Establishing clear and measurable business analyst performance metrics and KPIs is no easy task. The business analyst role is interdependent on contributions for other team members, and many of the best business analysts excel based on soft skills and contributions that are inherently more difficult to measure.

Why Measuring Business Analyst Performance is Important

High-performing business analysts are essential to the success of software and business improvement projects. Business analysts help everyone get clear on what the problem is and how to solve it. Their contribution to clear requirements helps everyone else be more efficient and successful, which ultimately impacts the performance of the entire project.

Meaningful performance metrics help ensure that business analysts keep their attention on what matters. Success as a business analyst is not about writing more requirements, holding more meetings, or, really, doing more of anything!

At the end of the day, business analysts add value by bringing clarity to project outcomes and getting the business to own the solution. Just because this seems difficult to measure, doesn’t mean we shouldn’t measure it to the best of our abilities.

KPIs for Business Analysts

When I think about high-level business analyst performance, the following questions come to mind:

1. Does the project deliver the anticipated value? Does the project meet the objectives of the business case?
2. Are the stakeholders aligned around the project concept? If you asked each of them individually about what is to be achieved, would you get the same or at least consistent answers?
3. Are the stakeholders satisfied that the scope being delivered is the best possible solution to the problem they are trying to solve?
4. Does the implementation team deliver on the requirements without a lot of wasted effort? Did they understand what needed to be accomplished?
5. Is the test team able to validate that the final application met all the requirements or do they come across areas of ambiguity that need to be addressed?
6. Are there big surprises at the end of the project? Do unexpected requirements come up? Every project will experience a bit of churn toward the end as you flesh out the final details, but missing a big piece of functionality or a critical business process is a sign that the business analysis effort was lacking.
7. Did the business analyst have a business analysis process and create a business analysis plan? How close was the actual work to their intended plan? What was the root cause of any variations?
8. Did the business analyst choose the most appropriate requirements documentation for the type of project and methodology in place?
9. Is the business happy? Do they find value in what was delivered? (A no answer can have many root causes, but a yes answer is typically the sign of good business analysis work.)

If having a business analysis process is a new concept, check out this video on our 8-step business analysis process framework.

>>Plan Your Next Step with a Free Workshop

While this is a lot of information, you might be wondering exactly what steps you can take. We offer a free Quick Start to Success workshop  that will help you figure out your next step.

Click here to learn more about how to start your BA career

Taking Project Considerations Into Account for Business Analyst Metrics

Another way to evaluate the performance of business analysts is to consider aspects of the project:

• How many stakeholders were involved? From how many different areas of the business? And at what level of the organization?
• How much communication was necessary? (Meetings, messages, emails, etc)
• How many deliverables (business processes, use cases, user stories, data models, etc) did the business analyst need to create?
• How many systems were impacted?
• How many technical stakeholders were involved?
• How up-to-date is the current state documentation? Does it even exist or did the BA need to create it to kickstart the project?
• How long did the business analysis effort take?
• How many defects were due to missed requirements?
• What was the end result or ROI of the project? What benefits were delivered or costs saved?

Again, you are looking to show that your business analysts lead teams to alignment and clarity as effectively as possible, given the complexity of the problem, solution, and stakeholders involved.

How to Measure the Performance of Business Analysts

One thing that makes measuring business analysis performance so challenging is the interrelationship between the business analysis effort and that of the team. If the business analyst does a great job preparing for meetings, invites the right stakeholders, and then they don’t attend or they come unprepared, should the business analyst performance be downgraded?

Most likely, your answer would be no! But many business analysts today are seen as bottlenecks who miss deadlines or deliver incomplete requirements, when the reality behind the measurement is that they are lacking stakeholder engagement on their projects.

A good business analyst will be proactive and strategic, they will gain buy-in from stakeholders, and smooth the path to engagement throughout the project. But in some situations, their hands are tied and they are unable to break-through certain areas of resistance.

To compensate this, any measurements need to be considered in context. Did the business analyst manage what they could? Did they go above and beyond to gain buy-in and engagement? Did they elevate risks? Did they ask probing questions? Was their communication clear and actionable?

This is what you are looking for in a great business analyst. So be sure your measurements aren’t just numbers on a spreadsheet without context – you are likely to get exactly what you measure, which might not be the outcomes you actually want!

>>How to Learn the Foundational Business Analyst Skills

When you join The Business Analyst Blueprint® training program, you’ll gain real world experience in the industry-standard techniques and business analysis processes so you can upgrade your skills, bring a fresh perspective to your business analysis approach, and know exactly what to do on your software projects.

They may not have the business analyst job title, and they may not even be aware they are doing business analysis work, but someone is ensuring the right problem is being solved, that everyone understands the problem and solution in detail and is on the same page about what the software is going to do, and how that achieves the business objectives.

So what is a business analyst? And what does a business analyst do?

There are many variations of the business analyst role, and the business analyst job title is used inconsistently. Here at Bridging the Gap, we focus on how the practice of business analysis unfolds specifically on software projects, where the business analyst is responsible for ensuring the team is solving the right business problem and guiding the team in analysis and communication activities that get all business and technical stakeholders on the same page about the project scope, including the business and technical aspects of the solution.

Whether your team is leveraging agile software development practices or more traditional ones, effective business analysis is essential to success. If you are interested in starting, succeeding, or excelling in a business analyst role, this article is your guide to the role, responsibilities, job description, and mindset of a business analyst.

Defining The Business Analyst Role and Mindset

Out of chaos, we create order.

Out of disagreement, we create alignment.

Out of ambiguity, we create clarity.

But most of all, we create positive change for the organizations we serve.

Business analysts lead teams from the inside out. We create positive change for our organizations. We inspire others to follow us on our path toward positive change. We help everyone understand exactly what that change is and how they can contribute to it. We help teams discover what the change should be.

Source: Bridging the Gap’s Business Analyst Manifesto.

In essence, if you’ve helped teams focus on alignment, clarity, and positive change, you are filling the essentials of a business analyst role and have the mindset of a business analyst. It’s not uncommon for an aspiring business analyst to discover they’ve been doing BA work intuitively for years. They are able to uncover many transferable business analyst skills and position themselves for mid-level and, depending on their experience, even senior business analyst roles.

A Dedicated Business Analyst Role Sets Projects Up for Success

Having a dedicated business analyst role on your project has a tremendous ROI (Return on Investment). As high-performing business analysts, we need to be aware of the value we create, and how we contribute to the ROI of a project. The role is still misunderstood by many, and we’ll often find ourselves needing to educate our leadership and stakeholders about how we can make a contribution.

Business analysts add value by:

• Reducing rework that’s caused by overlooking requirements until late in the development process.
• Reducing requirements churn, or the time investment from stakeholders in getting clear on what they want out of a software solution.
• Finding more cost-effective solutions, whether that’s simplifying the requirements or finding non-technical solutions to business problems.
• Discovering new business benefits that increase the ROI on the planned project investment.
• Prioritizing requirements, so the development team has a clear idea of what to implement first.
• Facilitating communication with the business community, so the delivered solution is used as intended.
• Providing a framework for IT to scale, particularly as an organization grows beyond the boundaries of informal communication where everyone knows everything about the business.

Here’s a video walking you through the value proposition of business analysis:

>>Plan Your Next Step with a Free Workshop

While this is a lot of information, you might be wondering exactly what steps you can take. We offer a free Quick Start to Success workshop  that will help you figure out your next step.

Click here to learn more about how to start your BA career

The Key Responsibilities of a Business Analyst

To contribute this level of value, you need to bring a structured framework or approach to the business analyst role. This role includes taking the requirements aspect of the project from initial problem or idea to a fully implemented solution. The following business analysis process supports the business analyst in navigating a project effectively and successfully.

This is the 8-step business analysis process framework we teach at Bridging the Gap, and it’s helped thousands of business analysts be more effective in their role. Let’s take a quick look at the business analyst responsibilities involved in each step.

1. Get Oriented – Start actively contributing as quickly as possible by managing expectations and conducting preliminary stakeholder analysis.
2. Discover the Primary Business Objectives– Ensure the right business need or problem is solved, and that all stakeholders are aligned on the expected outcome.
3. Define Solution Scope– After exploring multiple possible solutions, gain agreement from stakeholders on the scope of the solution to be developed, and ensure it fits within the constraints of the project.
4. Formulate Your Business Analysis Plan– Identify what types of documentation or deliverables to create, and what needs to be done when. Ensure stakeholders understand what contributions they need to make as part of the project, as business analysis never happens in a vaccum.
5. Define the Detailed Requirements– Gain alignment and clarity at a detailed level, so that both business and technical stakeholders can successfully implement the solution. This involves developing a consistent method of communication so that all stakeholders know and understand the requirements.
6. Support the Technical Implementation– Be a partner with the tech team and ensure they have everything they need to be successful, and explore opportunities to generate even more business value from the software aspect of the solution.
7. Help the Business Implement the Solution– Support business stakeholders during implementation, user acceptance testing, and roll out so that they ultimately get what they need and are able to incorporate the delivered solution into their day-to-day work.
8. Assess the Value Created by the Solution– Assess the Return on Investment (ROI) of the solution, celebrate the project successes, and identify new opportunities to improve the business.

You can learn more about the 8-step business analysis process framework in this video:

And, yes, this process framework applies in agile too! Here’s a guide to how to leverage this framework to be a successful agile business analyst.

Key Skills for Success in a Business Analyst Role

The business analyst role requires both hard and soft skills. Business analysts need to be able to gain alignment from diverse sets of stakeholders on both the big picture and the granular details of the project.

First, there are core, underlying skills that set you up to be a great business analyst, such as:

• Communication skills – Verbal and written communication skills are extremely important, as is the ability to facilitate meetings with diverse sets of stakeholders.
• Problem-solving skills – The ability to understand what problem is being solved and why, as well as navigate new challenges and problems throughout the project, is essential.
• Critical thinking skills – Business analysts evaluate multiple solution options and provide critical thinking to back-up or probe into stakeholder assumptions.

Then there are specific business analysis skills in analysis and communication.  To be successful as a business analyst, you need a toolbox and a framework.

• A TOOLBOX of techniques that you can pick and choose from, based on the needs of your project and team.
• A FRAMEWORK that guides you step-by-step what to when.

At Bridging the Gap, we provide an organized, streamlined, and practical toolbox and framework in the form of The Business Analyst Blueprint® – it’s both a framework for approaching business analysis skill development and the name of our flagship, online, practical training program.

And it looks like this:

While we already talked about the end-to-end framework. :et’s take a deeper look at the toolbox of techniques a business analyst needs to succeed in their role.

• The Business-Level, or how the business work flows operationally, often completed by analyzing the business process (a textual model) and creating business process flow diagrams (a visual model).
• The Software-Level, or how the software system supports the business workflows, often completed through functional requirements models like use cases and wireframes.
• The Information-Level, or how data and information are stored and maintained by an organization, completed by data modeling techniques including an entity relationship diagram (ERD), data dictionary, data map, and system context diagram.

When you use multiple techniques, particularly powerful analytical and visual models, you will find that you naturally see gaps that others gloss over and identify the downstream impact of a change or new solution.

Here’s a video that walks you through the key business analyst skills.

The Typical Day of a Business Analyst – Or, What Does a Business Analyst Actually Do?

The role is so varied that there really is no typical day for a business analyst. And that’s one of the things many business analysts love about the role, as there is a lot of variety in the work.

I have an entire video on this topic, but here are a few things I’ll share here about the role:

• There tends to be a split between independent and stakeholder-facing work. It can vary from 50/50 to 70/30 in either direction. You want to be sure that you’ll enjoy interacting with people as well as doing independent analysis and critical thinking work.
• Business analysis is a self-managing role. You need to be proactively thinking ahead and planning out your process to ensure nothing slips through the cracks.
• The days tend to be different depending on what type of project(s) you are on and what phase they are in. Early on, you’ll be doing a lot more discovery. Then you’ll be in the details and analysis process. Then you may be supporting the business and technology teams during development and implementation.
• It’s quite possible you’ll be working on more than one project at once! So be ready to be in all the phases at any given time.

And here’s the video with a lot more detail on what to expect day-to-day:

Business Analyst Roles Can Vary Widely

While these are the essential skills and responsibilities of a business analyst role on a software project, roles and titles vary widely. Depending on the role, the BA professional may also take on more senior-level business analysis responsibilities, such as such as strategic analysis, learning new domains, and project portfolio management.

The definition of business analysis allows for many different approaches to the role.

• It brings in professionals who work on software projects, business process changes, logistics, or ensuring compliance with regulations.
• It brings in professionals who work on projects focused on integrating multiple software systems, building new software systems, and modifying existing software systems, or migrating from one software system to another.
• Sometimes specific industry expertise or expertise in a specific business application is required to be successful. Pick any attribute of a project, organization, or stakeholder group — oftentimes the business analyst role in that context is shaped around multiple attributes.

When reviewing business analyst job descriptions, pay attention to both the generalized aspects of the role that are common across many roles and the specialized skill sets that pop up in a specific roles.

Hybrid Business Analyst Roles Are Incredibly Common

What’s more, it’s common for a specific business analyst role to be a hybrid business analyst role, meaning that you will have responsibilities beyond the core of business analysis.

Common hybrid roles include:

• Business Analyst / Software Tester
• Business Analyst / Project Manager
• Business Analyst / Product Manager
• Business Analyst / Software Developer

Because business analyst job titles are used inconsistently, it’s not uncommon for these hybrid roles to be under the title of “Business Analyst”. It’s also not uncommon for a role like Project Manager or Software Developer to simply include business analyst responsibilities.

In fact, there are dozens of different business analyst job titles. You can learn more about the difference between the BA job title and the BA role here:

The Difference Between Business Analysis and Related Roles

What’s more, there are many roles that are closely related to business analysis, or leverage business analysis skills to be successful. Here are articles in which we dive into the difference business analysis and other, similar, roles:

• The Difference Between a Systems Analyst and a Business Analyst
• The Difference Between a Product Manager and a Business Analyst
• The Difference Between a Subject Matter Expert and a Business Analyst
• The Interplay of Project Management and Business Analysis
• The Difference Between Business Intelligence and Business Analysis Roles

How to Become a Business Analyst

Business analyst roles generally favor on-the-job work experience. And it is definitely possible for a mid-career professional with work experience to start a business analyst career.

1. First, learn about the business analysis career and confirm your career choice. Exploring the resources in this article is a great place to start!
2. Second, identify your transferable business analyst skills – these will enable you to skip right past entry-level BA positions.
3. Third, invest in your foundational business analysis skill set. Here at Bridging the Gap, we provide online business analysis training opportunities that help professionals start, succeed, and excel in their business analyst careers.
4. Fourth, build on-the-job business analysis work experience by approaching your current work with a BA mindset. For example, no matter your role, you can always improve a business process.
5. Fifth, focus your efforts to find your first BA opportunity. Leverage your areas of expertise and experience in related roles to focus on the opportunities that will be easiest to qualify for. Then you can expand your skill set and experience, opening up even more opportunities.

In short – if you truly want to become a business analyst, it’s certainly possible! And the career opportunities within business analysis make this an exciting time to pursue a business analyst role.

>>How to Learn the Foundational Business Analyst Skills

When you join The Business Analyst Blueprint® training program, you’ll gain real world experience in the industry-standard techniques and business analysis processes so you can upgrade your skills, bring a fresh perspective to your business analysis approach, and know exactly what to do on your software projects.

While I believe the answer is no – you can always create opportunities for yourself. I do realize that having an undergrad degree is required by many organizations, and if you have the degree your job prospects may be improved.

But let’s take a deeper look at this question and how to approach the options you have.

How My Undergraduate Degree Helped Me In Business Analysis

First, let me share a bit of personal background. I earned my bachelor’s degree from a liberal arts college, and I dual majored in Philosophy and English. While I learned a ton in college, and I never regret the 4 years I spent digesting and dissecting great works, I didn’t graduate with any real professional skills.

I managed to land a role as an associate editor at a publishing company, which was about as ideal of an opportunity on paper as you could expect with my degree. And yet, it was really a glorified administrative role and I was absolutely bored out of my mind.

I offered again and again and again to work on technical projects and finally got an opportunity about a year into my role – this brought me into quality assurance testing. You can find my story of transitioning from QA to BA here. I also leveraged the tuition reimbursement benefits in my company to start a master’s degree in Library and Information Science, which helped me build business domain knowledge and awareness.

Once I was in a business analysis position, I remember realizing how similar the work felt to my Introduction to Logic course. Dissecting requirements was very similar to dissecting philosophical texts. Looking for errors in thinking and logic was a lot like investing a problem domain and ensuring the requirements fit together cohesively to solve a business problem.

It’s not like I learned to be a business analyst studying philosophy, but the critical thinking and analytical skills certainly helped.

Hiring a Business Analyst Without a College Degree

Let’s fast forward several years – I’m building and managing a team of project managers, business analysts, and quality assurance professionals. I distinctly remember discovering one of the business analysts I hired did not have a college degree. It surprised me because I honestly never thought to ask the question, and I certainly had some pre-conceived assumptions that most professionals did have college degrees.

At the time, our VP of Technology also let me know he never went to college either.

For context, we were working at a small company, less than 500 people, and had a small tech team. I hired for experience and the ability to literally hit the ground running. We always had multiple active projects that were behind schedule and I didn’t have the capacity to train and mentor my team the way I would have loved to.

When I interviewed this business analyst, she presented herself as extremely capable, flexible, and proactive. And her work contributions lived up to, and even exceeded, my expectations.

So I not believe that a college degree is necessary to be a great business analyst.

Some Employers Require College Degrees for Professional Positions Like Business Analysis

However, the reality of our professional environment is that some employers do require a college degree to be hired for a professional position like business analysis. This means, that you may be unfairly screened out before you even get a chance to present your experience and qualifications.

If you don’t have a college degree, it’s even more important to:

• Identify your transferable business analysis skills.
• Focus on your contributions and accomplishments from your work history.
• Highlight the professional business analysis training, as well as training in related skill sets.
• Be prepared to speak to your specific work experience in a job interview, whether it’s from a role with the BA job title or in a related role doing business analysis work.
• Build business analysis experience by approaching your current role or volunteer work, no matter your title or role, with a business analysis mindset.
• Focus on positions that leverage any specialized skill sets you have, particularly in a specific business domain or business application.
• And don’t overlook opportunities to grow into business analysis. Here are 13 Jobs That Can Lead to a Business Analyst Job (with the path to get there).

If your goal is to start a business analyst career, I, personally, would find it difficult to advise you to stop applying to roles and go back to school for 4 years to pursue a bachelor’s degree, and then circle back to your BA career ambitions. But you will need to embrace that you will face more roadblocks and some employment opportunities will not be open to you. Instead, focus on the opportunities that are open to you, and the employers who hire based on experience and aptitude versus academic credentials.

We Can Help With Practical, Real-World Training

When it comes to starting a business analyst career, nothing is more important than real-world professional experience. Our online business analyst training programs are structured to support you as you learn business analysis skills and apply them in the real-world (even outside formal business analysis roles), so you can build the experience and work history employers are looking for when they hire business analysts.

>Click here to learn more about our business analysis training opportunities

Download the FREE Business Analyst Skills Assessment

Another great resource to help you get started is the BA Skills Assessment.

In this FREE assessment, you will:

• Discover the essential skills to succeed as a BA.
• Gain clarity on your strengths and transferable skills.
• Define an action plan to expand your business analyst skill set.

>> Download the Assessment <<

Learn How to Start Building BA Experience Straight Away

This is a great video to watch and learn how to start expanding your business analysis experience, so you can qualify for a wider range of business analysis positions.

However, having a set of goals is critical to taking ownership of your career and making the most of your work.

In this video, Laura dives into the essence of professional development goals for business analysts. You’ll discover how these goals are not just milestones, but catalysts that propel your career forward.

Discover exactly where you stand as a business analyst by taking our FREE BA Skills Assessment. In this free assessment, you will:

• Discover the essential skills to succeed as a business analyst.
• Gain clarity on your strengths and transferable skills.
• Define an action plan to expand your business analyst skill set.

>> Click here to take the FREE BA Skills Assessment <<

Performance Goal #1 – Broaden Your Skills by Using New Techniques

Your experience broadens as you use more techniques. Even if you are working on projects in the same domain, working with the same stakeholders, and using the same methodology, new techniques can help explore the requirements in a new way. And over time, you’ll expand your business analysis skill set.

Consider the following specific goals for your performance plan:

• Use a new elicitation technique to discover or validate the requirements.
• Experiment with a new visual model to clarify a complex concept.
• Consider a new type of requirements document to address a currently unmet need, such as a business process model, scope statement, or use case.
• Earn a business analyst certification.

Participants in The Business Analyst Blueprint® program learn and apply techniques in business process analysis, use cases and wireframes, data modeling, as well as the end-to-end business analysis process.

Download the FREE Business Analyst Skills Assessment

In this FREE assessment, you will:

• Discover the essential skills to succeed as a BA.
• Gain clarity on your strengths and transferable skills.
• Define an action plan to expand your business analyst skill set.

>> Download the Assessment <<

While you can broaden your BA skill set even while working in a consistent BA role, changing things up just about forces you to use or improve your skills. So let’s look at a few ways to change things up.

Performance Goal #2 – Work in a New Domain

Your business analysis skills become more valuable as you learn to work with new stakeholders and gain a broader exposure to new domains. Doing the same type of work, but in a new context, takes your skills to the next level.

For one of your performance goals, look for an assignment in a new business unit, department, or business domain.

Performance Goal #3 – Work in a New Methodology

Working on different types of projects exposes us to new methodologies and types of requirements specifications. It also challenges you to discover the core business analysis principles that are relevant, regardless of what type of project work you are working on.

As a professional development goal, ask to be assigned to project work on a team that uses a different project methodology or tool set to broaden your experience.

Performance Goal #4 – Improve Your Business Analysis Process

With exposure to different projects, stakeholders, domains, and methodologies, you learn what works well and what doesn’t work so well. Often your business analysis process stays the same, even while your work changes and matures. Look for ways to incorporate what you’ve learned into your organization’s BA process so other BAs can benefit from your insights.

Goals in this area could include updating a template, documenting an as is process, or creating a tip sheet.

Not sure how to improve your business analysis process? Here’s a video walking you through the 8-step business analysis process framework we teach at Bridging the Gap.

Performance Goal #5 – Strengthen Stakeholder Relationships

When we have stronger rapport with our stakeholders, it’s easier to get more work done.  Yet, if we’ve worked in the same organization for awhile, it’s easy to become complacent and rely on existing relationships to get work done.

Set a goal to strengthen your relationship with a stakeholder, improve a troublesome relationship you’ve let linger this year, or form a new relationship with a stakeholder assigned to upcoming projects. Often simple techniques, such as engaging stakeholders more effectively, can make significant improvements in relationships.

Performance Goal #6 – Mentor Other BAs

Your ability to lead others will help you move into more senior BA roles. Become a mentor to a newly hired business analyst, a professional that’s interested in business analysis, or another member of your department.

You don’t have to be the expert in all areas of business analysis to mentor someone in an area of business analysis. For example:

• If you have a technical background, but your fellow BAs are from the business side, offer to perform a technical review of a requirements document or answer questions about technical terminology.
• If you are from the business side, share your subject matter expertise with a fellow BA who comes from outside your domain and offer to provide process overviews as they get up-to-speed on a new project.
• If you learn a new BA technique or are really good at a particular kind of visual model, offer to share your knowledge and conduct a peer review for other BAs in your department.

As you share what you know, you’ll be building your reputation as a leader and a team player, which can lead to positive outcomes for your BA career. You might also consider sharing your knowledge in a more formal way, so let’s talk about that next.

Performance Goal #7 – Share Your Business Analysis Knowledge

Sharing your knowledge will not only demonstrate your leadership skills but could eventually lead to a larger role for you within your BA team.

Consider starting a ‘lunch and learn’ with your fellow BAs. This doesn’t have to require a lot of time if you use available resources to structure these sessions. For example, one of our readers hosted monthly meetings to discuss these 53 tips for discovering all the requirements  and share best practices.

Performance Goal #8 – Take on Non-Business Analyst Responsibilities

If you’d eventually like to move out of business analysis or up into a BA leadership role, it’s important to diversify your work experience and build skills that are not formally part of the business analysis toolkit. You can do this by looking for new responsibilities outside your current work, or taking on hybrid business analyst roles.

Ripe options include project management, technical architecture, business process analysis, or product ownership.

Performance Goal #9 – Take On More Senior Business Analyst Responsibilities

On the other hand, if you’d like to stay within business analysis for the foreseeable future, consider looking at how you can take on new senior business analyst responsibilities. Pay the most attention to areas where you can increase the value BAs add to projects or solve current issues that are holding your organization back.

Performance Goal #10 – Get Involved

The business analysis profession is a thriving and open community that welcomes professionals from all kinds of career backgrounds, industries, and career levels. It’s never too early to get involved. Check for a local IIBA Chapter meeting to attend (most allow non-members to attend for a nominal fee) or get involved virtually.

3 Rules of Thumb When Setting Performance Goals

1. Be sure your performance goals align with the mode your organization is in, so that achieving your goals also adds more value to your organization.
2. Instead of looking at performance goals as things to do that are above and beyond work as normal, look at how you can transform the work you are doing anyway into a professional development opportunity.
3. Focus on performance goals that actually get you where you want to go. In this next video on Hybrid Roles, you’ll learn how to expand your role in meaningful ways, while also letting go of responsibilities that no longer are serving you and your career.

Download the FREE Business Analyst Skills Assessment

In this FREE assessment, you will:

• Discover the essential skills to succeed as a BA.
• Gain clarity on your strengths and transferable skills.
• Define an action plan to expand your business analyst skill set.

>> Download the Assessment <<

Being a great business analyst goes beyond foundational skills. It’s about being resourceful, utilizing the right tools at the right time, and creating alignment and clarity through active stakeholder engagement.

Watch our new video 7 Secrets of Good Business Analysts now:

>>Click here for the free download <<

In my experience as a business analyst, a manager of business analysts, and now a trainer of business analysts, there are certain qualities that really set high performing business analysts apart, and these qualities make them highly coveted by managers and pave the way towards more career opportunities as well.  Stay tuned and I will share exactly what those are.

Hi, I’m Laura Brandenburg with Bridging the Gap where we help you start, succeed, and excel in your business analyst career with weekly videos on business analysis, tips and techniques.

#1 – Good Business Analysts Have a Strong Foundational Business Analysis Skill Set

Tip number one is that good business analysts have a strong foundational business analysis skill set. They are strong communicators, problem solvers. They are able to think critically. They can create requirement specifications, analyze requirements, and create visual models. They can facilitate elicitation sessions and use the necessary business analysis tools.

That is the foundation, and then you must do a little bit more.

#2 – Good Business Analysts are Resourceful

Tip number two is that good business analysts are resourceful. They know how to find the answers to questions and don’t wait for the answers to come to them. They find alternative paths through the organization and involve the right people at the right time. Good business analysts rarely get stopped for long and can often work through challenging situations to come through to a solution.

#3 – Good Business Analysts Grow their Toolbox of Skills

Tip number three is that good business analysts grow their toolbox of skills. They are not content to do the same thing, the same way, every time. For a long time, I applied use cases in every requirement situation. Gaining confidence to apply a wider variety of techniques really increased my marketability and made me more effective. Good business analysts know the outcome that they are trying to create and select the right tool for the right job instead of just relying on a really small set of go-to tools and making it work somehow in every situation.

If you are short on tools, don’t worry. I recorded a video on the five types of requirements documentation that business analysts create. If you haven’t seen that video yet, make sure to watch it after finishing this one by clicking below.

#4 – Good Business Analysts Create Alignment and Ownership Around the Solution

That brings us to tip number four, which is great business analysts create alignment and ownership around the solution. It’s really easy to be the one who just like writes the requirements down and does what the stakeholders ask for. As a new business analyst, you might be in a role where that’s what you are expected to do, or where even that’s the biggest contribution you can make at first. But a high performing business analyst is able to resolve conflicts and ensure that when that solution is delivered, the business truly owns it and is prepared to use it effectively.

This starts by understanding the business process or the underlying problem to be solved that can lead you in the right direction. Creating clarity, which we’re going to talk about next, is a very first step.

New to business process analysis? Here’s a video on this incredibly important business analyst technique:

#5 – Good Business Analysts Create Clarity

Tip number five is that business analysts create clarity. Business analysts bring a unique blend of critically important soft or power skills along with technical analytical skills and together those two balancing skill sets help the business analyst create true clarity. Clarity does not mean that you simply get sign-off on the spec. A good business analyst doesn’t rely on artificial sign offs and hundred page documents. They use analysis techniques to drill into the details and ask relevant questions. They get buy-in, not just sign-off, during the verification and validation process. They get into appropriate details to ensure that true clarity emerges.

#6 – Good Business Analysts Actively Engage Stakeholders

That leads us to tip number six, where good business analysts actively engage stakeholders.

High performing business analysts engage stakeholders in the entire discovery, analysis, and validation process.

• They use active listening techniques to ensure stakeholders feel heard.
• They set clear expectations as a way to build trust.
• They consistently follow through on their commitments and don’t make promises that they can’t keep.
• They honor confidentiality agreements, never talk behind anyone’s back, and are generally seen as above office gossip.

We’ve got a bunch more tips like these in our  free guide called “10 Tips to Improving Stakeholder Engagement.” 

#7 – Good Business Analysts Have a Strong Dash of Project Management

Number seven. Final. Good business analysts have a strong dash of project management. That might sound like a bit of heresy, so let me explain.

Good BAs are not project managers, but they understand with perfect clarity why they are not project managers. That being said, good business analysts know how to manage within business analysis.

• They are proactive and dependency aware.
• They manage themselves to commitments and deadlines.
• They get stakeholders involved at the right times in the right ways to keep everything moving.

This means they have a business analysis process and approach and are strategic and proactive when it comes to how they manage the business analysis aspect of the project.

More than all of this, good business analysts have a strong eye for scope. While it can be fun to figure out what we might pack in if everything but the kitchen sink happens to fit into the car, high performing business analysts realize that the implementation constraints nearly always get in the way of achieving the full vision in the first time out. They keep a close eye on value and feasibility and they guide their stakeholders towards a set of requirements that can actually get implemented.

Being a great business analyst goes beyond just the foundational skills.

It’s about being resourceful, utilizing the right tools at the right time, creating alignment and clarity through active stakeholder engagement. Additionally, a touch of project management expertise is vital for maintaining project scope and momentum.

To gain more insights on building stronger relationships and actively engaging your stakeholders on your projects, don’t forget to download our free resource, “10 Tips to Engaging Stakeholders.”

Finally, having a business analysis framework is another vital tool for empowering yourself to be more strategic and proactive in your project approach.

Join me in this next video where we’ll dive into the BA process framework and unlock the secrets to successful project execution.

In this video, I’ll cover how to avoid the most common business analyst mistakes, so you can make smart project decisions that earn the appreciation of your stakeholders and open up more opportunities in your business analyst career.

One of the mistakes I mention in the video is not engaging stakeholders early enough. We’ve created a FREE guide full of practical tips, real-world advice, so you can discover how to work more effectively with stakeholders to achieve better project outcomes.

In this free download, you will:

• Save time and effort by clarifying the requirements more quickly.
• Build stronger relationships that elevate your reputation and career.
• Increase your impact by communicating more effectively and improving project outcomes.

 >> Download 10 Tips to Improve Stakeholder Engagement <<

As a business analyst, you want to create the best requirements documentation and models possible. But what if I told you that focusing too much on perfecting those documents is actually a big mistake. Not only does it waste your time when you do that perfection too early in the process, it can also damage your credibility and delay the business analyst timeline.

In this video, we’re going to cover this mistake and four others that every business analyst should avoid. Stick around to learn how to add more value to your projects and avoid these common pitfalls.

Hi, I’m Laura Brandenburg with Bridging the Gap where we help you start, succeed, and excel in your business analyst career.

Business Analyst Mistake #1 – Making Assumptions About Your Role

The number one mistake I see business analysts make on a new project is to make assumptions about the business analyst role that lead to overlooked responsibilities or areas of requirements. And I can point the finger at myself here more times than I would like to admit.

• I have unknowingly trampled on other team members’ roles because I just thought that’s what a BA was supposed to do.
• I’ve failed to deliver what was actually expected of me while working with incredible diligence towards deliverables that no one actually wanted me to create, and therefore went undervalued and underappreciated.
• I have followed the job description I was given to a T only to the learn that my team really needed something additional from me that wasn’t explicitly asked for.

There is so much dialogue out there about what the business analyst role is and what it’s supposed to be, and these jobs vary widely among different companies. Even within the same company, they can vary depending on what project team you’re on or what stakeholders you’re working with or what that team makeup looks like.

Correcting this mistake is really simple. Take time to clarify your role. Confirm your understanding and ask questions whenever anything is not clear. A lot of business analysts feel like they need to make assumptions because they shouldn’t be asking and asking for clarity about their expectations, that they should just know. But just knowing often leads us to deliver the wrong thing to the wrong people.

Let your manager and team know what you’re planning to do. Ask for their feedback to make sure you’re on the right track, and then deliver on your promise. Do this not just once, but again and again throughout the project as new information surfaces, or as new stakeholders get involved, or as you start to see an expanded view of how you can contribute. Re-clarify over and over again.

Wanting to learn more about the business analyst role? This video on the typical day of a business analyst is a great place to start!

Business Analyst Mistake #2 – Not Engaging Stakeholders Early Enough

Now, mistake number two is not engaging stakeholders early enough. When we start to move forward without getting all of the stakeholders on board. And sometimes the stakeholder is like lurking in the corner, not like literally in the meeting room, but they’re lurking somewhere, but they’re not really engaged. Sometimes they’re just too busy to meet with us. Other times there are reasons that we don’t want to meet with them, so we try to work around them. But it’s really important to get all the stakeholders invested upfront.

• On a project with new stakeholders, it’s your role as the business analyst to really invest extra time in getting to know who they are, what they care about and how they work best. It’s also a great time to clarify your role.
• If you are working with stakeholders that you already know and trust, a new project is a great time to deepen that relationship establishing ground rules to correct for past problem areas and really reengage since you’re working on something new together.

Even when you are facing that pressure to just move forward and get the requirements done already, you absolutely must ensure there is engagement each step of the way. Otherwise, you are simply setting yourself up to have to rework the requirements later, which is going to damage your credibility as a business analyst.

If engaging stakeholders makes you a bit nervous or you just want to get better at it, it’s one of those areas we can always get better at as a business analyst. I’ve got an absolutely free guide that’s called 10 Tips to Improve your Stakeholder Relationships.

> Download 10 Tips to Improve Stakeholder Engagement <<

And here’s a video with lots of great tips on engaging stakeholders too!

Business Analyst Mistake  #3 – Perfecting Documents Too Early

Now, the third mistake that I see is business analysts spending too much time perfecting documents and models too early. This is often related to not engaging stakeholders and it’s a great procrastination tactic. We can feel incredibly productive. We’re working really hard to get all our lines lined up and everything looking really beautiful, but it’s not actually capturing what the stakeholders want. You’re not in a collaborative information sharing type role where you’re learning more about the actual project or the domain.

While it feels really productive to sit behind your computer and tweak the language in your requirements or get all of your lines straight on a visual model, like an entity relationship diagram, you’re not going to really create real value from that documentation until you bring them to stakeholders and work towards creating a shared understanding.

If you happen not to be familiar with an entity relationship diagram, or ERD, I did do a full video tutorial on that model that you can check out after this video by clicking on the video below. If that’s something you want to learn more about, we’ve got all kinds of content on that.

My challenge to you is to put your together rough drafts of documentation and use those to guide productive working meetings with your stakeholders. You’re going to learn so much more from the discussion and the project is going to move forward more quickly.

Business Analyst Mistake #4- Focusing Too Much On the What and Not the Why

That brings us to mistake number four, which is focusing too much on the what and not the why, or really like focusing too much on the what too early and not using time early of the project to really focus on the why. This can lead to misunderstandings and misaligned expectations between stakeholders.

This is especially common, again, when we’re faced with those aggressive requirements deadlines and people just want us to get the requirements done so that the implementation can start, or when our stakeholders just seem so clear about the solution and they really just want us to help get the details down on paper.

Handling tight deadlines is more art than science, and here’s a video with some strategic approaches to navigating expectations without losing credibility.

As a business analyst, it’s really important to understand the underlying business goal and the objectives that drive that project, and to ensure that all stakeholders are on the same page regarding why the project is being funded in the first place and what the benefits are that it’s expected to deliver. This involves not just documenting the project requirements or all the things that the software needs to do, or even what the future business process is going to be, but also getting that understanding of the why.

What’s the problem that we’re trying to solve here? What is the end result we want to create for the business? What are those business objectives? By getting clear on those, you’re going to help keep your project on track and avoid unexpected delays, increased costs, and ultimately deliver a solution that does not deliver the expected benefits.

Business Analyst Mistake #5 – Allowing Scope Creep (and Straying from Focused Business Outcomes)

That really leads us to the fifth mistake I see, which is somewhat related to the previous mistake, but there’s a nuance that’s really important that I wanted you to grasp, and that’s really allowing scope creep or straying from these focused business outcomes. This means that the solution sort of gets bigger and bigger and bigger the longer the requirements process goes on. It strays from that original focus of the project. This will often happen when the business analyst is what is considered too business oriented.

And yes, that is a real thing. A business analyst can be too oriented or focused on the business in the sense that they don’t hold boundaries or constraints or keep things in check for the business. In fact, I did a video on this concept a while back that you can check out after this video.

It can also happen because as we build trust with stakeholders, we start to become really empathetic and they really start to open up about the problems that they have and we want to solve those problems and help them. We’re a helper kind of profession. Again, the scope just grows and grows. We can include that little thing and that little thing and that little thing. And, no, it’s really not what we’re supposed to be here for, but I can see how much value that it’s going to add for you.

This really damages our credibility with the project team because we build a reputation as somebody who comes in and takes maybe a small project or a medium-sized project and makes it way bigger than intended, and then people in other roles, like the project manager, are forced to arbitrarily cut scope to get the project done on time and on budget.

The solution to this is to always keep the desired outcomes of the project or the why, the problem that we’re solving, top of mind in ourselves, in our stakeholders, and for our sponsors. And as you get into the details of those requirements, make sure that each requirement is absolutely necessary to solve that business problem or achieve the business objectives of the project.

As an aside, if this means you’re smacked dab in the middle of a project and you haven’t done that work that we talked about before of understanding the business outcomes, the most important work you have to do is to bring that kind of clarity to the project, and to do it sooner rather than later.

