Leading & Running a

BA Practice

David Baskerville Richard Patrick

Leading & Running a BA Practice

A walkthrough of our old BA structure and the

challenges it created

How the creation of a BA practice helped us to

overcome these challenges

Success stories and ideas to takeaway

An opportunity to share your own experiences and

ideas

Rich to complete…..

What Is The Role of a BA & What Tasks Should They Undertake?

Main focus is on Business Requirements

Business Requirements & Designs

Business Requirements, Designs & Testing…..

Absolutely anything and everything the Project Manager wants us to do!

The next few slides will show why it felt that way for us…

Across different teams / companies, there are often conflicting views on what a BA is responsible for………

What Was Life Like Before The BA Practice ?…

Life Before The BA Practice… Structure

• Head of Business Analysts

• Lead Business Analysts

• Senior Business Analysts

• Junior Business Analysts

Grade Director Vice President Assistant Vice President BA4

During the presentation we will refer to 4 main roles with the BA practice…..

ProgrammeManager

ProjectManager

ProjectManager

ProjectManager

Lead BA

Senior BA

Junior BA

Senior BA

Senior BA

Senior BA

ProgrammeManager

ProjectManager

ProjectManager

Lead BA

Senior BA

Senior BA

Junior BA

Life Before The BA practice… Structure • Before we had a BA practice we had 3 roles……

• Competition rather than communication…………

• Approximately 10 individual change teams……

ProgrammeManager

ProjectManager

ProjectManager

ProjectManager

Lead BA

Senior BA

Junior BA

Senior BA

Senior BA

Senior BA

ProgrammeManager

ProjectManager

ProjectManager

Lead BA

Senior BA

Senior BA

Junior BA

Life Before The BA Practice… Structure

Only about 10 - Performing general support duties on project across design / build and test

• Approximately 145 BAs in the old structure

Approximately 120 – Performing BA tasks across the bulk of the projects for the Retail Bank. A mix of permanent and contractor resource

Approximately 15 – Generally running the larger / transformational projects, either on their own, or with teams of BA’s

Senior BA

Lead BA

What Challenges Did This Structure Give Us ?

Recruitment - How it used to work

Who Owned Recruitment for BA’s? There was no specific owner… Recruitment completed by different Project staff all with different ideas on what they needed.

Interviewing / acceptance criteria ?

With different people interviewing with different BA criteria there was no consistency

Who managed the overall BA numbers?

There was no specific management of BA numbers / demand – Recruitment was reacting to demand in their own area. No Core locations for the BA team – people were spread over approximately 15 sites

Was recruitment Internal or External?

Large Numbers of Contractors recruited, as this was often quicker / easier. No investment in junior roles so little opportunity for career progression

Contractor / Permanent Ratio

Contractors

• 50-60% of total BA population – recruitment of contract resource was not controlled

• High numbers remaining in place for 2-5 years – we retained a number of contractors and rolled them on to the next project when their existing projects ended

• Key man dependency created - a number of BA’s were recruited for specific areas of knowledge expertise

• No / little knowledge transfer on exit.

Assigning Work & Managing Performance

Who Assigned the BA’s work ?

Programme Manager responsibility – they decided who would work on which project.

Opportunities to try new areas of work?

Whilst the structure created areas of specialism, It also became a very ‘stove piped’ culture – it created areas of specialism with little opportunity to experience new areas.

What type of work was undertaken?

Assignment based on your teams priorities rather than what you wanted to work on / develop - large numbers of BA’s involved in project management work / testing etc. as dictated by the Project / Programme manager

Who decided on your annual performance rating / bonus / Pay rise?

Ultimately the Programme manager / project managers decided on these areas , as they were the leads on each of the projects.

BA Development & Career Progression

Who developed the BA’s as a team? Any activities to develop the community of BA’s was run off the side of the desk – limited motivation for people to be involved

What about reward and recognition?

Generally managed at team level. BA performance was never consistency checked with other BA’s from other teams

What about Professional Development?

