Successul Business Analysts: Analysts: How They Avoid the Five Most Common BA Mistakes Dana Brownlee, PMP Proessionalism Matters, Inc.
1-800-843-8733 www.learningtree.ca
©2008 Learning Tree Tree International. All Rights Reserved.
LEARNING TREE INTERNATIONAL
White Paper
C O N T E N T S
Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Introduction
Mistake #1 – Not Clariying the Role o the Business Analyst Analyst.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Over the past several years, the job title o Business Analyst has become more and more prevalent. Currently, the International Institute o Business Analysis (IIBA) denes business analysis as “the set o tasks, knowledge, and techniques required to identiy business needs and determine solutions to business problems. Solutions oten include a systems development component, but may also consist o process improvement or organizational change.” 1 Thus, business analysts are oten the liaisons between business and solution development (otentimes IT), can vassing the enterprise to understand business needs, issues and opportunities in order to recommend solutions that address those needs most eectively and eciently.
Avoiding Mistake #1. #1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Mistake #2 – Rushing Through Through Detailed Requirements Development Development.. . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Avoiding Mistake #2. #2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Mistake #3 – Failing to Balance Task and Relationships . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Avoiding Mistake #3. #3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Mistake #4 – Conusing Users’ Stated Needs with Real Needs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Avoiding Mistake #4. #4. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Mistake #5 – Not Qu Quantiying Be Beneits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
In this intermediary role, the business analyst must be able to communicate and relate equally eectively with senior management and users, business and IT communities and various unctional areas throughout the organization while recognizing that each group has dierent priorities and issues. As a result, the business analyst’s job is not an easy one. However, those who have been most successul in this role have learned to avoid the ollowing ve particularly common and dangerous pitalls.
Avoiding Mistake #5. #5. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Conclusion. Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Reerences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Abou Aboutt Lear Learni ning ng Tree ree Inte Intern rnat atio iona nall . . . . . . . . 5 About the Author . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1-800-843-8733
•
Mistake #1 – Not Clariying the Role o the Business Analyst Most o us are conditioned to think that we’re supposed to “know our job.” As a result, when business analysts (BAs) are given a new project, they oten rush to begin working on “it”. That sounds logical enough, but it’s amazing how oten clients are disappointed, BAs are reprimanded or eorts ail because “it” was never clearly dened rom the beginning. More specically, it’s absolutely essential that the BA dene the scope o their role. Although the general title “Business Analyst” has been used or decades, it has only recently been established as a well-dened and widely recognized discipline, hence, the emergence o the IIBA. Even so, the role o the BA can still vary drastically rom company to company, manager to manager and project to project. For these reasons, the BA needs to clariy boundaries by distingui shing their responsibilities responsibilities rom that o the project manager, product manager, systems analyst and others who might play a leadership role in the eort. Indeed, many BAs—having been too tentative or apprehensive to clariy their role prior to task initiation—have ultimately paid the price w ith dissatised clients, rustrated teams and poor results.
www.learningtree.ca
©2008 Learning Tree Tree International. All Rights Reserved.
Successful Business Analysts: How They Avoid the Five Most Common BA Mistakes
1
1-800-843-8733
•
www.learningtree.ca
Avoiding Mistake #1 As early as possible, BAs must clearly dene their role role and responsibilities by working with their sponsor and asking the ollowing key questions: • What is my role in this eort? • Whatismylevelofresponsibility?
LEARNING TREE INTERNATIONAL
White Paper
Implementing a change management process Unortunately it’s quite common that, beore the ink is dry on the requirements document, changes will be requested. During requirements planning, the BA should decide: when the document will be baselined 2 , how changes will be handled, who will authorize the changes, what the decision criteria will be and so orth.
• Whatotherresourceswillbeavailabletome?
Mistake #3 – Failing to Balance Task and Relationships
• Whatwillbethereportingrelationships?
BusinessAnalystsareoftenchargedwithxingtheillsof the organization and as such need need to be very struct ured, methodical, methodica l, and task-ocused. Many BAs become so ocused on the task that they orget about the critical relationship component. As an intermediary among various unctional organizations with competing interests and priorities, priorit ies, the business analyst’s analyst ’s success success is largely contingent on their ability to build and sustai n strong, amiable relationships throughout the enterprise. Too oten BAs hit the “inormation ceiling. ceili ng.”” In other words, they no longer receive the inormation i normation they need because they don’t don’t have the trust or respect o critical cr itical stakeholders who best understand the organization’ organi zation’ss problems, opportunities and processes.
