Community Blog for Business Analysts

(707 Views) (0 Comments)

Agile is an attractive word. It means swiftness with discipline, with an emphasis on alertness to change in one’s external surroundings and quickly responding to change as needed. The word I want to focus on from above is "external". A prime example of the difference between internal (controlled) and external (un-controlled) is an operating enter...

Posted by: David Wright

» A Call to Every BA: 8 Mistakes to Avoid in Writing Requirements Specification Documents

(2035 Views) (2 Comments)

According to the Strategies for Project Recovery report by PM solutions, based on 163 respondents, $74m invested in projects annually are at risk of failure. The report identified one of the top 5 causes of project failures as unclear, non-prioritized, contradictory, ambiguous and imprecise requirements. Information like this...

Posted by: Stephanie Famuyide

» The World of Business Analysis to those fresh out of high school.

(945 Views) (1 Comments)

Im fresh out of high school and am interested in becoming a Business Analyst one day. I'd like to have information regarding what steps I need to take to become a Business Analyst. All information: What to study? (Bcom, MBA etc), Work experienced required? (in business as something close to analysis, or specific number of years etc), Becoming a Bus...

Posted by: Bladimor

» A view of Business Architecture

(1264 Views) (0 Comments)

Just to pass some time recently, I was reading a dictionary (like you do) and I came across the following definitions of architecture: The art and science of designing and superintending the erection of buildings and similar structures A style of building or structure Buildings or structures collectively The structure or desig...

Posted by: Richard Skidmore

» What Every Business Analyst Can Learn From Journalism: The Art of Intelligent Questioning

(1284 Views) (0 Comments)

"Garbage in, Garbage Out" - To elicit accurate requirements, the business analyst must learn to ask the “right” questions “the right way”. The manner in which questions are delivered and the composition of these questions have a direct impact on the usefulness of the responses we receive. If your questions are properly and thoughtfully fra...

Posted by: Stephanie Famuyide

» From Verbal to Visual: Reviving the Lost Art of Prototyping

(1163 Views) (0 Comments)

“Something is happening. We are becoming a visually mediated society. For many, understanding of the world is being accomplished, not through words, but by reading images – Paul Martin Lester, “Syntactic Theory of Visual Communication Research has shown that communication with a visual dimension is more effective than communication without. Hero...

Posted by: Stephanie Famuyide

» Follow-up to “So, you’re buying a package? Don’t forget your business requirements…” Don’t over-analyze!

(673 Views) (0 Comments)

For those of you who do define requirements for their software development projects, but are new to buying packages, a cautionary warning; they are not the same thing. Consider the following “the system shall” requirement statements. 1) The system shall determine if a person ordering pizza is a current customer. 2) The system shal...

Posted by: David Wright

» “Why do I need Requirements? I’m buying a Package!”

(1211 Views) (0 Comments)

In the wide world of information systems, development of new software receives the most attention from industry writers. Whether it is traditional magazine articles and books, or blog posts, or discussions in groups on LinkedIn and other sites, it is all about “green field” development. However, when one considers the wider view of organizations c...

Posted by: David Wright

» Feedback cycles, meet deadlines. NOT good bedfellows

(1649 Views) (0 Comments)

Its quite a feat of strength to pretend you don’t have any weaknesses. I don’t pretend to be that strong. Its quite a bit easier for me to look for faults, gaps, misses, short comings, imperfections and details that spell out why something is not right. Its a blessing and a curse. Looking at my deliverables in this light is second nature...

Posted by: theBetterBA

» Focus on Leadership and Improve Your Safety Levels

(1064 Views) (0 Comments)

In the quest to improve safety records, organizations often rely on motivational posters, classes or training programs to help teams minimize risk and improve safety performance. However, great safety records are not achieved through these efforts alone. Improving safety requires leadership – organizational leadership at the front lines that is equ...

Posted by: ronhorton

» Exploring discover to deliver!

