I’m pleased to say that my most recent blog article has been published on “Bridging-the-gap.com”, where I have contributed as a guest author. I’d love to hear what you think, so please feel free to make a comment on the site, or contact me directly. Here is an excerpt and link: Excerpt: “I’m sure at…
I’m pleased to say that my most recent blog article has been published on “Bridging-the-gap.com”, where I have contributed as a guest author. I’d love to hear what you think, so please feel free to make a comment on the site, or contact me directly. Here is an excerpt and link: Excerpt: “As Business Analysts…
Asking the right questions and framing problems carefully is an important part of project definition and organisational change. Often organisations frame problems in a way which constricts or constrains potential solutions, and this can lead to a poor outcome or the wrong tactics being employed. Spending time consciously defining a problem can pay dividends in…
As business analysts, we are able to add value to a wide variety of projects, whether they are IT projects or pure business change projects. There is an ongoing debate in our profession over where the BA function should sit – whether we should be part of the IT department, or part of a separate…
Would *you* be surprised if a pilot asked you whether it was safe to fly?
I travelled on an internal flight to Edinburgh recently and it was foggy and raining. It was a little turbulent, but I’m pleased to say that we landed safely. As a passenger, I was a very important “stakeholder” of the airline, but they did not ask me if it was a good idea to fly or not. The decision was (quite rightly) made without consulting me, and I took it on trust that those responsible had made the right decision.
Stakeholder management is an important part of any project. There will usually be many interested parties who need to be represented. An effective way of categorising these stakeholders can be to use a RACI matrix, arranging them into the following groups against each milestone or deliverable:
I’m pleased to say that my most recent blog article has been published on “Bridging-the-gap.com”, where I have contributed as a “guest author”. I’d love to hear what you think, so please feel free to make a comment on the site, or contact me directly! Here is an excerpt and link: Excerpt “One of the…
As Business Analysts, we are professional change practitioners. We are experts in the field of “change” and should expect to add maximum value to the organisations we work for. To be effective in this role I believe we must manage change in our own professional development and stay up to date with industry and BA…
As business analysts, it’s essential that we work closely with our business stakeholders. Whether we’re working on strategy, feasibility or requirements, this closeness often helps to ensure that we gain a real and detailed understanding of the problems that our stakeholders face. In some cases we might try and completely immerse ourselves in the world of the business user by co-locating with them or even by going “client side” (which might sometimes be referred to as “going native”).
Over the past few months, I’ve spoken to a number of my peers who work in different companies and different industries who have been facing a similar set of challenges. A common problem in the project world seems to be that some business stakeholders just don’t understand the role of a BA. In a worse…
I’d hazard a bet that we’ve all been there. We’ve all worked on that project, the one which seems to go round in circles with hundreds of false starts, changes of approach and seemingly endless issues to manage. After six months the team is making slow but significant process… yet team members seem completely burned out!…