The Community Blog for Business Analysts

Sign-offs are a sign that stakeholders agree with and approve the requirements that have been elicited and documented. There are multiple reasons why BAs seek stakeholder sign-offs and in some cases, it is not always clear whom it benefits. While some methodologies like Agile do not involve a formal sign-off, requirements sign-off does add va...

The word “Agile”, there was a time when this word referred to the ability to move quickly, easily in a more tangible sense, and associated perfectly with synonyms like ‘nimble’, ‘acrobatic’, ‘light footed’, and it goes on and on. Now in the context of software development the word Agile seemed to have gained new depths. Very much like the word “T...

A few years ago, I had shifted with bag and baggage to the US. I thought that the upcoming project would consume me for at least a couple of years. Alas, that was not the case. I returned home in five months. Well, I don't even want to begin to think about the financial and emotional set back that my family and I had to endure! Why did this happen...

I arrived at the coffee shop for a discussion with my financial planner. Well, I intended to still evaluate him, so he was technically not yet “my” financial planner.  He was “a” financial planner. After the initial pleasantries, he began with a monologue on financial prudence and various product categories that I ...

“So, what do you do?”  It’s quite probably the question I most dread being asked. It’s a fairly benign question but as a Business Analyst I feel compelled to assess and understand what I am really being asked before attempting to provide an appropriately pitched response to my inquisitor. I find myself scrambling for the right words whilst my ...

 I keep seeing in BA skill descriptions or in specific articles that ‘negotiation skills’ are a necessity for Business Analysts. I just don’t see it myself. Negotiation is a difficult activity for many people, and I see this trend as an attempt to offload negotiation to other people… like Business Analysts. Why do I feel this way? As an activ...

“Who is the project manger?” “Who is the developer?” “What is a business analyst?” I received a business card at an Agile event one time, and I wish I could find the card or remember the gentleman’s name to give proper credit, but he listed his title as Agile Evangelist. If the role of business analyst is new to your company, and sometimes even if ...

Many large organizations have adopted a gated approach to reduce new product development (NPD) risk. One of the key features of such an approach is a set of “go/no-go” decision gates which, in principle, ensures that each project remains aligned with its original strategic intent and its value remains high enough to justify its continuation to the ...

Developing requirements is a process with many moving parts. It involves aligning multiple stakeholders from different areas within an organization to determine what must be developed to fulfill a business need.  Because it is a process, there are a number of factors that can cause the process to break down and lead to the development of fault...

Don’t you love clichés? I am sure your immediate thought when you read the title of this post was “Yet another blog telling me I need to listen more”. You’re probably right about half of it, you probably do need to listen more. We all need to listen more. But this thought doesn’t deal with the art of listening; ...