Executives develop strategies and overall goals for success.  These strategies and goals get realized through implementing projects.  Business Analysts have the critical role and responsibility to ensure the solution implemented via the project meets the company’s goals.  Are you feeling it? 

Besides having a good grasp of the techniques available to you as a BA there are two strategies of your own you should employ to make a positive impact.

1)      Lift your head out of the details and look where you are going.  Every now and then make sure your project is still aligned with the company goal(s) it is supporting.  If it is not, raise a flag to make the PM, your manager, and the business sponsor(s) aware.  You and your team should make adjustments to get the project re-aligned or push to have it canceled.  Stopping a project that no longer supports a company goal is a success, not a failure.

2)      Use the support network around you.  In the fast paced environment we work in there is not enough time for you to come up with solutions to the challenges you will encounter on your own. You do not have to do this alone.  At your company you are surrounded by an endless number of subject matter experts, other BAs, project managers, and a wealth of technical knowledge.  That is just the beginning. Look outside of your company and join and participate in local professional organizations like the IIBA.  There is no need to stop there.  Why stay local, when you can go global?  There are so many online communities where you can connect, interact, and learn from like minded people around the world.  Communities like BA Times, Modern Analyst, and a number of LinkedIn groups are great place to get answers to the business analysis questions you need answered.  Think about how valuable you are to a company by not only bringing your knowledge and expertise, but also bringing expertise from around the world.

Being a part of the future success of your company is wonderful.  Even though there is a lot of pessimism with the current economy it is an exciting time to be a business analyst.

To our success,

Kupe

Let me give you just a few of the reasons that I LOVE status reporting!

 1. BAs get the opportunity to “toot their own horn”. We all do hundreds of little tasks every week, in addition to our big projects but often only the big things are noticed. A status report is an opportunity for you to let your manager know about the other important, yet small tasks you are doing. For example, when one of your past business stakeholders calls to ask your advice and you spend a half of an hour doing some research for them you are improving your organzation’s business. Let everyone know!

2. Status reports are a great record/history of work done and time needed. I don’t know about you but I don’t remember everything that I did last year. When I want to go back to review the time needed to perform a certain task, or remind myself of what type of projects I was involved I always have a great, detailed record available. This is very useful at performance review time and when its time to recertify for your IIBA CBAP and PMP. Status reports are also a great resource if you have to update your resume.

3. Reviewing your list of assigned projects each week forces you to stay focused on your priorities. Your status report should include due dates so that you can measure your progress on large tasks. Describing the work that you did during the previous week also helps you to plan for the next week. The report reminds you to do things that had gotten pushed aside during a critical time.

4. Best of all, making notes about the work that you have accomplished gives you a good feeling. We sometimes get too focused on all of the things that we haven’t finished and forget about all of the work we completed. Pat yourself on the back at the end of the week and write a status report for yourself!

My take is that templates are helpful to the extent that they provide consistency but become problematic when BA’s can’t see outside their parameters. For example, if I need to do a Context Dataflow Diagram to scope my project and there isn’t a place in the template to put it – does that mean I shouldn’t do it? I would argue, no – we need to use whatever analysis techniques help us think outside the box and apply critical thinking skills to our projects.

I recommend thinking of the template as a guideline but don’t be limited by it. Use the techniques and format that is going to help you communicate more effectively with your stakeholders and elicit all the core requirement components (data, process, business rules, external agents).

Thanks, Barb

Day 3 - Tuesday October 28, 2008 

Ronald Ross gave a keynote "From Here to Agility" today.  He began by reminding the audience that BPM (Business Process Management) continues to be very important when businesses want to re-engineer processes for more efficiency and value, but that it is really decisioning that gives each business their competitive edge. When he discussed decisioning he is really talking about a superset of business rules – those rules that are really strategic and rules that need to change often.

