This is one of the most frequently asked questions I have encountered ever since I have started training business analysts. Before exploring ‘how’, one should ask ‘why do I want to become a business analyst?’ Is it just because every talented individual want to do it, or you want better opportunity, or for better salary. In my opinion, if you have...

“So, what do you do?”  It’s quite probably the question I most dread being asked. It’s a fairly benign question but as a Business Analyst I feel compelled to assess and understand what I am really being asked before attempting to provide an appropriately pitched response to my inquisitor. I find myself scrambling for the right words whilst my ...

Would you like to be perceived as effective? Want to succeed? Make sure you follow up.   As a BA you are involved in several initiatives at different stages of development.  What separates an average professional from an exceptional one is following up on tasks assigned to others on your projects. I'm too busy,...

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...

  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...

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...

You can’t work in IT and not have watched “Office Space.” I mean, it’s a prerequisite, isn’t it? It’s like being a developer and never having heard “Code Monkey.” It’s the type of movie where you sit and nod as you laugh, recognizing it is funny because it is true. My favorite dialogue in the film is between Bob Slydell (one of the Bobs tasked w...

Are we looking at it all wrong? Do you ever get the feeling that you are seeing something very different than the other guy? I don’t just mean the glass half full/empty outlook on life, but fundamentally are we looking at things the wrong way? I sometimes get that feeling when dealing with projects that involve processes, and all my projects are...

We look for the best and brightest when hiring for Requirements Analysts and Product Managers. It’s a long and difficult process with many people applying; only a fraction get through the first interview and even less are able to hang in the process as it continues. This has brought great strain to our company: as we expand we simply aren’t able to...

Being a relatively new Requirements Analyst/ Business Analyst ( BA) and being new to the industry, I have been blessed with the opportunity to have mentors. Receiving direction from more experienced BA’s has definitely helped me find areas that I can improve on, while at the same time, finding my strengths and improving those too. Yet there stil...