• Whatisthe“endgoalinmind”? • Whatspecicdeliverablesareexpected? • WhatotherrelatedtasksshouldIbeawareof (other than those I will be managing as BA)? • Whatarethetimingexpectations? • Whatproject-relatedrisksareknownatthispoint?
Solving these problems as they arise on a case-by-case basis does not move us orward. This is one o the key issues that can be addressed by SOA and Web services in particular.
Mistake #2 – Rushing Through Detailed Requirements Development A key task or many BAs is documenting business, user and/ or system level requirements. Requirements documentation can be a signicant undertaking, and otentimes BAs simply begin by scheduling interviews, negating the importance o documenting a requirements requ irements development development plan. Many Ma ny BAs also make the mistake mi stake o developing a change management management process only ater the document is completed.
Avoiding Avoiding Mistake #2 Particularly or signicant requirements documentation eorts, the successul BA takes time t ime to develop a clear plan that(1)works that(1)workswithinthecontextofthe withinthecontextoftheoverallprojectplan, overallprojectplan, and (2) includes the ollowing ollowing activities: activ ities:
Developing templates Develop specic, well-organized interview guides g uides and templates to capture stakeholder eedback. eedback. Conducting stakeholder analysis Consider all potential potential stakeholders beore beore beginning requirements gathering. All sta stakehold keholders ers are not equal, equal , so take some time to analyze/prioritize anal yze/prioritize them based on relevant criteria (e.g., infuence level within the organization, organi zation, amount o impact the solution will have on them, availabil ity or interviews, interv iews, etc.). etc.).
©2008 Learning Tree Tree International. All Rights Reserved.
Avoiding Avoiding Mistake #3 The most successul business analysts constantly nurture their relationship-building skills. As much business analysis work is done in a team environment, eective business analysts consciously incorporate relationship building build ing activ ities into regula r interactions. Requirements gathering can be particularly challenging without an environment o trust, camaraderie and respect. Wise BAs know that they can garner more inormation rom a casual lunch with a riendly colleague than acilitating a three-hour interview with colleagues who who are earul, distrustu l, or anxious.Recently,anassociateofminerecalledanexperi ence where his team had reached an impasse. In response, the BA took them out bowling, which immediately helped “breaktheice.”Thisisagreatexampleofhowafew hoursofrelaxationawayfromthetaskcanstrengthen relationships,expandthinkingandsoothenerves.Indeed, strong relationships assist in confict resolution, team productivity and stakeholder management. Consider these tips when managing a business analysis task: • Incorporateperiodicsociala Incorporateperiodicsocialactivitiesearlyinthe ctivitiesearlyintheprocess process or internal core team members. Also, don’t orget remote teams—consider teams—consider using the Intranet a s a way o including them. • Taketimetolearnsomethingnon Taketimetolearnsomethingnon-work -workrelatedabou relatedabout t critical stakeholders.
Successful Business Analysts: How They Avoid the Five Most Common BA Mistakes
2
1-800-843-8733
•
www.learningtree.ca
• Conductcertainsessionsoutsidetheofce (when appropriate). • Providestakeholderswithasmuchinformationas possible (avoid being mysterious). • Beconsiderateofstakeho Beconsiderateofstakeholders’concerns. lders’concerns. • Behonestwithstakeholders—tellthetruth! Behonestwithstakeholders—tellthetruth!
Mistake #4 – Conusing Users’ Stated Needs with Real Needs Many business analysts spend signicant amounts o time gathering users’ requirements through interviews, surveys, ocus groups, etc. Although users are a great source o inormation about their needs, the busi ness analyst must recog nize that the stated needs aren’t always the real needs. This disconnect usually occurs or the ollowing reasons: • Usersdon’treallyknowwhattheyneedsothey ask or what they think they need. • Usersaskformorethantheyreallyneed (anticipating (anticipating potential downstream bargaining). • Usersfocusonthesolutiontheywantinsteadof articulati ng their true needs.
Avoiding Mistake #4 An ecient business ana lyst is a keen investigator. Just as a doctor must gather inormation, ana lyze it, then provide a diagnosis, the business analyst must perorm similar analysis(oftenintandemwithsubjectmatterexperts). When talking to users, BAs must clearly distinguish between a requirement 3 and a solution. That can be achieved with targeted questions: • Focustheuserontheneed(whatthey’retryingto x),notnecessarilythesolution(howitwillbexed). • Beginwithbroadquestions.Don’tnarrowtooquicklyor key elements may be overlooked.