Move Forward, And Do Your Best in Business Analysis

We’ve covered quite a few mistakes here that I see business analysts make. The last thing I want you to do is leave this video feeling more afraid of making mistakes than of moving your project forward. Any action you take in the direction of creating alignment and clarity and positive change for your organization will move you forward, will move your organization forward, will move your project forward.

You will make mistakes, and that’s okay. Just keep learning from them. How do you think I could put this video together? Because I’ve made the mistakes and I’ve learned from them, and I’m trying to share them with you so that you hopefully don’t have to make the same mistakes I did.

But maybe you’ve made one of these mistakes. Maybe you found something else, or you’ve learned from these and you make something new. That’s great. It’s a great learning opportunity. Keep moving forward instead of worrying about the mistakes. I’ve published tons of content here at Bridging the Gap about how to become a better business analyst and excel in your career, mostly leverage for all the mistakes that I’ve made in my career.

One great insurance policy against making mistakes is having really strong stakeholder relationships. The more your stakeholders respect and trust you, the easier it’s going to be to cover up when you eventually do slip up here and there.

We’ve created a new free guide, relatively recently, that gives you 10 tips to improve your stakeholder relationships. You can claim that free download right now by clicking below.

>> Download 10 Tips to Improve Stakeholder Engagement <<

Engagement is key in any role, but it’s especially important for you as a business analyst where you are constantly communicating with stakeholders and making important decisions.

I’d love to see you at another video that I’ve recorded specifically on how to build more confidence in your role, and I’ll see you over there next.

As business analysts, we’re great at picking things apart, especially when it’s our own abilities, skill sets, and contributions.

I believe you can move past imposter syndrome, which is why I’m sharing three practical ways you can overcome imposter syndrome and move forward with confidence.

In this video, you’ll discover:

• Why I believe business analysts struggle with imposter syndrome.
• Three practical tips to overcome imposter syndrome.
• Free resources we offer to help you move forward.

Whether you’re just starting out or are a seasoned professional, these tips will help you tackle imposter syndrome head-on and thrive as a business analyst, watch the video now by clicking below.

Are you looking for practical ways to build stronger relationships with your stakeholders and achieve better project results as a business analyst?

Download this FREE guide to receive practical tips, real-world advice, and discover how to work more effectively with stakeholders to achieve better project outcomes.

In this free download, you will:

• Save time and effort by clarifying the requirements more quickly.
• Build stronger relationships that elevate your reputation and career.
• Increase your impact by communicating more effectively and improving project outcomes.

My Own Journey With Imposter Syndrome

I still remember starting my second business analyst role. I had moved all the way across the country and was working in a new company, working on a new system, and with new stakeholders in an entirely new domain. After a few weeks, it felt like I’d spent more time learning than analyzing. I still didn’t have a grasp on the scope of the project or what we were going to do. I started to doubt myself, and I wondered if I was really cut out for this job. I started to wonder if they were going to think that they had made a mistake in hiring me and transporting me all across the country to start this role. I didn’t realize it at the time, but what I was feeling was imposter syndrome, that nagging feeling that you don’t belong or that you aren’t qualified to do a job that you are entirely qualified to do.

It’s totally natural to feel this way. The important thing is that you don’t let this feeling hold you back. In this video I am going to share three incredibly valuable tips to help you overcome imposter syndrome and gain the confidence you need to take on challenging projects and advance your career. Whether you’re just starting out or you are a seasoned professional, these tips will help you tackle imposter syndrome head on and thrive as a business analyst.

Hi, I’m Laura Brandenburg with Bridging the Gap where we help you start, succeed, and excel in your business analyst career. So, let’s get into those top three tips that I have for you.

Imposter Syndrome is Not Necessarily Something You Need to “Fix”

I’ve coached a lot of incredibly talented professionals and almost every one of them has a moment, or has days, weeks, or months, or even years of self-doubt. It doesn’t mean that there is anything wrong with you, and this is not necessarily something you need to “fix.” It’s normal and natural to feel nervous, especially when we’re tackling a new type of project or working with a new type of stakeholder or are in a new domain.

It also might mean just that we care. Those butterflies that are in my stomach before just about every presentation I’ve ever given, or even, truthfully, recording videos like this, a wise mentor once told me that when they stopped, that meant that I had stopped caring. Only overconfident speakers who weren’t worried about how their message would land didn’t get butterflies anymore, or so this person said. Despite my best efforts to get more and more confident in public speaking, I’ve never quite overcome that nervous feeling when getting up before a group. I’ve also never stopped caring.

I’m in a phase of expansion with my work right now with a goal of really sharing the message of business analysis much more widely. I’m connecting with people outside the BA space, and I’ve got to tell you, this brings up a lot of my own imposter syndrome. I get where you’re at. It’s tempting me to dial things back and stay small and talk to the people who already understand my message. But I know if I do that, I won’t get to make the full contribution I’m here to make.

How Imposter Syndrome Shows Up In Business Analysts

What I see is that imposter syndrome keeps some of the most talented professionals in the workplace also playing small. Could that be you? Is there a way that you are playing small to stay safe, to stay confident? It’s okay to feel nervous getting on the stage as long as you don’t let yourself doubt take you off the stage entirely.

Overall, most business analysts I work with tend to be entirely too humble. We tend to use “we” instead of “I” when it comes to celebrating our success. And then we use “I” instead of “we” when taking responsibility for failures. This means we over apologize when things go wrong and we undersell ourselves when things go right and we wonder why we have so much trouble with people valuing us as business analysts. We are valuing ourselves and our contributions. Here is what I think is happening.

How Our Analytical Skills Can Work Against Us

The very analytical skills that make us so intelligent and give us so much smarts to solve just about any problem that can come up in a business environment also make us perfectionists. When we turn that critical thinking ability, that analytical thinking ability on ourselves, we magnify all the things that we’re doing wrong and we dim what we’re doing right. We are great at picking things apart, especially when it comes to our own abilities, our skillsets, and our contributions.

I want to say that self-confidence is an inside job. When you lack self-confidence or you feel like an imposter, you project that uncertainty and others are less likely to trust your abilities and recognize the value of your contributions. It’s sort of like a vicious circle. These tips are how we rewire our brain for confidence and also how we bring our best selves forward.

Tip 1 – Leverage a Trusted Framework and Best Practices

Tip number one is to leverage a trusted framework and a set of best practices.

When I first started at Bridging the Gap, I was really surprised, not today, but at the beginning, I was so surprised at how people would ask me for my templates. It took me years to start selling them. My own imposter syndrome was really at play here. When I did finally start selling them, they flew off the virtual shelves and they still do to this day.

In fact, if you want to get a taste, you can download our business process template completely for free by clicking the link below just so you can see kind of what it’s like. You’ll learn how to ask your stakeholders powerful questions and get clarity on a project. You’ll avoid wasting money on software that doesn’t achieve an ROI, and you’ll easily clarify step by step workflows just with that one template.

> Download the free template <<

But the reason people seem to like templates is that they provide a trusted structure for best practices. They give you a starting point. When I was working for my new company that first time, it was that trust that I had in my ability to analyze requirements in use cases and to map out complex information systems that held me, that kept me grounded. It kept me saying I might feel uncertain now, but I know where I’m headed and I’ve done this before and I have a methodology. I have a way of getting to that next step.

I also, along the way, received some great advice about new techniques that were needed for the type of project that I was on that were unfamiliar to me, and so I sought out resources to learn about those techniques so I could be more effective.

Whatever this new task is or whatever’s bringing up this sense of self-doubt, look for a tool set or a framework that you can leverage.

If you are a business analyst, at Bridging the Gap, we have a step-by-step business analysis framework that you can leverage, and we know that this increases and maximizes the effectiveness and the credibility of the business analyst who put it into practice.

Tip 2 – Find a Trusted Mentor

Tip number two, find a trusted mentor. Someone that you can collaborate with. Someone who will give you honest and constructive feedback about your work.

When I was in my first systems analyst role, before I moved companies, I was craving this kind of feedback. I was new to this work. I wasn’t quite sure I was doing things right. I set up a peer review meeting with my four person team, and every other week we took turns to bring in our trickiest use cases for peer review and getting feedback from each other. We all benefited from the knowledge sharing about our projects, and this work also made our requirements deliverables more consistent as a team. But we also learned a lot while we were receiving feedback and also while we were giving it.

It built up my confidence to be able to read a use case from my fellow business analyst and give them feedback or point out something where I thought they could be more clear or a question that they might need to ask. That gave me confidence to be able to give them feedback, and it gave me confidence as well when they gave me that feedback both on what I was doing right and where I could improve.

Our The Business Analyst Blueprint training program we find participants achieve a lot of self-confidence because they, as part of the program, are applying what they’re learning and they submit it for instructor review. They receive feedback on what they did well and where they can improve. And so they really know where they stand. Often people within your organization just are not able to provide that sort of feedback on your business analysis deliverables. That sort of unbiased expert feedback can be really hard to find.

Tip 3 – Celebrate Your Wins

Tip number three is to celebrate your wins. If you’ve listened to any of my content, you’ve probably heard me talk about this before. It’s one of my favorite things to do. We do it inside all of our programs. We do it inside our team meetings. It’s really, really important, and if you are feeling imposter syndrome, it can re-ground you.

Start by making a catalog of your accomplishments. The projects that went well, the meetings that went well, the questions you asked that gained insights. Look back maybe even on your last year of work, or you might even go back further to look back in previous years or choose a few years or a few different roles so you can kind of get a pattern of your success and your sense of achievement.

If you happen to be looking for a job or updating your resume, this is really double duty kind of effort because these accomplishments are going to be your best preparation for a job interview there is. These are the stories you want to be telling in your job interviews is when you did things well.

Next, look at those accomplishments that really stand out and determine what action you took to create the result. This is where it’s really important to start thinking in “I” terms instead of “we” terms. Thinking in an “I” term does not mean that you weren’t collaborative. It doesn’t mean that you aren’t a team player, but the fact that you ask good questions, that you draw the best out in others, that you help clarify objectives for the team. Those are actions that you took to be collaborative.

You really need to pull that “I” out and identify what you did, not just what the collective of the team did. That’s what really brings you, “I’m valued here. I’m needed here. I made a difference.”

Finally, make this a daily practice. Challenge yourself to identify three wins every single day. They don’t have to be big. It might be, I started a meeting on time even though a notoriously late stakeholder wasn’t online yet, or, I responded to a negative situation in a way that I’m really proud of. Or I felt the butterflies and I said the thing anyway. Or I really put this truly visual model in front of a team without obsessing over the lines and I saved myself a ton of time because I knew I was going to have to rework it anyway. Whatever it is, take a few minutes at the end of each day and just write down those three wins. It’ll really help solidify, on a daily basis, how much value you’re contributing.

Bonus Tip 4 – Improve Your Stakeholder Engagement

Now, I know I said three tips, but I wanted to leave you with one more bonus tip, and that’s really to invest some time and attention in how you engage with your stakeholders.

Often we can feel confident when we’re doing independent work, like creating documentation. But then imposter syndrome pops up as we’re starting to review requirements documentation with stakeholders. The better relationships that you already have in place with stakeholders, the more supportive they’re going to be of your work, and the easier it will be for you to show up with confidence. And also the easier it’s going to be to recover when you do make a mistake because you have some trust in place.

If you want to learn how to improve your stakeholder relationships, be sure to check out a new free guide that we’ve just produced. It’s called “10 Tips to Improve Your Stakeholder Relationships.” You can claim your free download by clicking the link below.

Overcoming imposter syndrome is a journey, but with today’s tips, you can build more confidence in yourself and your abilities as a business analyst.

Don’t stop here though. On the topic of confidence, we have another video that you should watch right now, specifically on building your confidence as a business analyst.

So claim that free guide on stakeholder relationships and then watch the video below. I’ll see you over there.

So today, I’m going to answer some of the questions we receive about business analyst certification options, and also share WHY I chose to launch the ACBA.

Why Business Analyst Certification Is Important

Certification is important because having a professional association and a certification process unites us as professionals. The certification process and body of knowledge bring us together, with a shared understanding of the role. They make us all stronger.

And on a personal level, certifications give us recognition and credibility. People see us as more authoritative in our profession when we have a certification. I fought this for a long time because I didn’t think I needed any letters behind my name to be a good BA. And I didn’t. I was a good BA.

• But when I earned my CBAP® nearly 10 years ago, it gave me an extra layer of credibility.
• It was true when Bridging the Gap became an Endorsed Education Provider (EEP) of IIBA® – people automatically had more interest in our business analyst training courses, even though nothing about them had changed!
• And I’ve seen it be true for our initial ACBA Recipients too – I’ve heard stories of shout-outs from managers, contacts from recruiters, people coming to THEM, and asking about their experience.

Like it or not, having a certification and letters to put behind your name does elevate you and your professional stature.

And on a very practical level, if you are looking for a business analyst job, or just want to know you could someday, having a business analyst certification allows you to represent yourself as a professional with a BA certification.

Business Analyst Certifications Not Required to Get Started

While certifications are incredibly important to our profession and can give you an immediate career boost, having a certification is not a pre-requisite to getting started. There are opportunities to get started in the here and now.

For over a decade, we’ve been helping mid-career professionals start business analyst careers, with or without their certifications, by applying business analyst techniques on the job, identifying their transferable business analyst skills, and receiving the training and instructor support they need to feel really confident about moving into a business analyst role.

Why the Applied Certification in Business Analysis?

And that leads me to why I created the Applied Certification in Business Analysis.

We’ve been providing online training since 2010, and our courses have always included a combination of pre-recorded, on-demand training and on-the-job application.

In The Business Analyst Blueprint® program, participants learn and apply a wide range of business analyst techniques on-the-job, or through volunteering, and have their work reviewed by an instructor to meet rigorous program and industry standards.

Historically this has been a requirement just to earn a certificate of completion for the program. And by creating this sort of learning experience, our participants have achieved some phenomenal results.

It’s not uncommon that as aspiring business analysts, be recognized quickly for more on-the-job opportunities, and expand the role they are in (which may be QA, SME, or development) into more of a BA-focused role. Often their transition to a full or official business analyst role then happens within a year or two of finishing the program.

As a practicing professional build up confidence in their business analyst skills, that enables them to move into more senior business analyst roles or step into new business domains or lead and manage other BAs in their organization.

The demands of The Business Analyst Blueprint® program are significant – there are 4 modules in 4 key skill areas – business process analysis, use cases and wireframes, data modeling, and the business analysis process framework. For each module, they prepare and submit a workbook demonstrating they’ve applied the program content on-the-job.

This could involve preparing visual models, writing out requirements documentation, engaging with stakeholders to discover or validate the information. It’s true on-the-job application. There is no fictitious case study to use – participants apply what they learn in the real-world.

That workbook goes through a rigorous instructor review. Many are sent back for revisions and updates. Not everyone passes.

And there was a point at which I realized that what we are asking of our participants deserved more than a certificate of completion. They are demonstrating that they can successfully apply the foundational BA techniques on-the-job, and they deserve a certification as a result.

And so came to be the Applied Certification in Business Analysis.

There Was Another Driver For Me

Most of the professionals we help at Bridging the Gap are mid-career, meaning they have at least a few years of professional experience. Some have decades of experience.

And while they may not yet be ready for a senior-level certification that requires past work experience in business analysis, neither are they served by an entry-level certificate like the ECBA.

The Applied Certification in Business Analysis provides an opportunity for these professionals to earn a certification that aligns with the work experience they have.

And Even More Than This

Ever since I founded Bridging the Gap, part of my mission has been helping us as professionals understand and appreciate our own value, to gain the recognition we deserve and feel truly confident in our skill sets. Granting a certification is a way that I’m serving that larger purpose.

Because when individuals receive a certification they do see their own value, others do recognize them, and they do feel more confident.

Application-Based Business Analyst Certifications Versus Exam-Based Options

Now, when it comes to the difference between the ACBA and the certifications provided by IIBA® and PMI®, it’s really an ‘apples to oranges’ comparison.

These professional certifications are exam-based certifications. You’ll find many providers that teach certification prep courses, and these courses are designed to help you pass the exam. You submit the application, you pass the exam, and you receive the certification.

I don’t say that to minimize the process – these exams are rigorous, and many people do not pass on their first try. I studied for a solid 3 months to pass my CBAP® exam and it was one of the more challenging exams I’ve ever taken. And even submitting the application was quite challenging.

But at the end of the day, they are exams, and that’s an entirely different type of certification than what we offer at Bridging the Gap.

The ACBA on the other hand is an applied certification. It’s in the very name – Applied Certification in Business Analysis – and it represents not just your documented work experience, but the validation of your work experience according to our rigorous certification standards.

It certifies not just that you know how to pass a test, but also that you can perform the foundational business analysis techniques in an industry-standard way on the job. This requires you to go through our specific training materials, because that’s where we teach you how to do each of these techniques, and educate you on the certification and industry standards.

The only way to earn your ACBA is by joining a session of The Business Analyst Blueprint® certification program, and you can find the details on that by clicking the link below this video.

What Business Analyst Certification Is Right For You?

You may be wondering what certification is right for you?

From a professional perspective, I believe there is room for all types of certifications and probably many more in the business analysis space as well. I look forward to professionals having a myriad of options so they can choose what serves them and their career goals.

The ACBA is right for you if:

• You are looking for practical training that you can immediately apply on-the-job and gain hands-on experience, not just abstract knowledge or theory.
• You are willing to invest significant time and energy learning and applying business analyst skill sets to create more opportunities in your current role, or are willing to volunteer to gain experience.
• You want to confirm what you know (and don’t) and fill in any gaps in understanding and build confidence by having an outside perspective on your work.
• You want to put all the techniques together in an end-to-end process that you can apply again and again, and even use as the foundation of your business analysis practice.
• You may be thinking of IIBA® certification in the future, but are still lacking confidence in your actual work experience. Many of our participants find their exam prep for the CCBA® or CBAP® is much easier after participating in our programs because the knowledge has a place to “land” as they build more extensive experience.
• You want to build a portfolio of vetted work samples that you can share with employers to represent your ability to actually do this work.
• You are looking for more credibility, and want a credential that is aligned to your level of career experience, that you can put on your resume, post to LinkedIn, and share with your employer.

How to Earn Your Applied Certification in Business Analysis

If this sounds like you, we’d be honored to help you take your next step and create a purpose-filled career in business analysis.

Click here to learn more about The Business Analyst Blueprint® certification program, where you can earn your Applied Certification in Business Analysis (ACBA).

We build our profession one business analyst at a time. Success starts with you.

How Your ACBA Can Help You Add More Value as a Business Analyst

In this panel of practicing business analysts, 3 of our ACBAs shared their real-world experiences into how they’ve applied business analysis best practices to create value for their organizations.

Tune in to discover how:

• Business processes have helped our panelists identify inefficiencies, find more cost-effective solutions, and ensure you are building solutions that truly benefit the business.
• Use cases and wireframes help them reduce rework late in the software development cycle and prevent missed requirements.
• Data modeling techniques and clarifying terminology help you reduce communication issues and identify data quality issues early on, which saves an immense amount of time later in the project.

While this is outside of our normal set of topics here at Bridging the Gap, having personally experienced Robin’s mentorship, I’ve incorporated essential oils into my daily routine, reaping benefits in my professional life—from intention-setting before meetings to empowering writing sessions.

Tune into this recording to learn about the science of essential oils, tailored specifically for business analysts.

During this session, you’ll gain insights into:

• Overcoming common mental and emotional challenges faced by business analysts, including overworking, overcompensating, and self-doubt.
• Understanding the neuroscience and power essential oils have to rapidly shift your thoughts, emotions, and beliefs, with scientific evidence to support their profound impact at a cellular level.
• Exploring specific essential oils (with business analysts in mind) that can anchor in more confidence, self-assurance, and creativity, all while forging neural pathways that foster your success.

Prepare to be amazed by Robin Jones, an extraordinary professional who has dedicated 15 years to studying and teaching the emotional and energetic properties of essential oils. Her expertise spans across 14 languages and 26 countries, and she even certifies mental health professionals, counselors, coaches, and parents in utilizing essential oils for emotional breakthroughs.

In this live session, Robin introduced the Bridging the Gap Essential Oil Kit, which is a package of essential oils chosen specifically to help business analysts anchor in more confidence, self-assurance, and creativity, all while forging neural pathways that foster your success.

As a new doTerra member, when you make your investment in the BTG Essential Oil Kit, you’ll also receive free shipping and a free diffuser.

>>Click here to buy the BTG Essential Oil Kit<<

(This kit is fully customizable, so you can add and delete oils if you wish. There is a minimum threshold of 150 PV to receive the free diffuser.)

If you’re looking for a career that’s high in demand, has immense growth potential, and will ride the wave of data revolution, an opportunity in the business intelligence space might be for you.

In this video, you’ll learn:

• The typical responsibilities one might expect with a business intelligence role
• How a BI role differs from a traditional business analyst role
• The difference between data analysis and data modeling
• The technical skills required in business analytics and business intelligence

Whether you are just starting out or looking to make a career change, this video is a must-watch.

If you are interested in enhancing your data modeling skills, download our free data modeling training! This resource will teach you:

• What data models you can use to clarify the data requirements
• How to use data models on a variety of projects
• How to understand new domains quickly
• How to excel on system integration and data migration projects

 >> Download the Free Data Modeling Training <<

It is all about the data these days, and if you are looking for a career that’s in high demand, has immense growth potential and will ride the wave of this data revolution, we find ourselves on an opportunity in the business intelligence or BI space might be for you.

In this video, we are going to look at business analysis roles in business intelligence and analytics, including the key skills that you will need for success and how it differs from a more traditional business analyst role. Whether you’re just starting out or looking to make a career change, this video is a must watch.

Hi, I’m Laura Brandenburg with Bridging the Gap where we help you start, succeed, and excel in your business analyst career with weekly videos on business analysis, tips and techniques.

Two Main Ways the “Business Analyst” Job Title is Used

When it comes to job titles in the business analysis space, they can be confusing and deceiving. In particular, there are two primary ways that the business analyst job title is used.

The first is the role that literally bridges the gap between business and technology by ensuring that software solutions do what the business needs them to do and solves a real business problem. Often this role is seen as a technology or IT role. Sometimes it’s located within the business and is the role that collaborates with the technology team.

The second way that the business analyst job title is used is often for more of a business intelligence or analytics role that involves using data analysis and business intelligent tools to gain insights and make decisions. Often this role sits on the financial team, but it may be in marketing some aspect of business, or it might even be on an IT team, or you might have a company that has an entire business intelligence department within one of those larger umbrellas. And of course, as a business analyst, you could be filling both roles. This video is really going to be about the typical responsibilities in both of these roles; the skill sets you need to succeed, and how the rules differ and overlap.

Typical Responsibilities in Business Intelligence

The typical responsibilities in a business intelligence role involve collecting and analyzing data to identify trends and patterns. You’d be developing models that show patterns in the data. You might be identifying opportunities for growth and improvement or how to solve a specific business problem. You could be creating reports that summarize insights and inform business decisions and presenting those reports to leadership within your company, a project team, or a set of sponsors that are trying to make decisions about how to invest money in the company.

Clearly you could be in both roles. You could be using business analytic tools and techniques to identify problems and opportunities, and then you could be using business analysis tools and techniques to clarify and solve them.

One interesting project that I worked on was after the implementation of a major business intelligence platform. It turned out that the data wasn’t actually giving them the information they needed and so I worked with stakeholders to update their business processes and their proprietary software systems to capture the data that they needed for reporting. I think this example shows how these two roles flow together and how essential both can be.

Now to understand the difference between business intelligence roles and the more traditional business analyst roles you really need to understand the difference between data analysis and data modeling.

The Difference Between Data Analysis and Data Modeling

I have an entire video on the difference between data analysis and data modeling, so make sure to check that video out after you finish this one. Nevertheless, I want to speak to it briefly here because it’s just so relevant to this discussion.

Data analysis is the work that you do to analyze the data. It involves generating reports, analyzing those reports, mapping trends, like looking at huge quantities of data sets of things that have been happening in terms of business activity and customer activity, and analyzing and creating meaning from that data, the raw data, that’s been created.

Data modeling is the work you do to decide how information will be modeled and stored in an information system. You would answer questions like, what information do we need to store about our customer behavior or about this transaction, o about how the business completes this workflow? What field are we going to capture this information in?

In the context of setting up a business intelligence reporting system, you’ll determine what data sources are being fed into that centralized repository and how the information in those systems relate together. And again, there’s an overlap because without the data being stored and managed, you really can’t report on it to use it to make better business decisions.

That’s the scenario that my team had run into. They had this great business intelligence system, but it didn’t have the data that they needed, so we had to backtrack and figure out how to re-engineer their business process and their software to ensure we were capturing that data so they could use it to analyze it and make better business decisions.

It’s important to develop skills in both areas if you want to succeed in business intelligence.

If you are interested in enhancing your data modeling skills, we have a great resource for you. It’s our free data modeling training, and it’s going to teach you what data models you can use to clarify data requirements and how to use these on all kinds of projects, even system integration projects and data migration projects, which is really a business intelligence rollout.

A rollout of a business intelligence system often is both your migrating or integrating data into that system. The set of techniques that we cover in that free training would be relevant to you.

In a business intelligence rollout as well, even if you don’t know how to code, I like to stress that about data modeling. You don’t have to know how to code to know how to model data. You can claim this free training by clicking the link below.

 >> Download the Free Data Modeling Training <<

Technical Skills Required in Business Analytics and Business Intelligence

Let’s talk about the technical skills that are required in business analytics and business intelligence. If you want to take your career in that direction, you will need to have a more advanced technical skill set for a functional or process focused business analyst role.

At a minimum, you’re going to need very advanced skills in Excel to be able to create sophisticated reports and pivot tables and really leverage all the functionality available to you in Excel to take that data and make it consumable by other stakeholders in your organization. Often you will need to know how to use SQL so that you can generate reports directly against data sources and run those queries against the database.

It’s also likely that you are going to need to know the business intelligence tool in place in your organization. Common examples include Power BI and Tableau. You might see those coming up on job descriptions for a business analyst role that might be titled Business Analyst. That’s often a great indicator that it’s really a business intelligence analyst type of role. Those sorts of tools like Power BI and Tableau centralize data from multiple sources and help you generate those sophisticated reports that you can use as part of exploring business problems.

Business Acumen is Also Required

Now, business acumen is often also required. This is not just a technical role. You need that business acumen to know what questions to ask. How do I interpret this data to answer those questions? How do I present this data in a meaningful way to executives and other stakeholders to drive better decision making? It’s a technical role with still a business acumen focus.

Where Do You Want to Go With Your Career?

My question for you is, where do you want to go with your career? Business analytics, business intelligence, and more general business analyst rules all represent great career opportunities. Where you ultimately decide to go in your career will depend on the skills that you want to develop. Do you want to be more data focused and technical? Do you want to be part of ongoing decision making and prioritizing improvements? A career in business analytics or business intelligence could be a really good fit for you.

Do you want to be more process and functional focused, perhaps less technical, more collaborative than a career in business analysis doing process development and functional software requirements as well as modeling the data could be a great fit for you. Both are an option. These roles flow really well together, and no matter what you choose, you could find yourself doing work from the other role on a particular project or just at a particular time in your career. Either way, data modeling skills are going to be essential to your success as you can’t analyze data if you don’t understand how it’s structured. That’s why our free data modeling training is so valuable.

Expand Your Data Modeling Skills

You can sign up for that free training right now and discover the essential data modeling techniques that you can use to add more value, even if you don’t know how to code, by clicking the link below.

 >> Download the Free Data Modeling Training <<

I recently hosted a LinkedIn Live with project management expert, Elizabeth Harrin where we dug into the overlaps and differences between these two roles, as well as how professionals in these roles can work together to support a project’s success.

In this video, you’ll discover:

• How to define the roles of business analyst and project manager, and the skills required for each role.
• How business analysis and project management roles differ and overlap.
• The pros and cons of having two distinct roles on a project team and how business analysts and project managers can collaborate more effectively.
• The questions YOU bring to this live event about project management and business analysis.

If you would like to learn more about Elizabeth Harrin, you can find her LinkedIn profile here.

LAURA BRANDENBURG: Well, hello and welcome everyone. I am so excited to be here today with Elizabeth Harrin and Paula Bell facilitating. We’re here to talk about project management and business analysis and what the roles are, how they partner together, how they’re different, how they collaborate.

Just to kind of kick things off, if you can let us know in the chat, where you’re tuning in from, but also, are you a business analyst? Are you a project manager? Or maybe you’re both. A lot of people are both. While you’re doing that, I’ll just share a little bit about myself and a little bit about our special guest, Elizabeth.

I’m Laura Brandenburg with Bridging the Gap. We are an online training and certification company where we focus on helping you start, succeed and excel in your business analyst career.

Today we have Elizabeth Harrin, who’s a project management expert. Elizabeth, I apologize. Oh no, here’s your bio. Sorry it was a little bit lower down. I thought I totally lost your bio. I was going to punt it over to you.

But, yes, on top of all of that, she’s the creator of the “Rebels Guide to Project Management,” the author of a long line of project management books, including her most recent one, “Managing Multiple Projects,” which is shortlisted on the Business Books Awards this year. So a huge congratulations on that. She’s a fellow of the Association of Project Management and also practices as a project manager in the UK. You bring a lot of both theoretical and practical experience. What I always love about chatting with you is one, how much you appreciate and value the business analyst role, which isn’t always common amongst project managers. And also just that practical focus that you bring. We always have some good chats.

ELIZABETH HARRIN: Well, thank you very much for having me on the show.

LAURA BRANDENBURG: Yeah. So great to have you here. Would you like to kick things off? We were going to start by just talking about what is business analysis, what is project management? Do you want to start by kicking us off on your view of the project management role?

ELIZABETH HARRIN: Yes. Sure. I think for me, project management is about getting the work done often through other people because we’re in a team. So for me, the project manager is almost like the conductor of an orchestra. The person who tries to keep everybody pulling in the same direction. We might have a vision or a goal that’s been set by senior leadership, and we have to help people turn that into reality.

We are, in a project management role, the person bringing each different discipline together or subject matter expert together to ensure that all the contributions happen at the right time with the goal of creating that business value that the senior stakeholders expect.

I’ve often heard it called herding cats. Have you come across that as well?

LAURA BRANDENBURG: That, yes, that metaphor, which I imagine like cats, just kind of like to go their own direction. You’re trying to get everybody running in the same direction.

ELIZABETH HARRIN: Yes. Yes.

LAURA BRANDENBURG: Yes. I’m seeing people join. Some combined lots of business analysts, delivery manager, BA, PM. So combination. Lots of different variations, which is what I would expect because we’ve both shared this with our communities. So yeah, variations on all of those roles.

Just to compliment that, at Bridging the Gap, we help business analysts who literally bridge the gap between business and technology stakeholders. There are lots of different ways that title is used. That’s one of the complexities within business analysis. But the way that we define the title and the role within what we do at Bridging the Gap is the person who is helping ensure that software solutions deliver real business value and do what the business needs and wants them to do and solve real business problems.

Often they would use techniques like business process analysis, making sure they understand the business workflow and the problem to be solved. Use cases, wireframes, user stories. Some way of identifying what those software requirements are or those functional requirements. And then a variety of different data modeling techniques that articulate how information is stored and flows through the software systems.

In a project, it would align with the project manager role of defining the business needs or outcomes, but take it through scope and then really heavy work in the detailed requirements phase, and then focus more on collaborating and supporting the business and technology solution, or stakeholders, as they implement that solution.

We were also going to talk a little bit about the skills. If you are just joining us, we are having each person share in the chat if they want to share where you’re from. But also, are you a business analyst, project manager, or do you fill both roles? I see a lot of people sharing their role. But just so you know what people are sharing in the chat, it helps us get to know who’s here and how we can help support you.

Let’s just dig in a little bit more of the skills that are required. Elizabeth, in your view, what are the skills that you see are required for successful project management?

ELIZABETH HARRIN: So many skills. I think it’s actually a really challenging job and I know that business analysis is the same. You have to wear so many different hats and be skilled in so many different things. There are a couple of things there that I thought was probably worth sharing.

In the past project management used to be very much around the technical skills. At least those were the highly prized valuable skills around scheduling, understanding risk, creating complicated charts. But today, and in fact, it’s evolved over, I’d say the last 10 years, the industry in general, the profession, workplaces have recognized that actually the work of getting people to pull together to create that business value is not really served by having a wonderful pretty risk log. It’s really served by all of those interpersonal skills, bringing people together, creating a culture where collaboration is expected, where teams trust each other to get their work done.

All the stuff that PMI calls power skills, which you might know as interpersonal skills or soft skills, or the soft skills that are really the hard skills. All the negotiation and listening and leadership and communication and collaboration and building trust, especially in virtual teams. All of that stuff, I think, is really, if you’re thinking about taking a project management job at the moment, those are the things that will help you stand above other candidates because that’s what really, I was going to say, a real buzzword then I was going to say, shifts the needle. I try and avoid things like that. Those are the things that will really make you stand out from other candidates.

You still need all of the technical skills. You still need to be able to actually do the job of tracking and monitoring and controlling the work and handling the finances and doing the scheduling. But at the end of the day, if no one wants to work on your project because it’s difficult to understand what the work is or you make it awkward or people don’t want to be in that kind of culture, then the business won’t get those outcomes and it won’t get the benefits. That means a lot of the skills are centered around creating a nice place to work and where you can get your team to pull together, and everyone’s empowered to do their best work. Really.

Can I also say something else about that, which is the team T-shaped skills? Have you come, I’m sure you have, but I wonder if people in the audience have come across this concept of being a T-shaped person before, where you’ve got a lot of broad skills; you’ve got a lot of skills that you have a quite shallow depth of knowledge in. I mean, I’m not a financial analyst. I’m not the best risk manager in the world. I know enough to do my job, but then you have deep domain knowledge in certain areas that are sort of extra core skills for your particular specialism. There are certain things which fall under that project management skills umbrella around scheduling, task management, reporting, monitoring and control, that I would say project managers need to be really, really good at.

And then there’s probably some other skills that form the top bar of the T, like business acumen, being able to understand the commercials of an organization, being able to operate within a portfolio environment. If you are having to work within a program, for example, and other things like that, that you need to have some awareness of.

Sorry, I felt like I’ve gone on there because the whole topic of skills is so huge and you can talk just about that.

LAURA BRANDENBURG: Yeah, I think what was so important about what you said, I mean, there was a lot of great things you said, but the importance of the “soft skills.” I know that maybe is part of the T shape. It’s kind of an industry trend to talk more about soft skills, but that is what set so many people apart. In terms of their ability to get positive results from their projects and from their work.

I would say for a business analyst, it’s very similar that you need to have really strong communication, collaboration skills. You need to be able to build trust with stakeholders. Often you’re inviting them and asking them to share information that feels like something they might want to protect for some reason. You have to build that trust and awareness. Being able to ask good questions, be a great listener. For a business analyst, the more technical skills. I went through those more in the overview of the role, but then it becomes how do you analyze that information into some sort of a model that then shows this is what we’re going to build, or this is what our process is, or this is what the software is.

Again, though, being able to put that model in front of a stakeholder and have a conversation about it. It’s not so much just the building of that model, which can be, I think, equivalent maybe to the project manager. You could go build a schedule all day, but if people aren’t saying, yes, I’m going to actually do those tasks on those dates, the schedule is sort of irrelevant.

The same thing for an analyst. You could go create requirements models all day, but if people aren’t actually saying, yes, this is what I want, and yes, from a solution perspective, this is what we can build, you’re just kind of creating documentation for the sake of documentation. That ability to get alignment and clarity is also really important.

We are going to make this really collaborative. I love seeing all of your shares in the chat. If you have any specific questions about business analysis for project management skillsets, go ahead and let us know what those are in the chat as well.

I did want to let you know at Bridging the Gap, and Elizabeth, if you have something similar let us know. We can share it. We have a free BA skills assessment download as well. If that’s something you want to learn more about, feel free to download that assessment and we’ll get that link in the chat for you as well.

It sounded like you were going to say something, so I wanted to give you a chance to say that.

ELIZABETH HARRIN: I can see that Kevin just. Sorry. It says there are a couple of people commenting on the T shape and all the broad skills that we need to do the project management and business analysis role. And Kevin, you’ve asked a question, “What’s the V side of the T?” I’m not sure if I understand that question. Perhaps there’s a different way you could phrase it.

I can see other questions coming in. What do you want to do with those, Laura? Do you want to…? I’ll let you steer.

LAURA BRANDENBURG: Yes, no worries. So what is the business analyst? How do they partner to create value? We are getting there. We’re going to just do a little bit more foundational pieces to make sure we understand the various roles.

Let’s see. There is a question. “Is the business analyst only for a software or technology industry?” And I guess that would be a similar question for project management.

There are multiple different definitions of the business analysis role. In the broadest sense, business analysis, as defined by IIBA, would be relevant outside of a project or a project context or a software context. The way we teach it, it’s just anyone who helps bring business change to organizations and helps get clarity on what that solution looks like. That solution does not have to be a technology solution.

The way that we teach it at Bridging the Gap is we focus on the software solution, but by no means is your work isolated to the software because the software never happens in a vacuum. The software is always part of a business process or it’s part of a product. It’s hard to envision, actually, a business process or a product these days that doesn’t have some impact on the software and technology of your organization. It’s not limited in that sense, like it’s only for that, but often it involves that and you need to look at all the layers around that to be effective.

It’s actually kind of a good transition into where we were going to go next, Elizabeth, with specialized skill sets. Because I think you were talking about some of the specialized skills that are important for project managers or how that affects the role. Maybe you can speak to is there a specialized role within the software industry as well for project managers?

ELIZABETH HARRIN: The thing is, I think, from a project perspective, most projects involve some degree of technology now. I wouldn’t say that I’ve worked in software and tech companies. I’ve worked in financial services in healthcare pretty much my whole career really. We’ve had business analysts in financial services and in healthcare. They’ve worked on projects where technology has been an element of it, but these days, pretty much all projects have an element of technology. Not all, but many of them do and that touches business processes. To have that interplay between how does the solution deliver value and are we doing the right thing, having a business analyst is really crucial.

I don’t think it’s specific to technology. If you’re looking for a role, then there are plenty of industries out there that would definitely use those skills.

LAURA BRANDENBURG: I want to say one thing real quick. I want to clarify because I think that’s such an important distinction. It’s not that the industry is technology, it’s that there is some element of technology in the industry. Financial services have huge amounts of software. I think that is an important nuance. So thank you for that.

Do you want to speak to how specialized skills show up? Like industry skills or awareness of a certain business domain? What kinds of specialties are there, and how do those show up within the project management role?

ELIZABETH HARRIN: Well, project management is a bit of a universal skill in that probably everybody on this call has managed a project in the past. Whether that’s been a house renovation, a wedding, a family party, a sports event, something with a start, a middle and an end where you’ve had a to-do list or a task list, they’re all projects.