(1211 Views) (0 Comments)

Dear Fellow BAs, Discover to Deliver was released by Ellen and Mary a few weeks ago. I got an opportunity to interview them and ask about what insipred them to write this book, and also discussed in-depth the various facets of the book. If you are into agile product planning and analysis, I highly encourage you get a copy of this and also l...

Posted by: Yaaqub Mohamed (Yamo)

» 6 Strategies for a Better PM/BA relationship

(3288 Views) (1 Comments)

Given the importance of the relationship between the Project Manager and the Business Analyst on a project team, how can an organization nurture this key relationship and, in the process, ensure better team performance? Here are six basic strategies you can employ: 1. Train and cross training PMs and BAs on methodology and r...

Posted by: ccecere

» The Need for a Recipe

(1747 Views) (1 Comments)

Everyone knows what use cases are and their use in the software requirements process. We all know there are many ways to write them: logical, physical, to describe a manual procedure or an automated procedure. The purpose of State Diagrams is well-known to everyone in the field. They help us define the transitional lifecycle of an object moving and...

Posted by: Dahlia Biazid

» The Social BA - 5 Reasons to get Active Online

(3129 Views) (3 Comments)

Business analysts who are self-avowed social media enthusiasts will tell you that being part of a large, online community where help is only a click away is worth the time and effort. In fact, these professionals suggest that the only problem with a bit of scanning, reading, clicking, or posting on LinkedIn and Twitter every day is finding the time...

Posted by: ccecere

» The job ain't finished until the paperwork is done!

(1858 Views) (0 Comments)

I started my career as the administrator in a project management department. The first fact drilled into my head was that “the job ain’t finished until the paperwork is done’. To emphasize this fact, this rule was printed and put up on the wall with a picture of a toilet paper roll. It worked. I know you can see the picture ...

Posted by: hildasteyn

» X-Gap: Using Strategic Planning to Close the Project Execution "Gap"

(1917 Views) (1 Comments)

Teams and organizations are constantly plagued by project execution errors and failures. These failures create an execution gap -- a gap between what an individual and/or team plans to do and what they actually do instead. Just as retention rapidly degrades after learning, so does project execution after strategic planning. So what can be done? In...

Posted by: James D. Murphy

» How Far Do You Take Your Business Process Models?

(2601 Views) (0 Comments)

Business Process Modeling (BPM) is one of the cornerstone techniques in electing requirements from our stakeholders. Business Analyst will use the model to gain an understanding of the current system and paint a picture of the solution. In the IT field, we often describe this as modeling the “As-IS” process and modeling the “To-Be” process. We deve...

Posted by: International Institute for Learning, Inc.

» Collaborative Leadership: A Process for Success in a Turbulent World

(1662 Views) (1 Comments)

Do you know how to provide collaborative leadership in a disciplined fashion? And how does one define disciplined collaboration? The current business and leadership literature touts the importance of collaborating in our turbulent world. Large and small businesses and teams struggle to wrap their heads around just what collaboration is. Many see co...

Posted by: James D. Murphy

» Simplicity and Elegance: Expressing Your Core Competencies

(1956 Views) (0 Comments)

Do you know what your business's core competencies are? Is there just one or are there many organizational attributes? If you answered that there are many, how would you describe them succinctly? Core competencies are one or a combination of a few unique or rare abilities; however, a description of core competencies is not simply a laundry list of ...

Posted by: James D. Murphy

» ISO 25010

(2494 Views) (1 Comments)

ISO 25010, "Systems and software engineering - System and software quality models" was published in March 2011. The ISO 25010 standard defines 2 broad non-functional categories of requirements, "Quality in use" and "Product quality", articulated in 13 characteristics, many of which are further subdivided into sub-characteristics. This new ...

Posted by: Adriano Comai

Previous Page | Next Page

Join the Premier Community for
Business Analysts, Business Process Professionals,
Systems Analysts, Data Analysts, and more…

The Community Blog for Business Analysts

Join the Premier Community for Business Analysts, Business Process Professionals, Systems Analysts, Data Analysts, and more…

The Community Blog for Business Analysts

Join the Premier Community for
Business Analysts, Business Process Professionals,
Systems Analysts, Data Analysts, and more…