LEARNING TREE INTERNATIONAL
White Paper
Mistake #5 – Not Quantiying Benefts “Show me the money” is not just a amous line rom a movie but also a common rerain i n the busines community. As business analysts are oten i n the position o selling their recommendations, recommendations, it is important to highlight benets and costs o potential projects. Successul business analysts recognize the importance o quantiying those benets as much as possible. While it ’s important to recognize qual itative benets like increased employee morale, enhanced customer satisaction and increased brand equity, they’re not nearly as important to decision makers as quantitative benets. benets. This makes it critica l or the business analyst to translate benets into dollars and cents.
Avoiding Mistake #5 Successul business analysts recognize the importance o generating a business case that clearly outlines the anticipated benets and costs o the recommended course o action. While many o the benets may appear qualitative, thesecanalsobepresentedinawaythatapproximates the quantitative aspect as well. This requires the business analyst to position benets that relate relate to time, cost and qualit y in a manner that provides a concrete perspective ontheimpacttothebusiness.Forexample: Instead o saying… Increased customer satisaction Quantiy the beneft by saying… Customer complaints reduced by 30% Instead o saying… Increased employee morale Quantiy the beneft by saying… Employee turnover reduced by 25% Instead o saying… Increased eciency Quantiy the beneft by saying… Average production cycle time reduced by 20%
• Askbothopenandclosedquestions Askbothopenandclosedquestions(i.e. (i.e.,long ,long-answer -answer and short-answer). • Considerthe“why,what,where,who,howandwhen.” • Asktheintervieweeifthere’sanythingyoushouldhave asked but didn’t.
©2008 Learning Tree Tree International. All Rights Reserved.
Successful Business Analysts: How They Avoid the Five Most Common BA Mistakes
3
1-800-843-8733
•
www.learningtree.ca
LEARNING TREE INTERNATIONAL
White Paper
Conclusion The business analyst plays a critical role in representing the best interests o o the organization and justiy ing nancial investments. As the BA navigates the sometimes complicated business landscape, they should actively avoid each o the ve pitalls discussed. di scussed. The best practices outlined in this White W hite Paper not not only encourage success on a specic project but, more importantly, help the business analyst develop skills that provide a oundation or long-term success.
Reerences 1. Guide to the IIBA Body of Knowledge: Draft Material for Review and Feedback. Release 1.6. International Institute o Business Analysis, 2006. p.8 Available at www.theiiba.org 2. The requirements document is baselined at the point when it’s approved by all relevant approvers and thus considered nal. At this point the design phase o work begins and any subsequent requirements changes should go through the change control process. 610.12-1990 1990 3. IEEE Standard Glossary of Software Engineering Terminology, IEEE Std. 610.12A “requirement” is defned as: “A “A capability needed by a user to solve a problem or ach ieve an objective.”
©2008 Learning Tree Tree International. All Rights Reserved.
Successful Business Analysts: How They Avoid the Five Most Common BA Mistakes
4
1-800-843-8733
•
www.learningtree.ca
LEARNING TREE INTERNATIONAL
White Paper
About Learning Tree International
About the Author
Learning Tree Tree International is a leading global provider o truly eective training to management, business and inormation technology proessionals. Since 1974, over 13,000 public and private organizations organiza tions have trusted Lea rning Tree Tree to enhance the proessional skills o more than 1.8 million employees. The Company develops, markets and delivers a broad, proprietary library o instructor-led courses ocused on project management; leadership and key business skills; web development; operating systems; programming languages; databases; computer networks; IT/IS security; and objectoriented technology. Courses are presented at Learning Tree Tree Education Centers throughout the world and delivered onsite at client acilities.
Dana Brownlee Founder Professionalism Matters, Inc.
[email protected] Dana Brownlee ounded Proessionalism Matters, Inc. to provide results-oriented proessional development training and consulting services to both the public and private sectors. Ms. Brownlee has consulted or Fortune 500 companies representing various industries, including media/entertainment, telecommunications, nonprot, sports, e-business retail and automotive. She currently provides proessional proessional development training to businesses, organizations and educational institutions.
For more inormation, call 1-800-843-8733, or visit our website at www.learningtree.ca.
Atlanta
Los Angeles
Reston, VA
Chicago
Rockville, MD
New York City
Toronto
London
Paris
Ottawa
Stockholm
Tokyo
©2008 Learning Tree Tree International. All Rights Reserved. WP BA CN0806 Final
Successful Business Analysts: How They Avoid the Five Most Common BA Mistakes
5
