Business Analysts and Project Managers Working in Harmony

Published February 24, 2010 Business Analysis 1 Comment

Some time ago I wrote about what a business analyst actually does in which I compare the role of the business analyst to that of a navigator.

In his post for the Bridging the Gap blog Steve Blais takes a much more in depth look at the complex relationship between the project manager, the pilot, and the business analyst, the navigator, and how when they work well together their shared goals and different views of a project can lead to outstanding results for an organisation.

I really like the way Steve compares the different views of a BA and PM to that of the Roman God Janus and the strong argument he makes for a close working relationship between the two roles.

I encourage you to read the article, “The Janus Relationship as a model for how business analysts and project managers can work together” in full and then maybe take your PM for a beer this evening and maybe get some insight into her world.  Enjoy.

I hope you found this article useful.  If you’re interested in seeing more articles related to the role of a Business Analyst, then why not subscribe via the RSS feed.

Dealing with Poor Requirements

Published February 22, 2010 02 - Analysis Phase , 04 - Testing Phase , Business Analysis , Project Lifecycle , Techniques Leave a Comment
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Of all the challenges faced by a business analyst, Poor Requirements, Changing Requirements, Scope Creep, Changing Deliverables, Changing Expectations, I believe that poor requirements are probably the most severe issue that can be faced by a project. Continue reading ‘Dealing with Poor Requirements’

5 Key Skills to look for in a Business Analyst by Patrick Bowe

Published January 25, 2010 BA Skills , Business Analysis , Techniques 5 Comments
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“Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves, or we know where we can find information on it” – Samuel Johnson

Happy 2010! It’s my first post of 2010 and I’d like to use it to address the question of what it takes to be a Business Analyst and what skills should you expect a BA to exhibit?

This is a question that I imagine vexes employers, particularly those, that understand what a BA does and now want to employ one of the best. The question is also relevant for those looking to pursue a career as a BA.

Below I’ve compiled a list of the 5 key skills that I look for in a Business Analyst, I’m sure the list is not exhaustive and that you can add to the list, in fact, feel free to leave your suggestions below. Continue reading ’5 Key Skills to look for in a Business Analyst by Patrick Bowe’

Creating a Change Request by Patrick Bowe

Published November 26, 2009 01 - Initiation Phase , 02 - Analysis Phase , 03 - Development Phase , 04 - Testing Phase , 05 - Implementation Phase , BA Skills , BA Tools , Business Analysis 3 Comments
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“It is not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory”~ W. Edwards Deming

I’ve discussed in a previous post how it’s the role of the business analyst to seek out and embrace change. However change is often chaotic, expensive and unless you happen to be the stakeholder sponsoring the change, it’s usually about as popular as a tester at a developer’s convention.

As enthusiastic proponents of change, our challenge as Business Analysts is to sell the need for change to sceptical stakeholders and budget holders alike and also to point out when a change is neither desirable nor in the best interests of a project.

Enter then, the humble Change Request, a BA’s most trusted tool in the change process. A tool that allows the Business analyst to detail what the specific business problem is that caused the need for a change, what can be done to resolve the business problem and what impact those changes will have on a business or project. Continue reading ‘Creating a Change Request by Patrick Bowe’

Embracing the Change Request by Patrick Bowe

Published October 31, 2009 02 - Analysis Phase , Business Analysis , Project Lifecycle 1 Comment
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Change Requests are the inevitable consequence of trying to document requirements and to fulfill the needs of others. Minimising the number of change requests on any given project is an admirable goal, but eradicating them all together is never going to happen and is probably going to be detrimental to your project. Continue reading ‘Embracing the Change Request by Patrick Bowe’

5 Ways to Improve your Requirements by Patrick Bowe

Published October 22, 2009 02 - Analysis Phase , BA Skills Leave a Comment
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“Deficient requirements are the single biggest cause of software project failure.”

(Hofmann and Lehner, 2001)

We’ve probably all been on a project where the requirements have been deficient or where the business has articulated a solution instead of a need. As an example, a requirement that I’ve often heard articulated on projects in the past has been; “The solution must be delivered via the Intranet”. This appears to the business to be a very clear requirement and, if left unchecked, it’s what the development team will eventually deliver.

However, is it what the business actually needs? Why did they request a web site? Did they want to avoid the need to install software on client machines or was it to reduce the processing that has to be done on the end user’s laptops. If so the project will either fail or become much more expensive if all the computers in an organisation need to have the flash player installed for the Intranet site to run or if all the processing is done on the client machine to reduce the stress on the web server.

Projects with requirements that are clearly deficient, such as the one above, are doomed to failure as Hofmann and Lehner stated, so it’s important that the person gathering the requirements, the Business Analyst, ensures that they are accurate and clearly articulate a business need. The following five tips cover areas where requirements usually fail and offer advice on how you might improve your requirements:

1. Improve the Clarity of your Requirements

Defining requirements is a tricky business. In my experience the business owner will either not read them or go through them word by word looking for ambiguous requirements, hoping that they will give them a get-out clause or room to negotiate change at a later stage of the project. Continue reading ’5 Ways to Improve your Requirements by Patrick Bowe’

What does a Business Analyst do? – by Patrick Bowe

Published October 8, 2009 Business Analysis , Project Lifecycle 5 Comments
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Something that I’ve actually been asked while pitching for work is “What does a Business Analyst actually do?”. While I won the work in that instance, I was never happy with the answer that I gave at the time. I managed to babble something out about how a BA was the bridge between IT and the business and while this is true, it hardly demonstrates what I could do to impact the bottom line of a project.

Since then I’ve relayed this story many times, only to discover that it wasn’t just my erstwhile interviewer that was unsure of what a Business Analyst actually does. Very often it’s not until a BA has delivered on a piece of work that the business that they are working for appreciates exactly what it was that the BA did for them, even then I suspect they would find it difficult to define exactly what it was that the BA did. Continue reading ‘What does a Business Analyst do? – by Patrick Bowe’

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