Within the workplace, we have projects for pretty much everything. And if it’s not your full-time role, it might be part of your role or something that you’re contributing to if somebody else is leading it. And so in that respect, a lot of the fundamentals of how do we manage projects are common sense and also things that we all do within our day jobs.

There are some benefits, I think, of working within perhaps a domain. So for example, like I said, my background is healthcare. If you put me on a construction site and said, “Manage this project to build a car park,” I would probably really struggle. I mean, I can still do the schedule, I can still talk to the people, but I won’t have those connections that come with working in a domain for 15 years that say, “Oh, if we do this, then I have to involve that person and this might happen to happen.” Those kinds of connections and the understanding of the context of your work, I think, is probably why people like me end up staying in one industry vertical for a relatively long period of time. That’s not to say you can’t change.

If you wanted to go and be a project manager in space science or you’ve wanted to go and suddenly work in retail or construction or clinical trials, something like that, then a lot of the skills are transferrable. But it’s just a case of you’ve got to quite quickly learn that domain knowledge.

When I moved from financial services to healthcare, my first [unintelligible – 0:17:58:2] radiology, I knew that’s what I was going to do. I knew I was going to be given a project in the radiology department. I listened to podcasts, just general podcasts from a radiographer, almost like university level teaching. Most of it I did not understand at all. But just the way of learning the vocabulary, some of the key concepts that came out, I thought, okay, that’s giving me a bit of background. So when I go into this brand new domain to me, I have a little bit of an understanding about what does it mean to have a radiology department within a hospital. So it’s all learnable. I think context is something that comes with practice and learnable.

To summarize that, in project management, a lot of it’s transferrable, but I do think there are probably some industries where it helps to have a bit of domain knowledge that you can build up over time.

LAURA BRANDENBURG: Yeah, I would agree. We see the same thing in business analysis. Although there are a lot of roles that do require more specialized skillsets, whether it’s like in an industry or domain or the technical solution, I think what people perceive is that if you have that specialty, you’re going to have a quicker path to understanding the business language, to coming up with the possible solutions when it comes to technology, you’ll understand the problem. I think sometimes that’s very true, and sometimes the reverse is actually true. Being the outsider who actually doesn’t understand the industry as a business analyst, allows you to ask the “dumb” questions. The questions that you think everybody else in the room knows the answer to, but they actually don’t until you’re like, “Well, what does that acronym mean?” You realize that two people are using the same acronym to talk about something completely different, so they’re talking past each other. Or “Why have we always done it that way?” Sometimes the outsider effect has a really positive impact, but it does feel like it slows the process down at the beginning when the business analyst needs to really come up to speed on vocabulary and terminology.

ELIZABETH HARRIN: Somebody’s put “curiosity” in the comments, actually, as a key skill and I think that’s really good. It’s really worth asking all of those questions, like, what are we doing? Why are we doing it? And being curious about how this business value is going to get delivered.

Curiosity is good and I think it helps you with all of their understanding, but the thing that drove me into healthcare is I just thought it would be really interesting. It is. Every day is fascinating and I’m learning new things. I feel like I’m really making a difference. So if you are watching this thinking what sort of vein do I want to go in? What sort of industry is going to give me the best opportunity as a BA or a PM? I would think do something that sounds interesting to you, whether that’s floristry or retail or, technology or software startups, or whatever it is. Because if you can do something that you really, within the context of the organization, is something that you really think you want to get involved with and learn more about, then you’ll be curious naturally, because you’ll want to know more about how the industry works.

LAURA BRANDENBURG: Definitely. Paula, we have a question or two that we want to take around the skillsets here before we move on to the roles and how they overlap.

PAULA: I’m looking, can you hear me? Hopefully you can hear me.

LAURA BRANDENBURG: Yeah.

PAULA: Okay, good. All righty. We do have one question. How does one get experience and work and build a portfolio? That was one of the questions. We have a lot of comments, so that’s why I’m weeding through a lot of the comments. That’s the first question I’ve actually seen, as a question.

LAURA BRANDENBURG: And was it for either role?

PAULA: It didn’t specify. So I think answering for either role would be okay.

LAURA BRANDENBURG: You want to speak to that, Elizabeth, from a project management perspective?

ELIZABETH HARRIN: Okay. Yeah. From a project management perspective, if you want to gain experience, I would look at what you are doing outside of your current work or within your current work that can be framed as a project. So maybe you’re doing some volunteering work, or maybe there is something that you’re doing within your current role that you could apply project management practices too. If you’ve done a training course or you’ve read about some skills that you want to try and put into practice, there’s nothing stopping you creating a roadmap for your work over the next quarter or trying to come up with the risks that might be affecting your work over the next however long. There’s nothing stopping you from putting together monthly reports or a project charter for something that someone’s asked you to do. It might just be for your own personal benefit because no one else cares or wants to see it. But it can help you get into the right mindset of what does it look like, how do I create it? What template would I use for this? And then when you do go to an interview, you’ve got some examples that you can draw on of things.

But often, actually, one of the other top tips for trying to get experience is to volunteer with Project Management Institute if there’s one close by to you, because they’re always putting on events and obviously they do those things in a very project management kind of way, and that gives you experience to different principles and practices, and working together as a project team. What do you think, Laura, from the BA side?

LAURA BRANDENBURG: Yeah. Very similar and most often we encourage people to just start doing business analysis where you’re at in your role. Very often the very first place that people can start is by analyzing a business process. Where I see people get caught up is they see business analysis as being this like big thing. I’m creating dozens of documents and requirements for a big multi-year project or a year-long, or a six month project, right. Whereas you can really start at a very granular level of what’s a process that I do in my work day-to-day? Can I document it? And ideally, could I look at my process either from the perspective a bit broader so that I’m looking at people from other departments who do steps before me and people from other departments who do steps after me so I’m getting a bigger view and getting them involved in understanding the process and we’re all getting aligned on what that process is.

Often from there, you’re going to start finding improvements. Those improvements might involve some software that you need to automate or improve. Then you can start looking at software requirements and you can still be doing that. That could be like a simple one feature thing that you put into your IT support desk to request. But you’re defining a requirement when you do that.

Often I’ve seen people do this so many times, they start to get recognized as like, oh my goodness, this person is really helping improve things over here. How do we get them to do more of that? And that can evolve into more of a formal business analyst role. But you just start right where you’re at.

I see Kevin talking about a test analyst. I was a quality assurance engineer before I was a business analyst, and I did not realize that I was, because I was testing a new area of the technology that nobody else had really put a disciplined effort into, I was essentially building a business process to test. I was seen as having that skillset from that result.

We’ll continue to take questions. So Paula, if there’s a good question that pops up, just go ahead and jump in with that. But we did want to also talk about how the roles overlap.

Elizabeth, where do you see the primary areas of overlap between the two roles?

ELIZABETH HARRIN: Overlap as in things that are the same?

LAURA BRANDENBURG: Yeah.

ELIZABETH HARRIN: There’s quite a lot of the role where we could overlap in a very positive way because both roles are focused on the end goal and what’s actually required. And like you said, the business value angle. Getting the right solution, understanding the interfaces with other activities outside of the project. There might be other projects happening, there might be dependencies on other work and obviously there’s other process and people dependencies on what the project is doing because nothing really happens in isolation.

I think PMs need that information to manage the stakeholder relationships and expectations. There’s a lot around communications, making sure that’s effective, reaching the right people and managing the dependencies within those stakeholder groups so the right people know what they’re supposed to be doing at the right time.

And I think towards the end of a project, there’s probably quite a lot of overlap in making sure that it lands well so that what we are delivering is fit for purpose. People are ready for it and people are getting what it was that they thought they were going to get.

There’s a bit of a formality and governance in there as well because you’ll get the review of the requirements, making sure that they’re fit for purpose against delivery. And then there’s a project sign off document and there’s the formal closing down of the project, making sure that everybody’s happy. There needs to be quite a lot of overlap without stepping on each other’s toes at that point too.

LAURA BRANDENBURG: I don’t know that I have too much to add to that. I think kind of from a skillset perspective, what we’ve highlighted is they’re both really engaged with their stakeholders. They have a huge role in managing stakeholder relationships. That often, I think, is best done in partnership to some degree, because the business analyst is working with them on an ongoing basis as part of the requirements process, and the project manager, making sure things are getting done and all of the things that come in.

I also feel like there’s a lot of, like, we could probably have a whole conversation just about this, but about the scope. I know as a business analyst; I’m so focused on what’s the problem we’re solving? What’s the potential of the solution scope? And there’s this need to bring it into alignment with what’s the budget and the timeline and how are we actually going to implement this?

There’s a shared role in figuring that out and prioritizing, but also navigating as you uncover more details through the process. Does this actually fit within the scope? As a business analyst, I think it’s easy to kind of get lost in the “oh, look at all these things we could do.” Whereas you want to be able to bring in some of that value focus of like, oh wait, if we really take on this new big requirement we just discovered while we were just identifying the details for this use case, it’s going to have a significant impact on the project as well. There’s a lot of interplay there, I think, from a scope perspective.

ELIZABETH HARRIN: Good because it provides the check and balance. There might be a thousand great ideas and then we have to align that with how much time have we got, how much money have we got, how much effort and interest have we got from our stakeholders?

But equally, a project manager could go off and deliver a fantastic project that hits every milestone, but it’s the wrong answer. We’ve delivered a piece of software within budget and on time. If the stakeholders knew what they were getting and six months later people stopped using it because it doesn’t have the features that they want and it’s not really fit for purpose. Between the two roles, there’s that scope related check and balance that we can do for each other.

LAURA BRANDENBURG: Very much for sure.

PAULA: Well, I would just like to mention really quick here, since you told me to jump in, Laura. We are getting questions fast and furious. Would you like to entertain some of these questions right now and get some engagements from the audience?

LAURA BRANDENBURG: Yeah.

PAULA: The first question is specifically for you, Laura. The question is some of what you describe about documenting a process when you were talking about analyzing the process earlier on. Is it different from service design, which analyzes a customer service process?

LAURA BRANDENBURG: I’ll just be totally upfront. I’m not 100% familiar with service design, so I’m going to just speak to it from the customer service process. But analyzing a process and documenting a process is documenting a process. So you are looking at what are the steps that a business user goes through to achieve a specific outcome for the business and something that is repeatable and that it happens again and again. And it might not happen today in a consistent way. That could be the problem you’re trying to solve, but you want it to happen in a consistent way.

So in the context of a customer service process, it could be what happens when you receive a new issue,  like an issue submitted by a customer, or an outage. Whatever those sets of processes your customer service is going through. If you’re doing that under the context of service design for customer service, you are definitely doing business analysis from the perspective of business process analysis. So that would be a transferrable skill that you can bring. Great question.

PAULA: Here’s another question that I think both of you can opine on, and this question is, would you both have roles as part of a Scrum team?

ELIZABETH HARRIN: As a project manager? Probably not.

LAURA BRANDENBURG: I want to hear more about that, Elizabeth. Go for it.

ELIZABETH HARRIN: Within an agile setup, within a Scrum team, there is no formal role for a project manager. So you’d have a self-organizing…I’m guessing the person who asked that question knows more about Scrum. I don’t work in an agile team. I’m very much waterfall methodology and predictive with the work that I do.  Samuel’s here.

The role that I do doesn’t really exist within that Scrum environment. And I’m not sure about a BA. It’s not a job title that comes up when I work with the Scrum teams within my organization. But they have a product owner and a Scrum master. The role of a project manager, in the true Scrum sense, doesn’t really exist. But I’m very happy to listen to people who’ve got a more practical working experience of agile teams than I have.

I’m a project manager on a project at the moment, and the technology component is being delivered by a Scrum team. I have a role, but my role is not managing the technology aspect of it. I’m coordinating the work of the other stakeholders. I’m reporting up to the program. I’m doing lots of other project management bits around the edges and I keep an overall schedule, but within the actual Scrum team, they don’t need me.

LAURA BRANDENBURG: I have not heard someone explain it that way. And I just love that distinction and the value of it because it affects business analysts as well. Often there will be someone with the business analyst skillset on the Scrum team. It might be the product owner. Or it might be a BA role who supports the product owner. Those are roles on kind of bigger teams that I’ve seen. I’ve filled that role on a team before, on an agile team, the business analyst supporting a product owner/project manager.

But there are also all the stuff that happens outside the software part when we are talking about business process analysis and rolling a piece of software out to the business and training and the financials and the risk management from project management. That can happen outside of Scrum. I think that is what I heard you say, to just kind of sum it up.

ELIZABETH HARRIN: Yes. And Linda has suggested, Linda in the chat in LinkedIn has said a different thing  in her organization. Project managers can be Scrum masters. I think that’s one of the benefits of project management Agile in general is that organizations can make this. There is no set in stone 10 step commandments to how to be a project manager. If it works for your organization and you want to implement it in a particular way, then just do it. We can evolve the role to be what the organization needs us to be, because it’s quite a flexible role, and it’s all about getting work done.

If you can be a project manager and a Scrum master and the team needs that, then great. If you’re just adding a role for the sake of it to bloat out the team and put someone else on the payroll, then that doesn’t add any value. But if the team is set up and benefits, then benefit is good. It’s just a different way of organizing your resources to get the best value.

LAURA BRANDENBURG: Very much so. I’m going to go a little bit off our outline here, but it feels like the perfect time to talk about being both a business analyst and a project manager. We’ve talked about how they overlap, but a lot of people here were saying, I am both a business analyst and a project manager. I have aspects of both of that, both of those roles. There are some pros and some cons to that.

We have kind of talked about it, and it can come up in the context of Agile, because often in an agile team you are more pressured to fill multiple roles as well too. I think it’s really related to this question.

Do you have a clear yay nay on whether it should be a separate role or two distinct roles on a team, Elizabeth?

ELIZABETH HARRIN: Oh, that’s a really good question. Why did you have to put me on the spot?

LAURA BRANDENBURG: I know I phrased it differently.

ELIZABETH HARRIN: No, no, no. It’s fine. If you’re a business analyst and a project manager, there’s more work for you to do, but it’s cheaper for the team and maybe you find that work moves faster because there’s no handoff between people. And on simple projects there might not be the need for lots of process mapping, lots of workshops, lots of analysis, lots of requirements.

You said at the beginning people think of business analysis as creating many documents of requirements. On a small project, maybe that’s not the level of work required. And if the process is well known or maybe already well documented, and you’ve got quite a mature project management environment, stakeholders maybe need less handholding and they’ve got the time to invest in the project, then you might be able to find that doing the BA and the project management role fits quite well together, especially if the answer is already sort of predetermined and there’s already quite a clear guidance of what the solution should be.

I think there are advantages, but I can see that it’s two full-time jobs on a big project. And how does one person fit all of that work in and switch the hats constantly and dip into the details to do the requirements? And then after the big picture, present a one page to whoever needs it at that moment. What do you think?

LAURA BRANDENBURG: Yeah, yeah. I’m right with you. Well, I want to talk about the big picture piece and then come back to the smaller one because I have a follow up question around that. But I do think when you’re talking about a big project, the overwhelm and the different type of thinking that’s required.

One is there’s like the big picture and the granular level, which is one split. But there’s also solution delivery focus and problem focus. As a business analyst, I want to get in and figure out all the details, and I might start gradually figuring out this bigger potential solution. And then I’ve got to switch context, “All right, what can get done in the time and schedule we have?”

It’s healthy to look at things from both perspectives. I think both roles need to look at things from both perspectives. But when you’re trying to own both perspectives, you’re going to feel that conflict with yourself often. You’re going to naturally gravitate towards one perspective or the other versus having a healthy balance within the teams.

ELIZABETH HARRIN: Yes. And I think the tension doesn’t just come from within, it comes from the stakeholders as well. Because I know from pretty much every single project I’ve worked on, senior stakeholders want you to go, I mean, who….comment if you have worked on a project where they’ve said, “No, have as much time as you like to plan. Get it right. Spend all this time reflecting at the beginning and come up with something amazing.” No, it’s like, “Oh, well we approved this project yesterday. Now here, if you’ve got a million pounds. When do we see our first deliverable? We want it next week.” That’s a bit of an exaggeration, but there’s definitely this pressure to deliver.

When a project is approved, often stakeholders want a quick start and they want to know that things are happening. There’s a tension coming from external stakeholders as well who are trying to go, go, go, go. And if you’ve got to wear both hats, you’ve got to satisfy that requirement and also spend enough time ring fencing enough time to do a proper job at the beginning.

LAURA BRANDENBURG: Yeah, for sure. I want to come back to that question. That’s like on a bigger project. But on a smaller project when you said it’s smaller or the business process is well defined, do you see it as the project manager’s role to essentially define the requirements or does it tend to fall to the business side or the technology side? Because there’s still business analysis that needs to happen. It’s not that it doesn’t happen, it just might not be as heavy of a role as on some of these bigger projects. Where does that tend to get picked up?

ELIZABETH HARRIN: Where organizations have business analysts, they are probably better used on the more complicated projects and that means that their time is probably not available to those smaller projects, which means that other people have to do that to fill the gap because there either isn’t the business analyst resource or the BA’s are off doing something that is a better use of their time perhaps. I don’t know whether that’s really the right way to phrase it, but, if you have a big complex strategic project, that’s where I’m thinking you would put the people most skilled at being able to focus and support the delivery of those.

So who does it? It would be either the project manager or the users, or it just doesn’t get done. Then you end up muddling through with what we think the requirements might be and building in a very, you know, we might pilot something, we might then iterate, we might try to incrementally improve over time because we didn’t get it quite right at the beginning.

LAURA BRANDENBURG: That’s where you end up with like the rework. Then a small thing becomes a big thing. It’s sort of interesting.

ELIZABETH HARRIN: Yes.

LAURA BRANDENBURG: We could also talk about the pressures of everybody thinking their thing is a small thing from the beginning, and so wanting to do things that way, but then they actually kind of become bigger because of the rework at the end.

I think this might be a good time to take a few questions. Paula, I could see. I have not been able to read any of it because I’ve been so engaged, but like there’s a lot going on in the chat. Is there a question or two that we should…

PAULA: I think one question that’s a really good one is, what would you say are the main differentiators between a PM and a BA?

LAURA BRANDENBURG: This is the question I skipped over in our outline. You can be honest. Do you want to start, Elizabeth or do you want me to?

ELIZABETH HARRIN: The main difference is, can we sum it up by saying something like, if the project manager is focused on getting us to the finish line, then the BA is focused on making sure that when we get there, we’ve done the right thing.

I know that’s a mind, that’s a mindset thing rather than a skillset thing. It’s just a different role to fulfill within the team. If you’re thinking, Allison, about differentiators within the job itself, I think that’s probably quite clear. What would help me is to sit down at the beginning of the project and say, “This is the team we’ve got. How are we going to work together? What are you going to do? How do our different roles overlap? How are we going to make sure that we are getting the best out of all of the resources, all the people who are working with us? And set expectations about the roles in that respect.

If you’re thinking more differentiators in terms of skillsets, I would probably say analysis. I think that the role I have now as a project manager, I’m not required to do anything in a great level of detail. That sounds like I skim over all the detail.

There are things, I hold a lot of dates and things in my head, I have a lot of numbers in my head, but the requirements, I trust my team. That’s what they’re there for. They’re the subject matter experts. If they tell me we need to do something, I’m not going to dig into why and all of this because I trust that someone’s already done that and had that thought process. They’re telling me what needs to happen.

So, I’m not sure. I feel like I can only really speak from my personal experience. I don’t know if I’ve answered your question, Allison. So let’s give Laura a go.

LAURA BRANDENBURG: I feel like you did a great job. It kind of calls me to be like, well, what has been that differentiator for the great project managers that I’ve worked with? I think what I have seen is they are very, very strategic and they are outward focused from a wide variety of business stakeholders. It feels so weird to say that cause I feel like a business analyst needs to have that skillset as well. But they’re often, at least in a lot of the environments I were in, they were at different tables in different kinds of discussions at that portfolio level, at the strategic level. And they were helping the business decide what could get done and how to sequence things.

I really trust them from an implementation and delivery perspective. I figured out, with the business, figured out what needs to be done and what that solution looks like. But I don’t have to manage and make sure all those boxes are checked off. At the end of the day, all those things did get done. That is something that I would partner with a project manager and have the freedom to then either be working on what does the business need to do to be prepared to accept the solution or another project or be working on something else while the team is more at implementation mode.

ELIZABETH HARRIN: So the business analyst is the voice of the business.

LAURA BRANDENBURG: Yeah.

ELIZABETH HARRIN: It’s gone too many comments. Ryan said that. The business analyst does the what and the project manager does the how. And if you think of the business analyst as the voice of the business, the project managers, we can implement whatever you tell us to really.

I, personally, like to get really involved at the beginning and understand the why and the business case and make sure that I feel like I understand why that decision was taken. But often I mentor project managers and I often hear them say, “I just got given this new project. And a lot of their thinking and business case and analysis of the what are we doing and why are we doing it has happened before we’ve got involved.”

And then it’s just like you said, it’s the how do we make this get across the line? How do we monitor, control, schedule, chase people for tasks, herd the cats until we get there. And then making sure that we’re partnering with the voice of the business, the voice of the customer all the way through to make sure that we’re still on track to do what they would find valuable.

LAURA BRANDENBURG: That’s so fascinating. That is so fascinating. Because I find the same thing happens for business analysts where they’re like, “Oh, the project manager figured out the strategy, defined the scope, and now they’re just bringing me in to figure out the detailed requirements.”

I mean, it must happen different ways in different organizations. We’ve shown that both roles sometimes are on the receiving end of not being involved early, and that can cause challenges ideally. You’re both involved upfront.

PAULA: Another question that, a theme I should say. There are two themes that are occurring right now. One theme, so that’s why I haven’t put up the question because multiple people have asked this question, “How does AI impact the roles of the BA and the project manager?”

LAURA BRANDENBURG: I think for AI, this has come up, this came up in our last live stream. I don’t know if we’ll have a live stream this year where this question doesn’t come up. But, it’s a great tool to use to learn a business domain to help identify requirements, to help draft requirements. I feel like AI gives us access to information and structured thinking that might create something that would take us 20, 30 minutes to create and give us a good draft to work from. So we can focus more of that time on the stakeholder engagement. Like, is this the use case we actually want? Are these things that we actually need for our business case, for our business value? It can do some of that preliminary thinking for us to give us good drafts to start from and speed up our work, so to speak.

So Elizabeth, how about you from a project management role?

ELIZABETH HARRIN: I’m in two minds about it really. I’m quite excited about the possibilities of what AI can add to project management software to alleviate some of the heavy lifting.

What I’d really like to see is tools that can take large data sets and crunch them so that, let’s say Laura gives me an estimate for a project task and I plug it in and the software ping list and says, “Did you know that the last two times Laura has provided you with estimates they’ve been 20% wrong?” Then I can sort of, what do I want to do with that information? How do I want to approach this? I can see that the analysis of large data sets, of all the stuff that we put into software could be really helpful, especially around risk surfacing some of the insights and lessons learned because we typically do that quite badly as well within organizations around knowledge sharing. How do we surface some of the insights from other projects so that we can learn better?

But I also think the fundamental goals, going back to the beginning of what we talked about at the very beginning of this conversation, was around soft skills, negotiating, communication, collaboration, and culture. I am yet to see an AI tool that could fill that role for any of us as humans within the workplace. So I still feel that both BAs and PMs will be here for many, many years to come. Perhaps we’ll be able to work more efficiently because of the tool sets that we’re able to use. But I certainly don’t think that robots will be doing our jobs.

Come back and watch this video in 50 years and tell me if I’m right.

LAURA BRANDENBURG: We’ll be done. That’s awesome. One thing I wanted to make sure we talked a little bit about, because this came up when we had our sort of pre-talk quite a while ago now, was about partnering, some of the challenges that can come up when we have two really strong individuals in these roles that have, as we’ve noticed, like a passion for solving the right problem and getting the right thing done. And maybe the role isn’t clearly understood in your organization or there’s a sense of some overlap. Or, or not. We have really clear roles, but we’re just both a little bit on our own tracks, so to speak.

I know for me, one of the areas that I felt a lot of tension for from project managers at times was this sense of a deadline in this sense of I am trying to discover this thing that doesn’t yet exist and nobody knows exactly what it’s going to be, and I have to tell you when I’m going to figure it out when there’s so much ambiguity and unknown. I say that with the full appreciation, deadlines are important and they’re also really challenging when you’re in this sort of ambiguous, murky area that you don’t necessarily understand really well yet.

I’m kind of curious what challenges you’ve seen on the flip side or how you’ve worked with BAs to manage stuff like that.

ELIZABETH HARRIN: I think that tension is kind of healthy, but also I have felt it as well myself and I suppose as well as the deadline thing where I’m saying to people, “How long will it take? When will you know?” And you think, well, it takes as long as it takes.

In fact, with experience and age, I have got a lot more relaxed about that. But then I have to protect the team from the young, realistic expectations of other people.

I think the other area where I probably find that there’s tension is in scope, like you mentioned earlier, because we have a lots and lots of good ideas. Certainly, in a more predictive linear style of project, it can be quite hard to add new things in later if something is uncovered. You want to do it cause it’s a good idea.

Somebody asked a question further up the stream, actually, made a remark around so the BA comes up with the ideas and then the project manager says if you can do it or not. That’s not the case at all. Project manager would not make a decision like that because ultimately the project sponsor or a steering group would assess the benefit of putting a new requirement in at whatever point that we are in at the project.

Our role is really to say you can make this new change. We can do this, but it will cost X a lot of money and it will take X many longer weeks. Maybe we’ll need to pull some people in from this project, or that means this other project can’t start when you thought it would because they’ll be working on this. If you want to make that call, senior leaders, we can do it. We can deliver whatever you want. We’ll deliver you the moon on a stick if you give us enough money and people. But we need to make that decision consciously. I think that that tension, perhaps, between knowing that the business could get a better result, because if we did something else it would be better. But, also, we can’t work on this project forever and there’s a finite pot of money and maybe some things have to get pushed into a phase two or looked at in the next budget cycle or however your organization that up.

I think that’s difficult as well for the project manager having to feed that message back to business users or analysts who’ve fought to get that requirement and say, look, you know, they said no and these are the reasons and let’s not lose it. Let’s get it on a log somewhere. Let’s get it into the project backlog for next year, or put it on the quarterly plan or whatever it is because it’s a great idea.

LAURA BRANDENBURG: And I think for BAs, the important thing when it comes to scope is to be sort of the eyes and the ears for that kind of scope creep.

I often remember coming out of a detailed requirements meeting that maybe my project manager wasn’t at because they didn’t need to be at every single meeting. “Oh my goodness, we uncovered something big in this meeting. How should we handle it?” Or it would significantly extend the technical timeline. I’m not going to just add it in, but we also had pressure from the business that they really thought they needed it. And so kind of bringing those issues to the team so that we could work through them together.

There is that balance. I think the BA does need to understand; they need to understand enough of the scope from a delivery perspective to be able to know when too much is too much, so to speak.

ELIZABETH HARRIN: I think with experience you get that sense, don’t you? If it’s a small thing you feel that, okay, they’re telling me it’s half a day. I’m sure I can pitch that somehow so it’s a positive message. You also get the feeling of like, oh, maybe we have to descope this. I’m working on something and it’s bigger than we thought it was going to be. And are we actually at the point where we have to make a decision? Do we do it or not? Is it worth the pain of continuing with that particular component? Because maybe it’s not, and we have to have an adult discussion around what would that give us? Or what does it mean? What would the future look like if we did it, if we didn’t do it?

And then as a business, as a group, we can put forward a recommendation. And then the business in inverted commerce, the people who make the decisions can decide what they think is the best route forward.

LAURA BRANDENBURG: Yeah. Awesome. I want to give you a chance…Paula, hopefully we’ll be able to pull up one more final question. But before we do that, and I want to ask you for like any final thoughts to close this out, Elizabeth too. But before we do that, I know you just authored a new book, you have a ton of books, you have a website with more information. I just want to give you a chance to share a little bit about your work and how people can find out more about you.

I know we’ve got our thing running along the bottom so you can find us at Bridging the Gap, but I want to make sure you can speak to some of the top resources you’d recommend for people.

ELIZABETH HARRIN: Well, I know a lot of people, oh, thank you. A lot of people are watching this on LinkedIn, so I would say that that’s probably the best place to connect with me. Connect with me on LinkedIn.

But yes, I am really interested in how people manage multiple projects. That was my latest book that came out last year, and it’s actually Eugene’s comment in the chat. What’s the suggested maximum number of projects and processes we should be working on concurrently? That’s probably a whole other conversation about how do you manage multiple strands of work.

So yeah, come and find me on LinkedIn. I’d love to continue the conversation because I know that we probably won’t get a chance to answer all those things today.

LAURA BRANDENBURG: Awesome. Thank you. Yes. Tons of great resources that you have available to the community.

Do we have like a final question, Paula, that we should, let’s take to kind of bring things home here out of respect for everybody’s time?

PAULA: Whew.

LAURA BRANDENBURG: I know that’s a lot of pressure.

PAULA: Because we cannot get to everybody’s questions. There is a question that has come up and maybe this is one both of you can ask this question. I’m going to rephrase it a little bit to still get the meat of the question. This has come up from multiple people, so this is why I’m bringing this one forward. But the question is, what are some of the common questions that you ask your stakeholders or your business users to understand the business objective and goal to ensure that you are designing a product that aligns with the business need?

So I think either one on the PM side or on the BA side, or both can answer that question.

LAURA BRANDENBURG: For sure. I can start and then Elizabeth, I want to hear your thought, too.

So, from the business analyst perspective, we always coach people to ask why. But ask why with finesse. You’re kind of like a two year old. Why, why, why? What would be different once this solution is implemented? Or how would you see your day-to-day changing? Why is this important to you right now? You need to ask that “why” question, but you need to do it in about 15 different ways, is my short answer to that question.

How about for you, Elizabeth?

ELIZABETH HARRIN: I have a list of questions that I ask stakeholders at project initiation. So if you message me on LinkedIn, I can send it to you. But it’s very similar. It’s all around expectation management. What are you expecting will change? What are you expecting will stay the same? What are you expecting this project will bring for you and your project? Because that can help you look for conflict between where two different stakeholders are saying different things. And then you can start to dig into that and try to resolve some of those problems before and get everybody on the same page about what scope actually looks like.

LAURA BRANDENBURG: Perfect.

ELIZABETH HARRIN: We could talk about that. That’s another whole conversation.

LAURA BRANDENBURG: That’s another whole conversation. Yes. Project initiation for sure.

So any final thoughts you want to leave everyone with?

ELIZABETH HARRIN: I’m just really glad we could have this conversation because I think that this, the interplay between project managers and business analysts needs to work well for the success of the project. Just being able to have the space to think it through and explore how those two roles are similar to each other and how we can collaborate has been really helpful.

And it’s just really nice to catch up with you again, Laura, and to see names that come up in the chat of people that I know I’m already connected to. It’s just lovely that people have turned up to contribute to this discussion with us.

LAURA BRANDENBURG: I second that. Yeah, this topic seemed to be really well received. We had record RSVPs and people wanting to share it with their teams. I’m just so grateful that so many people wanted to have the conversation like we’re having. And that, Elizabeth, you were able to show up with us.

Like you, please reach out, connect with me on LinkedIn if you are not already. I would love to be connected. I will continue talking about business analysis. I know, Elizabeth, you’re going to continue to talk about project management and hopefully we’ll get together and talk about it together again at some point in the future.

So thank you so, so much for being here, and thank you, Paula, for being a fantastic host and keeping us all logistically organized. Thank you so much everyone who’s attended and asked a question and shared your thoughts. I’m really appreciative to you as well. Keep just going on and doing the great work. You’re making the world a better place.

PAULA: Thank you everyone.

LAURA BRANDENBURG: Thank you.

ELIZABETH HARRIN: Thanks.

It means more authority, more responsibility, and more impact.

If you’re curious whether or not you are prepared for a Lead Business Analyst role, this video is for you because I share 5 tips to help you excel as a Lead Business Analyst.

In this video, you’ll discover:

• What a Lead Business Analyst is
• My 5 tips for success as a Lead Business Analyst
• Career growth opportunities beyond becoming a Lead Business Analyst

If you’re looking to start a career as a business analyst, I have a complete free workshop called Quick Start to Success as a Business Analyst. You’ll discover:

• What a business analyst does
• How to be effective in your role
• The key skills you need to be more successful in today’s competitive job environment

>> Sign up for the FREE workshop <<

Becoming a lead business analyst is a significant step forward in your business analyst career. It means more authority, more responsibility, and also a lot more impact. But are you actually ready? What will it require and how can you prepare yourself?

In this video, I’ll be sharing five tips on how to be successful as a lead business. This is a role I have filled during my business analysis career, and leading teams is still one of my favorite aspects of my role as CEO of Bridging the Gap. So stay with me and let’s dive into the five tips that will help you prepare for this exciting opportunity.

Hi, I’m Laura Brandenburg with Bridging the Gap where we help you start, succeed, and excel in your business analyst career with weekly videos on business analysis tips and techniques.

Lead Business Analyst – Defined

Typically, a lead business analyst is responsible for overseeing and coordinating the efforts of multiple business analysts on a project. The lead might be a business analyst manager by title, or they might be the lead on a project without managerial authority over a group of BAs working on the project. For this video, we’re going to talk about the leadership role, not the management role.

For context, when we talk about business analysis here at Bridging the Gap, we’re talking about the role that literally bridges the gap between business and technology stakeholders. This means they help ensure software solutions actually do what the business needs them to do and solve real business problems.

Leading the BA effort on a project, it could involve planning the business analysis effort, it could involve determining how the requirements will be managed. It could involve reviewing deliverables created by all of the business analysts on the team for quality inconsistency. That might start to sound a lot like a project manager, but there is a key difference.

While the project manager coordinates the efforts of the entire project team to deliver the solution, the role of the BA Lead is to coordinate the efforts of several business analysts to discover the problem and determine the requirements of that solution. So let’s just take a look at these five tips on how to be more successful.

Lead Business Analyst Success Tip #1 – Put A Business Analysis Framework In Place

Tip number one is to put a business analysis framework in place. When you are leading a team on a project, you need to have a framework for how you perform business analysis. Where does your work start? Where does it end? What are the templates a business analysts is supposed to use and when are they used? What is expected from each business analyst on that project? You need to have clear expectations in place so that your business analysts know what’s expected of them and how they can contribute.

A great starting point for getting a supportive framework in place is by learning about our eight step business analysis process framework that we teach here at Bridging the Gap. I did a whole separate video outlining those eight steps, so if you haven’t watched that, I’d encourage you to do so after this video.

Now, if you have a team of junior or entry level business analysts, this is where you may need to explore investing in business analysis training to ensure that they have the foundational skills that they need to be successful. It can be overwhelming to try to train business analysts and do all the other leadership responsibilities at the same. If you’re in that situation, please reach out about the training we offer here at Bridging the Gap.

Lead Business Analyst Success Tip #2 – Divide Up the Work

Tip number two is to divide up the work. With a framework in place, you’ll want to start to look at who is going to do what. As the lead business analyst, you’ll often be responsible for the higher level or the strategic business analysis activities, like collaborating with high level stakeholders, defining the business needs, providing the overall scope of the project. Then your business analyst team will step in to discover, analyze, and define the detailed requirements.

This requires you to create a business analysis plan that is step four in that business analysis process framework we talked about. But that plan needs to segment your project in a meaningful way. This could be by software system or by stakeholder group, or by a category of features. And then your individual business analysts are responsible for analyzing the business processes, defining the functional requirements, and analyzing the data requirements within their assigned area of work.

Alternatively, if you have BAs that are skilled in, say, business process and others skilled more in data, you could look at sequencing the project to leverage their skillsets and their areas of expertise across all parts of the project. Depending on the size of your team and the work that’s required, you may also need to reassign yourself requirements deliverables as well. You may be doing the leadership of capabilities as well as doing the detailed requirements work for a part of the project.

Lead Business Analyst Success Tip #3 – Implement Knowledge Sharing

Okay, so let’s talk about tip number three, implementing knowledge sharing. If you are new to the business analyst lead role, I’m guessing your head was buzzing a little bit as I was talking about dividing up the work because how does each business analyst actually be effective without seeing the whole big picture? When you are the sole BA on a project, you are responsible for the big picture and all the details. When a requirement in one area impacts another, you just tend to see the impact and make the adjustment. How will this work with business analysts all working in their own silos? Well, you need to break down the silos.

One practice I implemented in my very first business analyst team was doing use case reviews. We met every other week to review one of our peers use cases. We were a small team and we were working on independent projects, so this was more for building best practices and learning from each other and improving our skills than it was for looking at project impacts. Although often we would realize that what one of us was doing that was seemingly unrelated to the other did have a cross impact and we would be able to bring that up to the project management team to handle.

It would work the same way for a team working on a larger project together. You just probably need to allocate a little bit more time. It might be a weekly meeting. It might even be more frequently than that to ensure that everyone is reviewing or having some knowledge flow about what the others are working on so that they can determine the impacts and bring kind of a bigger picture view to each of their individual requirements work.

Lead Business Analyst Success Tip #4 – Maintain a Strategic Level View

Tip number four is for you to maintain that strategic level. I think one of the hardest aspects of moving into any sort of leadership role as a business analyst I still struggle with 14 years into running Bridging the Gap and being CEO of this company, one of the hardest aspects is maintaining the strategic level view. It’s so natural for us to want to be in all the details, and that’s likely what made you successful as a business analyst in the first place. But if you do so, if you’re in all the details of all the requirements, you risk alienating your team in micromanaging their work and quite frankly, burning yourself out. You can’t possibly be in every meeting and you probably are not going to be able to review every document in detail.

You need to stay focused on activities like maintaining the business analysis plan. You need to be supporting your team in navigating roadblocks and challenges. You need to be ensuring everyone is staying focused on delivering those requirements that support the business objectives. You need to be providing leadership within the overall project team, particularly to ensure your business analysts are involved in necessary discussions and informed of any project impacts. You need to be looking at change requests and navigating the impacts between the different aspects of the solution and maintaining communication with your project sponsor or other organizational leaders about the project and opportunity.

You have all the strategic level work to do, and so your work is to focus your energy there and get just enough in the details to make sure that you can do your strategic work effectively. It’s a really tough balance. But by shifting your energy towards the strategic level work and seeing that as important, it will help you let go of the details that your team can handle. Tip number five is really going to help you with this.

Lead Business Analyst Success Tip #5 – Coach Your Business Analysts

Tip number five is to coach your business analyst. This could be, and for me, it’s always been one of the most enjoyable aspects of the job especially if you’re working with a team of more junior level business analysts, they’re going to need your support in finessing their documentation, navigating the tricky stakeholder issues that for you have become just part of the job will be earth shattering for them, and they’ll need your help in figuring out how to navigate these things and learning how to grow and expand in their career. They might need assistance working through the plan you set out for them.

