or

The Value of BA Standards

The Mistakes Pieter Made …

2

Mark Owen, CBAP

New Zealander | Blogger | Nice Guy

My blog: http://markjowen.wordpress.com

LinkedIn (https://nl.linkedin.com/in/markjowen)

3

I t shouldn’ t fee l l ike you’re working for a di f ferent company on every

pro jec t !

4

Part I Part II Part III Part IV

Tell a Story Look at the problems

Look at some

solutions

I want to hear your

stories

5

Part I Part II Part III Part IV

Tell a Story Look at some

solutions I want to hear your stories

Look at the problems

6

Let me tell you a story ... a story about a young man called Pieter

Pieter was a brilliant developer and could write amazing code

7

Before Pieter could code, he had to talk with the end-users to

understand what they needed.

Pieter thought that he was really good at this. So

good, in fact, that he decided ...

8

9

The company had several departments that worked independent of each other.

Each had their own Business Analysts

10

Pieter got assigned to his first project - creating a super social-collaboration-

information sharing portal for a legal firm.

11

At the kick-off meeting the Project Manager introduced Pieter to the sponsor of the

project, and the IT manager, Brian.

The sponsor talked about what her vision for the system was.

12

Everyone got to drink cups of tea ...

… and eat

stroopwafels

13

Brian, the IT Manager, has a lot of good ideas

Requirements Elicitation

... the next day

14

What now??

15

Requirements Document for

Project Y - a super library book

sorting program

16

Makes assumptions

Changes some of the existing

requirements

Rewords some of the text

Changes name of Project & Customer

Adds extra Requirements

Adds an extra section with the

names of the developers

17

18

Project Manager (angry)

“Fluffy”

Content!!

New Requirements!!

Assumptions

19

The document

is in here ...

somewhere ...

20

21

Part I Part II Part III Part IV

Tell a Story Look at some

solutions I want to hear your stories

Look at the problems

22

Part I Part II Part III Part IV

Tell a Story Look at some

solutions I want to hear your stories

Look at the problems

23

What

was

wrong?

24

Peter was unskilled and

unaware of it

25

Pieter did not perform

adequate

requirements elicitation.

26

Pieter didn’t have the

knowledge to write

proper documentation.

27

Pieter did

what he was told to do.

... not what he should do.

28

There were too many

“silos”.

Each department worked

independently from the

others.

29

There was no “standard”

for documentation that

ensured a level of

quality.

30

The company did not have

an accepted standard

of quality for

BA work.

31

There was no formal, or

INFORMAL, peer support.

32

There was no document

governance.

33

WAS there anything that I

missed?

34

Part I Part II Part III Part IV

Tell a Story Look at some

solutions I want to hear your stories

Look at the problems

35

Part I Part II Part III Part IV

Tell a Story Look at some

solutions

I want to hear your stories

Look at the problems

36

How can this situation be improved?

37

Standard Methodologies

38

Standard Methodologies

Processes

Templates

Techniques

39

Standard Processes

Identify the activities that a Business

Analyst does when performing BA

work.

40

Standard Processes

Examples include:

Preparing for a project - what needs to be done? What artifacts should be created?

BA communication - with the project team, and with the stakeholders.

How is peer review carried out, and when? Who is involved?

41

Standard Templates

Can include both deliverable, and

non-deliverable, artefacts.

42

Standard Templates

Examples include:

Stakeholder Analysis Business Analysis Approach Plan

Use Case Scenarios

Lessons Learned

Business Requirement document

Test Plans

43

Standard Techniques

A common understanding of the methods

that BA’s can use to perform business

analysis tasks.

44

Standard Techniques

Examples include:

SWOT Analysis Functional Decomposition

Document Analysis Workshops

Data Flow Diagrams Acceptance & Evaluation Criteria

45

Standard Knowledge

46

Standard Knowledge

Ensure that all BAs have a minimum

standard of shared knowledge

This allows for consistency in the way

business analysis work is carried out.

47

Standard Knowledge

Ways to achieve this:

Certification – IIBA, IREB, BCS, PMI (more on this

in a later slide)

Regular sharing of ideas

Define competency levels for Business Analysts

48

Standard Tools

49

Standard Tools

A tool is something that is used to perform a

task.

Having standard tools that all Business

Analysts use allows for increased efficiencies

(There’s nothing more disruptive than being unable to

modify a wireframe, because it was created by a different

tool).

