As many of you know, I’m passionate about Business Analysis and Business Improvement, and I love speaking and presenting on these topics. I am shortly departing for a trip to the US, and whilst I’m there I am speaking at a number of IIBA chapter events. The details are shown below – if you happen to be in the area at the time, it would be great if you could come to one of the events.
I’ll be presenting on two topics : Firstly, Stakeholder Engagement and Management and how it’s possible to ensure the right people are involved at the right times during projects. Secondly I’ll be exploring the expanding BA role including how to sell the role to executive stakeholders.
I’m thoroughly looking forward to my trip. See you there?
Adrian
Adrian’s speaking itinerary – August 2011
3 August @ 17:30 – New York City
Making a difference in projects – the expanding BA role
Microsoft, 1290 Avenue of Americas, 6th Floor, New York, NY 10010-3602
4 August @ 17:30 – Iselin, New Jersey
Stakeholder Engagement: Delivering Projects in the Face of Adversity
Microsoft, 101 Wood Avenue South, Iselin, NJ
9 August 2011 @ 18:00 – Baltimore
Stakeholder Engagement: Delivering Projects in the Face of Adversity
UMBC Technology Center:1450 South Rolling Road, Baltimore, MD 21227
10 August 2011 @ 18:30 – Washington DC
Making a difference in projects – the expanding BA role
The Graduate School, 600 Maryland Avenue s.w.Washington, D.C. 20024
Topic 1: Making a difference in change projects : The expanding BA role
The Business Analyst role is changing. BAs are increasingly being recognised as professional change practitioners who can add value throughout the entire project lifecycle. However, the extent of this development varies by organisation. In some organisations, Business Analysts have much broader remits than others and there is still no single definition of “Business Analyst” or “Business Analysis”
In this presentation, Adrian Reed will outline the changes in the role he has observed in his role as a Lead Business Analyst in the UK. He will discuss the “core business analysis role”, along with the opportunities and challenges that are facing the international BA community, including:
- The changing breadth and depth of the BA role, as observed by a UK based practitioner
- The different pressures that organisations are facing, and how BAs can add value
- The need for the BA role to be understood by senior stakeholders within organisations
- Ideas for “selling” the BA role to stakeholders throughout the organisation, to encourage early BA engagement.
- Hints and tips for increasing credibility amongst senior stakeholders
In this interactive session, Adrian will outline his observations from the UK, and will invite discussion from the audience to compare and contrast with how the BA role is perceived in the US.
Topic 2: Stakeholder Engagement : Delivering projects in the face of adversity
“Projects don’t deliver change. People do”.
People are a key part of any change project. Therefore, successfully engaging and managing the right stakeholders is an essential activity on any project. In large projects, there may be a diverse and dispersed group of stakeholders, all of whom have an interest in the end deliverable. It can be difficult to know who to engage when, and the consequences of getting this wrong can be painful!
In this presentation, Adrian Reed (A UK Based Business Analyst) will discuss how to identify, categorise, engage and manage the stakeholders in a project. He will discuss:
- How to determine which stakeholders really matter on your project
- What to do if a key stakeholder isn’t taking enough interest in your project
- The best ways of analysing the needs of your stakeholders
- Tips for communication styles and building rapport
- Tips for leading and engaging a team that is spread across diverse geographic locations
- Tips for engaging and approaching executive stakeholders who you haven’t worked with before
- How to handle conflict if it all goes wrong!
This practical and memorable session will be useful to Business Analysts, Systems Analysts and anyone who has day-to-day involvements with IT or change projects.