If you happen to be working with more mid-level or even other senior level business analysts, your more role might be more of a mentor for them professionally and an ability to provide some support for their ongoing career advancement. Either way, the most important thing I found when coaching is to meet each person where they are individually. What are their strengths and capabilities? How can I support them in building on those capabilities and adding more value to the organization?

How can I help them appreciate the value that they contribute so that they can see a bigger set of possibilities for themselves? This is when you start to move into a true champion for business analyst and you start leaving a long lasting legacy of impact, not just through whatever project you happen to be working on, but also on the people who thrive under your leadership and take their skills and capabilities with them as they grow their careers.

I have to say, as somebody who trains business analysts and who has led business analyst teams, there is nothing more gratifying than seeing somebody that you have helped somewhere along their journey, thrive and succeed and go beyond where they were when you first interacted with them and do amazing things in their business analyst career. It’s really fun.

Find More Success as a Business Analyst Lead

If you are a lead business analyst and you are looking to support your team’s growth, or if you’re someone who’s aspiring to become a lead BA, at Bridging the Gap, we offer a wide range of resources that can help you. In fact, we find many BA leads share our resources with their team, sharing our YouTube channel, sharing our blog, sharing our LinkedIn page, all of the resources that we offer, and that will help them get up to speed on what’s expected and navigate this complex career path.

One of the most popular resources is our quick start to success workshop. This workshop provides both career advice and guidance on being effective on a project, making it a valuable resource for both beginners and experienced professionals. By exploring this workshop with a beginner’s mind, you’re also going to find a lot of value. You can put yourself in the shoes of the business analyst on your team and gain a better understanding of their needs and challenges.

It’s a completely free workshop that you can both join and share with your business analysts.

>> Sign up for the FREE workshop <<

Also, I want you to know that a lead business analyst role is just one of the many opportunities for growth as you become more senior as a business analyst.

Be sure to check out our video below on six different potential areas of responsibility for a senior business analyst role if you’re interested in growing in this career.

Wondering how a Functional Analyst role can fit into your career path?

There is a lot of confusion in the industry about what business analysts are and what they actually do.

The reality is that the skill set of a business analyst is so incredibly valuable that the responsibilities make its way into a wide variety of different roles.

In this video, we’ll explore the ins and outs of a Functional Analyst, including the key skills needed for success and how it differs from a traditional Business Analyst role.

If you’re looking to start a career as a business analyst, I have a completely free workshop called Quick Start to Success as a Business Analyst. You’ll discover:

• What a business analyst does
• How to be effective in your role
• The key skills you need to be more successful in today’s competitive job environment

>> Sign up for the FREE workshop <<

Are you looking to take your career as a business analyst to the next level? Are you wondering how a functional analyst role can fit into your career path? In this video, we’re going to explore the ins and outs of a functional analyst, including the key skills needed for success and how it differs from a so-called traditional business analyst role. Whether you’re just starting out or looking to make a career change, this video is a must watch.

Hi, I’m Laura Brandenburg from Bridging The Gap where we help you start, succeed, and excel in your business analyst’s career with weekly videos on business analysis, tips and techniques.

Job Titles Like Functional Analyst Can Be Deceiving

First thing I want to say as we dive into the functional analyst role is job titles like functional analyst can be deceiving. I’m always the first to say that with job titles within the entire business analysis profession are deceiving. They are used inconsistently across organizations and that makes it really difficult when you’re looking for a job and trying to figure out what that job is supposed to be just by kind of scanning through maybe the results that come up.

When determining the qualifications for a particular role, it’s really important to look at the responsibilities and the expectations and how those are listed more than just the title of the role. This being said, very often that functional analyst job title is used to describe a type of business analyst role with some very specific variations. So let’s get into what that looks like.

How the Functional Analyst Job Title is Typically Used

A functional analyst is typically a role that focuses on the functions of the software in a specific business application. It is generally more tactical than other business analysts role. The responsibilities of this role could include responsibilities like specializing in a specific business domain such as insurance, real estate, or healthcare. Again, being very specific in a domain.

Often you will focus more on the functional software requirements as opposed to say, the larger business process. This rule is going to typically focus on what the software needs to do to meet the business need. If you’re not familiar with what functional software requirements are, click below to watch my video on that topic.

In addition to focusing on what the software needs to do, a functional analyst might have light technical or systems design responsibilities. These require more in-depth technical skills than a so-called traditional business analyst role. They could even conclude configuring, updating, or even installing the software system.

In a functional analyst role, you are more likely to seek qualifications requiring data analysis or data analytics skill sets. Those often require capabilities such as advanced Excel skills and even SQL. A functional analyst may have ongoing duties outside of projects where they are using their expertise in that software system to do operational work for the business. This could include reporting, data updates, or even business user or customer support.

How is a Functional Analyst Different From a Business Analyst?

How is a functional analyst different from a business analyst? Industry-wide, there’s a lot of confusion about what business analysts are and what they actually do, and honestly, it’s not a problem that’s going to be solved anytime soon. So I say, let’s just lean into it.

The reality is that the set of skills that a business analyst brings is so incredibly valuable that the responsibilities make its way into a wide variety of roles, including this functional analyst role that we’re talking about today. At Bridging the Gap, we help business analysts who literally bridge the gap between business and technology and stakeholders by offering business analyst training. This means that they help ensure that software solutions actually do what the business needs them to do and solve real business problems.

In addition to the functional software requirements that a functional analyst might focus on, a fuller view or a larger scope of a business analyst role could also include business process analysis to understand the business workflow and the problem to be solved that might not be required of a functional analyst.

They often start by defining the business needs and outcomes and take that project through scope defining the detailed requirements and collaborating with the business and technology teams along the way to ensure a successful implementation of the requirements.

On some projects, you might have a business process analyst and a functional analyst working together to fulfill all of the responsibilities of what we’re calling a business analyst role at Bridging the Gap, successfully in a project. There are just a lot of ways that this can play out.

Now where the question really is, where do you want to go with your career?

Where Do You Want To Go with Your Career?

A functional analyst is a great career opportunity and one that can easily expand into other areas within business analysis. As you broaden your skillset to focus on both the business and the technology, it can also create opportunities within the technical realm if you want to become a software developer or a software designer, or software architect because you’re building a specialty in a deeper understanding of the functions in the software and even the configuration of a software system.

• If you would like to be more on the business side and you want to be more in connection with business users and solving business problems, you might want to take that functional analyst role and start to gravitate towards a more business focused role.
• If you like the technology and even if you don’t want to code anymore, but you have that deep technology background and you want to leverage that technical understanding without having to write code, functional analysts can provide a great career path for you. And if you do want to write code, it can also provide a great career path into roles that require even deeper technology expertise.

Take The Next Step in Your Functional Analyst Career

How do you take the next step in your business analyst or functional analyst career?

Ultimately, you are in charge of your career and you get to decide. There are many, many options and you have many different ways to succeed in this profession.

If you’d like to learn more about starting your career as a business analyst, I do have a completely free workshop called The Quick Start to Success as a Business Analyst. This includes additional resources about what a business analyst does, how to be effective, and the key skills you need to be successful in today’s competitive job market. You can sign up for that workshop completely for free by clicking the link below.

>> Sign up for the FREE workshop <<

Now that you know what a functional analyst role is, another role that’s really closely related to this is called a systems analyst role. If you’d like to learn more about that role, watch the video below next.

You may be a business analyst while also taking on other roles like becoming a project manager, tester, product manager, or even a developer.

While this diversity offers great long-term career options, it can sometimes leave you feeling overwhelmed and unfocused day to day.

In this short video, I’ll show you exactly how to leverage hybrid roles for your career expansions without the burnout and overwhelm. You’ll discover how to:

• Get yourself out of the business analysis box
• Design a hybrid business analyst role that elevates your career potential
• Set boundaries and intentions in your hybrid role
• Grow your career while filling multiple roles

If you are looking to clarify your level of awareness and experience of key business analysis techniques and process, our FREE BA Skills Assessment is for you!

In this FREE assessment, you will:

• Discover the essential skills to succeed as a BA.
• Gain clarity on your strengths and transferable skills.
• Define an action plan to expand your business analyst skill set.

>> Download the Assessment <<

Hybrid roles are a reality in today’s workforce. You may be a business analyst, but then you’re taking on other roles like project manager, tester, product manager, or even a software developer. This offers great long-term potential and can really get you set up for success in different roles. However, it can also be extremely overwhelming and leave you feeling unfocused, like you’re wearing too many hats and sort of being a jack of all trades. So stay with me and I will show you exactly how to leverage hybrid roles for your career expansion without all the burnout and overwhelm.

Hi, I’m Laura Brandenburg with Bridging the Gap, where we help you start, succeed, and excel in your business analyst career with weekly videos on business analyst tips and techniques.

Get Yourself Out of the Business Analysis Box

The first thing I want to say about hybrid roles, specifically, is that it’s an important mindset to get yourself out of the box that a so-called traditional business analyst role, or really an idealized concept of the role will tend to put you in. It’s like we have this box and we think that everything we need to do is in or out of that box. Either we have a business analysis responsibility that’s in the box, or it’s in something that a business analyst is not supposed to do, so it’s outside of the box of what we see is something that we can do to contribute to our organization.

Now, contrary to what you might hear elsewhere, I believe that hybrid roles are a good thing for you as an individual with a career path. Taking on hybrid roles expands your career potential and grows your skillset. Your experience in multiple different areas, in multiple different responsibilities gives you this broad set of qualifications that you can draw from when it comes to future career opportunities. They literally open the door up for you.

The most important thing to realize is that you are in charge, not some industry standard of what a business analyst should be, not even really your employer’s idea of what a business analyst should be. This is your career, your work, the way that you contribute your unique value to the world. So if you are looking to officially get into business analysis, taking on a hybrid business analyst role filled with a set of responsibilities that you already have more confidence in can really set you up for an easier transition. What you’ll find is that your business analysis skills are really relevant to many different positions.

For example, we have a past participant, Lisa Curll, who leveraged her BA training to shift into a sustainability leadership position in a major energy company. She’s navigating complex stakeholder relationships to build out composting programs, and she’s overseeing solutions to achieve her company’s sustainability goals. Lisa had experience in project coordination, a passion for sustainability, and doing nonprofit work in that area, plus her business analysis skillset. Those were all leveraged to create this ideal job for her.

Now, if you are not exactly sure where you stand as a business analyst, you can still find success like Lisa did. A great place to start is by using our free business analyst skills assessment. This tool will help you clarify your level of awareness and experience of key business analysis techniques and processes. After taking that assessment, you’ll be able to make more informed decisions about training and career opportunities and sort of what skills you need to focus on personally.

Let’s talk about how to design a hybrid business analyst role that actually elevates your career potential.

How to design a hybrid business analyst role that elevates your career potential

You want to be choosing opportunities that really take you forward in your career. For example, if you eventually want to be managing a team, taking on a hybrid business analyst project management role would be a great stepping stone because that project management experience is going to give you management experience and leadership experience that will help you as a manager of business analysis.

If you want to get into a business analyst role, volunteering to take notes in a meeting and updating your business analyst requirements documents would be a great step to start to build those business analyst experiences that are needed to break into the role.

But if you are already a BA who’s looking to get into management and you took on everybody’s meeting notes, and testing, maybe even, those are not going to advance your career. Those are activities that are going to burn you out. You really want to be discerning about the activities that you choose.

If you are clear about where you are headed professionally, that’s really critical work to do. I have a whole video on building a business analyst’s career path that can help you get clear on where you’re going and where you want to be professionally within, say the next three to five years. I encourage you to watch that video after this one.

In general, you want to be thinking about where you can expand your capabilities to be successful in new situations. That would be branching out into new projects outside your department or even outside of your company and eventually shifting from how you can personally be successful knowing, “Hey, I can take on anything as a business analyst and be successful,” to enabling others to be successful. That’s when you move into more of those leadership, senior level and management type positions.

How to set boundaries and intentions so your hybrid role doesn’t become a catch-all for the tasks no one else wants to do

We are talking here about how to expand into and take on more. It’s critically important as you do this, that you set boundaries and get clear on your intentions so you don’t just become this hybrid role that’s a catchall for the task that nobody else wants to do. That’s a recipe for burnout and overwhelm. So a few tips on this.

• The first one is that you want to regularly reevaluate your responsibilities. Look at what tasks you’re doing week over week, month over month. What is pulling you forward versus drawing you back? You want to eliminate, delegate and minimize the activities that are not aligned with where you want to go, or have become stale and you’re no longer learning and growing in those activities. I recommend doing this at least every six months as things can change really, really quickly. If you haven’t done it a in a while, now is the perfect time.
• The second thing is to be really clear about your boundaries and how many and what complexity of projects you can take on at the same time. Then within each project, you want to be really clear about what role or roles you’re filling on that project, both for yourself and for everyone else involved. On one project, you might be the project manager, the business analyst, and the tester. And on another, you might be in more of a pure business analyst role or maybe even a pure project management role. It doesn’t always have to be the same on every initiative, and you don’t want to make assumptions about what your role is. Certainly a more complex hybrid role like that would work better on a smaller project than a larger one. A larger project, you tend to need multiple people in those different roles.
• The third tip I have is to invest focused time in each role. If you are wearing multiple hats, make sure that you’re intentionally dedicating time to each of those roles so that none of them really just kind of falls by the wayside and becomes sort of that extra thing that never gets done. You could color code your calendar, set aside dedicated time for each role on each project, or you could organize your weekly planning to have categories for each role. Those are just some ideas, but make sure you’re giving each role focused time for each project.

The next actions you can take to grow your career, while continuing to fill multiple roles

Let’s look at, given the boundaries that you’ve set, the intentions that you have, what are some ways that you can really take action today to start to grow your career while you’re in multiple roles. I would suggest thinking about how you can invest in your professional development for each of those roles. This could be a book, it could be a training course, it could be a certification, it could be a mentor. But if the role is worth your time to do, and if it’s moving you forward towards where you want to be, it’s worth your time to learn how to do better. There is always room for improvement.

The next thing is a mindset tip. It is really to think of roles as jumping off points rather than as landing points. As you take on new responsibilities, consider where this will lead to and what opportunities this will open up. There might be a role like project management where you’re like, “I don’t really want to go from business analysis to project manager. That’s not my career path. I want to go to management or leadership or be a BA team lead of some sort.” If you’re looking at it that way, you might just have this tunnel vision of, “I’ve got to go from business analyst to business analyst lead,” and not see that actually taking on a few opportunities within project management could help get you to that BA leadership role. That’s not to say that project management becomes your new career path. It’s a jumping off point that takes you to where you want to go.

This is going to evolve as you evolve and as you take on new responsibilities. I will say like on the flip side, when you’re trying to get into business analysis, something again, like taking meeting notes is a great opportunity. Testing is a great opportunity. That’s how I got into business analysis, creating test plans, putting processes together. When you’re doing those things, those are opportunities that would get you into business analysis. Business analysis lead. It’s a whole different set of opportunities. You want to be really cognizant, again, of where you’re going and what jumping points will help you get there.

Finally, I said this in the beginning, but it bears repeating because I think we need to hear it again and again and again, is that you need to actively take charge of your career and your career path. The most important thing to realize is that you really are in charge. This is your career, your work, the way you contribute your unique value to the world. It’s more important than ever that the way we work is aligned to who we are as individuals. No one knows who you are better than you. This is your choice. This is your opportunity.

As I mentioned earlier, if you’ve come to the video with more questions than answers about yourself, take our free business analyst skills assessment. It’ll give you a lot of guidance around where you’re at and where your skills stack up in your business analyst career.

>> Download the Assessment <<

While it’s important that a business analyst has a conceptual technical understanding as it helps you analyze the problem to be solved and communicate with technical stakeholders, you don’t need to be able to write code or run database queries.

In this video, I share the technical skills you do need to know and how they will help you position yourself more strongly in the job market and hold up your side of the conversation with developers.

For those who like to read instead of watch, here’s the full text of the video:

Today we’re here to answer a question from Monica. She asked, “What are the top three to five technical skills a business analyst with a business background needs to have?” Specifically, she asked this around wanting to be able to make sure she could have good conversations with the technical people on her project teams.

Here’s the thing about technical skills in BA jobs – you’ve heard me say it before and you’re going to hear me say it again – you see them as job requirements a lot of times in business analyst roles. And a lot of times those requirements are extremely misleading.

You can, of course, to become more technically minded as a business analyst, learn how to write code. You could go take an introduction to programming and a sequel course and learn a bunch of technical skills that you may never, ever want to use in your career. You could do that. Or you could learn some requirements models that allow you to have those very productive communications and conversations with technical professionals and understand more about how the technology is structured and give you insight into what questions to ask than the technical skills, themselves, actually do.

What I’m going to talk about here, in terms of technical skills, are three requirements models or three types of requirements models that you might want to look at if you feel that you’re not “technical” enough to be a business analyst. I will finish with one closing bonus skill that might catch you by surprise.

Let’s talk about these three models.

Technical Skill 1: Use Cases for Functional Requirements

The first is use cases. Use cases are a textual description of how a business user or a user of a software application interacts with a software system. They force you to get really specific about what function or feature that system needs to have in order to meet the business needs. Underlying that feature is often a piece of code that a developer has created, customized, or integrated to make that function work.

But what you need to be able to specify as a business analyst is what that software needs to do, and the condition under which it needs to do it. A use case is the perfect model to get familiar with that business user system interaction. It’s much more detailed than a typical business process model, and it’s much more specific. You get into those specific technical requirements even though you don’t know how to write the code that underlies it.

Technical Skill 2: Wireframes for Visual Requirements

The second requirements model that can be helpful in expressing technical requirements like this is wireframes. Wireframes are visual descriptions, or visual renderings, of a user interface screen. Essentially, when I go to a software application as a user, what does it look like to me?

Not, specifically, what are the colors, what are the buttons, and how are they; circle or square? That is important at a certain point of a project, but a wireframe can be much less specific than that. It can use general buttons and not be specific on colors. Use grayscale. You’re trying to show this is what the user interface screen might look like to a potential user.

Again, you’re getting to that level of detail of what that software system needs to be able to do and look like, again, without having to write the code behind it. There are a lot of tools today that people, like me, who don’t have coding backgrounds, are able to use that just drag and drop those features into a wireframing tool so you can create them without having to know how to code.

Technical Skill 3: Data Models for Data Requirements

The third set of models are data models, such as entity relationship diagrams, system context diagrams, data flow diagrams, data dictionaries. There are a bunch of different models included in the data modeling area.

Essentially, all those models allow you to understand how the database is structured, how information is stored, what information needs to be stored. So, if you’re looking at a business process and there are different fields on a form coming in through some sort of an input:

• How is that information stored in your software system?
• What are the rules that need to be applied when that information is stored?
• How do the different pieces of information that come in through different business processes, how do those relate together?

Different data models allow you to look at that information model in different ways. This is how you, essentially, learn how to model a relational database or express data requirements without knowing SQL.

A not very well-kept secret is that I’ve never learned how to write SQL. I did learn how to do a little bit of coding in a very proprietary database language that was very specific at the very beginning of my career, but I’ve never learned SQL. I’ve never used that skill to move forward as a business analyst. I’ve done a lot of work with data requirements and data modeling and helped a lot of teams figure out what those data requirements and databases should look like by using some of the core data modeling skills.

And One Bonus Technical Skill…Asking Questions

I promised you one bonus.  Our three models are use cases, wireframes, and data models. What’s that bonus skill? The bonus skill is something that you’re probably already good at if you’re a business analyst, and that’s the ability to ask questions.

When it comes to technical questions, it’s like the ability to ask that question that you really feel like you should know. You should know the answer to this and you don’t. It’s asking questions about how things are organized, what are the capabilities of the technology, what are things that you might not think of. You’re using that so you can understand the possibilities of the technology and how the system is designed without knowing how to do it yourself.

In my experience, you could spend a lot of time learning how to build these systems and write code. That could have a measurable impact on your career. Or, you could spend time learning these core skills that you’re going to use forever in your life-long career as a business analyst.

They’re going to give you a more advanced level of understanding of the potentials of technology than you would get from learning how to line-by-line create the code because they’re going to enable you to work in any sort of situation as opposed to just the coding language that maybe you learned. There are dozens of coding languages out there, dozens of different technical environments. So, you’re never going to become the expert on all of them unless you want to be the expert and the doer of that kind of thing. If you’re a business analyst, I’m assuming you probably don’t.

Again, use cases, wireframes, data models, and having the courage to ask questions and get the answers to those questions so that you really have a good technical understanding in your environment. Those, to me, are the skills that you need to succeed as a business analyst with a business background in today’s technical environment. They will take you far as a business analyst without getting you lost in the weeds of learning specific technical coding skills.

>>How to learn these key technical business analyst skills

When you join The Business Analyst Blueprint® training program, you’ll learn all 12 of the industry-standard techniques and the business analysis process framework – to build your confidence in the best practices of business analysis.

>> Click here for more information about The Blueprint <<

Are you unsure if your skills qualify you as a subject matter expert or a business analyst?

If you have proven yourself as a subject matter expert, a career as a business analyst could be a great next step for you and allow you to break into more interesting project work to steward lasting changes in your organization.

In this video, I’m sharing the difference between a business analyst and a subject matter expert and how you can potentially move from one to the other.

If you are interested in learning more about what it looks like to be a business analyst, you can sign up for our completely free workshop, Quick Start to Success, where you will:

• Get specific action steps to advance your career.
• Receive immediate access to the self-paced online workshop.
• Discover how to be more effective on any project.

>> Sign up for our FREE Quick Start to Success Workshop today! <<

Are you exploring job roles and wondering about the difference between being a business analyst and being a subject matter expert? Are you possibly a subject matter expert and wondering if you could actually be a business analyst or vice versa? A career as a business analyst can provide opportunities to somebody who has proven themselves in a subject matter expert role and can help you break into more interesting project work and have the opportunity to steward lasting changes in your organization. So keep watching to learn the differences between these two roles and how you can potentially move from one to the other.

Hi, I’m Laura Brandenburg with Bridging the Gap, where we help you start, succeed, and excel in your business analyst career with weekly videos on business analysis tips and techniques.

The Subject Matter Expert Role

The subject matter expert. Those are individuals who possess in depth knowledge and expertise in a specific industry or field. They are often considered the go-to person for information and advice on a particular topic. On a typical project, the business analyst will engage with many subject matter experts to understand the current business process and how the software solution that exists today is supporting that business process.

The SME, or subject matter expert, may also provide input into the challenges that they’re facing with their current processes and the solutions that are in place, and they may advocate for specific changes that they want to have put in place to support them in their department. The SME may also take on a leadership role with their department throughout the project training other department members on the new processes and technology and being the facilitator of change within their team.

Now what is the business analyst role? And we’ll talk about the business analyst role and then we’ll talk about the differences between the two and how to move back and forth.

The Business Analyst Role

Business analysts, on the other hand, are professionals who help organizations identify and solve problems. They analyze data and use various tools and methodologies to identify areas for improvement and to make recommendations for changes. At Bridging the Gap, we help business analysts who literally “bridge the gap” between business and technology stakeholders. This means they help ensure that the software solutions actually do what the business needs them to do and solve real business problems.

A business analyst doing this kind of work would use a technique like business process analysis to understand that business workflow and the problem to be solved. They would use use cases, wireframes, and user stories to analyze and define the software or functional requirements.

They would also use a variety of data modeling techniques to define how information is stored and flows through all the various software systems. This type of business analyst starts out a project by defining the needs or outcomes, takes it through to scope, defining the detailed requirements and collaborating with the business and technology teams to ensure a successful implementation of the requirements.

How Business Analysts and Subject Matter Experts Work Together

Now, how do these two roles work together? As a business analyst, you are going to work really closely with your subject matter experts across multiple departments to discover, analyze, and validate those requirements.

• The business analyst is typically responsible for leading the entire business analysis process for preparing requirements documentation, and managing change.
• The subject matter expert would review those requirements and may have a role in validating and approving the requirements documentation. They also provide a lot of input into the early stages of when the business analyst is gathering information about how processes work and how the systems work today.

It’s not uncommon, as a business analyst, to include a subject matter expert or many of them in your weekly meetings so that they are current on where the project is, and then maybe meet with them through one-on-one sessions to validate documentation and answer any questions that they might have about what’s coming.

SMEs provide incredible value to business analysts. I can’t emphasize this enough. Because they can provide in-depth information about how a department or a process works and can often bring up subtle nuances that a business analyst might not be aware of if they were not also a subject matter expert in that particular domain.

Many Business Analysts Get Their Start as Subject Matter Experts

As you grow in your business analyst career, you might start by being that expert in that domain. But as you grow, it’s important to grow into new areas. You need to be able to work with SMEs to kind of gain on the project expertise, so to speak. This is why many business analysts get their start as subject matter experts. Because you have a detailed understanding of the current business processes and systems, and it’s common as an SME to move into a more formal business analyst role.

In fact, many business analysts report falling in to a business analyst role after being assigned as a subject matter expert to a major IT project. Usually these are those big system migration projects, like moving from one accounting system or one customer management system to another, and you have a big role that takes up a significant amount of time and kind of co-ops your responsibilities for a while. In these cases, the role of SME and business analysts can get a little bit blurred, especially if you’re in an organization that does not have a formal business analyst practice, which is still common today.

Over time, the SME may become like the go-to person for the tech team when they have questions about the process or requirements. They might take on leadership and change management roles within their department and kind of be more of a liaison to the tech team than the doer within their department that got them into that role in the first place.

Also many business analyst job roles require specialized expertise in a business process and solution area. And that further creates confusion between these two roles. But there are some really key differences between a business analyst and a subject matter expert.

Key Differences Between a Business Analyst and Subject Matter Expert

While SMEs tend to focus on their field of expertise, their domain, the work that they do within the company, or have historically done within the company, a business analyst will focus on the organization or project as a whole and the role of the business analyst, as we’ve discussed. SMEs are often contributors to projects and might be brought in for their input, for reviews, for problem solving on a temporary basis during a project. The business analysts own that requirements process for the entire project, which may impact multiple different departments and have multiple different subject matter experts, and then typically fulfill that business analyst’s role. That is their full-time role or their contribution to the company.

Another difference is that once the project is done, the SME would typically go back to their “regular job” using the systems or executing the processes that have been defined. The business analyst will go on to work on a different project or initiative as a business analyst.

Moving From SME to Business Analyst

If you are an SME, or subject matter expert, and you’re looking to move into the business analyst role, here are a few quick tips that can help you get started. And these come right from my book, How to Start a Business Analyst Career. There’s a whole section in here on how to move from a business focused role into more of a business analyst role. And for those of you who might be techies, there’s also a whole section on how to move from a more technical focused role to a business analyst role because we see people come from both of those backgrounds.

So just a few of the things that I share in the book are to share your career intentions with the business analyst you work with, and offer to support them in business analysis activities, like capturing meeting notes, documenting requirements, or updating their requirements or engaging with your department. Just, “Anything I can do to help, just let me know. I’d be happy to support you.”

Also we’ll be looking at starting to analyze your department’s processes, even if this is not needed for an active project. Look for opportunities to analyze, document, and then improve the business processes. You could often do business process work outside of a project with no software improvement aspect.

Often significant improvements do come through software, but you could take ownership of what can we do just within our department in terms of how we work with other departments and how we are efficient with the tools that we have. So you don’t need to “get IT involved” to start doing business analysis.

A third opportunity is to lead a project in your department from beginning to end. And one other thing I want to add here is to look for opportunities to be outside your department because your ability to be successful as a business analyst is going to come from your subject matter expertise at first, but also your ability to understand the bigger picture of what’s happening in your organization and be able to represent other departments that you aren’t necessarily an expert in and at least understanding how your work within your department affects other departments and how that flow works is a first step. But really gaining any exposure outside your area of the company will be a great step just to having that more global perspective that will make you a great business analyst.

Start YOUR Path to Success

If business analysis is a career that you want to pursue, the absolute best next thing to do is to join my free Quick Start to Success Workshop. In that workshop, you will learn more about the business analyst career path as well as details about the business analysis process framework that will give you the structure that you need to manage your day and your projects appropriately.

>> Click here to join the Quick Start to Success workshop <<

In this video, you’ll discover:

• The difference between business architecture and business analysis
• The foundational skill sets needed as a business architect
• How to become a business architect

If you’re interested in learning more about business architecture, be sure to check out Whynde Kuehn’s new book Strategy to Reality: Making the Impossible Possible for Business Architects, Change Makers and Strategy Execution Leaders by visiting https://strategyintoreality.com/.

LAURA BRANDENBURG: Hello, I’m Laura Brandenburg from Bridging The Gap here today with Whynde Kuehn to talk about all things business architecture. Whynde, why don’t you just start to tell us a little bit about what business architecture is and maybe why it’s important to us and why you are so passionate about this topic.

Business Architecture Defined

WHYNDE KUEHN: Absolutely. Very simply said, business architecture is a macro level view of an organization, of everything the organization does from end to end, very high level of elevation. And specifically, business architecture includes or can include 10 domains. It represents the capabilities of an organization, what it does. It represents the value streams. Very high level flows of the organization delivers value. It includes the vocabulary. What’s a customer, what’s a partner, what’s an asset, those words that we use. And then other focal points, including organization, stakeholders, products, policies, strategies, metrics and initiatives.

And so that’s the what, but why I’m so passionate is the why. It’s the how we can use business architecture, and it’s kind of a Swiss army knife, which can make it confusing to people. But I like to say there are three sort of value propositions of business architecture. The first is that business architecture plays a role. You appreciate the Bridging the Gap to bridge the gap between strategy and execution. It is a discipline that can help inform strategic decisions. For example, understanding impacts, it can help us to translate strategies. For example, to catalog the changes that need to be made by value streams and capabilities across business units and products and geographies. Then it helps to shape initiatives and the scope at a very high level. That’s the first thing is translating strategy.

The second is helping organizations to design or redesign. Again, macro level blueprint. For example, to streamline our systems, or to build reusable solutions around what we do. And then the third is just making better business decisions and bringing this sort of holistic perspective to, you name it, risks or cost or compliance, sustainability, investments, and many more things.

LAURA BRANDENBURG: It sounds like an organization that has their business architecture in place is going to be a really well run competitive, forward thinking, innovative, evolving organization. Is that really what you’ve seen in practice?

WHYNDE KUEHN: I’m just smiling because you couldn’t have said it better. Competitive, or if they’re a government or non-profit, they’re going to better deliver on the mission. They’re competitive because they can get ideas into action, and more effective because of the way they design and can streamline. So you could not have said it better, exactly.

LAURA BRANDENBURG: Well, thank you so much for that. Our audience here at Bridging the Gap is mostly business analysts. Our core teachings are around process analysis, like in process analysis, use cases, data modeling, which goes to that glossary of terms that you were talking about, and how to manage a whole project or really an initiative. It would be part of that translating strategy to reality, but maybe not so much the strategy piece. I know you work with a lot of people who were business analysts and have expanded into business architecture roles. Could you talk about the difference between those two roles and the difference in what they need to bring from a skill set perspective?

The Difference Between Business Architecture and Business Analysis

WHYNDE KUEHN: Oh, you bet. Because these are mutually beneficial, like tight, tight, tight partnership roles. We are better together.

Just some ways to think about. So business architecture is more of like the macro scale. If we think the scope we look at, it’s often going to be either full enterprise wide or maybe we’re looking at a capability of the organization from an enterprise perspective, so the scope is broader.

Second, we’re going to get involved, as you’re saying, earlier upstream as we’re translating ideas, we’re going to shape and describe the change at a very macro level. In other words, we want to do something to the payment management capability. And here’s a really high level people process, technology changes, but we’re not going to go into the detail.

This also means that we have different deliverables, different scenarios that we’re involved in as well. That’s a little bit of the how we might describe the disciplines, but we would actually, literally, tie things together in that you could tie a requirement, I’m speaking generally; however you define those. You could tie a requirement back to the capability that it is improving. Now we have traceability back to the strategies and the objectives and the other things going on in the enterprise. And as you mentioned, business architecture can bring the common vocabulary for everyone to use as well.

LAURA BRANDENBURG: Across the organization.

WHYNDE KUEHN: Exactly.

LAURA BRANDENBURG: And I feel like one of the challenges that BAs get stuck in, we might create a glossary for our project and then it gets lost. So much of what we create that could be holistic kind of gets lost in the documentation for our project. How does a business architect transcend that, so to speak.

WHYNDE KUEHN: That is an extremely important question because this is baked into the approach. Business architecture, in its spirit and intent, is meant to be an enterprise discipline. For us to transcend that, we actually bring together a cross-functional group of business people, business sponsorship, business people in a room to build the business architecture to define the terms at a high level, the capabilities, the value streams, and then they continue to own and steward that going forward. It has to be business owned and driven to transcend and to be able to do these cool things that we’re talking about.

LAURA BRANDENBURG: Yeah, and I can imagine your projects just run so much more effectively once you have that organizational understanding in place.

WHYNDE KUEHN: Exactly. It’s like put in the time up front to speed up later. Exactly.

Business Architecture: Foundational Skill Sets

LAURA BRANDENBURG: So what are some of the key skills and mindsets that are really essential to be successful in business architecture?

WHYNDE KUEHN: Yeah, I like to think of six of them. The first is just being very business minded. I know that sounds obvious and that’s pretty natural, but, it’s really thinking business first. Even if we’re doing digital transformation or building solutions, it’s really saying, “What does the business need?” This is really about the business.

The second is a focus on value and a focus on value in the bigger picture. Not just what’s the value of maybe delivering something to the internal person, but how does this fit in the bigger picture with our customers and stakeholders. So, value.

The third is related to big picture thinking and just being an enterprise advocate because that’s how I think about it. There are lots of people that maybe work in silos, but someone’s got to be an advocate for the enterprise and what’s best for the bigger picture.

The fourth skill or sort of mindset that I like to think about is around information abstraction in synthesis. The ability to see patterns, the ability to see similarities. “Hey, you’re doing this over here, but so are you. I know it seems different, but is there a way to build a solution or collaborate?”

Then I would also say bridge builders and dot connectors. That is just naturally part of what we do.

And then lastly would be just visualizers and storytellers, helping people to take complex ideas and boil them down into simple concepts and pictures and influence people towards change.

LAURA BRANDENBURG: The picture that you’ve just given, sometimes I think I had this vision of business architecture being in this kind of almost up in this marble tower of we’re going to go figure all the things out. But that’s really relationship driven. It does not happen outside of everything else. It’s within. There are a lot of relationships and cultivating relationships within that.

WHYNDE KUEHN: I love that because the business architecture teams around the world that are successful again and again, they do two things. They focus on delivering value with business architecture and they focus on building partnerships.

Business architecture, itself, is a bit of a scaffolding. And it does have a unique role, as I was saying, to inform and translate strategy, but it’s a partner; it’s another perspective that we can add to so many disciplines and decisions. We’ve got to be out there building relationships. We can’t be in the corner. It’s not about the models, it’s about the value we deliver.

LAURA BRANDENBURG: Yeah. And I know from one of our conversations, historically, one of the things we share as a mindset is really a very practical orientation, and that’s definitely coming out of what you’re sharing here. And it can feel, the scaffolding can feel a bit abstract around business architecture. Do you have an example of how somebody has really used it to deliver value for the business? Or how do you coach people to really ensure it’s really best? Really practical and valuable for the organization.

WHYNDE KUEHN: It’s all in the approach of leading with value, not leading with model. Honestly, I say there’s a secret of business architecture, and the secret is it’s not about business architecture. I know that sounds silly coming from me, but it’s about what we do with it. The way to make it work is we literally lead with “why.”

When we start business architecture in an organization, and by the way, this is if it’s organic, bottoms up or top down from the CEO, we pick one thing that we’re going to do. Maybe we say we’re going to help translate strategy, or maybe we’re going to help with investment decision making. Maybe we’re going to help with application portfolio management.

We’re going to decide how are we going to deliver value first. Then we build the baseline, which is capabilities and value streams and information concepts, minimally, the least we need to do. And then we’re going to use it. In my example, let’s say we’re using it for application portfolio management. We might tie some capabilities to applications. We start creating views. We might start to see some heat maps of where we have system redundancy or some changes we want to make, and then we’re going to help people sort of see the story, see the value, and then we’re going to come around and do it again. And we’re going to find another scenario. And if we don’t have the business architecture knowledge base where it needs to be, we’re going to build out a little bit more.

We’re going to use it. That’s absolutely the key. It’s essentially building the plane while you’re flying it. But that’s how we make it real. That’s also how we help organizations find their way. Because how organizations use business architecture is a little bit different. It’s also about the mindset and helping people to think about things at the enterprise perspective and crossing business units at macro level. It’s often some organizational change there, so it’s bit by bit one step at a time.

LAURA BRANDENBURG: Yeah. I love that because I feel like when we’re embedding business analysis in the organization, it often needs to be the same way. Like you start with that first project that just maybe is a little different than what the organization has done before and you need to use the tools effectively to help that project versus bringing the whole kit and caboodle, so to speak, and demanding that.

How to Become a Business Architect

LAURA BRANDENBURG: What I really like about business architecture, I feel like it’s a career path for somebody to rise up who is a great business analyst, who doesn’t want to be a project manager, maybe doesn’t want to be a product manager, doesn’t necessarily want to go into management itself, but really wants to analyze at a higher level. And I could imagine people in our community are listening to this and are like, “This is the role that I’ve been thinking about for a while.” What would you suggest to them as a path if they’re in a business analyst role and this is where they want to go next in their career?

WHYNDE KUEHN: Absolutely. Well, this is not self-serving, but I wrote a book called Strategy to Reality, and I wrote it with all my heart for current and aspiring business architecture practitioners. It breaks down all of business architecture and helps us kind of understand the what and why. That is actually a good place to start because there’s a lot of information out there and it helps you sort it out, so that’s a place to start.

Then there’s an organization called the Business Architecture Guild. That is the industry not-for-profit organization around business architecture. There’s a body of knowledge called the Biz Box. There’s also a certification called the CBA, or the Certified Business Architect.

A next nice step is to join the Guild. Start learning about the resources. If you want to take it to the next level, get your CBA and the business architecture discipline is such that this juncture, having a CBA and getting into this field is very, very doable. You’ll be still very distinguished. The demand is growing and getting the CBA is just the first level of understanding the body of knowledge. But that prepares you enough, then, to start looking for a job or engaging in the community. I even see people that really want to be in this field, they’ll just go volunteer. They’ll find a nonprofit or a small business and they start using business architecture for them to start sort of getting their footing and trying it, and then the opportunities really come from there.

