Community Blog for Business Analysts

» Do you want stakeholders to trust you?

(272 Views) (2 Comments)

Do you want to be an effective BA? The first step is to make the key stakeholders trust you. As I wrote in my previous post it is the first step in establishing yourself when you're the only BA in your organization. When I joined and sat down for my first meeting with the project team not only was I met with stares of host...

Posted by: Lee Grinberg, CBAP, PMP

» Lessons from a Spelling Bee

(561 Views) (2 Comments)

I remember as a 3rd grade student winning my school’s local Spelling Bee competition and going to compete in the county wide Spelling Bee. Part of the instructions we were given was that we could ask the judges two questions when we received our word. We could ask for the word to be used in a sentence and we could ask for the definition of the word...

Posted by: Russell Brewer

» Applying Agile principles to requirement analysis

(505 Views) (0 Comments)

Background The Agile methodology originated within the software development industry. Since its inception in 2001 – Agile has expanded beyond an initial developer-centric community – to being embraced by multi-discipline teams working across numerous industries. The antecedent of Agile within IT was the Waterfall methodology. The Waterfall framew...

Posted by: Ryan Thomas Hewitt

» Are you the first and only one?

(291 Views) (1 Comments)

Are you the first and only Business Analyst in your company? If so, you know how hard it is to survive while doing your job and bringing about organizational change. If not, you may be frantically thinking "How do I get out?!". This post is to share my experience in how to not only survive but thrive! I joined a mid-size company...

Posted by: Lee Grinberg, CBAP, PMP

» Use cases and statecharts notation design

(191 Views) (0 Comments)

Dear Fellow Business Analysts, I have created two surveys as part of my research work. The surveys elicits your opinion on some notation designs related to use cases and statecharts. Both surveys will require no more than 15 minutes of your time. Your cooperation is greatly appreciated. The links to the surveys are as follows: Use Cases s...

Posted by: Dr. Mohamed El-Attar

» Agile is an attractive word

(843 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

(2246 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.

(1037 Views) (2 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

(1399 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

(1451 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

(1290 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!

(784 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!”

(1354 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

(1932 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

(1151 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!

(1304 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

(3434 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

(1888 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

(3273 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!

(1958 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

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The Community Blog for Business Analysts

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