Greetings TshegoP,

1: I think its important to understand the "Business"; afterall, we are called Business Analysts.

Having worked as a "trainer/instructor" many years ago in the Education and Training department of a large multinational, I recently asked a senior HR director about education and training needs, which was part of getting a high-level business view. The initial interview was very short, because the HR director corrected my misperceptions of his "business". I was told to focus on "Learning and Development" , which is more employee-centric rather than the dated Education and Training view, which is more company-centric. Once I got the context right that the employee wants to learn and develop skills and therefore the sytems need to enable this objective, I started asking meaningful questions.

My point: Understand the business!

2: Its important to say, "I do not understand, could you explain that again" or words that that effect. Rather than continue with the Who, what, where and how, its sometimes prudent to say (sometimes even a few times) "I dont get it". In response to my "I dont get it", my HR Director (above) gave me a few Harvard Business review articles and a book on Learning and Develoment to read. I spent a few nights and a weekend on devouring the material and started to ask relevant questions.

My point: Research your subject domain - and if you serious about being a BA, put in the effort

3: Its good to get an overview of the domain first. To this end, I'd arrange my first stakeholder interview for no more that 15 minutes. I have found that the shorter initial interview gives the stakeholder a chance to distill the issues to a few key points. During this time I ask mostly what and why questions; the how questions come later.

My Point: Get the key issues

Lastly, validate your understanding with some ruff hand-drawn diagrams, either at the interview or shortly thereafter. DO NOT spend hours making beautifull drawings, which could be wrong. Having worked on the business side and dealing with BAs, there is nothing more frustrating then having to get someone to acknowledge that their beautifull-coloured-aligned-boxes-and-arrows-with-a-frame-around-it-on-A3-paper-diagram IS WRONG. So, while you gather information, make some free-hand drawing in front of the stakeholder, and ask "is this right?". if not, throw the page away and start again, or ask the user to amend the drawing. You'd be suprised how smart stakeholders are.

My point: Expect that you are going to make some mistakes and get the stakeholder to review/revise them early in the piece before the first big formal review.

I hope this helps!

warm regards,

K