LAURA BRANDENBURG: We see the same thing with business analysts. I have to say go and start doing business analysis somewhere, whether it’s in a non-profit, on a project, a new company, just like taking that first step.

Is there a way that somebody who is a senior business analyst today could apply a model or a piece in their project just to experiment with a tool and kind of build some of that experience in the work that they’re already doing?

WHYNDE KUEHN: That is an excellent question. Absolutely. That’s so good I should have mentioned that. For sure. Start bringing those approaches to what you do. The key when you do that is you still have to think enterprise. Think global, think enterprise, but bring it local, bring it to your project. For example, on an effort, maybe you’re writing some requirements and you’re tying them back to the overall capabilities so that you can sort of create an overall view of change and how that’s touching stakeholders that are involved in those capabilities. But just make sure the capabilities are from the enterprise perspective, not getting too detailed. That is a brilliant idea and that is also how business analysts can be change agents for business architecture in an organization.

LAURA BRANDENBURG: I love that kind of on the job career growth is one of our, definitely our pieces of advice.

You talk a little bit about this, but I do want to give you a chance. This is a relatively new book. I know that it’ll be out a month or two by the time we launch this video, but Strategy to Reality. Congratulations. I love this cover and the colors. All of it is just beautiful.

Do you want to tell us a little bit more about the book? You told us who it is for, but what somebody might really take away from reading it?

WHYNDE KUEHN: You bet. So the book casts a vision around strategy, execution as an enterprise muscle with end to end teams working together, accountability, business ownership, a function that is as important as other functions. We don’t always think about it that way.

And then it’s focus. The book is really unpacking the “What is business architecture?” :Why does it matter?” There’s an entire chapter on just different usage scenarios for it.

And then how does an organization, kind of a playbook, how does an organization go about establishing business architecture in their organization successfully and give it the ability to scale. And then also how do you relate business architecture to disciplines, like business analysis or customer experience design or strategies?

I wrote the book. It’s oriented a little bit nontraditionally. It’s oriented around questions, but those are the questions that I hear and I wanted people to have sort of a bite size way to consume this book. Whether it was cover to cover or like a reference guide they can go back to and consult from. I wrote it for them and because of them. Just really excited to help people out on their journey.

LAURA BRANDENBURG: Yeah. And I could just tell from your energy around the book this is coming from a total place of service and a give back to the community and you are just so excited to have it out there.

Learn More: With Strategy to Reality

LAURA BRANDENBURG: Where do they go to find a copy of the book if they would like one?

WHYNDE KUEHN: Yeah. You can go to StrategyIntoReality.com. If you go to the book, there’s a place where you can see book orders, you can find it in your region. However, just simply said, you can go on Barnes and Noble or Amazon or Book Depository, pretty much whatever book seller is in your region, you should be able to find the book there.

LAURA BRANDENBURG: That’s awesome. And we’ll leave a link to that below in the video notes and in the blog post as well.

Well thank you. Whynde, is there anything else that you would like to share before we close off?

WHYNDE KUEHN: I just want to thank you for your time today. Thank you so much. I really appreciate our just alignment on these ideas, the practical, the delivering value, the service. Just all the best to you and thank you for all you do for the discipline and just wishing everyone the best of luck.

LAURA BRANDENBURG: All right. Thank you so much.

More About Whynde Kuehn

Whynde Kuehn is the Founder of S2E Transformation, helping clients bridge the gap between strategy and execution, and achieve their greatest visions for business and digital transformation in a practical, business-focused way. She is recognized globally as a highly sought-after pioneer and thought leader in business architecture, with a distinguished track record of creating successful strategic business architecture teams worldwide. Whynde has worked with an extensive array of organizations to build their capacity for end-to-end strategy execution, including Fortune 500 and global enterprises, governmental and non-profit organizations, social enterprises, startups, and cross-sector initiatives. Whynde is the creator of Biz Arch Mastery, a dedicated online platform and community that helps professionals master the art and science of business architecture. She is also a co-founder of the Business Architecture Guild, a Fellow with the Institute for Digital Transformation, and a member of the Fast Company Executive Board. Whynde is author of the book Strategy to Reality.

What’s the difference between the two roles? And how do you transition from one role to another?

That’s the question we address in today’s video.

For those who like to read instead of watch, here’s the full text of the video:

Hey there, this is Laura Brandenburg from Bridging the Gap, and we help business analysts get started in their careers.

We’ve been receiving a lot of questions about the difference between product manager roles and business analyst roles, how they work together, and how you can move between these different roles as you plan out your career, so I decided to chat about that today.

Before we jump into how they work together, let’s talk about what each role is.

Product Manager Role

A product manager, you could think of as the CEO of the product. They just own the product. The own the strategy. They own the roadmap. They own the future definition of what is that product going to do. Sometimes they’re also in charge of the marketing, coordinating with the sales team, maybe forecasting, and have overall profit and loss (or P&L), responsibilities for their product, or for an entire product line with an organization.

Business Analyst Role

The definition of business analysis from the International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA^®), is that it’s

“the practice of enabling change in the organization by defining needs and recommending solutions.”

Often, when that change involves software, then the business analyst is collaborating and facilitating a discussion and requirements between business and the technology team. So, it’s the business team that is desiring the software or business change, and the software team that is enabling that by delivering a software solution.

And they’re in the middle of collaborating and making sure everybody is on the same page about the requirements and what that updated business process will be. That could include business process definition, a functional requirements definition, and data requirements definition.

How Product Managers and Business Analysts Work Together

When that change or that software involves a new product, then, often, that business owner is actually the product manager. And, so, the business analyst is coordinating and collaborating with the product manager and making sure the requirements are understood and defined so that the software team can build against those requirements.

I actually got my start as a business analyst in the product space, or the product world, so, I want to share a couple of examples from my career.

Product Management + Business Analysis on an eBook Platform

My very first project, or company that I worked for, they were an online publishing company. The first product I got to work on was an eBook platform. I was the business analyst. We were mostly focused on the software changes – the software features and functions, the functional requirements for that eBook platform. I worked with a product manager who owned that platform.

Just like we talked about, she had the profit and loss responsibilities. It was coordinating with the sales team for the rollout, coordinating with marketing for the marketing plan, and she owned what that software needed to do in order for it to achieve its financial objectives for the company.

An interesting part of my role though that developed  ̶  she was in charge of the customer-facing features, but there were a lot of features that we had to put in place to successfully serve our customers and fulfill our customers.

I ended up, as the business analyst, taking more of a leadership role in the internal part of the product, working with somebody from customer service and fulfillment to define what their needs would be and make sure that those requirements were covered as well, so that we could serve not only our customers, and not have just those customer-facing features, but make sure our business processes are and our internal products were in place to make sure that the product could be a success.

(Want to learn more about business processes? Go here to download my free business process template.)

Quite a few of my experiences throughout my early days as a business analyst were very similar. I was working on a lot of online content, a lot of online publishing companies, and we were doing similar kinds of products in that my role was very similar in all of those.

Product Management + Business Analysis to Build a Website for Customer-Facing Processes

Then I started working as a contractor for another organization that was taking their internally focused business process and getting that online. It was, essentially, another way of creating a product.

They were enabling, through a website, to have their customers interact with them through a website where it was, previously, they were faxing in information and calling. I don’t even think they used a lot of email  ̶  a lot of phone and a lot of fax, some email. We were putting that business process onto a website and enabling the end user, the customer, to collaborate with the company through the website.

In a way, that was another product. I wasn’t really a product manager in that one, interestingly. There was a project manager who was a business subject matter expert. They filled the role, essentially, of product manager, as well.

The Product Manager Role Has More Decision-Making Power

The biggest difference, if you look at some of these examples, is that the product manager has more decision-making power.

• They’re deciding what the software should do.
• They’re often collaborating up with executive teams to make sure that the product is aligned with the bigger picture organizational objectives.
• They might have some true financial responsibilities for the company as well.

The business analyst is more of the facilitator role discovering the requirements from the product manager who might be collaborating with end users, hopefully, figuring out what the customer wants, and bringing that information into the business analyst.

Sometimes the business analyst and product manager will do that together. As a business analyst on a product, I would get to sit into some of those end-user sessions, or the discovery sessions that the product manager was doing with actual representative customers as well. I was hearing firsthand what those needs were from the customers.

My role was taking that information, making sure that I understood what the product owners’ priorities were based on that information, and then defining, and detailing out the requirements and collaborating with technology to make sure that those requirements could get implemented.

Product Management and Business Analysis Career Paths

Because of this, many business analysts see product management as a logical step forward in their careers. It does. It involves more authority, more decision-making power, probably advanced salaries as well. You could look at it as a promotion. But if you are a product manager, you’re probably going to be working with business analysts. It’s worthwhile to know a little bit about business analysis as well. Here’s a list of key business analysis skills to get you started.

If your ultimate goal is to be a product manager, I think there can be, unless you have a lot of prior professional experience, it can be a pretty rough role to just jump right into right away. You could be looking at business analysis as an interim career path on your way to product management.

Because business analysis is going to be a great way to build a lot of those communication skills, to understand what a product is, to work with a project team, and to start building those leadership skills, as well, that you’re going to need at even more advanced levels as a product manager.

Again, I’m Laura Brandenburg at Bridging the Gap. At Bridging the Gap, we help business analysts start their careers. We’ve got lots of great resources for you if you do want to pursue a career in business analysis. Be sure to check out our website.

Until next time, great to be here, and I’ll chat soon. Thank you.

Learn More About Business Analysis

In How to Start a Business Analyst Career, you’ll learn how to assess and expand your business analysis skills and experience.

This book will help you find your best path forward into a business analyst career. More than that, you will know exactly what to do next to expand your business analysis opportunities.

Click here to learn more about How to Start a Business Analyst Career

Of course not! Business analysts add a tremendous amount of value to projects. This video takes a look at the specific ways business analysis increases the return on investment.

(If you are a business analyst, this would be a good post to share with your manager or project team too.)

For those who like to read instead of watch, here’s the full text of the video:

I’m Laura Brandenburg, from Bridging the Gap. We help business analysts start their careers.

Today, I want to talk about how you, as a business analyst, are adding value to your organization. We’re going to use the concept of return on investment. We’re going to break down, specifically, how business analysis and business analysts create a better return on investment when they’re assigned to critical projects in their organization. Let’s dive right in.

Quick Introduction to ROI (Return on Investment)

First, return on investment. What does that mean? The acronym for that is ROI. It’s the weight or the value of the return on a project, or what benefit the organization receives vs. the investment that the organization makes in that project.

If an organization invests in software development team to build or customize or implement a new software solution in all the business stakeholder time that goes into figuring out what that system should do, that’s the investment. The time, the money, the energy that gets invested in creating that solution.

The return is the benefit that organization receives from that solution once it’s in place in the business. It could be more efficient turnaround time, more customers, more revenue, more efficiency, relieving staff that can be re-used on other projects, or being able to eliminate exterior staffing or redundant staffing. Lots of ways to measure the return on that project.

Business analysts, we impact both sides of that equation. We help streamline the investment – minimize the investment in the project actually is – and, also, maximize the return. Maximize the value we’re getting out of that process. That probably sounds counter-intuitive at first. I want to dig into the specific ways that business analysts do this and give you a few examples as well.

Business Analysts Add Value Through Reducing Project Costs

Let’s talk about how business analysts reduce the investment, or the cost, of a project. This probably does feel counterintuitive if you’re thinking…you’re a hiring manager and you’re like, “Well, should I add a business analyst to my team? Isn’t that an additional cost? Aren’t I expanding how much this project is going to cost? Why don’t we just get starting coding, because that’s what we really need? We need that code, or we need that configured system into our business user’s hands. Why don’t we just skip the analysis and go right to coding?”

Well, we know it doesn’t always work that way, but some specific ways that business analysts help reduce costs, even though, of course, their salary is a line item on your budget for the project, is that they’re going to reduce re-work. So, when you just start coding and start figuring things out, and then you put that into the hands of a business user, they’re going to be like, “Oh, no. I didn’t really want this. I wanted that.”

All of a sudden, something that maybe seemed simple, gets complex as like stakeholder requests come in, defects come in, change requests come in, and you have this re-work where you’re going back and revisiting the same code, the same implementation again, again, and again. That is, obviously, you know, your costs go from here to here. You add some analysis up front to figure out what is needed, and that re-work time should go down.

The other place that business analysts have an effect on project costs is in the reduction of what I like to call requirements churn, or the time it takes for the business community to figure out what it is they actually want.

A lot of times, that isn’t like a line item cost on a budget. But if you think about a requirements meeting, especially one that might have high-level stakeholders in the room, there’s a definite cost to that meeting. If you’re having duplicate meetings again, and again, and again to discuss essentially the same issue and never getting to a solution, that’s an expense that your organization is taking on that’s bloating the impact, or cost, of what needs to be invested to figure out those requirements.

Good business analysis is going to help present solutions, create a logical decision-making process, remind people that we went down that road before, we don’t need to go down that rabbit hole again, and plug those communication gaps, and help facilitate communication across departments, across different levels of the organization.

Yes, that process takes time. It’s not like you put a business analyst in and, snap, they come up with the requirements. But it’s going to take less time and less churn than if you didn’t have somebody who was in charge facilitating that part of the process.

Finally, when it comes to the investment side of the equation, the other way that business analysts can help is helping find more cost-effective solutions. When you dial into what problem are we solving – you’ll hear me say that again and again – what problem are we solving? Why is this project being implemented in the first place? Sometimes creative solutions just pop up.

They don’t even have to be big technology solutions. Maybe there are tools that you can use that you already have. Maybe there’s a business process change that can get you a certain amount of the way there. That’s where we can take what maybe was a big investment and reduce that by half and still get that same return. It doesn’t always happen. But if it is possible, your business analyst is going to help you find it.

This topic of saving time through improved communication and effective requirements processes was a big theme in this live panel discussion on How Business Analysts Add Value – you can watch the entire video here below.

Business Analysts Add Value through Increasing the Potential Return, or Benefits

Let’s talk about the other side of the equation and how business analysts help you increase the potential return, or what the benefits are from that project. Remember, we’ve made an investment in a solution, and now it’s out in the business. How does that actually have more benefit?

The first thing is we talked about how a business analyst is always going to go try to find the problem to be solved. Not try; will find the problem to be solved. As part of that, we often discover new business benefits. While we’re looking at this part, is there something here that we can do as well?

I remember early on in my career meeting with an end user who was showing me how they were copying and pasting documents into this field. They had to edit it, too, because it wasn’t copying right. It ended up being a simple change to enable the workflow and save them tons of time. As a business analyst, I could see there was a possibility of as we were touching the system to add on a piece that would save them a lot of time in their workflow.

Until I saw their work environment, I would have never known that. It would have never made it into the requirements for that project if we hadn’t analyzed their current business process and understood how their work flowed. There were lots of ways we could have solved that problem. It ended up being a small technology tweak that added a lot of value. That’s an example of discovering new business needs that can be easily included in the investment that’s already being made to deliver even more value to the business.

Another way that business analysts support that increase of value is through prioritization. Typically, it would be like we want all the things, the list of all these requirements and let’s just say it’s 100 things. We hand that to our development team. They start going through them in order. Maybe they group them by technical component or area of the system and implement them that way.

When you do that, and you say all these things are required, maybe the first 10 things aren’t the most important things. Maybe they’re not the most valuable. Maybe we start working on an area of the system, and three of those things are really important and another five of them are just nice-to-haves that complicate the system more than it needs to be and don’t deliver the value that needs to be.

Relentless focus on that prioritization in making sure the most important requirements get dealt with first in the project that we know what the most important ones are, which ones are going to add the most value, and then make sure those are clearly communicated as part of building the solution.

Another way that business analysts increase that return is the way that they facilitate this communication with the business community. I have this story I love to share where I walked into a contract as a consultant and they had implemented a document management system. There were business users printing the document twice. The goal of that system was to reduce paper and make the process more efficient. After the system, they were printing and writing, and uploading and writing, and uploading and printing. Multiple steps, additional steps, in order to use the system that IT said they needed to use in a way that was going to work with what they understood their business process to be.

As a business analyst, we don’t stop when the solution is built. We stop when the business has accepted that solution and understands what their updated business process is going to be. That’s where the real business value gets realized. (Before I forget, be sure to download our free business process template which incorporates a host of best practices on process modeling.)

One final way that we help increase the return is providing a framework where IT can scale. If you’re a small organization, or with a smaller team, you can communicate well, and you can have a tight-knit team where everybody knows what each other does and who to ask what questions.

As you start scaling your capabilities and scaling your team and growing your organization, that informal kind of “everybody knows each other” communication tends not to scale. And you need somebody in the middle of engaging the new business stakeholders, helping educate the new business stakeholders, figuring out who knows what in technology to facilitate that as well.

Think of your business analyst as a role that’s going to help that IT team scale to deliver even more value to the business and help your business scale as well.

How Will You Expand Your Value?

Those are my immediate takeaways on how business analysts add value on projects. It’s just scratching the surface. There’s a lot more that we could cover here. I’m going to challenge you, if you’re a business analyst listening in, think about it.

Are you adding value in all of these ways in your organization? If not, where could you be adjusting how you approach your work to add more value? This is what’s going to increase your reputation, get you on the interesting projects, be the person that everybody wants to work with because they know when they work with you, they’re going to have a value-added resource on their team.

If you’re a hiring manager or a technology leader, or a business leader who’s wondering if you should start a business analyst team, think about where you’re experiencing some of the pain points that we just talked about and who in your organization could start doing these activities, essentially stepping in to this business analyst role, and creating a more predictable project lifecycle and development process. It’s going to help your projects be more successful, and it’s also going to help people on those projects be happier because they know that they’re contributing to a successful project as well.

Those are my tips for you. Leave a comment below. Let me know how you add value as a business analyst or anything you’re going to change as a result of listening to today’s video.

Again, I’m Laura Brandenburg from Bridging the Gap.

>>Download Your Free Business Process Template

One way to expand your value right away is by analyzing a business process. Get started analyzing a business process today, with our complimentary business process template.

• Help business users from multiple departments clarify their actual step-by-step workflow;
• Avoid wasting money on software solutions that don’t solve the right business problems;
• And even helping new business analysts figure out what questions to ask when starting on a new project or domain.

Business process analysis is often the very first technique used by business analysts when we start learning a new domain or analyze the scope of a project.

Click here to download your free business process template today

I used to check email at 11 PM and wake up thinking about my meetings for the day, the questions I had, and tricky project challenges. It was like my mind would never shut off, thinking about my BA work.

And to be honest, that made me really frustrated, especially when I was working for executives and boards that I didn’t feel like respected me or care much about doing good in the world.

But you know what, this was not healthy for me, nor did it make me a better business analyst to be so anxious and “on” all the time. A lot of the personal growth I’ve experienced has come because I’ve been able to manage my emotional investments in healthy ways.

In today’s video, I share 4 strategies for managing your emotional investment in your work. If you’ve ever felt anxious, frustrated, or like it’s all not worth it, be sure to check it out.

For those who like to read instead of watch, here’s the full text of the video:

Today I want to talk to you about anxiety and emotional investment as a business analyst and how this could affect our productivity, our lives, and how it can take away from the fulfilling enjoyable work that we come to business analysis for.

We just finished the launch of the Data Modeling for Business Analysts course. I’m sure if you’ve been a part of the community, you noticed what we were doing and saw that we launched a new program. That kind of work, to me, is always so tough emotionally to put a new creation out to the world, to run a big launch, to get visible about what we do at Bridging the Gap. I just kind of wonder who’s going to buy? Is anybody going to react well to what I have to offer? It’s a time of emotional investment, and I’ve learned a lot of ways to manage that, and they’ve been critical to my personal growth as a human being, as a business owner, and as a business analyst.

It kind of brought me back to that time when, as a business analyst, I would get so invested in what my work was, the outcome of the project, and all the nuances and issues that were coming up and who thought what about everything. I would get so caught up in a lot of those details and it would result in unhealthy activities. Things like working until 11:00 at night and getting up in the morning and having all kinds of ideas floating through my head about my project and never really feeling like I got to rest.

So, I wanted to share with you some of the strategies that you can use – four specific things – to be productive and manage your emotional investment in your projects.

Let’s jump in with the four different things.

#1 – Find some time to turn off work

First, is just finding some time to turn off work. This can be hard.

• It might be instead of turning it off at 11:00, you turn it off at 9:00. Baby steps.
• It might be maybe you can go to 6:00.
• Maybe, if 6:00 is not a great time because you have a family and from 6:00 – 8:00 is family time, or should be family time.

Not too long ago, I talked to somebody who said, “My laptop is always on. It’s at the dinner table with me while I’m trying to talk to my kids and my husband.” So, maybe it’s creating a space from 6:00 – 8:00 at night that is no laptops allowed, and then checking in later, if that works for you.

Whatever it is. It’s finding a space where you detach and it’s okay and safe not to work. Super, super important.

Once you get that done, I would challenge you to go to a step further and find that 24-hour period over the weekend where you’re also detaching and not working. It’s important just to have that emotional space to do the things you want to do and not be thinking about work. I guarantee you will show up for work more energized, more productive, your ideas will be better, the way that you can handle challenges will be better.

When you do this, at first, you might have to replace it with something else. I like to do a lot of my personal development in the evenings. That’s when I read books; I take courses. I also like to have some fun activities, too. I like to do puzzles. It’s a great way to keep your mind busy, but still not be doing work. Find a habit or a fun activity, like doing puzzles or crafts so that you’re engaged in some way. But, again, a little bit detached from work.

That’s the first thing, find that space.

#2 – Practice self-care

The second thing to be thinking about is practicing some self-care. When I was in a corporate environment, as things got busier and my responsibilities got bigger, I went from being good about working out every day and eating good foods to, slowly, the workouts became less and less and I was going out to lunch or having people bring me lunch. I didn’t even have time to go out to lunch.

Before I knew it, I wasn’t even drinking water or taking time to go to the bathroom. It was crazy. It was this slippery slope of not taking care of me. I can tell you that as a corporate manager, I was not always the best role model for my employees. If you are a leader in your space, this is a place where you can step up and lead, visibly, within your work environment as well.

So, how could you do that? Start by drinking the water. If you don’t have to go to the bathroom, it’s probably because you’re not drinking enough water. Drink the water, take some space to go for a walk, even if it’s just for 10-15 minutes. Get outside during your workday. Bring healthy nutritious snacks to work.

Think about how you can take care of you because somebody who takes care of themselves is better able to help others. I guarantee you, if you’re not taking care of yourself, you’re missing things. You’re missing connections, you’re showing up to meetings frazzled. I know when I have to go to the bathroom, I’m not listening very well. I’m not showing up as my best self. That is happening to you too. You’re not helping anyone by being a martyr. Find some ways to take care of you.

That brings us to step 3.

#3 – Cultivate awareness for what triggers you

When you start taking care of yourself, you’re probably going to be able to be more aware of what’s triggering you. What’s happening? When you go out on that walk and you’re like, “Gosh, I was really fired up in that meeting. I was really upset about how that stakeholder challenged the requirements.” Or the way that they were connecting with each other, not connecting with each other, that somebody showed up 15 minutes late to my meeting again and that really irks me. You’ll be able to generate that awareness of the places in your work that trigger you emotionally.

It’s so important to say, “Oh, there it is showing up again,” and start to see those patterns. What are the things that bother you and why are they bothering you? Allow that space to cultivate that awareness for yourself. You don’t, necessarily, have to do anything about it, just stopping enough to notice is going to go a long way to help you deal with it more productively and come up with some alternate solutions.

Just cultivating that awareness. Like, “Oh, I’m kind of upset about this. I wonder why?” You have to be curious about your own being and think about your work in a different way. Once you do that, you can then focus on what can you control in those situations. You can’t control if somebody chooses to show up late. You can’t control a lot of what happens at work. What you can control is the quality of your work, the expectations you set with others, the boundaries you set for yourself, and your reaction. That’s what you can control.

#4 – Focus on what you can control

In some of these situations, there is something that you could do to change. If I sent a reminder the day before, or the hour before, maybe people would be more likely to show up. If I structured my meetings in a different way, maybe people would be more likely to show up. That is just one issue because that comes up a lot for BAs. It can be any challenging issue that triggers you and causes those emotions. Just looking at that, focusing on what can you control, you can set a boundary.

There are times that I, again, on the meeting front, have said,

“If certain people aren’t here by five minutes after or 10 minutes after, I’m canceling the meeting. We’re all walking out. We’re going to do something else.”

Or maybe we’ll refocus the agenda on something that the group that’s there can handle, and then it becomes a very visible delay in our project because I’ve set that boundary about how I’m going to be treated as a business analyst and how our meetings are going to run, and how we’re going to respect the time of the people who show up in meetings.

Think about, then, what boundaries you could set, what can you control that’s going to generate a different outcome in the future. But, again, you can’t control much. You can’t control what other people do, you can’t control how they treat you, you can’t control their reactions when you do set a boundary, you can’t control what they think, how they feel. There’s so much that’s just out of your control and you can let it go.

It’s safe to let it go and to focus on what you can control. When you do that, these problems, sometimes, just start to solve themselves. You start to show up as a better more proactive awesome BA who’s shining as a leader, and who people want to work with because you’re happier emotionally and you’re more fully available to everyone else on your team.

When you start to put these pieces in place, magical things start to happen. I’ve seen it in my own personal growth. I’ve seen it in the people that are doing well in the profession, both in corporate and those who own their own businesses. I want to see it for you as well.

This has been one of our longer videos. It’s a touchy topic. There’s a lot to cover here. I could talk about this for hours. And if you have questions about this, please leave a comment below. I would love to have a conversation about this one.

Just to recap, though, the four things are practicing self-care, having times that you totally detach from work – that was #1, self-care at work was #2, cultivating awareness – just paying attention to what triggers you emotionally is step 3, and focusing on what you can control is step 4.

I hope these help you manage that emotional investment you have in your work.

There is a Lack of Awareness of How to Do Business Analysis

Let me just say that I know what it is like to feel that you constantly have to be paving a path for how to do business analysis, and guiding your stakeholders through the business analysis steps.

I also get the pressure you feel to just get “things” done without the proper time and analysis. I’ve succumbed to it many times in my career – and always to my ultimate regret. 

It’s incredibly difficult to always be the one pushing back, and it can be wicked hard to keep asking questions when it feels like everyone else has things figured out.  

(Spoiler alert: They don’t.) 

But you and I – we also know, deep in our souls, that we’re doing our projects, our teams, and our companies a disservice if we don’t do the right analysis and keep asking questions. 

When self-doubt creeps in, you need a structure to fall back on. A business analysis process framework to guide you forward and re-affirm that you are on the right track. 

And that’s what the 8-step business analysis process framework that we teach at Bridging the Gap is all about. 

By the way,  I cover these 8 steps in more detail in our free Quick Start to Success Workshop.

Now let’s look at each of the 8 business analysis steps in more detail.

Business Analysis Process Framework Step 1 – Get Oriented

Often as business analysts, we are expected to dive into a project and start contributing as quickly as possible to make a positive impact. Sometimes the project is already underway. Other times there are vague notions about what the project is or why it exists. We face a lot of ambiguity as business analysts and it’s our job to clarify the scope, requirements, and business objectives as quickly as possible.

But that doesn’t mean that it makes sense to get ourselves knee-deep into the detailed requirements right away. Doing so very likely means a quick start in the wrong direction.

Taking some time, whether that’s a few hours, few days, or at the very most a few weeks, to get oriented will ensure you are not only moving quickly but also able to be an effective and confident contributor on the project.

Your key responsibilities in this step include:

• Clarifying your role as the business analyst so that you are sure to create deliverables that meet stakeholder needs. (To better understand the BA role, be sure to check out our free workshop – Quick Start to Success as a Business Analyst.)
• Determining the primary stakeholders to engage in defining the project’s business objectives and scope, as well as any subject matter experts, to be consulted early in the project.
• Understanding the project history so that you don’t inadvertently repeat work that’s already been done or rehash previously made decisions.
• Understanding the existing systems and business processes so you have a reasonably clear picture of the current state business process that needs to change.

This is where you learn how to learn what you don’t know you don’t know, so to speak. This step gets you the information you need to be successful and effective in the context of this particular project.

Business Analysis Process Framework Step 2 – Discover the Primary Business Objectives

It’s very common for business analysts and project managers to jump right in to defining the scope of the project. However, this can lead to unnecessary headaches. Uncovering and getting agreement on the business needs early in a project and before scope is defined is the quickest path forward to a successful project.

Your key responsibilities in this step include:

• Discovering expectations from your primary stakeholders – essentially discovering the “why” behind the project. (Our BA Essentials Master Class covers 7 different business analysis techniques that can be used as part of this discovery.)
• Reconciling conflicting expectations so that the business community begins the project with a shared understanding of the business objectives and are not unique to one person’s perspective.
• Ensuring the business objectives are clear and actionable to provide the project team with momentum and context while defining scope and, later on, the detailed requirements.

Discovering the primary business objectives sets the stage for defining scope, ensuring that you don’t end up with a solution that solves the wrong problem or, even worse, with a solution that no one can even determine is successful or not.

Business Analysis Process Framework Step 3 – Define Scope

A clear and complete statement of scope provides your project team the go-forward concept to realize the business needs. Scope makes the business needs tangible in such a way that multiple project team participants can envision their contribution to the project and the implementation. 

Your key responsibilities in this step include:

• Defining a solution approach to determine the nature and extent of technology and business process changes to be made as part of implementing the solution to the primary business objectives.
• Drafting a scope statement and reviewing it with your key business and technology stakeholders until they are prepared to sign-off or buy-in to the document.
• Confirming the business case to ensure that it still makes sense for your organization to invest in the project.

Scope is not an implementation plan, but it is a touchstone guiding all of the subsequent steps of the business analysis process and tasks by other project participants.

Business Analysis Process Framework Step 4 – Formulate Your Business Analysis Plan

Your business analysis plan will bring clarity to the business analysis process that will be used to successfully define the detailed requirements for this project. Your business analysis plan is going to answer many questions for you and your project team.

Your key responsibilities in this step include:

• Choosing the most appropriate types of business analysis deliverables, given the project scope, project methodology, and other key aspects of the project context.
• Defining the specific list of business analysis deliverables that will completely cover the scope of the project and identifying the stakeholders who will be part of the creation and validation of each deliverable.
• Identifying the timelines for completing the business analysis deliverables.

In the absence of defining a credible and realistic plan, a set of expectations may be defined for you, and often those expectations are unrealistic as they do not fully appreciate everything that goes into defining detailed requirements.

If you are facing unrealistic requirements deadlines – here’s a video with more detail on exactly how to respond.

Business Analysis Process Framework Step 5 – Define the Detailed Requirements

Detailed requirements provide your implementation team with the information they need to implement the solution. They make scope implementable.

Without clear, concise, and actionable detailed requirements, implementation teams often flounder and fail to connect the dots in such a way that delivers on the original business case for the project.  

Your key responsibilities in this step include:

• Eliciting the information necessary to understand what the business community wants from a specific feature or process change.
• Analyzing the information you’ve discovered and using it to create a first draft of one or more business analysis deliverables containing the detailed requirements for the project.
• Reviewing and validating each deliverable with appropriate business and technology stakeholders and asking questions to fill in any gaps.

Effective business analysts consciously sequence your deliverables to be as effective as possible in driving the momentum of the project forward. Paying attention to the project’s critical path, reducing ambiguity and complexity, and generating quick wins are all factors to consider when sequencing your deliverables.

Defining the detailed requirements requires a broader toolset of business analysis techniques and business analysis skills. You can learn more about the skills required to be a business analyst here:

Business Analysis Process Framework Step 6 – Support the Technical Implementation

On a typical project employing a business analyst, a significant part of the solution involves a technical implementation team building, customizing, and/or deploying software. During the technical implementation, there are many worthwhile support tasks for you to engage in that will help drive the success of the project and ensure the business objectives are met.

Your key responsibilities in this step include:

• Reviewing the solution design to ensure it fulfills all of the requirements and looking for opportunities to meet additional business needs without increasing the technical scope of the project.
• Updating and/or repackaging requirements documentation to make it useful for the technology design and implementation process.
• Engaging with quality assurance professionals to ensure they understand the business context for the technical requirements. This responsibility may include reviewing test plans and/or test cases to ensure they represent a clear understanding of the functional requirements.
• Making yourself available to answer questions and help resolve any issues that surface during the technical design, technical implementation, or testing phases of the project.
• Managing requirements changes to ensure that everyone is working from up-to-date documentation and that appropriate stakeholders are involved in all decisions about change.
• When appropriate, leading user acceptance testing efforts completed by the business community to ensure that the software implementation meets the needs of business end users.

All of these efforts help the implementation team fulfill the intended benefits of the project and ensure the investment made realizes a positive return.

Business Analysis Process Framework Step 7 – Help the Business Implement the Solution

Your technology team can deliver a beautiful shiny new solution that theoretically meets the business objectives, but if your business users don’t use it as intended and go back to business-as-usual, your project won’t have delivered on the original objectives. Business analysts are increasingly getting involved in this final phase of the project to support the business.

Your key responsibilities in this step may include:

• Analyzing and developing interim and future state business process documentation that articulates exactly what changes need to be made to the business process.
• Training end users to ensure they understand all process and procedural changes or collaborating with training staff so they can create appropriate training materials and deliver the training.
• Collaborating with business users to update other organizational assets impacted by the business process and technology changes.

This step is all about ensuring all members of the business community are prepared to embrace the changes that have been specified as part of the project.

Business Analysis Process Framework Step 8 – Assess Value Created by the Solution

A lot happens throughout the course of a project. Business outcomes are discussed. Details are worked through. Problems, big and small, are solved. Relationships are built. Change is managed. Technology is implemented. Business users are trained to change the way they work.

In this flurry of activity and a focus on delivery, it’s easy to lose track of the big picture. Why are we making all these changes and what value do they deliver for the organization? And even more importantly, are we still on track? Meaning, is the solution we’re delivering actually delivering the value we originally anticipated?

Nothing creates more positive momentum within an organization than a track record of successful projects. But if we don’t stop and assess the value created by the solution, how do we know if we are actually operating from a track record of success?

Your key responsibilities in this step may include:

• Evaluating the actual progress made against the business objectives for the project to show the extent to which the original objectives have been fulfilled.
• Communicating the results to the project sponsor, and if appropriate, to the project team and all members of the organization.
• Suggesting follow-up projects and initiatives to fully realize the intended business objectives of the project or to solve new problems that are discovered while evaluating the impact of this project.

Business analysis creates tremendous value – and you can learn all about how to position your value in this video!

Knowing the Business Analysis Steps Cultivates Confidence and Credibility

As you leverage this process framework, you’ll gain increased recognition for the value of business analysis, and you’ll start to get pulled into more interesting projects, earlier in the process. 

I see BAs resist having a process because it seems like every project is different but without a process, you really feel like you have to make things up as you go along. While there are nuances of each project that are different, this is a framework you can fall back on to guide you. 

It’s both structured AND flexible. 

I invite you to start applying this process. 

If you want to learn more, join my Quick Start to Success workshop, where I teach you the ins and outs. We also do a deeper dive into each step of the process in our online business analyst training programs.

And, again, this is about you increasing your effectiveness, and finding the confidence to do what’s right for your project and your team, even when there can be pressures to “just get things done.” 

We build our profession one business analyst at a time, and success starts with you. 

Let’s Get Started!

Now that you understand the business analysis process framework, the very first step to get started on just about any project involves analyzing the business process. Here’s a great video to help you explore this essential business analysis skill set in more depth!

For those who like to read instead of watch, here’s the full text of the video:

Hello, my name is Laura Brandenburg from Bridging the Gap. Today, I want to talk to you about the difference between business analyst roles and systems analyst roles because we get a lot of questions about this at Bridging the Gap about whether they’re really the same, or are they different, or how those titles in those job roles are used within the profession. I want to empower you to understand the nuances within the profession and the path that you might, personally, want to take as you form your career plan for your business analysis career.

Job Titles

First, just a note about business analyst job titles. They are used extremely inconsistently within our profession.

What I’m going to share with you in this video is about the roles and the standard definition of those roles. How you see a specific job title in your local market and the job postings on your job board, even within your company, might be different from what I share with you today. You always want to look at the responsibilities below the job titles to make sure that you’re understanding the role that a specific organization or employer is looking for you to fill.

What Does a Business Analyst Do?

First, let’s just talk about what a business analyst does, somebody in a business analyst role. Typically, that role is defined as someone who is enabling change, who is responsible for the requirements, the development of the understanding of the business needs to help create a solution, envision a solution to solve a business problem, or to add more value to the business.

Most typically, a business analyst will analyze the process and also analyze the software that’s going to help us improve or implement that process.

In the software, we look at both functional requirements and data requirements. What does the software do, how does the software store information? It involves the heavy relationship with the business and the technology teams, and it’s what Bridging the Gap between business and IT to make sure all those stakeholders have a common shared understanding of what the software solution will be to address a specific business process or business problem.

What Does a Systems Analyst Do?

What does a systems analyst do? How is that a little bit different? What we typically see is that the systems analyst role focuses more on the technology aspect of the solution. You wouldn’t have a systems analyst on just a business process change.

Where a business analyst might work on something that doesn’t actually involve a software change because they just might fix the business process, systems analysts only come in when there is a software change. They’re probably going to go a couple of layers deeper into the software requirements and not just considering the what of the software of how the software needs to function from an end user perspective, but also looking into how that software is built, how the software is configured, potentially, how multiple systems are going to work together to accomplish a specific objective or meet a specific functional requirement.

They’re going to be peeling away the layers of that system and that technology to make sure that the solution, again, meets the business need, but they’re focused more in on the software aspect of the solution, probably not on the business process side. They might be doing more data modeling, more data design, how does data move between systems, how are the systems connected, working and integrated together to meet a feature.

Sometimes, even doing some level of technical coding or programming; sometimes the job title is used in that way, but they are definitely understanding how the code is written, how the code works, and, potentially, just collaborating with other professionals who are actually doing the coding itself.

That’s the difference between the two roles. That business analyst role being more business focused on the business process side, and the systems analyst role being more technically focused on the technical side.

Many Business Analysts Are Also Systems Analysts

Now, many of us play both roles. In my first job as a business analyst, I also had a lot of those systems analysis responsibilities. I wasn’t spec’ing the integrations between the systems, but we had heavy data modeling requirements that required us to understand how that database was built, how the application cleared the database in order to build some specifications that were more technical specifications. You can have a blend of both.

We started with, “What does the product need to do?” “What are the end features that the product needs to do?” In some organizations, you will see a combination of the roles, and that requires a lot of business and technical acumen.