There was no sponsorship to follow the ISEB / BCS style accreditations – it was up to you to pursue this on your own. Training budgets generally used for project management style courses such as Prince 2

What about career development & progression?

Little investment at the junior levels to create the flow through the BA grades. Hard to find experienced BA’s internally as no investment in the junior BA levels – as such recruitment was generally external. Limited internal progression.

Summary ……

• In general, the BA’s had a lack of identity – very little community / practice activity or motivation to be involved

• A general perception that there were never enough BA’s – in part because they were often performing non BA activities

• There was no sponsorship / investment to develop the BA community professionally

• No sense of working together – stove piped structure created competition which was not always productive

• People other than BA’s were dictating the work we did / how we did it – We did what the Project Manager told us to!

• Performance ratings did not reflect how good we were at being a BA

So What Did We Learn and What Did We Change?

The Business Analyst Structure

x 1

x 20

x 150

x 40

Head of

BAs

Lead BA

Senior BA

Junior BA

Lead BA

Senior BA

Senior BA

Senior BA

Senior BA

Senior BA

Junior BA

Junior BA

Junior BA

211 Total number of BAs within the Practice (By the end of the year, 15% of these will be Contractors)

The Business Analyst Structure

Old Structure Programme

Manager

ProjectManager

ProjectManager

ProjectManager

Lead BA

Senior BA

Junior BA

Senior BA

Senior BA

Senior BA

ProgrammeManager

ProjectManager

ProjectManager

Lead BA

Senior BA

Senior BA

Junior BA

Lead BA

Senior BA

Junior BA

Senior BA

Lead BA Lead BA

Senior BA

Junior BA

Senior BA

Junior BA

Senior BA

Senior BA

Junior BA

Senior BA

Senior BA

Senior BA

Head Of BAs

Junior BA

BA Practice Vision

rocess

Clearly defined processes to

ensure adherence to Governance

eople

To develop & support BAs so they perform at

their highest potential

ractice

To build a industry leading BA Practice

with effective tools and framework

roject

To provide high quality Business

Analysis and design for change

Our BA Leadership team have been working on refining a new BA Practice.

Our work has been focused around four ‘P’s….

People

eople

To develop & support BAs so they perform at

their highest potential

rocess

Clearly defined processes to

ensure adherence to Governance

ractice

To build a industry leading BA Practice

with effective tools and framework

roject

To provide high quality Business

Analysis and design for change

People

eople

To develop & support BAs so they perform at

their highest potential

The quality of our output is directly impacted by the standard of our people. This initiative about making sure that our people are the best they can be. We play to their strengths and actively support development.

Blueworks Live 1

Rational Composer 2

Etc.

Agile 2

LEAN 1

Waterfall 2

Etc,

Plan - Detailed Operational Design 3

Plan - User stories 2

Plan - Use Cases 2

Plan - User interface design 2

Plan - Data Analysis 3

Plan - Data Modelling 3

Etc,

Online Banking 2

Retail Network 2

Telephony Channel 3

Mortgage Services 0

Etc,

Applications

Project Methodologies

Business Analyst Deliverables

Business Area Knowledge

Recruitment completed by specific accredited BAs and onboarding activity has been assigned to a specific Lead BA - Welcome Pack - Aide Memoire for Line Managers - Site visits - Mentoring & Buddy

Creation of a Skills Matrix - 148 competencies for 170 BAs - Common development areas - Assign staff to help with development needs

People

Blueworks Live 1

Rational Composer 2

Etc.

