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» FEATURED: Using the Brainstorming Technique in Business Analysis

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Using the Brainstorming Technique in Business Analysis

Multiple stages of a project can benefit from brainstorming, from identifying your stakeholders, to eliciting requirements, to enterprise analysis. In UML for the IT Business Analyst, Howard Podeswa describes brainstorming as useful “during the Initiation phase and whenever the project is ‘stuck’”.

» FEATURED: Technical Writing Guidelines for Documenting Business Requirements

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Technical Writing Guidelines for Documenting Business Requirements

The purpose of this article is to assist business analysts in writing business requirements. This article provides six guidelines on technical writing. The six I cite here are the major ones I consider when writing a business requirements document (BRD).There are, of course,other technical writing guidelines; for comprehensive texts, see Further Re...

» FEATURED: The Twelve Shades of the Business Analyst (BA) Facilitator

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The Twelve Shades of the Business Analyst (BA) Facilitator

This article reviews the complexity of the role of the business analyst (BA) facilitator in obtaining a stakeholder agreement (i.e., a consensus or a compromise) on solution features and/or user requirements. The BA facilitator achieves this agreement by maintaining a neutral posture in guiding the stakeholders though a dialogue in a series of meet...

» FEATURED: Requirements Reviews - When You Want Another Opinion, Part 2

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Requirements Reviews - When You Want Another Opinion, Part 2

Many BAs wait until their requirements specification is complete before they present it to some reviewers. Busy developers, testers, project managers, and users have difficulty finding the time to scrutinize a large document on short notice. It’s far more effective to review an evolving document incrementally. Give reviewers just a few pages at a t...

» FEATURED: The Courage to Scribe Part 2

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It takes courage to scribe well. In many organizations we encounter pushback related to scribing. We hear lots of reasons why not to scribe. Remarks like those below can discourage us unless we have the courage to educate project and resource managers on why scribes are needed and influence them to assign this important role.

» FEATURED: Requirements Reviews - When You Want Another Opinion - Part 1

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Requirements Reviews - When You Want Another Opinion - Part 1

In my view, the most powerful quality practice available to the software industry today is inspection of requirements documentation. A peer review is an activity in which someone other than the author of a work product examines that product to find defects and improvement opportunities.

» FEATURED: The Courage to Scribe Part 1

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If I had to choose—not that I want to make such a choice—but if I had to choose, I’d take a scribe over a facilitator. I can almost hear a chorus of “You gotta be kidding!” No, I’m quite serious. How many meetings and workshops have we all attended where there was a weak facilitator or none at all?

» FEATURED: The 21st Century BA: Fostering Team Creativity- the Business Analyst’s Sweet Spot

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The 21st Century BA: Fostering Team Creativity- the Business Analyst’s Sweet Spot

If a business analyst is to step up to the task of becoming a credible project team leader, she must have an understanding of how teams work and the dynamics of team development. Team leaders cultivate specialized skills that are used to build and maintain high-performing teams and spur creativity and innovation. Traditional managers and technical ...

» The Language of Systems

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The language of systems is no different; No, it is not C++, Java, COBOL, etc., but rather simple English (or whatever your native language happens to be). In the past I have gone into length about the differences between Systems and Software, the two are simply not synonymous. Whereas systems include business processes implemented by human beings, ...

» FEATURED: Barking With the Big Dogs - Part IV: High Impact Interaction

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Barking With the Big Dogs - Part IV: High Impact Interaction

As trusted advisors, business analysts must never forget the value of collaborating with stakeholders at all levels of an organization. The world of Agile has demonstrated this very point and is doing so with great positive impact and effect on the bottom line of many projects. When initiatives and projects are not collaborative, there is always a ...

» FEATURED: An Overview of Root Cause Analysis

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Quite simply, root cause analysis is a technique designed to unearth the real, often unknown reason why a business problem is happening, and then to propose a viable solution to fix it. BABOK explains that root cause analysis “can help identify the underlying cause of failures or difficulties in accomplishing business analysis work”[1] [emphasis ad]...

» FEATURED: 10 Ways to Hone Your Communication Skills as a Business Analyst

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10 Ways to Hone Your Communication Skills as a Business Analyst

One of the soft skills that BABOK [1] specifies is communication, and for good reason—understanding and being properly understood is key to any profession, but especially business analysis, where details are king and unearthing them is meticulous work. And an analyst has multiple avenues of communication that affect her work.

» FEATURED: Barking With the Big Dogs - Part III: Influence and Manipulation

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Barking With the Big Dogs - Part III: Influence and Manipulation

Of the four articles in the series, this particular article is the most sensitive. If not practiced with caution, trying to influence someone or a situation could have a devastating impact. Therefore, this article comes with a disclaimer: “Stupid is as stupid does.”

» FEATURED: Sharing knowledge in geographically distributed teams

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Sharing knowledge in geographically distributed teams

Teams that are geographically distributed and primarily work virtually face many challenges. One of them is sharing knowledge. I am part of an organization which has a team in Denmark responsible for development of the platform we support, while a team in India is responsible for the maintenance.

» FEATURED: Barking With the Big Dogs - Part II: Trusted Advisor

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Barking With the Big Dogs - Part II: Trusted Advisor

Now that you’re prepared to work with executives, I’m sorry to inform you that the tough stuff is about to begin. While preparation and understanding are crucial elements, and speaking executive language further deepens our conversations, the real meat on the dog bone is taking the next step and beginning to develop your relationship and establishi...

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Business Analyst Articles: Business Analysis & Systems Analysis

Entries for the 'Soft Skills' Category

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

Business Analyst Articles: Business Analysis & Systems Analysis

Entries for the 'Soft Skills' Category

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