In other organizations, you will see two roles where you have a business analyst and a systems analyst. What’s important, then, that there are tight connection and collaboration between those two individuals. What tends to happen is the business analyst, then, has their requirements, and the systems analyst create their requirements, and there’s an extra layer of requirements documentation in between those two roles as part of that hand-off.

You need to make sure the translation process of what the business wants and what the end problem that’s being solved is making its way through to the more technical specification documents. There should be a lot of connection and collaboration between those two individuals.

Where Do You Want To Go with Your Career?

Where do you want to go with your career? It’s up to you.

• If you like the business side more and you want to be more in connection with business users and solving business problems, you might want to gravitate more towards the business focused role.
• If you like the technology, even if you don’t want to code anymore, you have a deep technology background, that you want to leverage that technical understanding without having to write the code, systems analysis could provide a great career path for you.

What’s Next?

I always like to say you get to create the career that you want and business analysis, as a profession, just creates tons of opportunities for you.

If you’d like to learn more about starting your career as a business analyst, go ahead and click below. There’s a link to a free training on your Quick Start to Success as a Business Analyst. There are additional resources about what a business analyst does, what process to use to be effective, and what are some of the key skills that you need to be successful in today’s competitive job environment.

I hope that you will join us. I’d love to help you take the next step in your business analyst career.

Again, I’m Laura Brandenburg, from Bridging the Gap. We help make career professionals start business analyst careers.

It’s easy to get overwhelmed. And it’s easy to allow the overwhelm to keep you from contributing value to your organization.

To be effective, it’s absolutely necessary that you have a process to manage this information and be productive at defining the requirements sooner rather than later.

Specifically, Sheryl asked:

I am looking for work in the Salesforce BA/Admin area/domain.  I have been accepted by 3 non-profit groups that need Salesforce assistance.  My questions to you would be:

Help!  I have been assigned to a number of juicy projects and I have a lot of information coming in.  How would you organize or set up the process to manage all of this info?

In today’s video, I share 4 strategies to manage information overload as a business analyst – we cover getting your files set up, the key documents to create, how to manage your time between projects, and finally, moving from reactive to proactive mode by creating models and specifications for review.

(As an aside, you can get templates for many of the documents I mention in this video when you download our Business Analyst Template Toolkit.)

For those who like to read instead of watch, here’s the full text of the video:

Today we’re going to talk about a common problem for BAs: what to do when you are overloaded with information and are a bit overwhelmed.

Specifically, Sheryl emailed us a question and she said,

“I just got assigned to three different non-profit groups as a Salesforce.com BA.”

First, congratulations, Sheryl, that’s awesome! A great way to be building some new business analysis experience.

“But, what do I do?” “How do I manage all this information that’s coming as part of these juicy projects.”

We’re going to talk, in this video about specific strategies for handling information overwhelm. Let’s dive right in.

Information Overload Strategy #1 – Create Folders

The first thing is simple. Just go out and create yourself some folders for each client and each project. Whatever the main categories of work you do right now, create folders. Do this both in your document management system, most likely just the file system on your computer, and in your email software so that as you get emails from people about a project or with information about a project, you can file them into those folders.

As you do that, you’ll probably create some subfolders for different areas so you can find them again more easily if you need to. But just make sure you’re filing those away into the appropriate folders. It also helps to take that overwhelm out of your email box. When I stop doing my filing, I look at my email and it’s crazy instead of just having to deal with the new emails that have come in. As you get important attachments in your email, also be sure to save them over to that appropriate folder. It’s a lot easier to find that way instead of having to sift through your email every time you’re looking for a document. Basic organization strategy.

Information Overload Strategy #2 – Key Documents

The next thing is looking at a couple of key documents that are going to help you manage the information. These are documents you can create.

You want a stakeholder list for each project. Who’s who, what do they know about, what department are they in, what’s their email address? That’s probably going to be in your email software, but it’s their contact information, how to get in touch with them, their communication preferences (if you know), and what kind of areas they’re responsible for on the project.

Meeting notes. As you go into meetings, don’t just scribble down your notes. Type up your notes and store them away. That will help you solidify what you learned in any given meeting. It will also help keep a record of what you learned, what you found out, what issues you have to manage, or what is going on with that project.

Another document you might want to start creating right away is called a glossary. A glossary is just a key list of terms, especially, if you’re dealing with three different clients. They might all have a different definition of customer. You’re going to need to keep that straight in your head. So, go ahead and create a glossary for each organization so that you can stay clear on what the different terms mean for each organization.

Finally, you’re going to want to start some sort of a features list or request list. Why are they having a Salesforce.com BA? That’s exciting. They probably have some changes they want. Start keeping a list of those changes as they come up in those early meetings and that will help you get proactive, into proactive mode, which we’re going to talk about in a bit.

Information Overload Strategy #3 – Time and Priority Management

The next piece, before we talk about getting in proactive mode, and the way that you turn information overwhelm into structure, clarity, and organized information as a business analysis, is your time management system. Your need to be thinking about three projects is a lot to juggle at a time. Some BAs juggle more than that. They have a bunch of little projects, which is challenging to manage as well. But even three big projects, that’s a lot to manage and it’s going to be natural to be pulled from one to the other and feel like, “Oh, I dropped the ball on this one while I was working on this juicy thing on this other one.”

You want to get a system down where you’re looking at what are the key milestones for each of your projects.

• What are things that you need to be working on to set those projects up for success?
• What are the key meetings?
• Get your calendar organized, your schedule organized. What are your next steps?

You want to be revisiting your to-do list weekly and looking at each of those projects, probably, having a part of your to-do list, making sure you’re making consistent progress on each of those projects, whether it’s scheduling the next week’s meeting, preparing a requirements document, or typing of notes from the last meeting.

Just make sure you consistently have those action items captured and you’re looking week to week about how to keep each of those moving forward.

Information Overload Strategy #4 – Create Models and Specs for Review

Now, let’s talk about taking ownership of all this information. The thing is information overload isn’t productive. You individually learning stuff as a business analyst is super fun. It’s energizing to be like, “I get now how all this fit together.” It’s not delivering value.

You don’t deliver value until you create something that helps that project take the next step. You, as quickly as possible, want to get into a proactive mode and a creative mode. Taking all this information that’s coming in to you and saying, “Okay, here is a nice neat and organized requirements document.” Or … “Here is a nice, neat and organized model that is going to help describe it and help us take the next step on that project.”

Some of the examples might be:

• A systems context diagram – a very simple visual model showing how Salesforce.com integrates or will integrate with the other systems in place in that organization.
• A business process flow. What are the steps that they go through to manage an account today, or convert a lead to a customer? What are their key sales processes and how do those flow? That would be a process document that you could now review and say, “Have I understood this correctly?” or “How do we fill in these gaps?” (You can actually download this template for free.)
• Another one would be a scope statement. If there’s a specific change that they want to make or a specific initiative, an enhancement they want to make, getting some scope of what that looks like.

Those are the three documents that you want to be thinking of first in a project. It’s going to depend on what problem are you there to solve as the BA, what’s the first step that you will take, and what are your responsibilities? You can drill into more detail if needed but usually, those three documents are three of the very first ones that you would create.

Again, that’s system context diagram, scope statement, and business process model to show that you understand their current state business process and set them up for changes, adjustments, and improvements to that business process, which is probably why you’re there.

I hope that helps you get out of overwhelm, Sheryl. I’m excited to hear about your projects and how these all go. I’m sure you’re going to do a fantastic job at helping those organizations create positive change.

>> Why Start From Scratch? Save Time…

Download our annotated templates handling common BA scenarios. Check out the Business Analyst Template Toolkit – all of the requirements templates are fully annotated and editable by you, giving you a great starting point for starting your next business analyst project or formalizing your work samples.

Click here to learn more about the BA Template Toolkit

While senior business analyst roles vary widely from one organization to another, in this post, we’ll talk about the 6 areas in which we see senior business analysts taking on increased responsibility.

Before I forget, I want to be sure you know about my Quick Start to Success as a Business Analyst training (it’s free) that’s designed to help you, the mid-career professional, kick-start your business analysis career. This training provides an introduction to what a business analyst does and a deeper dive into what skills you need to be successful as a business analyst.

>> Click here to get the Quick Start to Success Business Analyst Workshop <<

Now, onto the responsibilities of a Senior Business Analyst.

#1 – Senior Business Analysts Tackle More Complex Projects

Typically a senior business analyst takes on complex, high-profile projects. While you’ll likely find yourself leveraging the same foundational business analysis skills, the responsibilities are greater because of the nature of the projects themselves.

Project complexity can take many forms. Multiple, integrated systems create complexity because new requirements need to be traced through the inter-related systems. Multiple stakeholders across several departments create complexity because of the number of perspectives that need to be blended into the final solution. Team make-up can also create complexity because when you blend resources from multiple organizations to implement a project, communication becomes more complex.

#2 – Senior Business Analysts Own Strategic Analysis Responsibilities

A second, but much debated, aspect of becoming a senior-level business analyst is the incorporation of strategic analysis activities into the role.  Most BA roles include strategic analysis at some level. If you ask “why” or define the business need within the context of a specific project, you are doing strategic analysis.

As a senior-level responsibility, strategic analysis can also take the form of planning and scoping several inter-related initiatives and helping senior-level business stakeholders make informed decisions about which initiatives to tackle and how to tackle them, or project portfolio management.

#3 – Senior Business Analysts Understand the Business Process

While some business analyst roles are purely focused around business changes, many of us are “IT Business Analysts” and deal mostly with software changes. If this is the case in your situation, digging deeper into the business and business process changes can provide an avenue to take on more senior-level tasks.

As you learn about the business processes and how people throughout the organization use the software you support, you’ll build better relationships with business stakeholders. Through these discussions, you can create an opportunity for yourself to become a partner in the business change.

Here’s a video on exactly how to analyze a business process.

#4 – New Business Domains Are No Problem for a Senior Business Analyst

Many business analysts thrive during their initial years in the profession because they are experts in the system or business domain. They know everything there is to know about the possibilities of the project. When this is the case, your position of strength comes from your systems knowledge and your BA competencies are not fully stretched to the max.

Senior-level business analysts can often tackle projects across multiple domains and handle new business domains with the same level of confidence as familiar ones. The ability to work across domains and industries is a critical step in the business analyst career path.

#5 – Senior Business Analysts Lead the BA Effort

A business analyst lead is often a senior business analyst working on projects of large enough scope that they demand the efforts of multiple business analysts. In addition to performing many business analyst activities, a lead will coordinate and oversee the work of other BAs as it relates to a specific project.

Part of leading multiple business analysts also means mentoring the junior and mid-level business analysts in your organization. As a senior-level BA, you will be viewed as an expert on the process and best practices for conducting requirements practices in your organization.

#6 – Senior Business Analysts Can Be Consultants for Internal  Stakeholders

An internal business analyst consultant offers technology or process consulting services to a line of business.  Mark Jenkins as BA Manager at Websense enabled his analysts to take on consultant responsibilities. Each BA has a certain amount of their time dedicated to helping a set of business stakeholders diagnose problems and understand needs. They are responsible for maintaining a deep awareness of how a business operation works and helping the stakeholders explore technology possibilities to more effectively execute on their roles.

Here are some other examples:

• Stephanie Belhomme, a Salesforce Business Analyst Contractor, learned how to provide more strategic value to her clients.
• Andrea Wilson became the go-to business analyst, and operates as an internal business analyst consultant for her government agency.
• Dave Gallant became a better agile business analyst to create better user stories, by leveraging analysis tools.

>> Get Your Quick Start to Success as a Business Analyst

At Bridging the Gap, we help mid-career professionals build the foundational business analyst skills they need to thrive in a variety of business analyst roles.

If business analysis is a career that you want to pursue, the absolute best next thing to do is to join my free Quick Start to Success workshop. You’ll learn how to avoid the most common pitfalls faced by new business analysts and the step-by-step business analysis process to create predictable, consistent project success.

>> Click here to register for the free workshop today <<

Build Your Business Analyst Career Path

If you are thinking about a senior business analyst role, then you are going to want to watch this video on building a business analyst career path next.

Either way, it’s up to you to decide what your desired career path looks like, and take the steps required to make it happen. 

Business analyst careers don’t just happen. Most often they are the result of focused efforts. In this article, we’ll discuss what the BA career ladder looks like (so you can decide what “next” looks like for you), how to discover what your next step should be, and how to take action to move toward your career goals. 

The Business Analyst Success Path Helps You Find Your Next Step

One way to help see the opportunities – or clarify your next step – is through the Business Analyst Success Path. 

It’s a framework to help you create your own career path. 

• Explorer BA – You have discovered the profession of business analysis and are considering this as a career path. You haven’t yet made a clear decision to pursue a business analyst career. 
• Intentional BA – You have decided that yes, you want to be a business analyst. You start  discovering your transferable business analyst skills  and learning the  core foundational business analyst skills, and consciously  expanding your business analyst experience  by applying those skills on the job. You seek out your first official business analyst job opportunity. 
• Official BA – You are in a formal business analyst role, which may or may not have the  business analyst job title. The role gives you more leverage in terms of applying your business analyst skills and the security of being “seen” as a business analyst. 
• Proven BA – You have successfully implemented a few projects and gotten consistent results. You trust in your effectiveness as a business analyst and have leveraged a wide variety of  business analyst techniques, as well as been involved in the majority of the steps of the  business analysis process framework. You have experience to speak to in interviews, but your experience at this point may be limited to one domain or type of project. You can expand your confidence and career through  lateral career moves. 
• BA Super Hero – You get from Proven to Super Hero by working in new domains and types of projects. As you do this, you stretch your skills and rely more on your BA skills, and less on your subject matter or technical expertise. One great thing about being a Super Hero is that they have a lot of security. Everyone wants them on their projects. A common challenge is that because you are the go-to person, everyone wants you on their project, which can lead to overwhelm. 
• BA Champion – While the Super Hero is individually successful, the BA Champion is able to help others be successful. This can be through a variety of different roles, including BA leadership, mentoring, teaching, coaching, and management. At this stage, you may also be looking at setting up BA practices and improving how BA happens in your organization. 

Many Business Analyst Career Paths Involve Hybrid or Specialized Roles

One thing I want to note is that many business analysts are in hybrid roles, which means that they are doing business analysis + another role, like testing or project management. It’s also incredibly common to see business analyst roles requiring specialized skill sets, such as an area of expertise in an  industry domain like insurance or finance, business application like Salesforce or  ServiceNow, or specific methodology like  agile business analysis. 

While the core business analysis skills are always foundational to your success, these different varieties of business analyst roles also require specialized or additional skill sets. (To get a good understanding of those core skills, be sure to check out our absolutely free workshop –  Quick Start to Success as a Business Analyst.) 

Deciding to specialize has a big impact on your business analyst career path, as your career trajectory will be connected to the value of your specialization. But, again, your foundational business analyst skills will always enable you to succeed in different types of business analyst roles. 

There are many career paths into, within, and beyond business analysis. One common mistake I see business analysts make is to get stuck looking at external circumstances and chasing the latest trends without understanding what they actually want out of their careers. 

What Should Your Business Analyst Career Path Be?

The challenging part about building a business analyst career path is that there is no one path “up” for business analysts. Today’s analysts are often blazing career development trails that future business analysts might choose to follow. 

If there is no clear path, which way do you head? 

• First things first, focus on the  core business analyst skills  required for new and intermediate business analysts and solidify yourself as a solid contributor in the role. We can help you with this in The Business Analyst Blueprint® training program.
• Then determine where you are on The Business Analyst Success Path, and decide if the next stage on the success path defines where you want to go in your career. 
• Get clear on what you want out of your career. What’s important to you in terms of your salary, role, types of projects, work setting, etc? Go deep and explore all the opportunities available to you, in particular the many  senior-level business analyst roles. 
• Take action. Do one thing that moves your career forward today and sets you up for more success tomorrow. With that one action, you’ll learn a lot and be even better prepared for more actions in the future.  

>> Find Your Next Step – Join the Free Quick Start Workshop 

When you join our free workshop, Quick Start to Success as a Business Analyst, you’ll explore the exciting opportunities available to you as a business analyst and bust through the most common myths that hold so many back from success. You’ll discover more about The Business Analyst Success path, how to leverage the business analysis process framework to move your career forward, and address a variety of other common business analyst career questions.

Click here to receive the free workshop

What follows is the list of the most critical business analysis skills for new business analysts to bring to the table – organized into the categories of core skills, business analysis skills, soft skills, and skills that can be required for specific types of BA jobs. I also recorded a video for you sharing my thoughts on these key business analyst skills.

Before I forget, I want to be sure you know that in addition to our online business analyst training courses and business analyst certification we also offer an absolutely free workshop – Quick Start to Success as a Business Analyst training (it’s free) that’s designed to help you, the mid-career professional, kick-start your business analysis career. This workshop provides an introduction to what a business analyst does and a deeper dive into what skills you need to be successful as a business analyst. 

>> Click here to get the Quick Start to Success Business Analyst Training <<

Now, onto the skills.

Core Skills that are Essential for Success as a Business Analyst

Typically, if business analysis is a good career choice, you’ll be able to tick off these skills (or be extremely excited to go to work right away on improving these skills just because they sound interesting).

Communication Skills

Business analysts must be good communicators. This means they can facilitate working meetings, ask good questions, listen to the answers (really listen), and absorb what’s being said. In today’s world, communication does not always happen face-to-face. The ability to be a strong communicator in a virtual setting (via conference calls or web meetings) is equally important. They are good at engaging stakeholders and cultivating active participation in the requirements process.

As a new business analyst, you may not have experience in a variety of requirements documentation (that comes with time and a variety of project experiences) but it’s quite possible that your strong general documentation and writing skills will get you started.

Problem-Solving Skills

No project is without problems. In fact, the entire project is a solution to a problem. At the highest level, BAs facilitate a shared understanding of the problem, the possible solutions, and determine the scope of the project. You’ll also find BAs in the midst of facilitating teams to solve technical challenges, especially when they involve negotiation between multiple business or technical stakeholders. Often we start this by analyzing the business process.

Critical Thinking Skills

Business analysts are responsible for evaluating multiple options before helping a team settle on a solution. While discovering the problem to be solved, business analysts must listen to stakeholder needs but also critically consider those needs and ask probing questions until the real need is surfaced and understood. This is what makes critical thinking and evaluation skills important for new business analysts.

While communication, problem-solving, and critical thinking skills are core to being a good BA, they are not all that’s required. Let’s look at the skills specific to the business analysis profession next.

Business Analysis Skills

The following skills are specific to the business analyst role, but even as a new business analyst or someone looking to enter the profession. At Bridging the Gap, we organize the key business analysis skills into The Business Analyst Blueprint®.

(You’ll learn all these skills in The Business Analyst Blueprint® certification program, where you can earn your Applied Certification in Business Analysis.)

Analysis & Communication Techniques are Both Key Sets of Business Analyst Skills

The first thing you’ll notice about The Business Analyst Blueprint is that the techniques are organized into Analysis Techniques and Communication Techniques. The Analysis Techniques are the models and templates we use as business analysts to analyze and think through the requirements. But these requirements do not get created in a vacuum. We must elicit or discover them from our stakeholders. This is why knowing the right Communication Techniques to use as a business analyst are equally important.

The key Communication Techniques for collaborating with stakeholders are:

• Discovery Session – to discover information related to the process or requirements from business stakeholders, so the requirements represent their needs.
• Requirements Review Session – to validate the requirements that have been captured are clear and correct.

We also consider the glossary and user stories to be communication techniques, because their primary purpose is to capture and communicate requirements-related information to various stakeholder groups.

The Key Business Analysis Techniques

The second thing you’ll notice about The Business Analyst Blueprint is that there is not just one set of analysis techniques. One of the challenges that plague way too many projects is “missing requirements.” We miss requirements either when we don’t involve the right stakeholders (i.e., apply the right communication skills) or overlook key areas of requirements because we are only looking at one view.

The Business Analyst Blueprint® – our business analyst certification program – walks you the 3 key levels of analysis that are important to fully understanding a problem and solution domain, when software is being implemented as part of the solution. These are:

• The Business-Level, or how the business work flows operationally, often completed by analyzing the business process (a textual model) and creating business process flow diagrams (a visual model).
• The Software-Level, or how the software system supports the business workflows, often completed through functional requirements models like use cases and wireframes.
• The Information-Level, or how data and information are stored and maintained by an organization, completed by data modeling techniques including an entity relationship diagram (ERD), data dictionary, data map, and system context diagram.

When you use multiple techniques, particularly powerful analytical and visual models, you will find that you naturally see gaps that others gloss over and identify the downstream impact of a change or new solution.

The Business Analysis Process Framework

The third thing you’ll notice about The Blueprint is that there is a foundational framework underlying the techniques. This is the business analysis process, or the end-to-end approach you apply to be successful and effective on a typical business process improvement and software project.

As you leverage this process framework, you’ll gain increased recognition for the value of business analysis, and you’ll start to get pulled into more interesting projects, and be engaged earlier in the process. Here’s a video about the business analysis process framework.

And, to complete a self-assessment against these skills, we have an absolutely free business analyst skills assessment for you.

Download the FREE Business Analyst Skills Assessment

In this FREE assessment, you will:

• Discover the essential skills to succeed as a BA.
• Gain clarity on your strengths and transferable skills.
• Define an action plan to expand your business analyst skill set.

>> Download the Assessment <<

Business Analyst Tools

Now that we covered the techniques and framework, let’s look at the tools you use to implement these techniques. As a new business analyst, the ability to use basic office tools such as Word, Excel, and PowerPoint should be sufficient to get you into the profession. Also, a common visual modeling tool is Microsoft Visio.

Other technical skills include the ability to use more sophisticated modeling tools, Enterprise Architect, requirements management tools, such as DOORS or Caliber, or project and defect management tools (there are really too many to list these days). It’s unlikely you’ll find these to be required skills for a large number of positions and they will be skills you learn on the job.

And as important as it is to have specific business analyst skills, no list of BA skills would be complete without the soft skills required to be successful as a BA. Let’s discuss those next.

Key Soft Skills for Business Analysts

Like the core skills, you might find that you already have many of these skills in your repertoire. However, these skills are listed separately because they may not be intrinsic to the roles you’ve had in the past. You may need to actively seek out improving in these areas as you move into your first business analyst role.

Relationship-Building Skills

First and foremost on the list of soft skills is the ability to forge strong relationships, often called stakeholder relationships. A stakeholder is simply anyone who has something to contribute to your project, and often you’ll work with many stakeholders from both the business and the technical teams.

This skill involves building trust and often means stepping into a leadership role on a project team to bridge gaps.

Self-Managing

While BAs are not project managers, the most successful BAs manage the business analysis effort. This means that the BA is proactive and dependency-aware. It also means they manage themselves to commitments and deadlines, a skill set which can involve influence, delegation, and issue management.

A Thick Skin

BAs receive a barrage of feedback – on their documentation and proposed solutions. To succeed as a business analyst you need to be able to separate feedback on your documents and ideas from feedback on you personally.

A Paradoxical Relationship with Ambiguity

Deep down, business analysts despise ambiguity. Ambiguities in requirements specifications lead to unexpected defects. Ambiguities in conversation lead to unnecessary conflict. At every stage of a project, you’ll find a BA clarifying and working out ambiguities.

Yet, at the beginning of a project, before the problem is fully understood and the solution is decided upon, a BA must be able to embrace the ambiguity and work effectively through ambiguity. Managing ambiguity means we embrace new information and learning as it surfaces, even if it surfaces later than we’d like.

And so we’ve reached the end of the important skills for a new business analyst. But no discussion of this topic would be complete without dealing with the 800-pound gorillas in the profession.

If you are thinking of starting a career in business analysis, you are probably wondering what is a typical day like? What can you expect to be experiencing on a day-to-day basis inside a role like this?

While there is no typical day for a business analyst (that’s one of the things many of us like about the role is there’s a lot of variety in the work), there are some definite patterns and different types of days, and different expectations of what you can experience on a day-to-day basis.

I share a sample workday in my book, How to Start a Business Analyst Career. It is available on Amazon. If you are thinking of starting a business analyst career, this is a great way to learn more about the profession and plan out your entire career transition. But for now, let’s talk about the typical types of activities that business analysts do.

The Typical Day of a Business Analyst – Activities

One of the most common activities that we do is requirements meetings. This would be with both business stakeholders to discover and validate the requirements, and with technical stakeholders to validate that the requirements are feasible and implementable, to discuss issues, and to understand how the technology can support what the business wants and what problem is actually trying to be solved. You will find yourself in a variety of different meetings depending on the phase of the project, often, on a daily basis as a BA.

You will also spend time, independently, working on your requirements documentation and your visual models. Things like scope statements, business process models, functional requirements specifications, data models, glossaries, use cases, wireframes, whatever the methodology is in your specific organization along with the tools that you bring, the best practices that you bring to business analysis.

You’re going to spend time independently at your desk working through, thinking through the requirements compiling the information that you’ve gathered in your various meetings, and putting it into a structured format that then you could review and validate, again, in a meeting with a stakeholder.

The Typical Day of a Business Analyst – Meetings Versus Independent Work

One of the questions we often get is, “How much time am I out in meetings vs. working independently?” Of course, these days, for virtual work-from-home time, all of it’s at your computer, or most of it is at your computer if you are working from home. But we do see about 1/3 of a BA role where you’re interacting with people in some sort of a meeting environment, and 2/3 working independently.

Depending on your role and the degree of stakeholder interaction, that could switch to more of a 50/50 split, but it’s probably not going to go much beyond that because you need time to be really in that independent work doing your thinking process and thinking through the requirements. Not to exclude the time actually out with stakeholders discovering what they want in collaborating. It’s both a collaborative and an independent role.

Some of the other things that you will do is prepare for meetings – running an effective working meeting or a workshop takes some planning effort. You would create draft deliverables, put an agenda together, and maybe meet with some key individuals ahead of time if it’s a really significant longer workshop to make sure they’re prepared in terms of what they need to bring to that meeting to be effective as well.

You could spend some time resolving issues – issues with the requirements or issues that surface during implementation or issues that are keeping you from finalizing requirements. You will spend a fair amount of time planning as well, so planning your projects, planning your time, planning your day, planning your week. You need to expect to be intentional about your day and your time and be planning ahead.

The Typical Day of a Business Analyst – This is a Self-Managing Role

Typically, it’s a very self-managing role. You’re going to be spending time planning ahead to make sure that you have things done when they need to be done. No one’s going to be micromanaging that for you. While, also, leaving space for the unexpected because unexpected things do come up that you need to deal with, especially if you’re in an organization that has some aggressive timelines.

You might spend some time, also, estimating for your team for upcoming projects for stories, for features.

Also, sometimes learning new skills, whether those are techniques within business analysis and best practices for your craft as a business analyst, or domains like a specific industry or functional domain, or a business application, how to use the tool that is in place in your organization that your business users are using so that you can be more efficient in terms of analyzing the requirements.

In addition to the working meetings that we talked about before, you’ll spend a fair amount of time, as well, engaging with stakeholders. Collaboration is key. The best BAs set aside time each week to have lunch with a stakeholder or reach out and have an informal chat with someone in the organization may reach up and meet with their manager, or their manager’s manager; have a skip level meeting to be getting a better bigger picture of you, of what’s going on in the organization.

Connection is really key as well.

The Typical Day of a Business Analyst – Different Phases of Projects

Now, one last thing I wanted to talk about was the different phases of projects and how that can shift your workday as a business analyst.

All of those activities that we talked about are different things that you can be doing from week to week. But depending on what phase your project is in, you could be experiencing them in a different way.

The three key phases we’ll talk about are Initiation, and the detail or elaboration phase, and then when that project is in implementation mode.

Initiation Phase

In that initiation phase, when you’re getting the project off the ground, you’re gaining alignment on the business objectives and the project scope. You might feel overwhelmed with new information at that stage. These are steps 1-4 of what we cover in the business analyst process framework. We teach that in more detail at Bridging the Gap in our BA Essentials Master Class.

You can also learn more via the Quick Start to Success workshop.

Steps 1-4 – Getting oriented, discovering the business objectives, finding the scope, and doing the plan. That’s the initiation.

It could feel overwhelming. You’re trying to get a lot of people on the same page who are maybe a little bit all over the place and have their own agendas. You’re consuming this information. You’re drawing it in and you’re taking a very ambiguous set of information and trying to create clarity and action out of it. A “Go Forward” concept for how we will move forward in a touchstone; some clarity around that.

Elaboration Phase

Once you get into the more detailed or elaboration phase, which is Step 5 in our business analysis process framework, you’re going to be in more of a predictable pace, usually. You’ll be discovering. You’ll still be doing discovery but at a more detailed level. You’ll do your analysis and then you’ll go back and validate that work with your stakeholders, and you’ll be iteratively figuring things out. Iteratively getting into more and more of the detail that you need to ensure that the software development team has what they need to design and implement the solution.

There can still be issues that come up or things that create overwhelm, but it’s a lot more predictable and it’s a lot more contained in terms of the information that you’re discovering at that phase.

Implementation Phase

During implementation, you end up in more of a support role. You might be off with your primary focus on another project at that point, but still need to be available if the development team has questions or the testers want you to review their test cases, or the business team needs support in terms of implementing the new solution.

You also can be just managing changes and issues that tend to surface during implementation. By no means is your work done at that point.

The Typical Day of a Business Analyst – In an Agile Environment

Now, in an agile environment as a business analyst, you might be in all of these phases at the same time which can be a little overwhelming, especially when you’re first making that change to having some features in that initial phase, some features that you’re detailing, and some in implementation. You have parts of your work in each of these phases and you might be switching gears between those phases on a day-to-day basis, or even on an hour-by-hour basis. It can be a lot of variety in that case and really planning your time is key in that kind of environment.

You can also be in organizations where you don’t just have one project. It’s relatively rare to have just one project at a time. You might have three projects. I know BAs that have had 10 projects or they handle a bunch of little projects where, again, that are kind of in different times. You might have different parts of your work in different phases.

What Do You Want YOUR Day To Look Like?

That’s just an overview of what you can expect. People who are great at business analysis tend to like the variety that no day is really the same, that they get to be intentional about their time and be pushing things forward in an intentional and purposeful way.

>> Start YOUR Path to Success

If business analysis is a career that you want to pursue, the absolute best next thing to do is to join my free Quick Start to Success Workshop. In that workshop, you will learn more about the business analyst career path as well as details about the business analysis process framework that will give you the structure that you need to manage your day and your projects appropriately.

>> Click here to join the Quick Start to Success workshop <<

Again, if business analysis is right for you, we are here to help you at Bridging the Gap. We provide online training and certification to business analysts who are looking to start and succeed in their business analyst careers.

For now, just remember that we build our profession one business analyst at a time. Success starts with you.

Thanks for being here.

I had scheduled an impromptu open coaching session with instructor Disha Trivedi on Working From Home as a Business Analyst on March 17, 2020, to help those unexpectedly finding themselves in remote business analyst jobs. I had scheduled this before I learned my own kids wouldn’t be in school that day and my world was about to turn upside down. It took all I had to follow through on my commitment to deliver that session.

Even though my business is online, my team works remotely, and I work from home anyway, it felt like everything had changed. My kids were home full time. We lost our support network. And my customers needed me more than ever.

Then there were external pressures to do more, be more, and help everyone. Remember that?

In those initial weeks, I focused on 4 key areas of my life:

• Taking care of myself: body, mind, and spirit.
• Taking care of my family, and creating a positive home life.
• Connecting with my team members to ensure they were doing OK.
• Taking care of my existing customers – those in the active session of The Business Analyst Blueprint®  certification program.

And that was all I had at first. I also chose one behind-the-scenes project that I could complete on my own time, in those precious work moments when I had focus. This project was designed to be big enough to keep me off the news, without being so big that it put me into overwhelm. That was completely redoing our Quick Start to Success Workshop – which is completely free, by the way.

Then in late April, I finally felt caught up. I finally felt taken care of. And I started to think I had something more to give. (There’s a lesson here…we all need to take care of ourselves before we can take care of others.)

I also felt the call to lead. The call to shift the stories we were hearing in the news. The call to find the silver lining in a tragic human experience. The call to help us all step forward, move forward, and lean into the situation at hand.

And that’s how this COVID response video series for business analysts was born. I started by asking you what you needed most. And as I expected, the answers were all over the map. Yes, we are all going through the same storm, but we are not in the same boat.

Over the last month, I’ve answered as many questions as I can in this video series, and done my best to re-frame the challenges of this time into opportunities. It’s been a lot and I’ve published more frequently than normal. It’s natural you might have missed a few of the videos…or not seen any of them. Heck, we’re going through a pandemic – time is very likely at a premium for you right now too. Never fear– I’ve got you covered with links to all the videos here below.

Part 1: What this Pandemic Shut Down Means for You and Your Business Analyst Career – this is the first video, recorded impromptu at the beach with my daughters, making the most of a bit of clarity and quiet time. What I really wanted to share in this video is that even though there are so many hardships, there are also so many new opportunities. This video set the tone for the series and invited input to help me serve you.

Part 2: The BA Essentials to be Focusing on Right Now – We look at why organizations need business analysts now more than ever, what are the essential skills to be focusing on, and I summarize the key challenges you told me you were facing.

Part 3: How to Focus When You Are Working from Home – Sharing 3 concrete strategies for staying focused on “heads down” work, and also why the events of the pandemic might be making it so hard to focus right now, and what you can learn from this experience.

Part 4: What Real Job Security Looks Like Right Now – What felt so certain a few months ago might feel anything but today, and this is a huge opportunity to see where the truth of our security lies.

Part 5: 3 Tips for Effective Remote Meetings – In particular, for business analysis eliciting requirements and conducting collaborative requirements sessions virtually.

Part 6: How to Articulate Your Transferable Business Analysis Skills Across Industries – Since so many are being laid off and furloughed, we look at how to change industries, sectors, or domains, especially if the bulk of your experience is in an area brought down by the pandemic.

Part 7: I Survived the Layoffs…Now What? – If you have survived a layoff, or even if you are dealing with increased organizational pressures to deliver more with less to survive these challenging times, you might find yourself grateful for the paycheck. But also overworked, overwhelmed, and probably feeling a bit guilty as well – to have a job when so many others don’t.

What’s Next?

I’m on the lookout for topics that need to be addressed, and we’re getting ready to re-open both our The Business Analyst Blueprint®  certification program. These programs open for limited windows of time each year, and they are the best ways to work with me personally to achieve your business analyst career goals.

They are online programs that have always been online. This means they were designed from the ground up to work within the constraints of any shelter-in-place orders your local area might have in place.

And one thing I know for sure…is that it’s in times like these that we need to reach out for support more than ever. We need to lean into our communities, lean into our skills, and continue to invest in ourselves. Because security does not come from outside circumstances. No one can give you security but you. Security comes from how we think, the actions we take, and our own commitment to ourselves.

I’ve been so grateful to be able to gift this series to the community, and I’m excited to help those of you who are ready to take the next step with me.

Let’s do this together!

In the meantime, please leave me a comment below. What was your biggest takeaway from the series? Which video did you feel called to share with your colleagues? 

If you have survived a layoff, or even if you are dealing with increased organizational pressures to deliver more with less to survive these challenging times, you might find yourself grateful for the paycheck.

But also overworked, overwhelmed, and probably feeling a bit guilty as well – to have a job when so many others don’t.

That’s what this video is all about.

To learn more about the essential business analysis skills, be sure to check out our Quick Start to Success workshop – it’s absolutely free today.

>> Click here to sign up for the workshop <<

This is actually a huge opportunity to see the truth of where our security lies, and that’s what today’s video is about.

To learn more about the BA role and what the business analysis process looks like, be sure to check out our Quick Start to Success workshop – it’s absolutely free today.

>> Click here to sign up for the workshop <<

To learn more about the BA role and what the business analysis process looks like, be sure to check out our Quick Start to Success workshop – it’s absolutely free today.

>> Click here to sign up for the workshop <<

In this video, I share the key business analysis essentials you need to be focusing on right now, and I also take a look at some of the challenges being faced in our community.

A few key points:

• Organizations need business analysts now more than ever.
• It might not seem this way – your employer might be asking you to do something that doesn’t look like BA work on the surface, but your business analyst skills are still needed.
• While we are all in this together, and we’re going to get through this together. Each of our individual experiences is different. The challenges raised by our community reflected this.
• Challenges that we’ll be addressing in the upcoming video series include working from home, managing your time/energy, and looking for new job opportunities.
• Many challenges like how to switch to a business analyst role, how to add value right now, and what skills will be relevant coming out of the COVID-19 world are addressed in the Quick Start to Success workshop.
• On the skills, 80-90% of the skills that are ESSENTIAL to being successful as a business analyst will be the same foundational skills. And we cover what those are in this free workshop.
• It’s so critically important to our collective mindset right now to understand the above point. Yes, this is an uncertain time. And yes the context in which we work might be changing. But the foundational BA skills you need to succeed are the same. Again, we cover those in the Quick Start to Success workshop.
• When we lose our bearings in our foundations, the uncertainty creates fear. Then instead of leaning into the challenges to create opportunities, we retract.
• Now is the time to lean into your BA skillset.

What to do next:

• Sign up for the free Quick Start to Success workshop.
• Leave a comment below to let us know what BA skill you’ve applied to add value to your organization right now. This is how we can come together as a profession and lift each other up.
• Share this video with your friends, colleagues, and professional contacts. You never know who needs to hear this message right now, and we are all in this together.

We build our profession one business analyst at a time, and success starts with you.

I’m going to be recording a new video series over the next few weeks to help you turn challenges into opportunities. Please leave me a comment below letting me know what challenges are coming up for you right now. And then share this video with a friend or colleague who needs to hear this message.

This can bring up a lot of fear and uncertainty in an already uncertain time.

I, along with Disha Trivedi, a senior business analyst and Bridging the Gap instructor who has worked from home for the last few years, hosted a complimentary coaching session. You can catch the replay below – and be sure to scan down for a summary of tips and resources.

Working From Home – Challenge or Opportunity?

While working from home is a new challenge for many of us, in every challenge lies an opportunity. We have to be willing to step away from the fear, worry, doubt and open ourselves up to the opportunities all around us.

For example, this situation could shift the needle a bit and help organizations embrace the effectiveness of remote work so it becomes more standard practice.

As BAs, we have a great opportunity here to step up as leaders. To show how we can work effectively remotely. To be the glue that teams absolutely need to stick together in this challenging time.

Business analysis as a practice is more important than ever. Our businesses will be making significant changes over the coming weeks and months to respond to these events. The businesses that adjust will survive – and some will even thrive. How can we help our organizations capitalize on opportunities?

Finally, cultivate a sense of gratitude. So many have jobs where working from home is impossible, and are either suffering financially or risking exposure for themselves and their families. We have an incredible privilege to be given the opportunity to continue with “business as usual” from the safety of our homes.

