sir, but we'll have these
checkpoints that you that you'resigning up for, OK?
(07:19):
And #4 is to tame the fire hose of information.
So what do we mean by that? Chaotic projects come with an
overload of emails, select messages, teams, meetings and
opinions, OK? And you just can't keep up with
everything. So when in a kind of
(07:39):
environment, you usually find that that information flows is
overloaded and and you need a control of flow, you need to
one, create a central source of truth.
So what a lot of BAS do on day one, you should do this anyway
really is just create a symbol shared document.
So one that for yourself maybe, but it's also shareable where
(08:03):
you are writing down everything that is actually critical.
So scope, just some of the real traditional aspects that you
want to help you along the way. So get rid of the noise.
What's the scope? It's a project manager, just the
facts. And then you can try and help
establish communication rules. So set out why, maybe suggest
(08:26):
how and when updates happen. So just say, hey, look, there's
a lot of information here. Could we use this channel for
that? Do you mind?
That would really help. May not be your call.
So just try your best and you'reasked for a suggestion, then
then then add that in. And then what you need to do so
you don't become part of the cows is you need to block out
deep focus time. If you're drowning in meetings,
(08:48):
right, that that's not going to help you fix the cows.
So if you're one of the key cogs, which you are anyway, but
if you're one of the leavers, that can help get us out of the
space and that requires real work time, like real thinking
time to plan that out and have abit of a pathway.
So you need to block that out. Think of this, this area around
(09:10):
the taming the fire hose of information as untangling a
messy web which is chaotic and you don't control.
And what you want to do is make the communication clearer, at
least in your area of influence,and make sure that less time is
getting wasted on confusion. So you go, right, Just want to
come back to the scope, the context, what you want me to do.
(09:34):
Now, Step 5 is important. OK, so you're doing all this and
you're taking a bit of a break and you're not doing the chaos,
but you don't want to be just standing there or looking like
you're not adding value. So Step 5 is really important
and it's about making a visible impact fast.
OK, you don't have to fix everything overnight.
(09:54):
It's not necessarily your job. And when I mean it's not your
job, I mean, I don't mean you can't just muck in, but it may
be bigger than you can solve, right?
And you can't lose focus of why you're there.
But small visible wins can change the energy in a team.
It's amazing. So number one is to tackle a
quick one to solve a main kind of, it could just be a minor
(10:19):
pain point, but it's a main minor pain point.
Does that make sense that everyone feels?
So if it's simply the fact that information's been sent
everywhere and there's not a clear repository, maybe you
could say hello. I'll take the action just to
organize us and save this there.It's I'll do it in the morning,
take me half an hour every day until we get that in place and
(10:40):
then I'll sit some rules around it.
You want to show value early, sowell organised summary of
project risks or a cleaned up backlog can work wonders.
That's a really good idea. You know, say I have written
scope here, I've got it clear and assurable documents.
I've added a context diagram. I've drawn a process diagram is
always amazing. The amount of times I've seen a
(11:02):
process diagram changed the dynamics of a project is pretty
amazing. The next one is B, the calm in
the storm. So when you bring structure,
others start following suit. They start going that's working.
And then they're even their subconscious jumps on it and go,
(11:23):
well, Ben's getting someone, so maybe I should do what Ben's
doing. So momentum is everything.
Everyone step forward can changethe team's mindset from pallet
panic to progress, actually. So there are five steps in which
you can take if you walk into a chaotic job.
(11:45):
I'm going to go through those and I'm going to give you one
last bonus tip. Walking into chaos is tough, but
it's also an opportunity, OK? And I have to say that more
times than not, I've walked intochaos than I have come.
If you can bring clarity to the mess, you become invaluable.
And you know being the clean up guy could be your clean up girl,
(12:09):
could be your focus. So next time you land in a
project that feels like a dumpster fire, remember 1
Breathe and observe. Don't react, Analyse first.
Find the key players. Who really moves the needle. 3.
Define success. What's the actual goal here?
What's the scope #4 tame the information overload, control
(12:35):
the chaos and communication and information.
And five, make a visible fast impact.
OK, start small, but show progress.
If you've been in an accounting project, I'd love to hear your
tips. So contact me on LinkedIn a drop
a message or a conversation. And I'm going to give you one
(12:57):
other tip. If the chaos continues and your
mental health is impacted, if you just can't find someone out
of here and it's not what what you signed up to do, there is no
shame in walking away from the job.
OK, I know the market could be tough, but there are situations
where you it would be better after you've tried and to try
(13:18):
first and you're not making any gains at all, right?
Then talk to your friends and colleagues and peers and make a
decision. And sometimes the best answer is
just to leave the job. OK, I'll see you next week.
I hope you enjoyed this episode.
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