Facilitating Requirements for Business Analysis

  • Course Length:
    3 days
  • PDUs:
    Earn 21 IIBA CDUs and PMI PDUs
  • Public Pricing:
    $1995
  • Onsite Pricing:
    We offer discount pricing for onsite groups. Please contact us to discuss your specific course requirements, group size, and available training dates.

The art of bringing people together, face-to-face or remotely, to elicit requirements and gain consensus on solutions is a critical success factor for all business analysis professionals. This course teaches facilitation techniques that can be used for structured sessions and “facilitation-on-the-fly.” This course goes beyond traditional facilitation training by focusing on facilitation techniques specific to gathering business and functional requirements.

This class is limited to 8 students, allowing each student the opportunity to practice facilitating multiple requirements sessions in a “safe” environment with personalized feedback. Students will spend 60% of class time participating in interactive, real-world business case studies and performing each key role in at least one session.

The workshops in this course require students to plan the requirements workshop, develop the correct questions to ask the group, and facilitate the group to a consensus on the requirements using one of the learned techniques. Students will conduct a requirements workshop for at least one requirement deliverable (i.e., context level dataflow diagram, workflow diagram). This course supports and expands on the techniques in the IIBA BABOK® Guide V2.0.

In this course students will learn to:

  • Facilitate using proven techniques for eliciting detailed business, functional and non-functional requirements.
  • Identify when and how to use each technique.
  • Develop confidence and a skill set to conduct requirements workshops.
  • Actively practice learned skills and techniques.
  • Use a requirements planning session template.
  • Prepare the participants for the requirements session.
  • Perform each facilitation role through role playing each session.
  • Conduct the session to stay focused on the core requirement that was planned as a deliverable.
  • Select which facilitation technique to use for each core requirement being gathered.
  • Complete checklists for managing and conducting the session.
  • Facilitate a requirements workshop.

 

BA Certification Advanced ClassThis class is a part of the B2T Training Business Analyst Certification Program. For more information on the program, please see our Certification page.

Intended Audience

This course is designed for experienced, knowledgeable business analysts involved with requirements elicitation and analysis. Students are expected to understand the purpose of business and functional requirements.

Prerequisites

We recommend that students first attend our Essential Skills for Business Analysis class or have experience in project scope definition, eliciting requirements from subject matter experts, and understanding how business requirements fit into the entire systems development effort.

Introduction to Facilitating Requirements for Business Analysis

  • Learn guidelines for requirements facilitators.
  • Set session rules and manage the session.
  • Learn reactive techniques to use during the session:
    • Encourage participation.
    • Manage group focus.
    • Manage group conflict.
    • Consider remote facilitation techniques.

1 hour

Student Workshop

  • Conduct a mini-requirements workshop.
  • Practice techniques used for requirements workshops.

1.5 hours

Session Feasibility

  • Determine when requirements workshops are appropriate:
    • Determine need/requirements deliverable desired.
    • Determine commitment level.
    • Determine risks.
  • Practice determining session need using real-world scenarios.
  • Review the core requirements components and discuss how they are best gathered.
  • Learn when not to use requirements workshops.

1 hour

Planning and Preparing for a Facilitated Session

  • Plan the session:
    • Determine the number session(s) needed and the length of the session(s).
    • Document the purpose of the session.
    • Identify potential participants.
    • Define session requirements deliverables.
    • Document the plan using session planning templates.
  • Prepare for a session:
    • Outline the goals and requirements deliverables.
    • Select session participants and determine if pre-session interviews are appropriate.
  • Learn facilitation techniques:
    • Brainstorming
    • Consensus building
    • Flowcharting
    • Force field analysis
    • Hip pocket techniques
    • Nominal group
    • Root cause analysis
    • Storyboarding
    • Facilitating across distance
  • Develop focused questions to gather requirements:
    • Direct
    • Open-ended
    • Clarifying
    • Leading
    • Re-focusing
  • Create a detailed agenda for the facilitation team.
  • Learn group-oriented facilitation techniques.
  • Create a formal agenda for the session participant.
  • Orient the facilitation team.
  • Prepare the facilities.

4 hours

Student Workshop

  • Each student will practice elicitation techniques in a requirements workshop.
  • Personal feedback will be provided to drive skill development.

3.5 hours

Conducting the Session

  • Learn the stages of group development/productivity.
  • Facilitate decision making – work toward consensus.
  • Conducting the session:
    • Introducing the session.
    • Managing the session.
    • Creating a follow-up action plan.
  • Review/approve requirements deliverables.

1 hour

Student Workshop

  • Plan and conduct a requirements workshop.
  • Use one or more of the learned facilitation techniques.
  • Produce the requirements deliverable using one of the facilitation techniques.
  • Personal feedback will be provided to drive skill development.

8 hours

Session Follow-Up

  • Produce the final requirements document.
  • Share session feedback.
  • Determine the next steps to finalize the requirements.

1 hour

Facilitating Requirements for Business Analysis
Course Length: 3 days
$1995

Nov 12 – Nov 14, 2013

Chicago - Oakbrook, ILRegister