From the category archives:

Communication

Business analyst tips for addressing communication issues, facilitating discussions and meetings, and improving written, verbal and visual communication skills.

The Virtual BA: Video Conference Self-Awareness

by Joan Davis on February 8, 2012 · 0 comments

in Communication,Effective Meetings,Managing Technology

Among the Measures of Success for video conferencing discussed in my last article, “on camera presence” – being at ease and confident in front of the camera - seems the least intuitive.  You are either comfortable on camera or not; there’s seldom a middle ground.  In this post, I’ll explore adjustments we all can make to [...]

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The Virtual BA: 10 Video Conference Mistakes Exposed

by Joan Davis on January 19, 2012 · 4 comments

in Communication,Effective Meetings,Managing Technology

Video Conferencing Can Bring Focus to Distributed Teams Sign on to a video conference and suddenly the miles between you disappear. Simple as that, you’re working at the same table, just like the old days. Done well, live image streaming centers our online attention and enhances remote relationship building in a big way. According to [...]

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The Business Analyst Bully

by Michelle Swoboda on December 21, 2011 · 5 comments

in Communication,Problem Solving

For today’s post, I’m reaching out to the Bridging the Gap community to share some insight on a situation that I’ve encountered: a business analyst “bully” in the workplace. This person seemingly breaks all of the rules that we try to follow: Listen to the business Ask the business what they want Hear what they say [...]

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BA Stories: Good Things Come in Nice Packages (BABOK 4.4)

by Laura Brandenburg on December 12, 2011 · 3 comments

in BA Stories,Communication,Requirements Specifications

There is a distinction between the project requirements and the requirements package. Requirements can be organized, sliced and diced, torn apart, allocated, put back together, assigned attributes,  etc. Packages are finely wrapped presentations of requirements in ways that suit a specific stakeholder audience. Very often we conflate the two, or start with the package before [...]

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The stupid analyst

by Nik Gebhard on November 3, 2011 · 11 comments

in Communication,Effective Meetings

Here’s the scenario: You walk in starry eyed. A fresh start. A new challenge. An opportunity to learn and share knowledge. The introductions fly past and, if you’re lucky, you remember the name of the meeting’s facilitator. Kerryn. Or was it Karin? Ready – set – go! The conversation kicks off. Most of the stakeholders [...]

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What can I learn from Steve Jobs?

by Curtis Michelson on October 13, 2011 · 14 comments

in Communication,Professional Development Strategy,Strategic Business Analyst

There have been a range of reactions to the passing of Steve Jobs. Many people, myself included, have been surprised at the depth of feelings brought up by the loss. Of course, I’m sad for his family and all those who were close to him, and all his colleagues at Apple.  But I’m feeling something [...]

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Help a BA! Is there an advantage to an introverted or an extroverted personality?

by Michelle Swoboda on June 30, 2011 · 33 comments

in Becoming a BA,Communication,Help a BA

A reader asks: In order to elicit and elaborate requirements, communicate, facilitate, negotiate, present, etc., is there an advantage to being introverted or extroverted in personality? Michelle’s answer: What a great question and honestly I believe that you can find advantages for both personalities when you are a BA. As with all people, everyone reacts [...]

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Potato Pahhtahto…Why is Nomenclature Important?

by DougGtheBA on June 8, 2011 · 4 comments

in Communication,Requirements Analysis

We ask the questions that people having been avoiding for years while they were trying to look smart. I read an article today from our respected colleague, Yaaqub Mohamed about the importance of data analysis as part of a good analyst’s tool belt. Well that is not exactly how he put it, but you get [...]

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Are you suffering Acronymitis?

by Curtis Michelson on May 26, 2011 · 12 comments

in Business Analyst Humor,Communication,Engaging the Business

The acronym, a beloved tool of lazy typists everywhere.  And market driven economics, too.  Not to mention Tweets and Facebook posts.  Space is at a premium.  Time is money after all.  And for goodness sakes, who wants to type out  I n t e r n a t i o n a l   I [...]

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How can a BA use lists to be really effective?

by Eric Provost on May 5, 2011 · 4 comments

in Communication,Requirements Planning and Management

Being a BA means working in various teams, on multiple projects at the same time, with a lot of thoughts and ideas popping in your mind all over the day. Dealing with so much information is not easy; transforming this information into actionable and usable data is even more complicated. Lately, many bloggers are praising [...]

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