Managing & Leading Analysis Teams

GUIDELINES - How to use this forum!

ModernAnalyst.com — 2007-06-26T02:17:43Z

Use this forum to post questions, issues, and information on topics related to managing and leading business analysts or systems analysts including but not limited to: Project Execution Leadership Skills Principles Management Skills Principles Motivation Recruiting and Retention etc.

Anyone who has worked on a PCI DSS project

eve 01 — 2017-11-20T17:28:35Z

Hi Guys please has any one doe a PCI DSS compliance project for a bank,could you please give me a run down on the steps you took to perform your role as a BA, from the initiation phase to the implementation phase, and if you could share and document that can help.would gladly appreciate.

BAs and PMs in the same team, or separate?

HannahBBA — 2021-09-23T11:28:56Z

In my organisation, the BAs and PMs all sit within the Project Management Office. As we work closely together on projects, this has historically worked well for us. However, I know that in many organisations, the BA and PM teams are separate - just wondered if anyone has any comments on this as an alternative approach? The good and bad!

What comes after BRD ?

lulu 01 — 2017-11-09T11:31:26Z

Hello every one

I hope I can find answer for my question

Recently, I was assigned to perform a BRD for a huge application ( Bank Application with all its details ) , now I am about to finish my tasks , but my manager wants me to put a plan for the coming 6 months ?

what should i do after BRD ? we have another team for testing and evaluating

and what methods that will be more effective and helpful ? please i need your advises

Many thanks in advance

Note: my major is SA but Its the first time for me to work as System Analyst

Which tools do you use for stock inventory in a startup?

Gena Sanford — 2020-10-28T05:22:44Z

What are you guys using for your startup?

Managing BA team - resource planning approaches and tools

Dimitar — 2017-05-08T19:01:22Z

Hi, I've recently become a lead of a BA team of about 10 BAs. I'm using Excel to track tasks and produce report to the management, but it's not that easy. Here are the problems, I'm trying to solve: 1. BAs are also technical project coordinators, meaning that tney are responsible for all technical questions in the development and testing phases. This means that they could be doing the anlysis of project X and suddenly an issue with project Y (in development) takes the whole day or even more. This means no planning of resources and risks for keeping deadlines. 2. Because of the issue in 1., I can't predict when a BA can start analysis of a new project. 3. I can't really make the work of the team recognizable and visualize what we're doing - it looks quite chaotic - to the team.members and the other units. What I'm doing with Excel is to set planned analysis start/end dates and on weekly basis update them. In addition, I'm setting BA occupation for the week (20% = 1 week day), in order to know the possible involvement per project of each BA. I'd be grateful.to get some ideas on how to improve the team planning and make the load more predictive and presentable - any suggested approach, even Excel spreadsheet would be more than welcome. Regards, Dimitar

Analysis head responsibilities!

Hadeel — 2008-10-22T08:20:02Z

Hi, What would an analysis head's responsibilities be? Im working on establishing an analysis unit that already has five analysts. Regards, Hadeel

BA role while an external consultant is hired

Amanda Adam — 2019-06-30T23:29:47Z

Hi I work as a business analyst within the PMO team of a university. This year we have a huge implementation project of HR systems and the uni decided to hire an external consultant to write the Business Case and requirement because of the high budget; they wanted an experienced HR consultant to produce these artifacts as part of the risk management plan for inaccuracy. I am still assigned as the formal BA of this project and we need to set roles responsibilities. What would my role be in this case and how should I manage this situation? the consultant will be running workshops with the stakeholders to solicit requirements.

Software Product Delivery Plan for an Agile project

Jayman21 — 2016-09-07T00:06:53Z

Hello All,
I will like to find out if you have any experiences to share around developing a software product delivery plan in an Agile environment? It will be great if you also have templates or samples to share to capture some inspiration / ideas.
Thanks
Jay

Should the BA help or do the testing strategy?

qwertyjjj — 2013-01-07T14:01:39Z

We have a number of projects where we utilise developers and QA. In a number of cases, QA (offshore) doesn't always fully understand the software so I feel it might be necessary for a BA to supplu them with test cases, scenarios, etc. But how can they do the QA properly if they don;t understand the changes? How can they do the regression testing without understanding the entire data chain?

Create value through high performance analytics team

DishaDesai — 2015-04-30T11:13:21Z

Analytics has gained due importance over time. As companies make huge investments in analytics as well as create in-house analytics team; there is an outright desire to ensure that the investment doesn’t go in vain. Hence, all effort to made to hire the best people, those who possess analytics knowhow as well as provide training to perfect analytics professionals. Below is the ideal process that firms should adopt to create a high performance analytics team:

Recruit: Never compromise while recruiting. Choose nothing but the best. If this step is taken carefully, the rest will fall in place. Judge the person on the basis of important skills: Structured thinking, Business understanding and problem solving, Attention to details, ability to triangulate numbers do back-of-the-envelope calculations are important and so are Communication skills. Judge the candidates via multiple rounds of role-play as well as interactions.

