Leadership & Management

While others are moving forward introducing new banking products, the Americans find themselves in the role of constantly fighting fires. You cannot move forward until you put your house in order by bringing standard practices and discipline into your work effort. This is what happens when you treat system design as an art form, as opposed to a science.

The Top 10 Trends in Business Analysis for 2016 examines the evolving ways in which BA practitioners can help organizations realize better business value and the shifts needed within the BA discipline to achieve it. The 2016 trends highlight BAs evolution from “order taker and liaison” between stakeholders to an increased focus on being an “agent of change”, and communicating and collaborating about much more than requirements.

In addition to the fundamental duties and responsibilities of an employee, it is not uncommon for workers to misunderstand their various project assignments. Consequently time and money is lost as employees try to delineate their responsibilities, including their relationship with co-workers.

Have you ever wondered why the behavior of your client or your teammate change depending on whether he is acting individually or within his/her group (e.g. team, department, etc.)? Have you ever noticed how people tend to do what others around them are doing, that is how group dynamics shapes individual choices and judgments noticeably or subtly?

In my view BABOK (Business Analysis Body of Knowledge) v3.0, by introducing the BACCM framework, has provided the world of BAs the equivalent or extension of the famous triple constraints (scope, time and cost) that once revolutionized the project management world. BACCM, in fact, encapsulates the triple constraints and goes beyond by empowering the BA in their daily task to ask fundamental yet powerful questions at every stage of business analysis work.

I have come to realize the practitioners in this industry suffer from acute myopia regarding their work. Programmers tend to believe their part of the puzzle is the most important, as do business process analysts, data base analysts, network analysts, project managers, enterprise analysts, etc.

As far as the individual change is concerned, what we need to know and do –as business analysts- is “How to design the proper tactics and interventions that institutionalize the change (e.g. new ERP system, redesigned business processes, new organizational structure, new policies, etc.”) at an individual level”.

In the corporate world, when we join a company, we are normally presented with several documents from the Human Resources department which we are asked to sign. As a newcomer, you would be wise not to rush through this process and review each document carefully. If you have questions, ask. You do not want to be surprised if a problem arises during your employment or afterwards as an ex-employee

As Business Analysts, we are usually dubbed as “Change Agents”. The challenge, though, is that most of us find this role very bewildering and, even, distressing.

People are dealing with really serious things in their personal life and though we would love for those we lead to leave their personal life at the door when they enter work, it's not always that easy. As I've been leading over the last few years I have found that these 5 tips have helped me to lead through the world we live in today.

Business analysts of the not-too-distant future must and will become visionaries, innovators, strategists, and transformational leaders, executing strategy through project results. Successful business analysts will learn how to embrace organizational values, empower their teams to thrive, bring customers into the change process, and drive innovation through global partnerships.

Based on our projected trends, 2015 looks to be a year of significant change, and business analysts are on the front line of change. Several major industries, and the many organizations within them, are in the process of transition so it should be no surprise that the importance of the business analyst only increases as markets shift and organizations are forced to deal with the accelerating pace and volatility of business.

...why blame the success or failure of the project primarily on requirements? If the business analyst is not in charge of the monitoring and controlling of the project, why pass the blame on. If a decision to apply one form of methodology over the other does not rest with the BA, is it not valid to review the stewardship and question the effectiveness of the stewardship?

The World Cup fever is in full swing, presenting an opportunity for all of us to reflect on some real-life lessons the world of football (soccer) offers to BAs interested in getting better at their craft.

I’ve come to the conclusion that most projects produce better results when they have specialized people playing the various roles, rather than trying to be resourceful and wear multiple hats.