50

Standard Tools

Examples include:

Diagramming: Visio

Modelling Tool Star UML

Wireframing Axure

Requirements Management Rational Requisite Pro

51

Communities of Practice

& Centres of Excellence

52

Community of Practice

BA Community of Practice

Share experiences, ideas and resources

No real structure or authority

All Business Analysts

may participate

A group of people with a common interest, and with the goal of improvement

53

Centre of Excellence

BA Centre of Excellence

Consistent BA Methodologies,

Tools & Knowledge

A structured team of people and resources that has been put in place by the organization

All BAs are part of it, & report to a BA Practice

Director

Must demonstrate

value, or will be viewed as a

cost

54

Certifications

55

Benefits of Certification It demonstrates a prescribed level of knowledge

People who have done the training speak the same language

Recognition as a member of a professional group

Personal satisfaction.

As a way to measure your own knowledge and capabilities.

56

What Certifications are there for

Business Analysts?

57

BA Certifications

Organization Certification Information Requirement

IREB (International Requirements Engineering Board)

CPRE (Certified Professional for Requirements Engineering)

Aimed at individuals working in Requirements Engineering, Business Analysis and Testing.

Three levels: Foundation, Advanced & Expert.

Foundation

Examination

Advanced

Examination

Assignment

58

BA Certifications

Organization Certification Information Requirement

BCS The Chartered Institute for IT

BCS International Diploma in Business Analysis

Uses a modular approach. A specified combination of core and specialist modules are required,

BCS offers modules at four different levels: Foundation, Practitioner, Professional, Consultant and Expert.

Combination of written and oral exams (depending on the module)

(refer BCS website for more information)

59

BA Certifications

Organization Certification Information Criteria

IIBA (International Institute of Business Analysts)

CCBA (Certificate of

Competency in Business

Analysis)

CBAP (Certified Business

Analysis Professional)

Both these certifications are based on the BABOK (Business Analysis Body of Knowledge)

• Min 3750/7500 hours of BA work experience over last 7 years •Min 21 hours of Professional Development in past 4 years •Two references • Examination (3.5 hr, 150 multi-choice)

60

BA Certifications

Organization Certification Information Criteria

PMI (Project Management Institute)

PMI-PBA

(PMI – Professional in Business Analysis)

Focused on Business Analysis at the requirements management, and project level

• 7500/4500 hours of business analysis experience • 2,000 hours working on project teams • 35 contact hours of education in business analysis • Examination ((4 hr, 200 multi-choice)

61

Business Value

Business Value

62

Introducing Business Analysis standards has a positive impact on the organization:

More projects completed annually

Customers get what they

want

High-quality workforce

Increased efficiencies

Reduction of Waste

Projects are aligned with organizational mission, goals & strategies

Sells the value of Business Analysis and Requirements Analysis

64

Part I Part II Part III Part IV

Tell a Story Look at some

solutions

I want to hear your stories

Look at the problems

65

Part I Part II Part III Part IV

Tell a Story Look at some

solutions I want to hear your

stories

Look at the problems

66

I’d really like to hear your what you think

(Mag ook in het Nederlands)

Do you feel that you are working for a different company on every project?

Where you work, is there a Centre of Excellence, or a Community of Practice? What are the positive things about it?

...

Does the company you work for encourage, and support, BA certification?

67

Part I Part II Part III Part IV

Tell a Story Look at some

solutions I want to hear your

stories

Look at the problems

68

Part I Part II Part III Part IV

Tell a Story Look at the problems

Look at some

solutions

I want to hear your

stories

69

I t shouldn’ t fee l l ike you’re working for a di f ferent company on every

pro jec t !

70

Thank you

New Zealander | Blogger | Nice Guy

Check out my blog posts on: http://markjowen.wordpress.com or find me on LinkedIn (https://nl.linkedin.com/in/markjowen)

Attributions

71

Cover slide Dozer. (2009) image 1 Davor Radic https://flic.kr/p/6ps2Cq Modification: silhouette

Slide 18 (background) I don't Even know my Name Samm DeLawe https://flic.kr/p/e7ypRF

Slide 19 wtf-am-i-supposed-to-do-wit Kris Krug https://flic.kr/p/2Ec95

Storytelling ReRiksen https://flic.kr/p/eSbLji

Slide 13 Meet Me in the Park Fran Taylor http://flic.kr/p/dMzbj9

Future City Niel Kremer https://flic.kr/p/9midWr

Magnifying glass http://goo.gl/LmdGGo

Slide 16 Modified Document https://goo.gl/imB4Sp

Factory http://goo.gl/wyhMrm

Typing Hillary https://flic.kr/p/8nP5VB

Paris Tuileries Garden Facepalm statue.jpg By Alex E. Proimos http://flic.kr/p/7p7raq

Slide 11 Kickoff meeting https://flic.kr/p/vX4y8y Modification: Selective focus

Table - BACoE Types Source: The BA Practice Lead Handbook 5 - Getting Organized. What Structure is Right for You During the Start-up Phase? Kathleen P. Haas http://goo.gl/nKMGbJ