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Entries for the 'Soft Skills' Category

» FEATURED: Ambiguity, Uncertainty or Both?

(1997 Views) (8 Comments)

We have always been fascinated by the exceptional business analysts who can create order out of total chaos. The ones who can ask those great questions, who can figure out what’s important and what’s less so, who can synthesize lots of information, put it all into their magic hat and come out with requirements that make sense to all the stakeholder...

» FEATURED: How to Effectively Engage Requirement Contributors to Achieve Project Success

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How to Effectively Engage Requirement Contributors to Achieve Project Success

Your new system just went live and the project, that replaced a critical legacy system, is coming to a close. Business analysts gathered requirements and worked closely with users and developers, but did you capture all of the requirements?

» History Repeats Itself, But It Doesn’t Have To!

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History Repeats Itself, But It Doesn’t Have To!

Why does it take an 'act of congress' for some organizations to realize that what they are doing is not working? I have been in many industries(media, manufacturing, financial and the judicial system) and no matter what industry I've been in I’ve seen some of the same themes.

» FEATURED: The Real Brains Behind Better Facilitation

(3494 Views) (11 Comments)

The Real Brains Behind Better Facilitation

Facilitation is one of the most critical soft skills of the business analyst, as well as one of the most difficult to master. Working with various stakeholders requires tremendous preparation, insight and finesse in addition to an understanding of key principles of the facilitation process.

» FEATURED: 5 Top Mistakes Management Makes With BA Performance Measurement Programs (And How to Avoid Them)

(3811 Views) (7 Comments)

5 Top Mistakes Management Makes With BA Performance Measurement Programs (And How to Avoid Them)

When used properly, a performance measurement program can help BAs and their managers identify specific improvement priorities, clarify responsibilities, and drive the desired behaviors required to achieve business goals. However, in practice it's rare to see managers taking advantage of the benefits a good performance measurement system can offer....

» FEATURED: The Influencing Formula for Business Analysts

(2791 Views) (2 Comments)

The Influencing Formula for Business Analysts

I often get asked, “How can I get stakeholders to attend my meetings?” or “How can I get stakeholders’ buy-in on the project?” These are complex questions and the easy answer is that you can’t. As BAs and PMs we can’t get anyone to do anything, but we can certainly influence them so that they want to.

» The Mentalist Guide to Requirements Gathering

(2365 Views) (7 Comments)

The Mentalist Guide to Requirements Gathering

The reason I bring this up is that there has always been a fascination with trying to guess what is going on the minds of the people in front of you. This is particularly apt when you are trying to understand what the in-duh-vidual in front of you really wants.

» “Why?” versus “Why Not?”

(1986 Views) (1 Comments)

One day I found that my husband posted an interesting status on Facebook and it made me think of how these two simple questions can produce different results based on the situations. My husband’s quote is as follows: "We can ask the question "Why?" or think of how to make it happen and say "Why not?"

» FEATURED: Why Skilled Business Analysts Will Not Go Away in an Agile World

(5692 Views) (7 Comments)

Why Skilled Business Analysts Will Not Go Away in an Agile World

As agile methods become widespread in organizations, it’s not surprising to see the idea of the business analyst as a dispensable role taking root among IT project teams. After all, in agile approaches, tasks typically performed by a business analyst, such as requirements elicitation, analysis and documentation, are replaced by a conversation betwe...

» The Doctor/Patient Analogy for Problem Definition

(2313 Views) (1 Comments)

The Doctor/Patient Analogy for Problem Definition

Over the years I have noticed that we, as Americans, seem to possess a knack for attacking the wrong problems which I refer to as the “Rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic” phenomenon. I see this not only in the corporate world, but in our private lives as well. Instead of addressing the correct problems, we tend to attack symptoms.

» FEATURED: Lessons from the King’s Speech - How to Influence without Authority

(4913 Views) (2 Comments)

Lessons from the King’s Speech - How to Influence without Authority

I recently saw the "The King's Speech," a movie about the relationship between the stammering King George VI of England and his speech therapist... how is this commoner able to help the monarch and become his life-long friend? He is a master at influencing with absolutely no authority. There are some lessons here for those of us business anal...

» Crossing the BPM Chasm

(2054 Views) (0 Comments)

More and more organizations are taking advantage of business process management (BPM) solutions. And yet, it is often the case that, after an initial success or two, the growth of BPM within a company stalls.

» FEATURED: Knowledge Management in the Real World

(3197 Views) (2 Comments)

We can probably all agree that Knowledge Management is generally A Good Thing and that we should do more of it. But what does “doing Knowledge Management” actually involve, and how as BAs can we ensure we effectively reuse our knowledge?

» FEATURED: The Decision Model: Lessons from the Human Brain

(2382 Views) (0 Comments)

The Decision Model: Lessons from the Human Brain

This month’s column explores the biological basis of human decision-making based on Lehrer’s book. However, it also suggests that lessons from the human brain can sharpen our decision models2 and enhance the process by which we create and manage them.

» FEATURED: The Importance of Business Process Ownership

(5369 Views) (1 Comments)

The Importance of Business Process Ownership

The ownership of business processes is often a bone of contention – with various parties feeling that they should be considered the owner of certain processes and not of other processes. Inability to agree on ownership can lead to turf-wars when there are perceived overlaps, as well as impactful inaction when no clear owner has been identified. Th...

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Business Analyst Articles: Business Analysis & Systems Analysis

Entries for the 'Soft Skills' Category

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

Business Analyst Articles: Business Analysis & Systems Analysis

Entries for the 'Soft Skills' Category

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