Helping business analysts become leaders and advance their careers.
From the category archives:
Part of preparing for requirements elicitation is identifying questions. You definitely want to avoid securing valuable stakeholder time only to be lost about what questions to ask! Some stakeholders will talk your ear off, but others need to be led through a conversation. Regardless, I’ve found that preparing a list of requirements questions helps me [...]
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Reader question: “What domain knowledge is required to be a successful BA in the retail industry and how would you suggest I go about accumulating this knowledge and experience?” Pat’s answer: It is more important to have the skill in asking thought-provoking questions to obtain the who, what, where, why, how information (and how all [...]
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Every once in awhile I stumble across an article from another profession that just floors me in terms of how relevant it is for business analysis. Earlier this week, an email landed in my inbox from a sales productivity consultant, Steve Parry, who was kind enough to offer me an hour of his time via [...]
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As business analysts, it’s essential that we work closely with our business stakeholders. Whether we’re working on strategy, feasibility or requirements, this closeness often helps to ensure that we gain a real and detailed understanding of the problems that our stakeholders face. In some cases we might try and completely immerse ourselves in the world [...]
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Anne, a young business analyst for a financial company in New York, arrived late for the meeting. I had been at the company for two days of a week long engagement and had been attending meetings most of the time. This was the third meeting that Anne and I both attended and the third time [...]
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In my previous article for Bridging the Gap, I wrote about the importance of right-sizing your initiatives to get beyond a career plateau as a business analyst. A reader left a comment saying, “if your management listens, you can think about taking initiative, else, its just a waste of time and energy”. That comment made [...]
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Pat Ferdinandi is one of those people that oozes enthusiasm and goes above and beyond to engage with the business community. She recently released an eBook to help other technologists follow her model. “Parrotology” is an eBook about how to better engage with the business analyst community and make your self irreplaceable. I haven’t had [...]
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Are you an over-achiever? Do you look inward for measures of success or outward? This post from a compelling blog titled “Stay out of School” really hit home. The post talks about video gaming and how addictive it can be. The author ties video gaming to achievement. Video games have consistent “levels up” where you [...]
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A few weeks back I posted an article on ModernAnalyst about the important of being results-oriented in business analysis. An interesting follow-up conversation ensued over on the BAForum of LinkedIn that focused on the relationship between being results-oriented and communicating requirements. In essence, the vibrant dialog centered around whether it’s enough to create a high [...]
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The following question came to us and opens the door to exploration of communication techniques that prevent issues on projects…. As an enterprise BA, I inquire and engage team members to determine the thoughts behind the project (not just elicit requirements, etc.). In a contract I head with a NY firm, project meetings included those [...]
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