Forums for the Business Analyst

 
  Modern Analyst Forums  Business and Sy...  Managing & Lead...  Exercise to show value of BA?
Previous Previous
 
Next Next
New Post 9/8/2009 1:43 AM
User is offline bernard
18 posts
9th Level Poster


Exercise to show value of BA? 

Hi all

I'm in an environment where BA's are not valued at all. There are 4 of us and about 15 PM's. The PM's do all the tasks that the BA's should do, but they don't do it right so we have to go in afterwards and clean up.

I've been asked to give a talk to the PM's on the value of BA's. Is there an exercise I can get the PM's to do that shows the value / need for proper BA's in a project?

For example, we had a talk on AGILE and SCRUM a few weeks ago and it involved throwing tennis balls to each other and estimating what we could do. There would be a 2 minute break to discuss what worked, what didn't and how to improve. We then set a new target and went again. This went on for 5 revolutions. We then related what we did back to AGILE.

I'd like it to be interactive but am at a bit of a loss on how to make it a bit 'sexy'!

 
New Post 9/8/2009 2:05 AM
User is offline Guy Beauchamp
257 posts
www.smart-ba.com
5th Level Poster




Re: Exercise to show value of BA? 

Bernard,

Here's an excerise I have done several times that gets people involved - introduce the exercise with a discussion about how the job of a BA is to explore complex situations and problems, analyse the answers and explain them back to users, change management and IT professionals so a solution that meets user requirements and it is unambiguous enough for change mangers and IT professionals to develop a physical solutions.

Now break them up in to groups of 3 or 4 people.

They have to use the following text so give them handouts of the following:

"The names, not necessarily respectively, of the brakeman, fireman, and engineer of a certain train were Smith, Jones, and Robinson. Three passengers on the train happened to have the same names and, in order to distinguish them from the railway employees, will be referred to hereafter as Mr. Smith, Mr. Jones, and Mr. Robinson. Mr. Robinson lived in Manchester; the brakeman lived halfway between Lancaster and Manchester; Mr. Jones earned exactly $20,000 per year; Smith beat the fireman at darts; the brakeman's next-door neighbour, one of the passengers, earned exactly three times as much as the brakeman; and the passenger who lived in Lancaster had the same name as the brakeman.

Each team has to provide a diagramatic and/or textural proof that the engineer must have been called Smith.

Deliverables: flipchart presentation that proves the solution is correct.

Time: 1 hour "

The exercise will require them to find a way of representing the facts that are presented in the text, and deduce new facts from those facts to the point where the inevitable conclusion is that the engineer is called Smith.

If you want to make it really fun and the group dynamics support it, then tell them that they won't be presenting their own answers back to the group but one of the other teams will. I.e. they have to present back each other's answers. This is a really good way of showing that if it is not obviously written down in a logical ordered way it will not communicate.

I have a couple of example asnwers - email me at [email protected] if you want them.

I have seen all kinds of solution to this - most groups succeed but may need helpful hints along the way. The single most common mistake is that they don't write everything down and do not indicate the sequence in which the facts must be uncovered.

Hope this helps and have fun!

Guy

 

 
New Post 9/8/2009 2:41 AM
User is offline bernard
18 posts
9th Level Poster


Re: Exercise to show value of BA? 

Thanks Guy, that's a great exercise to do.

Just got to hope the BA's do deliver something back that is more useable than the PM's!

I've emailed you regarding the examples

 
New Post 9/8/2009 8:21 AM
User is offline Chris Adams
323 posts
5th Level Poster






Re: Exercise to show value of BA? 

This is a great excercise Guy. Thanks for sharing.


Chris Adams
Core Member – ModernAnalyst.com
LinkedIn Profile
 
New Post 11/25/2009 6:01 AM
User is offline bernard
18 posts
9th Level Poster


Re: Exercise to show value of BA? 

Are there any others that are a little shorter?

Our manager has given us a slot and wants an interactive group thing, but we don't have the time required to do this task.....?

 
Previous Previous
 
Next Next
  Modern Analyst Forums  Business and Sy...  Managing & Lead...  Exercise to show value of BA?

Community Blog - Latest Posts

Fabricio Laguna talks Business Analysis and AI
I recently connected with Fabricio Laguna, aka The Brazilian BA. Fabricio is a passionate and pioneering business analyst from Brazil. During our conversation, we had a thought-provoking discussion on how artificial intelligence stands to shape the field of business analysis in the years ahead. While AI promises to transform many aspects of busines...
Business Architecture, Ontology and More with Terry Roach
It's been a privilege meeting Terry Roach, a visionary in the field of enterprise architecture and business architecture. Terry's insights into the evolution of business models, the importance of ontology in architecture, and the potential of AI to shape our future were not only thought-provoking but also a reflection of his extensive exper...
Today I had the pleasure of chatting to Jignesh Jamnadas, Chief Operations Officer at Mosaic, about his Blueprints for Success. As a Senior Finance and Operations Executive, Jigs (as he is known to many) has a holistic understanding of all facets of business and a flair for managing both people and processes. Having worked with Jigs, I was struc...

 



Upcoming Live Webinars




 

Copyright 2006-2024 by Modern Analyst Media LLC