Agile 2

LEAN 1

Waterfall 2

Etc,

Plan - Detailed Operational Design 3

Plan - User stories 2

Plan - Use Cases 2

Plan - User interface design 2

Plan - Data Analysis 3

Plan - Data Modelling 3

Etc,

Online Banking 2

Retail Network 2

Telephony Channel 3

Mortgage Services 0

Etc,

Applications

Project Methodologies

Business Analyst Deliverables

Business Area Knowledge

Key Definition

No knowledge 0 For individuals with no prior knowledge or experience of the subject area, application or system

Beginner 1 For individuals with limited knowledge or experience of the subject area, application or system

Intermediate 2 For individuals with knowledge and experience of the subject area, application or system

Advanced 3 For individuals with greatly developed knowledge and experience in the subject area, or of the application or system

People

eople

To develop & support BAs so they perform at

their highest potential

The quality of our output is directly impacted by the standard of our people. This initiative about making sure that our people are the best they can be. We play to their strengths and actively support development.

Blueworks Live 1

Rational Composer 2

Etc.

Agile 2

LEAN 1

Waterfall 2

Etc,

Plan - Detailed Operational Design 3

Plan - User stories 2

Plan - Use Cases 2

Plan - User interface design 2

Plan - Data Analysis 3

Plan - Data Modelling 3

Etc,

Online Banking 2

Retail Network 2

Telephony Channel 3

Mortgage Services 0

Etc,

Applications

Project Methodologies

Business Analyst Deliverables

Business Area Knowledge

Recruitment completed by specific accredited BA Project staff and onboarding activity has been assigned to a specific Lead BA - Welcome Pack - Aide Memoire for Line Managers - Site visits - Mentoring & Buddy

Creation of a Skills Matrix - 148 competencies for 170 BAs - Common development areas / help identify development needs

Reward & Recognition – instant and annual

Professional Accreditation

Publish Role Model qualities of BAs

Project

roject

To provide high quality Business

Analysis and design for change rocess

Clearly defined processes to

ensure adherence to Governance

eople

To develop & support BAs so they perform at

their highest potential

ractice

To build a industry leading BA Practice

with effective tools and framework

Project

roject

To provide high quality Business

Analysis and design for change

Once we have the foundations in place we need to ensure that BA deliverables are working!

Introduced a new BA Operating Model - Use of the Skills Matrix to assign the correct resource to Projects - Confirmed the boundaries of the BA role to our Project Management colleagues

Assignment of resource is managed by a nominate Lead BA

Projects are split into Continuous Improvement and Strategic Change - Staff are assigned to one area or the other, but not on a permanent basis

Waterfall, Agile etc. and…! BAs are ready!

All BAs are made aware at an earlier stage Project Governance requirements

Lessons learned reviews - completed at regular stages throughout and at the end of the Project

Provision of a common set of guides and templates (KISS, Visual, Quality V Quantity etc.)

Practice

roject

To provide high quality Business

Analysis and design for change rocess

Clearly defined processes to

ensure adherence to Governance

eople

To develop & support BAs so they perform at

their highest potential

ractice

To build a industry leading BA Practice

with effective tools and framework

Practice

ractice

To build a industry leading BA Practice

with effective tools and framework

This is about having the right foundations in place to provide a great place to work – job satisfaction, support to develop and innovate. The ability for our to exceed depend on these foundations

Charities, Schools, Staff and the Practice are all winners!

New BA role – to attract, new recruits who have a passion for Business Analysis

Proactively support IIBA Events – 3 this year

Support our Citizenship Agenda

Practice Performance is dependent on the performance of individuals within it

Practice

ractice

To build a industry leading BA Practice

with effective tools and framework

Contacts

Documents

Leadership

Members

Team Calendars

Help!

Process

By having these processes for our People, Practice and Project initiatives, we ensure that BA staff always adhere to Governance & Control.

It is robust, documented processes that underpin the other three Ps

rocess

Clearly defined processes to

ensure adherence to Governance

roject

To provide high quality Business

Analysis and design for change

eople

To develop & support BAs so they perform at

their highest potential

ractice

To build a industry leading BA Practice

with effective tools and framework

A great example…

Process

rocess

Clearly defined processes to

ensure adherence to Governance

roject

To provide high quality Business

Analysis and design for change

eople

To develop & support BAs so they perform at

their highest potential

ractice

To build a industry leading BA Practice

with effective tools and framework

Process

rocess

Clearly defined processes to

ensure adherence to Governance

RACI Code Definitions:

Responsibility Role is responsible for actually doing or completing the item

Accountable Role is accountable for ensuring that the item is completed.