Working from Home – Set Yourself Up for Success

Your Workspace

Your physical work space will help you focus and be productive.

• Separate desk space.
• Monitor and docking station.
• Comfortable chair.
• Headset for conference calls/video sessions.

While in long-term work-from-home situations, it would be natural to expect organizations to cover the additional costs of working from home, it’s important to give our employers some grace right now as events unfold and they figure out how to best support their employers through these new challenges.

Work Hours & Breaks

Decide in advance what hours you will work and when you will take breaks. Since you’ll be at home, consider what will serve you and your productivity best. Are there opportunities to start early and take a longer mid-day break for a workout, shower, and lunch?

Support

What support do you need from your family? Your team?

Connectivity

Is your connectivity adequate for screen sharing and video conferencing? If you do not have high-speed internet, now is a great time to see if you can upgrade. Your employer may cover this expense.

VPN connections can slow down connectivity. Explore what you can do (within company policies) outside the VPN.

Have your Outlook web access link handy, so you can access email even if the VPN goes down, and a list of important phone numbers so you can reach out for support with any connectivity issues.

A hot spot on your phone is also a great back-up.

Priorities

Ask and confirm your organization’s priorities. Likely a lot has shifted. So check in now about this. And again later in the week, and then next week. Things are moving so fast, and organizations are trying to respond the best they can. Checking in to ensure that you are working on what’s most important is key.

Our Project Prioritization Organizer template toolkit will help you identify, sort, and create buy-in on organizational priorities.

Also incorporate your personal priorities for the day, and realize that your priorities may shift from day to day.

What if your kids are at home?

While working from home while caring for your children will impact your work time (there is no way around it), we’ve found these strategies help us stay focused and productive.

• Collaborate with your partner to be clear is who in charge at various times. We like to make day-to-day decisions based on the times we have calls.
• Set your kids up with activities (like new craft projects) while you do less focused activities (like catching up on email).
• Allow yourself grace when it comes to technology/shows. The normal standards might need to bend a little.
• Incorporate kids into activities they can be part of – like workouts and meal prep. Involve older kids in chores.
• And be OK with the fact that your kids might show up on a video conference or interrupt you in a meeting. Everyone is working home with kiddos. Expect your employer to show some compassion to the situation.

Working From Home: Practical Virtual Communication Strategies

Be proactive

This situation is new to everyone. Reach out over waiting to be reached out too. Teammates, management, stakeholders. Aim for 1-1 connections too.

Set expectations for meetings

Are people expected to share video? Then be clear about that in your meeting request.

At the beginning of the meeting, go over the meeting agenda and let them know what to expect and how you want them to engage.

To increase engagement, plan in aspects of the meeting where you individually call on each person for their input – let them know in advance you’ll do this.

Identify the specific questions you have to cover in your meeting, and use these to keep the meeting flowing and gain more valuable input.

Our Requirements Discovery Checklist Pack can help you identify more questions to ask and ensure a more complete view of the requirements.

Use visuals and demos

Prepare visuals that you can share in meetings. Not sure what visual models to create? Here are 22 Visual Models Used By Business Analysts.

Ideally, you’ll share your visual models using screen sharing technology, but visuals can also be sent out via email in advance if connectivity is a problem.

Some screen sharing and collaboration tools:

• WebEx
• GoToMeeting
• Zoom
• Skype
• FreeConferenceCall

For collaborative visuals:

• Microsoft Whiteboard
• Microsoft OneNote (screen share, and then use the draw functions)
• Visio (with screen sharing)
• Zoom whiteboard function

Our Visual Model Sample Pack is an excellent resource of additional visual models to be incorporating into your discovery, analysis, and validation processes.

Active listening

Reading body language is much harder virtually, even if you are on video. Active listening reflects back what you’ve understood. Asking each person to contribute something, even if just to verbally say “no additional comments” gives you a confirmation of where people are at on a topic.

Regular communication

Communicate more regularly than normal Be thinking about daily status reports and daily check-ins with key team members. Some participants are doing daily stand-ups to stay connected and informed. Some teams keep chat open during the day and share personal updates as well. One person reported her CFO set-up a text chat group so people could keep up with each other.

Our Email Communication Templates are designed to help you increase your effectiveness and handle common BA work scenarios.

Here are some of the chat tools participants mentioned using:

• MS Team
• Skype for Business
• Google Hangout
• RocketChat
• Jabber
• WhatsApp
• Slack

Here are 10 Ways to Communicate More Effectively as a Business Analyst.

Working From Home: Protecting Your Mindset

Mindset is so important. Stress increases cortisol in your body and weakens immunity. If you want to protect your health, yes eat your vegetables and take your vitamins, get fresh air and sunshine. But also protect your mindset.

Take a few minutes right now – yes, RIGHT NOW – and take a few deep breaths. Feel the weight of your body on your chair or your feet on the floor. Feel how supported you are. Allow your weight to sink down into the floor or chair.

Now take a few conscious breaths in and out through the nose. Breathing in and out through your nose signals safety to your brain. This is a free exercise you can do anytime to help reduce yourself and increase your sense of safety.

Let’s look at some additional mindset strategies.

Focus on what you can control

You can control how you show up, the structures you create, what you learn. You can’t control how others show up. You can’t control the decisions your organization makes. You can control the government or what your neighbors do, but you can choose how you respond and react.

Focus on the VALUE you create

Focus on the value you create as a business analyst, not the hours you put in. There is this concept we talk about in Circle of Success called “Einstein Time,” where time literally shows up for you. Allow this to happen. It may show up in the form of a colleague sending you exactly what you need to get started, a bit of input that leapfrogs you ahead on a task, a template that gets you 50% there, or a stressful task getting erased from your to-do list.

When we release the stress about time and work from the belief that there is more than enough time for everything, often what we must get done has a way of flowing seamlessly.

You don’t have to believe me, just give the belief a try and see what happens. Post your results to celebrate!

Limit negative news

This is essential. Be informed – yes. But once you are informed the news is just one big cycle on repeat, so listen once if you have to and then turn it off. The news creates a pattern of scarcity in your mind that tears you down.

Embrace a leadership role

An attitude of service helps us overcome scarcity thinking, and keeps us in an abundance mindset. Everyone here has something to give. People are craving positive examples now more than ever.

Your organization needs you to step up.

Invest Your Time Intentionally

Invest your time consciously. If you are home alone, what book could you read, online training course could you take, or closet declutter? Connect with your partner in a deeper way? Time with your children can also be an incredible investment. This flips your mindset around from kids “taking away” from work time.

Also, be sure to re-purpose your commute time in a way that serves your best and highest good.

Bonus points – consider a meditation practice.

Working From Home – You’ve Got This

Just remember…in every challenge, there is an opportunity. You are a problem-solving agent of change and your organization needs you now more than ever. When we keep ourselves focused on results, embrace the challenge, and give our best selves, you, your organization, and the business analysis profession will emerge stronger than ever.

If your colleagues or contacts could benefit from this resource, please share this link with them. We are better together.

Resources to Help You More Effectively Work From Home

In the live session, I was asked to share more templates and techniques that are relevant when working from home. We offer 5 collections of Business Analyst Templates at Bridging the Gap, and all of them are relevant for remote business analysis work.

• The Business Analyst Template Toolkit will help you save time with simple, streamlined documents that help you gain essential buy-in on projects.
• The Email Communication Template will help you more effectively set expectations, get information, request input, and manage issues with copy-and-paste templates you can use for email or tweak for chat or phone communications.
• The Visual Model Sample Pack will help you more easily incorporate more visuals into your requirements process, which is a more effective way to gain buy-in when requirements gathering remotely.
• The Requirements Discovery Checklist Pack will help you identify new questions to ask, and keep the conversation flowing in virtual meetings.
• The Project Prioritization Organizer will help you gain buy-in on clear organizational priorities, which have likely shifted as your organization figures out how to respond to new challenges and opportunities in our current environment.

What’s more, you can save and get all 5 template toolkits at a discount, with our Bridging the Gap Template Bundle.

Here are 2 quick questions that will help you get more clarity about what your next step looks like.

The answer might surprise you…

To learn more about the 8-step business analysis process framework, click here to register for our Quick Start to Success free training.

For those who like to read instead of watch, here’s the full text of the video:

Starting a Business Analysis Career without a Process Framework

Hello, this is Laura Brandenburg from Bridging the Gap. Today I want to talk a little bit about our business analysis process framework. Before I dive into that, let me just tell you a little bit about how I got started as a business analyst and what that looked like.

The brief story is before I was a business analyst I was a Quality Assurance professional.

I asked so many questions in those requirements meetings as a QA analyst that they eventually said, “Why don’t you come over on to the other side and help discover and analyze these requirements yourself?” That is the briefest story (read the elaborated story here), but I was doing a lot of business process analysis, a lot of test case creation and planning as part of that QA role that set me up for that business analyst role.

Not Too Much or Too Little: Building a Business Analysis Process Framework that Makes Sense in the Real World

In that business analyst role, I definitely felt in way over my head and I was lucky to have a mentor. We didn’t have a process. We had some templates that we used and some basic structure for our project. We didn’t have a step-by-step of how to approach our work. We didn’t realize that there were other people at other companies doing work like us. We thought we were special and unique and in this role that was only applicable in our organization.

A lot of BAs in the world today, maybe even you, have felt like this until you stumbled across IIBA® and the fact that there’s a title for the work you do as a business analyst or business systems analyst or business process analyst, whatever you want to call it.

What I learned as I moved from company to company and started the switch industries and then eventually built a team of business analysts and project managers and quality assurance professionals, and then by becoming a contractor and being exposed even more companies and methodologies and industries and realized that I didn’t have to make this up as I went along. There was more the same than there was different.

My work on the project was different. The templates I used in one organization were often a little bit different than another. The questions I asked were very specific to that to mean that I was intuitively following a set of best practices and a best practice approach. I was what you might call an unconscious competent. I was very competent and successful as a business analyst, but I wouldn’t have been able to teach someone else about it.

Fast forward a little bit and I did start to train other business analysts through Bridging the Gap all the way back in 2008. At that time I still didn’t think I had a process. I’ll just be totally honest there. I started teaching the techniques first.

We taught business process analysis and use cases and wireframes and data modeling. Those were the first courses I developed because I knew how I could apply those techniques and we always use them on our projects. But I didn’t have an intro to business analysis or how to get started as a BA, we just focused on the techniques.

I kept seeing this burning need and people were asking me, “Why approach a project?” “What do I need to do to be effective?” “What does it look like from point A to point Z?” “What is the 1, 2, 3 look like of business analysis?”

There were a lot of other options in the industry, but quite honestly, my perspective on those is that they were quite heavy. Heavy meaning they required more time and more formality than most of us had in our real-world work.

A Business Analysis Framework Created from Successful Projects

When we’re in an organization that doesn’t go by the book and needs us to be successful anyway, and so what we needed as a profession was a very simplified process, one that would be both thorough but flexible and that focused on the core essentials of what it took to be successful and effective as a business analyst. And one that would save business analysts’ time rather than creating a lot of extra busywork. Kind of mind-blowing.

On the other hand of our industry, we had too much formality and then we had agile approaches. We still have agile approaches today. Agile is amazing as a software development methodology in practice. Agile is not a business analysis process.

In fact, the success of an agile team depends on so much business analysis happening before we get to a product backlog.

• What problem are we solving?
• What is their key goal here?
• Who is aligned around the scope of this goal and how we’re going to move forward with this goal?

And what the requirements need to be.

We assume that this business analysis has happened before we start, what is covered in a traditional agile approach. We needed, as BAs though, to be cognizant of this and we needed to simplify our process and focus on the essentials. What happened is I saw one of the biggest mistakes that BAs would make when they would be faced with an agile transformation or their organization was going agile.

This is the biggest mistake besides just digging in and resisting it. We know that doesn’t work. The other mistake, once we didn’t dig in and resist it, we would throw away all the important bits and pieces that would truly make us successful as business analysts. We would focus on the agile techniques and lose out on the business analysis techniques that made us successful.

When I sat down and thought through my most successful projects and what I had done and how I had created those successes, what came from that was the business analysis process framework, and it’s really a middle ground. It’s what you need to do to be effective and how to make decisions about what’s important and what’s not important and how to connect our business analysis practices with whatever methodologies, software, project management are in place in our organization. It’s important to be a great partner with everybody else on the team.

I combined what I had done with what I had seen working from our participants all across the globe and hundreds or lots and lots of industries and from that evaluation came the BA process framework.

Since that time, we’ve helped hundreds of business analysts learn and apply this process. It does help people from not even yet a business analyst to even a more senior business analyst. Let’s talk about how it applies in those different situations.

Newer Business Analysts Leverage a Framework to Exceed Expectations

A newer business analyst, they might not know where to start or what expectations to set. They often get into a BA role and feel like they’re going to sink or swim in a situation and nobody’s telling them what to do, but everybody has extremely high expectations of them. They get to avoid a lot more of the more common pitfalls that, quite honestly, most of us need to learn through experience, or most of us had to learn through experience.

How about somebody with a bit more experience who’s learned a few of those lessons and has a fairly consistent track record of success? What I find is that we still have a couple of key challenges that we face again and again in our projects. Or we get into a new environment and we’re not quite sure what to do because we’re that unconscious competent.

So those common challenges, they often come back to just one or two steps of the framework we’ve been skipping. That isn’t needed in my organization, or that doesn’t work for me. We can’t make that work because. When they fill in those gaps, their projects move forward much more smoothly.

They also start to elevate their role as a business analyst in their organization. One of our participants, Amelia McHenry, participated in our full The Business Analyst Blueprint® program first and then joined the BA Essentials Master Class where we teach the business process framework.

Amelia reported going into a rather new role. She was a newish BA at the time. Had quite a bit of professional experience, but it was her first real official business analyst role. There were senior BAs who had a lot of experience that she was working with but she brought out the questions from Step 2, which is discover business objective, and she asked those in a meeting.

She used those to help understand what problem are we trying to solve here? What is the ideal solution look like? The people in that meeting, which were pretty high-level stakeholders, were super impressed. They were like nobody’s asked us these questions before.

This is great business analysis. We need more of this in our organization.

Her credibility in that organization went from the new somewhat having some business analysis experience, new in the organization, new to the domain to top level. This is the person who’s bringing that next level of capabilities to our organization.

There’s a lot that comes from your personal credibility, especially as a more intermediate BA when you start to apply these learnings and these teachings and have the courage to ask the questions that you should be asking.

More Senior Business Analysts Leverage a Framework to Train Others Successfully

How about a more senior business analyst? What I find and what my personal experience was, even as a manager of a BA team, I knew intuitively what made me successful. I knew how to be successful, but had a lot of trouble setting that up in terms of a structure for my team because I hadn’t sat down and created this process framework yet, and quite frankly, I didn’t believe it actually could exist.

I wish I could go back and change that for my team and for myself, but when we do teach a more senior BA to go through this process and they start to see how it’s worked for them in so many of their successful projects, then they could also effectively mentor and train other business analysts.

Instead of being able to maybe be the go-to person that BAs come from for guidance or you’re kind of always in the mix of all the projects because nobody else can do things like you can do, you develop this ability to clone yourself by training other BAs to handle any situation. That’s a next level skill set and it sets you up to be more of a leader and a manager or just get out of the day-to-day grind of having to be everything to everyone.

Even Aspiring Business Analysts Can Leverage the Framework to Increase Their Confidence

Finally, let’s talk about people who aren’t not yet BAs and what happens for them.

Thomas Clarke was one of our participants who was a research assistant when he took the BA Essentials Master Class. Then soon after moved into a project management role within his company doing a lot of business analysis work; a lot of finding the problems and figuring out the solutions and overseeing the solutions to those problems.

What he said is it just gave him an approach. He didn’t know where to start. A lot of “not yet” BAs are scared of getting their first BA position because they don’t know what they’re going to do when they get that first position.

Learning the approach and realizing there is a step-by-step process that they can go through gives them more confidence that when they’re in that situation they will have an approach to follow. They will have handouts and questions and next steps and be able to drive the process forward and they won’t have to make things up as they go along.

If you want to learn more about the process framework, what it is, what the steps are, how it might work for you, I invite you to click here to register for our Quick Start to Success free training and learn more. I’d love to teach you about the business analysis process framework and help you be more effective as a business analyst because we build our profession one business analyst at a time and success starts with you.

Again, I’m Laura Brandenburg with Bridging the Gap. We help you start and succeed in your business analyst career.

Here’s a quick way to flip the reasons why you think you can’t achieve your dream and bake them right into your goal – so you consciously build a life you really, truly want.

The post A simple flip to help you achieve your dreams first appeared on Bridging the Gap.]]> https://www.bridging-the-gap.com/building-confidence/ Wed, 27 Mar 2019 09:00:15 +0000 http://www.bridging-the-gap.com/?p=10379 Confidence is a belief – it is a belief in yourself and your ability to achieve a specific result in your life and your career. In my work helping business analysts, I see a lot […]

Penny has graciously allowed me to share the recording and full transcript of our interview. 

Or, for those who like to read instead of listen, here’s the full text of the interview: 

Penny: Welcome to day three of the Business Analysis Summit 2019. I’m Penny Pullan of Making Projects Work, Ltd, your host for these calls in the BA summit. If you’d like to see who all the speakers are and their topics, then do have a look at basummit.com. 

Today, I’m absolutely delighted to have Laura Brandenburg on the line for an interview! She’s talking on the subject of Innovation and Learning: Leveraging the Real World in Training to Create Success. Laura, who is a Certified Business Analysis Professional (CBAP®), is an internationally recognized leader. She’s known for helping mid-career professionals start their business analysis careers. She’s the creator of Bridging the Gap, and also the best selling author of How to Start a Business Analyst Career. 

I’ve known Laura for a long time. In fact, this is the third BA summit that she’s spoken on! She spoke in the very, very first one in 2010, and then again in 2017, and both of those were very well received. Here’s a little bit about Laura: She has lots of experience in the business analysis profession. She has filled roles such as being a full-time business analyst, consultant, and hiring manager. She’s now spent a whole decade providing online business analyst training. 

The reason why I’ve asked Laura to speak at the summit, is of course because she’s very good, but I was particularly interested in the fact that she has created an innovative learning model, which involves online instruction, concrete real-world exercises that people do at work and individual instructor support. This helps new and transitioning professionals to really build their confidence, their competence, and their experience, thereby achieving their career goals more quickly. 

I met Laura again for dinner at the Building Business Capability Conference, which ran in Texas last year in November. I really enjoyed hearing about what she’s doing and how well it’s working for individuals. I asked her there and then to speak at this innovation-focused summit about her innovative learning model. Welcome, Laura! 

Laura: Well, thank you so much, Penny, with that warm introduction! I’m honored to be here, and I’m grateful to you for hosting the summit as a huge give-back to the community and enabling us to share resources with business analysts all around the world. In particular, I’m really grateful about this topic because the learning model at Bridging the Gap is really close to my heart. 

It’s been a work of passion and of purpose, and yet, it’s so different that it can be really misunderstood. So it’s going to be a fun time to just talk about it further and how BAs everywhere can apply the principles that we’ve developed and enhance their own careers, I think, more quickly and easily, as you highlighted. 

Penny: That sounds brilliant! Passion and purpose … Well, I think that’s what’s behind me running this summit. Why else would I be sending so many emails to so many people all around the world, getting all the tech stuff organized, and coming up with new speakers each time? It really is, for me, about passion and purpose. I think I sense the same thing in you with wanting to help people transition and using this innovative way of doing it. 

Laura, I know people are interested in developing themselves, and that’s probably especially true of people who make the effort to join the summit. I’m sure they’re looking forward to your answers, and also your ideas and thinking about how they can apply them to their own situation. I’m so pleased you could join us again. 

Laura: Yes, and I’m excited to be here. Thank you. 

Penny: Let’s get going. Where do we start? Could you give us a bit of an overview before we dive into the questions? 

Laura: For sure. One way to rope this into innovation specifically… I know digital transformation is a bit of a buzzword now in business analysis. When we’re going through a digital transformation, it’s tempting to put all of our offline processes as they are online – just take it and move it over. 

Penny: Arggghh! 

Laura: Yes! We know there’s an opportunity to completely rethink what you offer in an online or digital space because there are limitations of the online space compared to an offline in-person space, but there’s also opportunities, particularly in what you can do with time and duration and connection of people across the world. 

When I started developing learning at Bridging the Gap, I knew I wanted to be online. It was a learning model that was built to be online from the ground-up versus, “How do I take an offline model that is working and move it online?” Right? I think that’s a piece to think about as you’re thinking about innovation, like, “How are you building something and what is the purpose that you’re building it for?” 

Part of it is, to be honest, I personally wanted the flexibility to work from anywhere and to serve people around the world without being on a plane and traveling all over the world. It came from what I wanted personally, but also out of a desire to really help people do what I was seeing as the gap at that time, which was they have this skill, they have the training, but they didn’t have the experience. 

When you think about how to get started as a business analyst, there’s always this problem of, “How do I get the experience without the role and nobody will hire me into the role without the experience?” I’m trying to solve that problem for the people in the community. Would this be a good time to share a brief overview of our model and then we can dive into questions? 

Penny: Yes, please give us an overview. Then we’ll ask questions afterwards. 

Laura: I wanted to set the context of the goal of what I was trying to solve, like the problem. The model, that was created out of my own personal desire and this problem I saw in the profession, was a mix of on-demand course materials. This includes videos that you can watch any time, any place, and then specific assignments to apply what you’re learning on your own real-world projects. How do you apply that? Because so often when we’re thinking about learning and training, and a lot of the questions, we’ll dive into this more deeply, but it’s like it’s not really cemented in until you have done it yourself. 

Then the third piece of that is instructor access. You’ve done it yourself, but do you really have the confidence that you got it right? So having some sort of a review and audit process or opportunity to ask questions. We see the actual coaching and the adjustments that you need to make. So those are the three pieces that I feel like are critical in the model. The online environment allows us to do that in a really powerful way that is difficult in an in-person setting. 

Penny: Yes, it’s very different. I can see that some elements of those would be present in other offerings, on-demand course materials, perhaps? But then they’d be missing the instructor access if you’re using Linked-In Learning or whatever. You’ve got those three things, course materials on demand, the specific assignments people can use, and then instructors who are just wanting to see answers to standard case studies, but are flexible enough to be able to work with each individual’s own work situation. 

Laura: Sometimes it’s that mindset shift. People will think, “Well, I don’t have the opportunity to analyze the process. Can you just give me an example?” It’s in the challenge of finding the process that they actually get to step into that role of being a business analyst and of being it now, rather than waiting for it to come later. 

Penny: How interesting. Yes, it’s a mindset thing as much as anything else. 

Laura: Exactly. That the opportunity is here and it is here now, and I just need to shift my thinking to find it! 

Penny: Oh, I love that. Should we get going on these questions, then, that have come in? 

Laura: That sounds perfect. Yes. 

Penny: The first one comes from David in the UK. He says, “How did you get your start in business analysis?” 

Laura: I love sharing my story! Like so many, I fell into the business analyst role and I was just in the right place at the right time. I happened to be walking down the hall, and this woman said, “There’s a role opening up on our team, and it’s called Systems Analysis, and I really think you should apply.” 

For a while, I just thought I happened to be at the right hallway at the right time, which is ridiculous when you think about it, but at that time I was in a quality assurance role, and I had been doing some business analysis already, so I had created essentially a new area of testing that no one else was doing. I created a process around that, and part of that involved engaging editorial staff or what we would call now a Business Subject Matter Expert. They didn’t use that term. I didn’t know anything about User Acceptance Testing (UAT), but that’s what I was doing. 

I had been doing these slices of business analysis in that QA role. That was recognized and that’s why I was asked to apply for that position. Then in that position, I think I was really lucky to have that same person be my mentor. I started by drafting documents on her projects, and then I got my own project, and she reviewed some of my early work as well. Part of my getting my start was doing the role before I was in the role, and then having that network of support as I did that role as well. Yeah. 

Penny: Super! We’ve got a couple of questions from people who are interested in becoming professional business analysts. That question came from Aranprakash in India. There’s also Sarath from the USA who’s got 18 years of experience in a related area, but hasn’t worked in business analysis and is interested in pursuing and growing his career in business analysis. Also, Rae in the UK says, “What do you feel is good advice for a menial worker”, oh dear, “who wants to be a business analyst one day?” Perhaps take all of them together? 

Laura: That’s where looking for opportunities today to start applying business analysis skills. Right? I think we start and say, “I’m not a business analyst. How do I get to that role?” and think it’s this magical step that at some point it just happens all at once. For most people who are in the role today, it happened as a matter of degree, and it happened one bit at a time. 

You can consciously start that wherever you’re at, by thinking about how to show up as a business analyst in your current work. When you think about how to become a professional business analyst, look at your current role. What are you doing today? What aspects are most like business analysis, and then start to apply some more formal skills or some industry standard practices to make that area more disciplined, structured and formal. 

When you feel like you’re not a business analyst… I know Sarath is a client engagement manager, so there’s of much of what you’re doing there that is: you’re connecting with stakeholders, I would imagine? You’re interviewing? All of those things are very similar to discovering, and eliciting requirements. Look at how to apply your BA practices there. Just start doing it now in the role you’re in. 

It’s a little more challenging when you feel like you’re in a “menial” job. But you can still have opportunities. You’re communicating with people. The very first thing I often recommend people do is just: how can you analyze a business process? What business process are you doing in your work, and could you put a process document together around it? Could you start suggesting improvements to your manager around it, or just making improvements in how you do that work? That’s how you start to get noticed and elevate yourself into this role. 

Penny: We’re going to head to Slovakia next, for the question from Zdena, whose question is, “What are the most effective ways to keep up to date with new BA practices?” 

Laura: I think you’re doing a great step by being at a conference like this. This is part of the reason Penny offers this great service! In the context of the learning model, I think you just need to look at … There’s one thing of being the information junkie. Like always reading all the articles, always being up to date on what’s going on. There’s another level to be filling your toolbox and to say, “I know about this new technique called an ERD”. (Not that that’s a new technique, but new-to-me technique.) “I just learned about that. How can I take that and actually apply it on a project?” 

Just looking at each project, each assignment, every opportunity, you have to experiment with something new. You’re always expanding the container that you’re in. You’re always pushing the boundaries on your role and becoming better, both in the work you do and the potential you have for other work. You don’t want to just learn about new processes, as part of truly being up to date. You want to be ready to apply them in your job right away, and so it’s up to you to really come up with those opportunities, to be applying them on your projects. 

Penny: Absolutely. Thank you for that. We’re heading to the UK for the next question. It’s Michelle who says, “My question for Laura is, how can we get BAs to shift that focus from training to learning? These days, business analysts are spoiled for choice with the learning opportunities and development resources available to us, but somehow we seem to think, if we’re not sitting in a classroom, it doesn’t count. What can we do to shift our mindset?” 

Laura: Yes, I love this question because this is really the core question to the innovation that we’re talking about here. I would really take it a step further from learning to doing. I think that’s the shift of how you convince others that it’s not just about being in a classroom, right? Because that’s what I took out of this question. 

Somebody doesn’t feel like it counts, if I wasn’t sitting in a classroom. What you want to do is actually be able to show that you actually did something as the result of your learning. This is why we do the real-world examples because you can be in a project in your work and actually have improved a process or tried a new technique and had a meaningful impact on that project right away, so before you even leave the training programme, you delivered ROI to your employer. 

When you shift that to that, then it’s not like it was a perceived value, because you sat there for eight hours. It was a perceived value because you actually got something done and it was an improvement over the work that you were doing before. It’s interesting because I was having a conversation with someone who does primarily in-person training and is shifting more to online, and she was talking about how, even in an in-person environment, there are a few people who are really engaged. There’s the majority of people who are going to take something away from a training programme. Then there’s that handful of people who sit in the back of the room are just there because they’re forced to be there. I think no matter what environment you have, there’s always that potential to just be in the state of, “I’m here for the training, but I’m really not learning.” That’s really a personal choice, and you can demonstrate that with your results. 

Penny: Wow! There’s a related question from Dorit in the UK. “I’m wondering if an increasing disconnect between training and application can lead to an attitude of learning to pass the exam rather than learning to gain and apply knowledge?” She’s really looking forward to the summit, she says. 

Laura: Yes, yes! I have a lot of respect for exam preparation and the resources because tackling the exams in our profession is not an inconsequential thing. Most of us haven’t taken tests for decades. Even if we were good test takers in school, test-taking is a skill, and if you haven’t done it in a while, you need that support to learn how to pass the exam. But there really is a disconnect between the learning you need to do to pass an exam and the application. 

I do think what you’re seeing … I would just validate that. It’s a different kind of training. Often, we’ll have people come in through a programme like ours to really feel confident in the skills to look at “How can you build your skills first? But what gap do I need to fill based on my ability to pass tests and handle an exam environment, and to assimilate this knowledge in an exam-ready way, and how do I fill that gap to be successful in the certification process?” So think about it, I think, in a couple different stages. 

Penny: The next question we’re going to go to is all the way from Mexico. Nallely asks, “Which BA perspective from BABOK is more useful in your career, e.g., agile, business intelligence, architecture etc.” There’s another related question from Vinay in Singapore. “What are the new skills that as a senior BA I should learn to progress to the next level?” 

Laura: Yes. This is an interesting question because all three of the skills that were in the first question are applicable from a senior BA perspective. They are ways that you would specialize and potentially advance your careers. 

Penny: I was just going to say agile, business intelligence and architecture as well. 

Laura: Right. In addition to potentially more of a leadership role, or more of a requirement management process-focused role, running a community of practice in addition to really being able to handle, say, higher level projects and more of an enterprise or strategy analysis role would become other areas to focus on as a senior BA. 

In terms of what’s actually more useful in your career … Like all of those specialties have really great potential career-wise, right? It’s not like you can choose one and you’re guaranteed success. It’s really what is most interesting to you. What is the one that inspires you that you want to learn more about, that you are maybe doing already and find enjoyable? Because the more you enjoy that and find it personally fulfilling, the easier it will be for you to advance within it. 

If you choose one of these, like, “Everybody says I’ve got to be …” I see this all the time. “Everybody says I need to learn health insurance or a specific tool,” and then you absolutely don’t like the work, it won’t work for you to move your career forward in that capacity! The variety we see in the BA profession, there’s so many opportunities, and it is very fragmented, and there are different threads, so choose the ones that you’re most excited about. Double check that it has applicability in your local area. I don’t think there’s really a wrong choice there as long as you enjoy it. 

Penny: Super. Arthi in the USA says, “What’s your word for aspiring BAs?” 

Laura: I love this question. I do call them aspiring business analysts, but what I would encourage you to think about is to just drop that word ‘aspiring’, because this is the mindset shift that we’ve talked about. If your desire is to become a business analyst, how can you choose to be a business analyst today? 

Sometimes it really does start with giving yourself that title and anchoring that in, in a specific way, choosing to show up as a business analyst in your work no matter what your title is, instead of choosing to wait for somebody else to give that title to you. I think you’ll find that title will come to you more quickly if you just say, “I’m not an aspiring BA. I’m a business analyst. I’m just waiting for the right opportunity to have that title.” Right? 

Penny: Brilliant! 

Laura: … and showing up in that space. 

Penny: We’ve had a question that came in at the last minute from John in the UK. He says, “Projects often use a ‘lessons learned’ activity to inform approaches to similar pieces of work. Business analysts should be included in that (although how much it’s shared across the BA team can be an issue). The real question is: Do you think real value can be gained from learning more about the wider business and the relationship between different areas so that they understand the context and the impact of any work that they’re doing?” John adds, “For what it’s worth, I think my standing as a BA is because people know I understand the wider business and can quickly flag up potential impacts and stakeholders.” 

Laura: Yes. I think there’s huge value there. There are two pieces of the question: understanding the wider business and applying lessons learned across projects. As we see people move forward in the profession and they move up, like one of the senior-level roles that people move into is that strategy enterprise level role that we talked about. They are talking about it at BBC, too. It’s not like one day you wake up and you’re in that role. It is an evolutionary process, and it starts by excelling in your basic business analyst role to start, and then getting assigned across different projects and always seeking to expand your knowledge and awareness across your organization. So it’s the same learning and same process we talked about to get into a business analyst role as it is to get from a business analyst role to a strategic role. It’s that constant evolutionary expansion. 

This question just lends itself to saying that as a business analyst, you’re always learning. You’re learning about the company, you’re learning about the skills. When something goes wrong on a project, you’re learning why it went wrong. You can share that with your team. Learning through training is important, and obviously, we do train. I love and support that, but it’s not like you have to be … Learning doesn’t only come through training. Learning comes through the mindset of always seeking to ask why, find out why, and incorporate what comes of that into your ongoing work and to share that within your team and your company as well. We are a learning profession, and that’s the mindset we have to have. 

Penny: Absolutely. 

Laura: Yeah. 

Penny: On that note, Laura, I think we’ve got to come to the end. We could carry on for hours, but we’re getting a to the end of our time. Thank you very much for taking part in the summit. I’m sure everyone listening in today and people replaying later will find it really invaluable. You’ve given us so much to think about, and there are some things we can start working on straight away. Could you tell us a little bit more about your services to BAs? You have so many different activities, books, and so on. Over to you. 

Laura: Well, thank you for that opportunity! It’s probably quite obvious now that I have a passion for training, right? We offer a variety of on-demand online training programs at Bridging the Gap. We cover core skills, like business process analysis, wireframes and data modeling as well as the essential BA process. All of those are skill-building courses, that also will earn you the credits you need for certification or re-certification. 

Then, twice a year, we run our live interactive sessions of The Business Analyst Blueprint®, and the next one is starting up in February. It’s a great opportunity if you want to check that out. 

Penny: I was just going to say, if people are interested in The Business Analyst Blueprint®, how can they get on the list to find out about it, because I knew you only release it at certain times of the year? 

Laura: Correct. When you go to Bridging the Gap and to go the training tab on Bridging the Gap, there’s a link there with The Business Analyst Blueprint®, and if it’s open for registration, you’ll get the full details. If not, we have an interest list, so you can always join to get on the interest list, and then we’ll let you know in the next session. 

Penny: Super. Thank you. We could carry on chatting for ages, but we can’t. Okay. I think that’s … but you haven’t mentioned your books, though, Laura! 

Laura: Right, right. My book is a great starting point. It’s available on Amazon and our website, pretty much anywhere eBooks are sold, as well as a print copy on Amazon. It’s called, How to Start a Business Analyst Career, and it’s really a guidebook. Then on our website, we also have just a free training. It’s a three-part video training called the Quick Start for Success as a Business Analyst. It talks more about what success looks like as a business analyst, what are the skills you’d need, how to create that career plan and get yourself set up for more success. 

Penny: Thank you very much, Laura. Thank you, too, for everyone listening right through to the end. If you’ve had to miss any sessions or you’d like to listen again another time, or you’d like to read the transcript, then you can upgrade to gain permanent access to all the sessions in the summit by getting your all-access pass to do so. Go to basummit.com/upgrade. Until next time, all the best. 

I finally had a chance to capture a few reflections on the experience, and some of the positive anchors I put in place to help keep my mindset positive during this difficult time. I am sharing them here with you, because I believe they will help you get to the next level in your business analyst career.

For those who like to read instead of watch, here’s the full text of the video:

My name is Laura Brandenburg from Bridging the Gap, and we help mid-career professionals start business analyst careers. I have a personal story to share with you today that really has a lesson in it that’s relevant for how you approach your business analyst career, and your goals, in particular.

Back in September 2018, our family was significantly impacted by Hurricane Florence. We evacuated for nine days, and there were points in time, especially before we left, that it looked like a Category 4 hurricane.

It was going to have a direct hit on the area in which we live. Our house, our home. We just bought this last year, and we love it here. We love being on the ocean.

There are two things I did that seemed a little quirky from the outside but were very inspiring to people in my community. I want to share them with you and have you think about how you could apply them for your own goal.

Of course, we wanted to come back to our home, to our community, to everything being fine, but we knew we had to leave. When the hurricane comes, it’s coming, and it’s slow, and it’s painful.

The first thing I did, before we knew whether it was going to hit or not hit and where it was going to be, the weekend before – before there was a big run to the stores. I went to the stores to stock up on canned goods in case we were going to be here and be out of power for a while or potentially be out of power for a while, and water. Just get all of those essential supplies.

This was Sunday. I walked past the flowers, and I bought the flowers. It was a ridiculous thing because we ended up evacuating on Tuesday, and things were looking like we might evacuate or we might not. There was every reason not to spend five or ten dollars on flowers. “We might not even be here to enjoy them.” I bought the flowers. It lightened up our house. When they covered up our windows the next day, the flowers were a bright spot in our house, and it raises your vibration.

What is the beautiful thing you can bring into your life that sets the tone? Is it a vibrant top? This is one of my more vibrant tops. It’s perfect to be wearing today. Is it a piece of jewelry? Is it the flowers? Is it a stone? Is it painting your walls a color? A touchstone? Something that adds more beauty and joy to your life that just lifts you up. The way that that brought more color and joy to our lives just added this flavor. “This is a hard time, but we can celebrate the good, as well.” That’s the first touchstone I have for you.

The second one is as we left, I was packing up the wine cooler because we were still evacuating where we might lose power. We’ve got to have supplies, so I was packing up things like that. I consciously left a bottle of champagne in the wine cooler. “This is what we’re going to drink when we come home and get to celebrate returning to our house.” I posted about this on Facebook.

I posted it with two things. First, I posted a picture of our house and the champagne in the wine cooler and that I had anchored that in, and we left it. It’s an anchor to me. It’s something to visualize besides the pictures of the hurricane coming. “I’ve got that bottle of champagne in the wine cooler, and we’re going home to that.”

It also become this touchstone for everyone in my online community to believe in us because I had people asking me, “Laura, when do you get to go back and drink that bottle of champagne?” and my mom telling me, “Laura, these people are so excited, and they’re so into that bottle of champagne.” It became a touchstone for me. It also became a touchstone for a lot of people, but beyond me, and helping see me coming back to our home.

When we talk about career goals – because it’s the same process whether you’re trying to manifest coming home to your house or to achieving a goal in your personal or your business life. If you have a job title you want to have, start talking about yourself as, “Hey, I’m a business analyst, and this is what I do.” If you have a responsibility you want to hold, “Hey, I do this.” It’s about anchoring in where you want to be instead of where you are because where I was at that time was, “My house is going to fall down to the ground. I better take that champagne with me.”

That was the negative thought that spun through my head. The positive reframe, the choice I made was, “I’m going to leave it here because I’m coming back for it.” How can you take that flip? That flip of your current reality, that current negative thought, the, “Nobody’s going to hire me as a business analyst because…” and go, “No. They’re going to hire me as a business analyst.” Where could you anchor that in? Where could you put that touchstone in place so that you’re seeing it again and again and again. Then, how could you share it with other people so they start to see it for you and they start to believe in you?