This comment seemed to be echoed by many presentations during the day. Most of the presenters when discussing business rules were referring how companies make decisions, the process they use to decide, the criteria used and how fast they can make decisions really gives the company the most edge. Processes are more static. As we teach about essential processes (what are the essential activities that need to be performed irrespective of how these activities will be enabled by any technology): the essential steps of a process will not change – how we implement them will change. He takes that even further to say that even processes that are implemented do not change that often except for the decisions we make during those processes. Those decisions are much more dynamic and change frequently as the landscape changes based on the economy, competitors, new customers, and the types of products and services sold. What he and many in the conference echoed is that anything that changes often like decisions need to be pulled out of the process into a rule. Every body knows in large businesses that it often takes IT several months to incorporate changes into a system. With today's rules-based engines (RBEs) a business person or any qualified product specialist like the business analyst can author, test, and implement a decision in a few days instead of months. This allows companies to be more agile.

My takeaway was that analysts need to consider with each requirement they capture if the content will change often over time. If it may, then it probably needs to be pulled out into a rule repository, segregated from the process model or even the data model and later put into a Rules engine (if it will be automated) where it can be managed and changed much faster.

Developing a CoE is not easy.  Bob and Angela do a wonderful job of explaining the reasons for developing a CoE, the various levels of a CoE, and real world examples to help you get started on your journey.   Enjoy the presentation and leave comments here on your thoughts of the presentation as well as your CoE experiences.

The fours secrets are

1. Be good to your end user
2. Go beyond the walls of IT and learn the business
3. Understand the organization's structure and goals
4. Build trust with your boss

Don't you agree those are all qualities excellent BAs possess?   This quote from the article sums it up for me. '"People outside of IT won't necessarily understand tech speak, so you need to present information in a manner so they understand technology and what it provides to the company," says John Murphy, CIO of Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Biloxi, Miss. Murphy's ability to do so has helped him in the executive suite with other C-level colleagues. "I've been able to translate technical information to them in the manner they can understand and assimilate and in a way that shows the benefits to the big picture," he says. '

I have been saying for awhile that the next generation of CIOs will be coming from the BA ranks.  So keep it up and be a star in your organization.  Soar all the way up to the C-level!!!

In a normal working day we talk and interact often with our stakeholders, our teammates, our colleagues and our management. Our behavior allows those who work with us to view us in a particular way. On a daily basis you get to choose whether you will be perceived as someone who gets things done or as someone who gives reasons why things are not accomplished as committed.

I work with people every day that I consider to be “heroes”. I don’t mean like police or firemen that rescue people out of burning buildings but I do mean the type of people that make our jobs fun and exciting. My work heroes are positive individuals. They take what comes, especially challenges, and they create something so much better than we could imagine.  A work hero is someone who can muster enthusiasm and encouragement even when their colleagues are being negative, bemoaning the fact that they are working a difficult assignment. You know those projects from “hell” that everyone loves to brag about. There will probably always be victims in the world ready to point fingers and blame others for failures that occur. My heroes do not let themselves off the hook when there is a tough project and they work their magic by bringing people together to solve a problem in a very creative, unexpected way. Their secret ingredients are persistence, enthusiasm, generosity and hard work.  I am very fortunate that I do not work with any victims. My colleagues inspire me with their encouraging, optimistic attitudes.  

Unfortunate things do happen, but one way to tackle issues is to take pause and regroup to resolve problems or to replan work that is not going the way it should. Think, “What can I do to create a winning situation?” Often problems begin with poor communication. Keeping heated emotions out of work discussions is prudent and working cohesively through difficult times, rather than pointing fingers at our team mates work unexpected miracles.

When you look around I am sure you can see heroes and victims in your work environment.  Learn from the heroes and try to influence any victims you know to look introspectively if problems keep happening. It is not always easy to be positive but it is always a good idea to check our attitudes so that we are getting the best out of ourselves and others who we influence on a daily basis. I would love to hear comments about how heroes and victims affect your work places.  

I look forward to hearing from you!!!