Train: Once you have successfully cleared the first step, it is equally essential to provide the requisite training and resources.

Foster Analytical thinking: Analytical thinking requires professionals to adapt to the situation and different scenarios. This will emerge when people are provided the culture that accentuates it. Let the business analysts’ work closely with the business team and give them the opportunity to handle bigger roles whenever possible to ensure feedback on a regular basis. Brainstorming and knowledge sharing sessions are critical to gather creative ideas and further evolve structured thinking among all.

Manage Performance: Once you have your team in place and a culture that fosters analytical thinking, ensure that they handle the challenging problems with utmost sincerity. For this, acquaint them with the objectives and the problems that are keeping you from achieving the desired results. Once they have accomplished the tasks, provide them with the feedback based on performance. Do not overload them with excessive projects and ensure you monitor whatever has been assigned with utmost dexterity.

These best practices will your firm build a high performing analytics team that delivers results.

Techniques and Methods for Managing Project Portfolio

Jayman21 — 2017-05-20T16:59:36Z
Hello All,
I have just to moved into a new department to work along side a project portfolio team. As the resource its my responsibility to review and advise on how projects are received, assessed and evaluated, allocated delivery teams to deliver and managed at portfolio level. Though this is the role of the portfolio manager, I have been called in as an interim to cover.
Can I ask for your comments and advise?
1. Techniques and methods that can be used?
2. Are there spreadsheets template one can use? 3. How to evaluate cost and benefit and to prioritise projects to know which should be delivered first or last.
4. Whats recognised certifications cover portfolio management?
5. What are the most common problems and issues involved?
Thank you
Jay

What are KPIs, business drivers, objectives, and business goals?

Seth — 2017-06-17T14:42:42Z
How do they play with one another?

Interview Questions for Manager of Business Analysis

Kathy — 2017-05-24T19:47:37Z
If you were hiring for the position of Manager of Business Analysis, what interview questions would you ask?

Business Analyst Team KPIs

Maladictus — 2017-06-14T12:44:45Z
Hi folks! I've just taken over leading a team of BAs for a software company and my manager has tasked me with developing some KPIs to monitor quality and productivity. Productivity isn't too hard, I'm going to sort something out based on whether specs are being delivered inline with the plan but quality is giving me some headaches. Does anyone else work in an environment where this is done and if so, what do you measure?s My initial thoughts are to look at the number of bugs being raised by the QA teams that can be attributed to the spec being incorrect/inaccurate as well as introducing 4 Eyes checks of specs before they go out and recording the number of changes made through that process. Can anyone suggest anything else that has worked for them?

Should I accept the job offer at Wipro?

Seth — 2017-06-14T22:20:43Z
Hello everyone, I was just offered a Business Analyst position from Wipro Technologies. The job requires 1-3 years of experience and I have that expereince in the form of academeics, plus a web development background (I have a good grasp on html, css, sass, javascript, angularjs, php, mysql, git, github, sketch, and a few other developer/designer technoglies). I was curious what other peoples experience with Wipro may be -- I have looked up Glassdoor reviews, yet I would also like to obtain qualitative feedback via a forum such as this one. Thank you, Seth W

Re: Exercise to show value of BA?

SandraH155 — 2017-07-10T13:42:52Z
I guess it's important to receive BA, especially when it's connected with economics. So, maybe, later you could get MBA.

Merging Business & Sytems Analysis Team

Paul — 2016-08-15T07:15:40Z
Hi, I am the manager of an IT Systems Analysis team and we are being merged with a Business Analysis function, has anyone been through this before? Any ideas how to merge the disciplines going forward? I am thinking the idea is that this is a resource pool to minimise the need to double up on projects, has anyone gone through this before and if so what lessons would you share. Any advice opinion is welcome. Thanks Paul

Managing a Software Delivery Team as a Product Manager

Jayman21 — 2016-09-07T00:12:52Z
Hello All, Are you a product manager or worked alongside a product manager? Can you share what your experience has been leading a software delivery team (who are not fully agile in their delivery). The Does and Don't based on experience? Thanks Jay

BA Tools and Software

Marcelo Neves — 2010-01-29T14:54:52Z
Hi guys! I am conducting a survey and I would like your help. 1 - Wich tasks does a business analyst leader (or manager) perform on a daily basis to manage a business analysts team? 2 - Wich tools (spreadsheets, forms, tables) or software does a business analyst leader (or manager) use to manage a business analysts team? Thank you for your help. Marcelo Neves Rio de Janeiro Chapter of IIBA

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