Consulted Role whose subject matter expertise is required in order to complete the item

Informed Role that needs to be kept informed of the status of item completion

… we do make good use of a Project tool to ensure every body know the Roles & Responsibilities of a BA (and other staff associated with a Project) …

Business Analyst

Project Manager

Test Manager

Business Requirements R C C

Operational Design A C C

Training Approach / Delivery C R I

UAT I C R

a RACI matrix

BA Practice Vision Lead Business Analysts are responsible for driving forward BA Practice initiatives The success of the BA Practice relies on the whole community getting involved.

People Practice Project

Starters & Leavers

Recruitment

Roles & Responsibility

Training & Quals

Personal Development

Plans

Recognition & Reward

Tools & Framework

Practice Performance

BA Intranet

Knowledge Library

Creativity & Innovation

tools

Communication BA Operating

Model

Citizenship Project

Methodology

Strategic & Small Change

BA Compliance

Methodologies

Processes

BEST

skills

organisation

improvement

consistency

success

customers

PRACTICE

technique

optimal

resu

lts solutions great

qu

ali

ty st

an

da

rd an

aly

sis

development

BA Practice Vision

Initiative Activity

Starters & Leavers & Onboarding Ensure people have the right kit / induction / training / buddies / mentors etc.

Training & Qualifications How to we accredit and train our BAs – BCS, Skills matrix

Recruitment & Resourcing How to attract quality BA’s – close work with HR, and what projects do we align our people to?

Roles & Responsibility / BA Operating Model

What do we do? What are we responsible for ?

Personal Development Plans Ensure performance measurement is fair and consistent across the practice

Recognition & Reward How do we reward and recognise excellent performance

Tools & Framework What tools / templates do we use – Req. Pro / Composer etc. Ensures consistency of deliverables

BA Practice Vision

Initiative Activity

Practice Performance How do we measure and track our performance – how do we know if we are successful

BA Intranet Development & Maintenance of our intranet

Communication Developing a communication strategy for the practice

Creativity & Innovation tools Over to David for this one…..

Knowledge Library Building a library of knowledge for our people

Citizenship Community days . Money skills, life skills, fundraising

Strategic & Small Change / Methodologies

Looking at the governance and change processes across the large and small pieces of work

BA Compliance Ensuring compliance in all we do

• In general, the BAs had a lack of identity – very little community / practice activity

• A general perception that there were never enough BAs – in part because they were often performing non BA activities

• There was no sponsorship / investment to develop the BA community professionally

• No sense of working together – stove piped structure created competition which was not always productive.

• People other than BAs were dictating the work we did / how we did it

• Performance ratings did not reflect how good we were at being a BA

Before the Practice The situation now

• Over 200 BAs working on & leading 18 practice initiatives

So How Have Things Changed – A Summary?

• All BAs work exclusively on BA activities – helped by clear roles / responsibilities (RACI matrix)

• New Head of BA role gives us a voice at senior level. Budget approved to get our BA’s BCS accredited

• All BAs working together as a community in the new BA practice structure

• Work is now agreed and allocated exclusively by Lead / Senior BAs

• Ratings are now all about being a great BA and supporting the practice

Your Thoughts? Your Ideas?

BEST

skills

organisation

improvement

consistency

success

customers

PRACTICE

technique

optimal

resu

lts solutions great

qu

ali

ty st

an

da

rd an

aly

sis

development

Leading and Running a BA Practice

A walkthrough of our old BA structure and the

challenges it created

How the creation of a BA practice helped us to

overcome these challenges

Success stories and ideas to takeaway

An opportunity to share your own experiences and

ideas

(Building), Running & Leading a BA Practice

Questions?

Leading & Running a

BA Practice

David Baskerville Richard Patrick