Want to boost your impact as a business analyst? Learn a new approach to delivering real value and staying ahead in a changing world with my newest book: The Value-Driven Business Analyst.
Celebrating My New Book – The Value-Driven Business Analyst
Hi, I’m Laura Brandenburg with Bridging the Gap, and today I just want to share a little bit more about my new book, The Value Driven Business Analyst. It’s so new that I still don’t have my actual copy yet, I only have my review copy. But it is very much a real book with tables and diagrams of call outs.
Quite thick and hefty as well. Over, I think, almost 300 pages. And I just wanted to share a bit about why this book, why now we are at such an inflection point in the world, in the profession, in how we do business.
Why This Book for Business Analysts, Why Now
There is never been more change, more acceleration, more needs to pivot. What? No matter what kind of organization you are at and what do we need when there’s change?
We need business hours and we need good business analysts to focus on value. I think this is a time for the BAs to be really elevating the conversation about what business analysis is, and also be 100% committed at every layer of our work to deliver value and to shift how people see us as valuable. And so The Value-Driven Business Analyst is both a collection of practices and techniques.
It’s a how to guide of how to be a value-driven business analyst, what to actually do on a project or a change initiative. But it is also about how to ensure that you’re doing those things in a value creating way, and also shifting the perception of the business analysis role as you go through the business analysis work.
The Foundation of the Book: The 8-Step Business Analysis Process
So I want to share it today a bit about what’s included at the book, and also how you can go ahead and get your copy and claim some exclusive bonuses. So the foundational structure of the book is the business analysis process, this eight step framework that goes from this initial idea that comes in the form of an email or maybe a high level document dropped into our lap that we need to get oriented around what this project is, who to include, what our role is, and all the way through.
Discovering the business objectives are why we’re doing this project. Defining scope or what’s the boundary of what’s in and out. Super important to get clarity on early on our plan. So as a business analyst, what deliverables will we be creating to, elaborate that scope into a set of implementable details for the solution team and then defining those requirements, which involves discovery, analysis, and validation to make sure everyone is on the same page.
That avoids a lot of rework right there. And then we shift to more of a supportive role where we’re supporting the tactical implementation and ensuring they are implementing a value driven solution and the business to embrace that solution and adopt it as part of their day to day practice. And then finally, we look at what value was created, what was the ROI on this project, how can I improve my business and off this practice going forward?
Learn more about the 8-step business analysis process here:
The Book Also Includes Business Analysis Techniques and Tutorials
All throughout the book, I’ve included, call outs and techniques and tutorials, from The Business Analyst Blueprint®, which is a framework of techniques that we teach in detail at Bridging the Gap.
So for example, in step one, I’m getting oriented. There is a technique tutorial on the glossary in step two on discovery the primary business objectives. There is a technique sectorial on a process map.
And then there are entire chapters dedicated to the software level where we cover use cases, wireframes, user stories and product backlogs, as well as the information level where we go into the end of the relationship diagram, data map, data dictionary as well as some others. So there’s a lot of depth in content in this book. It’s really designed to be a how to manual for you and your business analysis work.
Generative AI Guidance for BAs Included in the Book
Now, one thing I wanted to add, because generative AI is such a big deal and it is influencing so much, you really can’t get away from incorporating AI in some way.
Every chapter has these call outs with ways and ideas for you to enhance your productivity with generative AI, and the early readers has said this is a really great balance of not handing over all my work to AI, but how do I lead and and use and leverage AI as a co-creative partner in my work, and have it help facilitate some of the more Indic mundane aspects of that role?
Want to learn more about Generative AI? Check out with my latest video on Prompt Engineering for Business Analysts.
For me? So that’s a big piece that people have really liked so far when they’ve seen it. All right.
How to Get Your Copy of the Book
The book is available at https://www.bridging-the-gap.com/value/
It’s also available on Amazon – in every possible country Amazon allows us to distribute to. You can find country-specific URLs at the link above. Or, if you just search for the “value driven business analyst” or my name, “Laura Brandenburg” it will show up for you.
Register Your Book Purchase for Exclusive Bonuses
And when you get the book, make sure to register your purchase at: https://www.bridging-the-gap.com/value/
There will be some exclusive bonuses for you to receive once you register your purchase. And that will allow us to deliver those bonuses for you.
I’m so super excited to have you be part of the program or a part of the book and part of our reader circle, and part of what we’re doing at Bridging the Gap.
Please continue to do the great work you’re doing as a business analyst. We really, truly built our profession, one business analyst at a time, one person, and we changed the world one project at a time. Thank you for doing what you do as a business analyst, and I hope that you’ll pick up a copy of the book. Thanks so much.
