Imagine the scene: A significant project is underway, and you are leading the detailed analysis. You create your business analysis work-plan, and decide to start the initial requirements elicitation by meeting and interviewing a few […]
3 Elicitation Techniques You Can Do Without Stakeholder Access
I have to admit that I have a rather eclectic music collection, with tracks covering almost every conceivable genre. Every time I hit the “Shuffle” button on my MP3 player, there’s a tense moment of
Make Your Requirements Atomic!
A well facilitated workshop can be an extremely good opportunity to bring stakeholders together, brainstorm and discuss potential ideas and requirements. Great workshops are often creative, high-energy and fun. They should provide stakeholders with equal
Help Your Stakeholders Leave Their Rank at the Door: 6 Workshop Levelers
Elicitation can be a tricky activity. Often when needing to understand the requirements for a particular project, the temptation is to jump straight into facilitating a requirements workshop or holding stakeholder interviews. The challenge, of
The Forgotten Art of Document Analysis: 8 Documents That Can Help You Ask All the Right Questions
One thing that I’m confident that readers of this site will agree on is that good quality business analysis can add significant value throughout a project’s lifecycle. But let me ask you a question. Have
The Tough Truth: Your Stakeholders Don’t Want a BA
OK – I admit it. One of my favourite parts of the BA role is facilitating workshops. I love being able to coax ideas out of people’s unconscious mind and I love the co-operation, creativity
How to Avoid 7 Common Workshop Pitfalls
Professional networking is an important skill that offers many benefits. It enables you to stay in touch with your peers and other professionals, and is a great way to keep up-to-date with the latest tools
6 Simple Tips for Building a Professional Network
At the start of many projects we are in a state of natural ignorance, as we don’t yet know what we don’t know. This is especially true when defining a problem or strategy or eliciting
8 Provocative Questions that Encourage Lateral Thinking
As Business Analysts, we are professional change practitioners. We are experts in the field of “change” and should expect to add maximum value to the organisations we work for. To be effective in this role
How to Use a Project Journal to Keep Track of Your BA Work