There were times I needed people believing in me more than I believed in myself. I needed people seeing that space for me, so having that touchstone out there and having people see it for me and communicate with me and ask about it helped bring me back to that positive space I had cultivated in that random couple of moments as we were rushing out the door.

Those are our anchors. Those are how our touchstones can pull us forward and help us achieve the goal. I hope you take something. This is a little bit of Laura’s “woo woo” side, but take something from this. Something big that’s in your life, something that you really want, something that feels not-here-yet. How can you anchor it in? How can you feel like you’re already there?

What piece can you celebrate now? What anchor can you put? What bottle of champagne can go in your fridge with the tag on it, “For the day I get that XYZ job, or that XYZ responsibility, or host this new and improved stakeholder meeting, or speak up in a meeting in a way I didn’t think I could.”

Celebrating those when they happen and preparing to celebrate them in advance so that you’re telling yourself: they’re important to you. You’re sending a sign for others, too, that they’re important to you. That’s what creates new opportunities.

Again, I hope you have a takeaway. I’d love to hear how this lands with you. Go ahead and leave me a comment below of how you’re manifesting your goal.

My name is Laura Brandenburg from Bridging the Gap, and we mid-career professionals start business analyst careers.

Tell me where you are at in your career by leaving a comment below, and let me know what the challenge is and I’ll do my best to help you out!

(This is the kind of advice that is typically reserved for participants in our programs, so I encourage you to take advantage of it by leaving a comment here or throughout social media!)

And there’s more! To celebrate 10 years, we’re offering 10% off all of our on-demand courses and template toolkits starting now through October 31, 2018. Just use the coupon code BTG10 to receive 10% off.

And, we’re even doubling our savings for teams of 3+ course participants to 20% throughout October as well. Email us at info [at] bridging-the-gap [dot] com to request your custom quote for BA team training.

What is that one thing? Watch the video (or read the transcript) to find out!

For those who like to read instead of watch, here’s the full text of the video:

I’m Laura Brandenburg from Bridging the Gap, and I see a lot of people get spun out about what’s happening in the profession, what’s happening in the industry, and what’s happening outside organizations in their careers.

Agile is coming, or this change is coming, or it’s a service delivery, or it’s this, or this, or this. There’s some new methodology, some new change, some new organizational initiative. These things happen every year in most organizations. There’s some new buzzword – digital transformation is a big one right now.

What does that mean for business analysts? There are way more opportunities to do business analysis. There’s no way to do digital transformation without business analysis. That’s exciting. That’s what it means. All of these changes, change needs business analysis, change means they need us now more than ever.

How do you let go of the noise and the spin out? What does my role look like as this change is happening? How do you deal with organizational change in a way that moves your career forward?

This is my thought on this. Your business analysis skills, the skills you build to do business analysis, solving the right problem, analyzing processes, improving processes, possibly even the software requirements, getting everyone on the same page about the software requirements, understanding how information flows for your business, and getting business and technology on the same page about decisions about software that eventually solve those business problems.

This is what you do. This is what you know how to do. This is your skill set. That skill set is valuable in multiple different roles. Not all of those roles have the job title of business analyst. A lot of them actually don’t. I would say the vast majority of people doing business analysis don’t have the business analyst job title.

I’ve never held the official job title of Business Analyst. In my career, I was a Systems Analyst, I was the Manager of Business Analysis, and then I was the Director of Enterprise Solutions. All of those roles, I was doing business analysis, but I never formally, officially, had the title.

This is true for a lot of people. This is true for many, many people. It’s going to continue to be true because the value of these skills is continuing to expand, and more and more roles need people who can communicate and analyze the way that business analysts do.

Focusing on your core skills, on what you do as a business analyst is only going to make more opportunities, make you more valuable, and open up an expanded set of opportunities for you.

How do you go from the spin of everything’s changing, to what does my role look like, to all of these opportunities? How do you triangulate what does that mean for you in your career?

It starts with a really important question: What is it that you want?

What do you want? What do you want to be doing? How do want your workday to flow? Do you want to be going to meetings with lots of stakeholders, or do you want to meet with just a few?

Do you want to be working on technology and understanding how everything’s put together, or do you want to elicit that information and understand just enough to be productive when it comes to writing software requirements and analyzing and communicating about the software requirements?

Do you want to be knee-deep in the business process and helping the business stakeholders make change? Do you want to be more on the technical side? What do you want? Do you want to be looking at a higher level across all the projects in the organization hearing out what is most important? Where is the business case? What projects have the most value in helping the organizations make decisions about what to invest in and what not to invest in? That’s enterprise level, strategic level business analysis and a lot of people are expanding into those careers.

What is it that you want? That’s where you start.

When you have that crystal clear vision of what you want to be doing, it might not be crystal clear, it might be a foggy idea now that you can start to direct yourself towards. But you have a concept of where you want to go. Then you can start organizing your opportunities in that direction.

Organizational changes happen. What does this mean for my role and what new skills could I add? Where can I add even more value? Where can I expand my role to move towards the things that I know I want to be doing? Where can I detract from my role so that I’m letting go of the things that are no longer all that interesting to me?

Organizational change is the opportunity to do that kind of shifting in your own career and make more opportunities happen.

I have a simple exercise to be thinking about. You want to do this now and not wait for organizational change to happen. You can do this now, today. What are the least favorite three things you have to do? They may be the biggest part of your workday, or it might just be something once a month you have to do and it’s just a big pain in the butt and you don’t want to do it.

What are those three things? What are the three things that you could be doing instead? Or, what are the three most favorite parts of your job today, and how can you release those things that you are no longer enjoying to create more space to enhance the things that you love the most and to do more of that work, and then, maybe, start doing that work at a higher level and expanding those capabilities?

This is how career momentum happens. This is how you set yourself up for future promotions and moving into more senior level roles and more strategic roles. As you start letting go of the things that you are getting beyond in your career and that you are no longer enjoying, and you make room to do more of the work you love where you’re going to show up with more energy and more passion, more excitement. You’re going to naturally evolve your skill set.

You can start it today. You don’t have to wait for organizational change to happen. If you start it today, you’ll be ready for organizational change to make this happen for you.

I’d love to hear what are the three things that you are jazzed up about, and what are the three things you’re going to let go of because they’re not enjoyable to you anymore.

Where do you want to be in your business analyst career? What do you want when you think about your career six months from now, a year from now, three years from now, five years from now? What do you want to be doing? What impact does that have for you?

This is where we start when we get centered in what we want and all that spin of what my organization is doing, and what’s happening over here with this industry trend. It starts to just fall into place in a much more centered way because we are starting from what we want. We see opportunities in those changes instead of threats.

That’s a huge mindset shift that I think we need to start making as individuals in business analysis careers so we can add more value to your organizations, and we can have that internal confidence and respect that we deserve as a business analyst.

Again, I’m Laura Brandenburg from Bridging the Gap. We help mid-career professionals start business analyst careers.

Leave a comment below. What do you want out of your business analyst career? What are you choosing to let go of, and what do you want to do more of?

Thanks for watching.

For those who like to read instead of watch, here’s the full text of the video:

Are you looking for a way to achieve instantly more success in your business analyst career? You think that’s got to be complicated and simple and something you plan out for years or months or weeks? Or do you think you could actually take an action today that would have an immediate positive effect? I think you can, and I’m going to share it with you in this video.

Here’s the deal. We over-think things as analysts, and we make things way bigger than they need to be. I have a very simple tip that’s going to help you achieve more success right away.

I want you to take a mental inventory of everything you’re doing week to week, day to day, maybe over the next month. Take a minute.

Look at the trajectory of all those things that you have on your radar. Meetings you go to, the documents you create, the techniques you’re going to be using. Just circle through some of that in your head.

What pops up for you as the ones that create the most value? Where are you driving positive change and helping your organization create better business outcomes? What documentation are you creating just in case? Or you’re not clear why you’re doing it anymore.

What meetings are you showing up to because you’ve always been showing up to them? You’ve realized, “You know what? I’ve moved on from this.” Somebody that we just consulted with, she realized she’d moved from quality assurance to business analysis, but we’re still getting drawn back into that testing role, even though it wasn’t hers to do anymore.

Where are you not adding as much value as you could be? I want you to just take a minute right now to strike that off the list. It’s going away. You are taking something off your plate that’s no longer adding value. It’s not creating positive change, it’s not creating a better business outcome.

It could be extra documentation, it could be a meeting that you don’t need. It’s something. There is something in your work today, I know it, that doesn’t need to be there, so take it off.

Now, what do you replace it with? If you’re overworked, it could literally be, “I need that hour of free time every week. I’m going to go home at 4 o’clock or 5 o’clock or whatever my quitting time is. I’m going to come back refreshed and better energized for the next work day.” Perfectly fine.

But a lot of times, you want to take that time and repurpose it towards something that adds more value. If you are, today, maybe creating a bunch of documentation but you always feel like, “I don’t understand how this all fits together,” maybe you’re going to do a process flow diagram.

Let’s take that hour and actually map this out visually instead of taking several hours writing it out. “Let’s do a wireframe. I’ve never done a wireframe before. Let’s just go do that.” Again, map something out visually instead of spending copious hours detailing it out in text. Draw some ideas.

Maybe you sit behind the computer screen. Oh, this is one I forgot to mention. The endless tweaking in Visio that we like to do, like getting those lines straight, or Balsamic, if you use those. Making those wireframes perfect instead of doing the down and dirty 15-20 minutes of work that’s going to get you the biggest tool for the conversation.

Instead of sitting behind the computer and perfecting some aspect of the visual part of the documentation that’s not actually clarifying things, get that tool out in front of a stakeholder earlier. Walk through it with them, co-create with them on a whiteboard. Get the communication and the collaboration going. Lots more value quickly than all the endless tweaking in Visio or another tool.

Those are some ideas for you. I want you to leave a comment below. What’s the one task or one thing that you’re going to strike off your list? Like, “I’m done with it!” And what’s the one thing you’re going to add in that will create more value for your business, for your organization, for your project, and for you and your career? This is how you instantly achieve more success as a business analyst.

You don’t have to just do this once. You can do it again and again and again. You might add it to your weekly routine, your weekly checklist, your daily checklist. “What can I take off my to-do list today so that I can add something of more value?” You at least want to be thinking about it weekly.

That’s my quick career tip for you for today. I love to hear, again, what are you letting go of, and what are you replacing it with, how is that going to have a bigger impact for you and your organization? Then how can you do this again and again and again to achieve more transformative results in your career?

I’m Laura Brandenburg from Bridging the Gap. We help make career professionals start business analyst careers. Keep taking action, keep making positive change. The world needs you adding more value to your organization. Thank you.

I have been in a BA role for over 8-years and recently changed organizations and I am finding that I am not currently up to date on technology and skills. How can I catch up without overwhelming myself?

Switching business analyst jobs is a huge opportunity, and it also can represent a time of significant professional growth.

In this video, you’ll learn why new jobs in new organizations can feel so overwhelming, how to reframe the challenge of “catching up,” and what skills to invest in to regain your confidence and sense of success.

For those who like to read instead of watch, here’s the full text of the video:

Hello. I’m Laura Brandenburg from Bridging the Gap, and we help mid-career professionals start business analyst careers.

Today, I want to talk to you about a question and answer that question that came in from one of our recent webinars. This person said,

“I’ve been in a BA role for over eight years, and I recently changed organizations. I’m finding that I’m not currently up to date on technology and skills. How can I catch up without overwhelming myself?”

This is a really important question. When you start a new organization, it’s a huge opportunity for expansion and growth in your career. It’s also a huge opportunity for overwhelm because what happens when we are in a position, especially in the same organization for eight years or for even just a few years, is we get familiar with how business analysis works in that organization.

It’s easy to get comfortable with the familiar

We’re familiar with the stakeholders, we’re familiar with the technology, we’re familiar with the systems and the business rules, and even the nuances in terminology. Like, when Joe in accounting says, ‘This’ he means ‘This,’ but when Susie in marketing says, ‘This,’ she means, ‘This.’

We have already internalized the variances in terminology; we understand the business of our domain; we understand the technology systems and how they work.

A lot of our confidence and our sense of success is based more on this expertise we have with the stakeholders and the systems and the domain, and we kind of lose track of the core foundational skills of what it takes to be a business analyst. Those don’t feel much like the core to our success.

In a new organization, everything is different and you lose the benefit of your expertise

Then we start a new job, and everything is different. The stakeholders are new, the systems might be new, the business domain. Even if we’re in the same industry, there are always slightly different variations to how those stakeholders speak, how they show up in meetings, what their conflicts are, and what their agendas are.

We are learning everything about the business from scratch, and it can feel overwhelming, and like we’re drinking from a fire hose. That’s a common analogy that’s used by new and experienced business analysts alike for what it’s like when you’re starting a new business analyst job. It feels like you’re drinking from this fire hose of information. That’s where the overwhelm is coming from.

As we’re in that position, doubt and fear can start to creep in. “Can I really do this? I felt so confident in my past job. Why did I leave? Can I go back? Do I really know what I’m doing? Am I really as strong and confident as I thought I was in that past position?”

That doubt and fear, it’s really based on, “Now I’m not the expert. Now I have to ask the questions. How do I do this?” I want to reframe, for this person, this concept of catching up because it’s not probably what’s the root issue here.

NOT being the expert is a very natural place for a business analyst

When you say, “I’m behind on my technology and my skills, and I need to catch up without overwhelm,” what you’re really saying is, “I’m in a new situation now, and I’m no longer the expert.” This is a natural place for business analysts to find themselves in.

As you grow and expand your career, you want it to start to feel second nature so that going in to a meeting and being the least knowledgeable person about the business process, about the technology, about the domain, that’s a natural place to be, instead of the uncomfortable place.

You’re still drinking from a fire hose. You still don’t know as much as anybody else knows about the business domain, but it’s a natural place that you can show up in confidence.

In a new organization core business analyst skills give you confidence

What does it take to show up in confidence in that situation? It takes your core business analyst skills.

• It’s knowing how to analyze a business process.
• It’s knowing how to ask questions to discover what the current state process is, what the problem is we’re solving.
• It’s knowing how to clarify terminology and pick up on nuances of, “Joe said, ‘This,’ and, Susie said, ‘This.’ Is that the same thing?” instead of already knowing that it is the same thing and doing that mental work to reconcile the terminology, which you can do when you’re the expert.

You can’t do it when you’re not yet the expert. It’s about getting everyone on the same page about software requirements, using techniques like use cases and wireframes that help you identify what the software needs to do, now how the software needs to do it.

If you were the expert in the technology before, you probably knew all the things that the software could do, and you knew how to build that, whatever it is you were updating in your project. You could go with more of a technical spec instead of a more functional software requirement driven spec of what you need the system to do.

This means showing up and asking questions of your technology stakeholders, as well, to understand the capabilities of the systems that you have in place as it relates to your projects. That’s how you do it without having to learn everything at once. You’re not going to be the expert in everything at once.

Just to reiterate, it’s also about asking the questions and using the analysis skills that you have, business process modeling, data modeling, software requirements modeling, all of the modeling skills and techniques that you’ve probably used, naturally, in your last job.

Perhaps you need to freshen up and get some core foundation in those again. That’s what we help you do at Bridging the Gap. Using all those skills to analyze the problem, understand the requirements, and ask the right questions, and they’re going to help you do the intellectual work of figuring out what the questions are even when you’re not the expert.

It gets easier from here, even as you move from one new organization to another!

The last thing I want to say about this is that the first shift that you make, the first shift from one organization to another is the hardest. The second shift is a little bit easier, and it gets easier and easier from there.

It’s not easier because you’re no longer drinking from a fire hose. It’s not easier because you’re the expert in every domain. That’s impossible. You’re never going to be the expert in every domain. It gets easier because you’re comfortable showing up in situations where you don’t know what the business process is.

You’re comfortable asking the questions, you’re comfortable clarifying terminology, you’re comfortable standing on the foundation of your business analysis skills and knowing that you add value by asking those questions and doing that analysis, and not by being the expert.

It’s a powerful place to be in your career. It opens up a lot of opportunities for you to grow and expand and take your career to the next level.

That’s my tip for how to get out of the overwhelm of a new job when you feel like you’re drinking from a fire hose and maybe like you’re a little bit behind. You’re really not. You’re just not the expert anymore. You’ve got to rely on those core business analysis skills.

If you’d like to see where you stack up in terms of having those skills, there should be a link below this video that will invite you to download the Business Analyst Skills Assessment. This will allow you to walk through the level of each of the core skills that we talked about here, as well as some of the other skills that are important to be successful as a business analyst, and rank yourself and assess yourself on how you stand against those skills.

So go ahead, take a look at that, download that assessment, figure out where you’re at, and that will give you some ideas for where you might need to strengthen your core business analyst skills so you can succeed in multiple business domains as a business analyst.

Again, happy to have you here. My name is Laura Brandenburg from Bridging the Gap, and we help you start your business analyst career.

>> Download Your BA Skills Assessment

When you download our Business Analyst Skills Assessment, you’ll figure out exactly where you stand as a business analyst and know what core business analyst skills to invest in improving.

Click here to download the skills assessment

As an online provider of training to business analysts, one of the most frequently asked questions we receive is how to gain funding for training. While many of our participants invest in their own training, we have many that receive funding from their employers.

In today’s video, I share some strategies to gain funding for training.

For those who like to read instead of watch, here’s the full text of the video:

The best business analysts consistently update and upgrade their skills, to add even more value to their organization and achieve better business outcomes.

I’m Laura Brandenburg of Bridging the Gap. As a provider of online training to business analysts, one of the most frequently asked questions we receive is how to gain funding for training. While many of our participants invest in their own training, on their own behalf, we have many who receive funding from their employers and even some entire business analyst teams go through our training programs together.

Today I want to share with you what we’ve seen work, and some of the keys to getting internal approval for training.

Step 1: Be Confident in Your Value

First, be confident in your own value as a business analyst. Understand the value you add, and also where there are opportunities for you to expand your skill set to deliver even more value.

You have to start here – with an internal sense of confidence, and an ability to create positive success for your organization. Employers will invest in those who are already creating success, because they know you will leverage that training investment to generate even more value.

On this topic – get clear on how business analysis enables more project success in your organization. Or, if it’s lacking, be clear on what value you could be adding. What problems pop up on projects now? And how could business analysis solve them? What problems does your manager care about?

For example, many projects face challenges with changing requirements late in the development cycle, and that causes project teams to run over budget and miss deadlines. Good business analysis and solid requirements practices enable clearer communication between stakeholders, and that minimizes unnecessary requirements changes late in the project.

So be clear on that value and how you communicate that value to your employer. Something we do again and again on an ongoing basis as business analysts.

Step 2: Gather Information about Your Organizations Funding Process

Second, gather information about your organization’s process for funding training. Sometimes it can be as simple as completing a form to make a request. Every year thousands of corporate training dollars go unused because no one asks to use them. You literally don’t know what’s available until you ask. And you don’t know what the process is until you ask. So ask and get really clear on that process.

Step 3: Understand Your Manager’s Goals

Now, provided there is money, understand your manager’s goals for that money. Is it ear-marked for specific projects and programs at the end of the year? Is there a specific outcome they want to see? Is there a timeline for that?

Often as we reach year-end, managers are motivated to use the rest of this year’s budgets so they don’t lose that money for the following year. Be aware of those budgets, what they are earmarked for, and also what excess budget you might be able to get access to later in the year if it doesn’t get used earlier in the year.

Always be prepared to make a second request later in the year, even if it was denied earlier.

Step 4: Evaluate the Training Program

Next, evaluate the program you are considering. How does it meet your manager’s goals? How will it help you personally deliver more value to your organization? Does it fit within the budget you have? Build a business case for the value you and the organization will receive from that training investment.

Super important – it’s something we do as business analysts on our projects, so we also need to do it for training. Make this a no-brainer decision for your manager. They should see an immediate ROI.

For example, participants in The Business Analyst Blueprint® certification program actually do their project work throughout the 4-month program, and so they are adding value right away as they go through the course by improving a business process, clarifying software requirements, and communicating more clearly about the business domain – all modules of The Blueprint that you learn about and are able to take immediately with you to your organization.

Step 5: Have a Conversation with Your Manager

Have a conversation with your manager about the training you are considering, and how you see it helping you personally, as well as adding value to the organization. Be sure to touch on any specific pain points your manager has expressed to you, or goals they have.

Make this a win for them. Make it that no-brainer decision. And, of course, have any details ready-at-hand to discuss the training in detail in case they have questions.

If budget is a concern, you may consider providing a couple of different options at different price points. For example, we (used to) offer individual modules of The Business Analyst Blueprint® separately. And then the full, intensive program packages multiple courses together with live instruction at a discount over investing in each course individually.

So that’s part of how you make the business case too; there’s a discount for investing in this larger program and for getting additional support.

Step 6: Submit Your Formal Request

With an understanding of your organization’s process and your manager’s goals, you’ll want to submit your formal request. Follow your organization’s processes. This could be an email, or there could be a form to fill out.

In a larger organization, you might have an actual website that you go to request training, or checkboxes for various approvals. So you also want to factor in any time that you need to request and receive information from your training provider, and make sure you have time to do that. At Bridging the Gap, we can provide details and documentation that does tend to help facilitate that approval process.

Step 7: Follow-Up

Once you submit your formal request, you’re not done. You want to make sure you follow up until you receive that formal approval and know that your registration has gone through. Most training providers require payment in advance of the course start date, and so you will want to stay on top of your request so you don’t miss out on your opportunity.

If you are working with us for a live training class like The Business Analyst Blueprint® certification program, stay in touch about the steps you are going through and when you expect approval and funding to actually come through.

Often we can work with you and your unique situation because we really love to see people be able to join us for a live program. And because there is a start date, that’s a reason to be starting up front – earlier rather than later. You might give yourself a month or even two months ahead of a course start date to start the funding process in your organization.

If No Funding for Training…

What if there are no funds for training? You’ll want to get specific details on when funding is made available, how those budgets are prepared, and what you can do to get your share of the funding in future fiscal years. So now you’re thinking of planning in advance for say 6 or 12 months from now so you can have these investments later in your career lifecycle.

Also, realize there is always money somewhere. There may be portions of other budgets that can be reallocated to training. Perhaps your manager has funding earmarked to bring in a consultant for a specific project. Would they be able to save those costs by you having this training? So think about where there might be money in other areas that you can tap into.

If your manager says no or not now, ask for more information and a reason why. Do they want you to find a different opportunity? Is there a doubt they have? Is there a specific time you should come back and ask again?

Consider Investing in Yourself

And if you feel adamant that this training will help your career growth, it may be the time to make the investment in yourself. Consider the long-term impact on your personal growth and salary potential. Don’t use your employer’s unwillingness to invest in you right now as a reason or an excuse to stay stagnant in your career.

This complacency can have a disastrous impact on your career. Should there be an unexpected change in your company and you find yourself out in the job market without the skills you need to be successful, it can be a long road to get back on track.

Be Ready for Common Objections

Now let’s look at some of the common objections managers have to investing in training. We’re doing this not to energize them, but so that you can be prepared to speak to them. What might your manager say that causes a “no” that you can turn into a “yes”?

Often you’ll hear, “But it’s a busy time for projects.” This is where it’s up to you to make a commitment to keep up with your project work. Our programs are flexible at Bridging the Gap, and actually will help you do even better on the projects you are working on anyway.

This also saves you money, or your organization money over an in-person class, as there are no additional travel costs to consider. Those are things you can speak to and talk about with your manager if you are considering online programs, especially those like ours at Bridging the Gap.

Or perhaps you hear that they are saving money for specific tool training, or a specific technical skill. This means they are not seeing the value of business analysis, and the core skills you’d learn when it comes to elicitation or requirements gathering or business process improvement.

Articulate how you’d use one of the techniques on the projects you are assigned now. For example, for a typical implementation of a cloud computing system, you would have new creative ways to analyze and improve the business process, so the tool works as expected for the stakeholders.

So instead of learning details of that tool, you’re actually learning how to help make sure that tool actually improves the process.

And in something like The Business Analyst Blueprint® certification program, you’d even learn the data modeling and mapping techniques, which helps ensure the business data transfers smoothly from one system to another. So again, core skills that would help with the implementation of a tool like that.

Another thing you might hear is, “You are already doing great work. We don’t need you to learn anything new.” This means they are not seeing the potential for you to do even more work or higher-level work, and the value this would have for the organization.

Revisit the questions around pain points and opportunities, and consider how you can better frame the training you want to support those. And how you can start adding value now, so they see you adding more value now as a headstart into getting that approval for training.

Many times, objections like these are great conversations to have. They give you great insight not just into the funding available but how you can develop your career in the organization. Go in with an open mind, be willing to learn, and use your business analysis skills to LISTEN! That’s one of the key skills we have as business analysts.

What Strategies Have You Used to Receive Funding For Training?

What strategies have you found to help you receive corporate training or funding for training? Leave a comment below to help out others in the community. We build our profession one business analyst at a time. Success starts with you.

Again, I’m Laura Brandenburg from Bridging the Gap. We provide best-in-class online training for business analysts. We’d love to see you in a future program. And if there is anything we can do to help you receive funding for one of our training programs, please be in touch.

Like so much in BA, it depends. The best answer to this question has to come in the context of your organization – what projects are you working on? How big are those projects? And what are the skill sets of your business analysts?

In this video, I talk through the pros and cons of the various options and give you some important tips for structuring your business analyst team.

For those who like to read instead of watch, here’s the full text of the video:

I’m Laura Brandenburg from Bridging the Gap. We help business analysts start their careers.

Today, I want to talk about a question that came to us from our Facebook community. That is:

“How do you structure a business analyst team? If I have multiple business analysts, should I be putting them all on each project in different roles or different stages of the process, or should I be giving them each their own project?”

Of course, like everything in business analysis, it depends, and it depends on a lot of factors. There are a few options to consider, and I’m going to talk about the pros and the cons of each.

Business Analyst Team Option #1 – Splitting Roles Among Projects

The first option for structuring your team is to split roles among projects, meaning that each business analyst has their own project or often their own set of projects that they’re responsible for when they’re filling the entirety of the business analyst role on that project. This is a good option if you have a strong team, people with similar capabilities. A mid-to-senior level business analyst, they want their own project.

This is part of the independent fulfilling work that drives us as business analysts, is that ability to own the project, own the requirements for the project, negotiate with the stakeholders for that project. See that through to completion. It’s a good sense of ownership to have if you have a team of strong, capable, business analysts that works well.

It’s also a good thing to be thinking about if you do have more junior business analysts to be creating a path to bring them up. Maybe they’re shadowing and supporting a little bit at first, and then they’re eventually transitioning into their own projects as well. But that’s not the only way to do it.

Business Analyst Team Option #2 – Splitting Roles Between by Stage of Analysis

Some teams also split the roles by stage of analysis. There are a couple of different ways this can happen.

One could be that you have a more business-focused business analyst, and a more technical focused analyst. Sometimes that’s the business analyst and the systems analyst. Those job titles are used inconsistently. Don’t go looking for those job titles as a sign of what type of role you necessarily have.

In that, the split works well in complex environments. If you have a complex set of business stakeholders and that business-focused analyst is figuring out how to process flows through multiple departments and working with, perhaps, dozens of stakeholders to figure that out and negotiate those business needs. And then if that system is complex as well, and so the systems analyst knows how all the systems work together to achieve that business process, and how to specify the different changes that need to happen to all the different systems to make a project happen. Having somebody focus on the business side and focus on the tech side can make a lot of sense when there is complexity on both sides.

Other times we’ll see the split happen more from a stage level. A more senior business analyst might be responsible for a whole collection of projects that, and they’re doing that initial business needs and scoping work and putting a high-level plan together. The more junior business analysts are defining all those detailed requirements within the scope of that plan. That senior level business analyst will still be involved in all those projects throughout, but not in all the details, and the more junior level business analysts would be fleshing all that out.

Now, junior level is relative there because, on a bigger complex project, there’s still a lot of responsibility and analysis work to do and things like that. So, that’s not necessarily just like an entry level, junior level role, but a way that you might see business analyst partner when there are varying skill levels in your organization.

It also creates a path for that more junior level analyst to get involved in the early parts of the projects as well.

Business Analyst Team Tip: Look for collaboration opportunities

No matter how you structure your team, I just wanted to share a few tips for collaboration because it can start to feel like there are walls. Like, “Hey, I’m a senior BA. I only work here. I don’t do these things here.” Or, “Hey, I’m the business process BA. I don’t do the tech stuff.” You want to avoid creating walls. As business analysts, we bridge gaps in communication. We create collaboration. We don’t want to put up walls between ourselves and our own roles. What are some of the ways that you can make sure that your business analysts are collaborating?

Sitting in on meetings is one, cross-training each other, maybe the technical business analysts have. So, much to learn as you train about new systems and the business, focused business analysts talk about the business processes in the department. In the context of a project, there’s got to be a lot of that happening, but it can also happen more globally as well.

Peer reviews. So, doing reviews of each other’s documentation. Even sitting in on each other’s meeting and assisting with meeting notes. The technical BA could take meeting notes while the business BA is facilitating the session, and then the business BA could take meeting notes while the technical BAs are facilitating their sessions. There’s some cross collaboration there. It’s an area of mutual respect and support. That can work, as well, if your BAs are all similarly leveled and have their own projects.

Also, look for opportunities. One of the first things I did in my first business analyst role is I created a peer review meeting. There were just four of us. It wasn’t a huge meeting, but we were all on different projects. We had no visibility into what each other was doing. Every other week we would meet, and we would review a couple of documents for each other. Not everybody had each something reviewed every week, but we would review some documents and give each other feedback. It was a great way to get consistent about how we did things as a business analyst team. We’d see variances. “Oh, I don’t put things like that in a use case. I do it this way.” We would discuss what we thought was better and agree on a go forward approach.

You’d also start to learn about the other projects that were happening in your organization. We could start to see overlaps in terms of the actual functionality and the business needs that were being addressed as well. That just made us all more aware and stronger business analysts, and able to start to contribute a little bit more strategically in the organization as well.

Always be looking for those ways to get your business analysts collaborating regardless of how their roles are defined in making sure that they don’t end up in their own silos and own boxes. That’s the exact opposite of what we want to do as business analysts.

How Do You Structure Your Business Analyst Team?

I would love to hear how you structure your business analyst team. Do the skills that people have play a big factor? Do the types of projects you’re working on play a big factor? What was the factor that drove that organization, or is it just sort of what evolved? Maybe this is a good time to re-evaluate and think about what would be best for the environment that your organization is in right now.

Again, my name is Laura Brandenburg, from Bridging the Gap. We help business analysts start their careers.

Thanks for watching.

For those who like to read instead of watch, here’s the full text of the video:

This is Laura Brandenburg from Bridging the Gap. Today’s question comes to us from Marie, who is a business analyst manager, and often has people in her organization approach her for help getting started in business analysis. She wanted to know how to find that right task, or the first assignment, that will help increase their confidence and expand their capabilities.

My First Business Analyst Tasks

First, I wanted to share my first experience as a business analyst because I feel really fortunate that I worked with a senior BA, and I believe that the way things unfolded for me provides a good model for many to follow.

As you know, I was in QA before I was a business analyst. Many of you know. I talk about that often. I had experience with testing, test planning, reviewing requirements, and the flow of software projects. I had never written a requirements document before. I started by shadowing a BA in her meetings. I got to take meeting notes and update her deliverables and draft deliverables, and gradually, I was taking on more and more responsibility to help her. A new project opened, and I was assigned to work on that project. I went from shadowing her, to a huge, big project. It was one of the bigger projects our organization had ever undertaken. I also had her guidance, at first. That provided a lot of confidence and stability for me.

First, Choose Business Analyst Tasks to Increase Confidence

How can you take this experience and create a model for how you assign your new tasks to business analysis?

First, I think you want to start with a skills assessment. I shared my approach to that in another video, so we’ll link to that here, about how to go through what their transferable skills are, and what they bring to the profession.

You want to choose a task that’s going to help increase their confidence. It’s either going to be formalizing something they’ve done before, but not in the “formal” way, or something that they had a big gap in. Maybe they’ve never done a data model, or they’ve never done anything like a business process. (And if this is their first time analyzing a process, be sure to download our free business process template which incorporates a host of best practices on process modeling and will give them a head start.)

For a business subject matter expert, you might ask them to meet with a few stakeholders and analyze a business process in their area. Give them a structure. A goal of what that process would be. Perhaps, even a few questions to ask so they know what they’re looking for.

For a QA engineer, you might ask them to document an area of system functionality in a use case. To take that knowledge they have of the system and how to write test cases for the system and get more prescriptive into the view of how the system actually should work.

Ideally, they’d start, for a current state system view, and then the next step would be to evolve that into doing some discovery work and evolve that into updating the functionality in a to-be use case as well so you’re getting that full range of business analysis experience.

So that’s starting with the technique. I think, we think we have to give them a whole project. I think starting with the individual techniques, this is what we do in The Business Analyst Blueprint®. It’s a great way to get that confidence started without having to tackle the entire project all at once.

Assign Business Analyst Tasks to Cultivate Independence

Once you do this, you want to create experiences for them, though, to cultivate more independence. I’ve done this technique, and this technique, and this technique. Could I put that together on a project, or could I start it from scratch or identify the process from start to end? Find the stakeholders myself that I need to work with. Kind of all these ways to take that first level experience and expand it to new experiences.

You also might start to bring them into the projects that you’re working on. Maybe, at first, they’re doing this specific use case, business process, or data modeling work, like on a project that you’ve led and scoped and planned out. And then bring them into the beginning and say, okay, now I’m starting a new project and I don’t know what information I need. I don’t know what the business objectives are. We don’t have to scope to find, yet.

Let me walk you through how I approach that and have them shadow you through some of those tasks, and then take on the more detailed analysis as well.

Go From Individual Business Analyst Tasks to New Projects

Then, eventually, of course, you want to prepare them to start a new project all on their own. It might start with a small one, and then gradually get to more stakeholders, more complexity, until they’re running full-fledged projects like you’re doing as a business analyst today.

And, so, I think just starting with the independent tasks first, and then merging that into full projects, and then thinking about how they would shadow you on some of those projects and then take some of those projects independently on their own is a good way to think about graduating tasks.

Once you go through a skills assessment with somebody, you might discover they’ve done a lot of things before. If somebody is coming from a background of a project manager, or a technical development lead manager, which is a common path into business analysis, they might have more experience with that business objectives scope definition phase, and they might need more help with the detailed requirements phase of how to put together the business processes and all of that. You might shadow them to get the project started, and then provide more guidance and support as they do those detailed business analysis deliverables.

Always be looking for what that person knows and brings to the table already. Leveraging that strength, giving them the next thing that’s going to help them expand their skills and experience.

Another thing to be looking for beyond that, in terms of building a career path, is once I’ve done all that with a set of stakeholders or a specific system, or a specific area of the business, how can I tackle a new challenge? A new set of stakeholders, a new area of the business, an unfamiliar domain. That’s when your business analysis skills start to get put to the test, and that’s where you start to see how generalized these core skills that we have are, and how applicable they are in different environments.

It can get tunnel vision when you’re first getting started in a specific environment. It’s when you start to apply that across multiple environments that you take your skills to the next level. Be looking for those opportunities for people on your team as well as they get comfortable in their business analyst roles.

I hope you find this helpful. Whether you are helping a business analyst, or transitioning yourself, it’s a way to think about how to get to where you want to be.

I’d love to hear from you. What was your first business analyst task? How did that come to be?

Share in the comments below. I’d love to hear from you.

Again, I’m Laura Brandenburg from Bridging the Gap, and we help business analysts start their careers.

>>Download Your Free Business Process Template

Get started analyzing a business process today, with our complimentary business process template.

• Help business users from multiple departments clarify their actual step-by-step workflow;
• Avoid wasting money on software solutions that don’t solve the right business problems;
• And even helping new business analysts figure out what questions to ask when starting on a new project or domain.

Business process analysis is often the very first technique used by business analysts when we start learning a new domain or analyze the scope of a project.

Click here to download your free business process template today

I also share how certifications really can help you with your inner game, when you approach them with the right mindset.

For those who like to read instead of watch, here’s the full text of the video:

This is Laura Brandenburg, the creator of Bridging the Gap.  Today, I wanted to talk about inner game stuff.  I’m going to read from “The Science of Getting Rich” by Wallace Wattles. The book was given to me by my mentor, Amira Alvarez. There was a piece in here when I read this book, I was like, my community – we need to hear this!  I felt I would be doing you a disservice if I did not immediately take that and get that out to you.  So, here we go.

 “The man who is certain to advance is the one who is too big for his place and who has a clear concept of what he wants to be, who knows that he can become what he wants to be, and who is determined to be what he wants to be. Do not try to fill more than your present place with a view to pleasing your employer. Do it with the idea of advancing yourself.

Hold it in such a way that every person who comes into contact with you, whether foreman, fellow workmen, or social acquaintance, will feel the power of purpose radiating from you so that everyone will get the sense of advancement and increase from you. People will be attracted to you and if there is no possibility for advancement in your present job, you will very soon see an opportunity to take another job.”

At Bridging the Gap, we help people get started in business analysis careers. This getting started, this advancing in a career role, this going from where you are now to doing business analysis in a bigger and better way, or doing it for the first time, this is about what that first part was of advancing, of being too big for your current place.

If you’re feeling frustrated by some of the work that you’re doing today, what you’re really feeling is too big for your current place.

This is a sign that it’s time for you to grow.

It’s a time for you to grow. How do you do that?

A lot of times we wait for an organization to come to us and say, “Can you do something else? Can you do this special thing?” What is important from what’s in here is that we hold it in such a way that every person who comes in contact with you will feel that purpose radiating from you.

This is why, if you want to get started as a business analyst, learn all the techniques. Absorb that learning.

See yourself as a business analyst right now.

Start to radiate that from the inside out. Then people will start to see that and will start to see you as a business analyst as well.

That last part is really important. Some of you are in organizations where it kind of feels like the cards are stacked against you. There’s not a lot of growth, not a lot of opportunity, or it’s just an icky environment for whatever reason.

And, so, trusting that if there’s not a possibility or an opportunity that unfolds in your current role, that same work, that same way of filling more than your space and radiating out that sense of purpose is going to help you find an opportunity in another organization.

Some of the practical ways we see people do that is by volunteering and taking extra responsibilities above and beyond their current job role by not working within the profession and meeting other business analysts. The kind of things that put you in contact with people, that, because you’re radiating that new sense of purpose, have that opportunity to see that in you and help you take that next step, and create those tentacles and things that will create that new reality for you on the outside, like you see yourself on the inside.

I just wanted to share that with you. I think it’s an important part of our inner game. As we think about how do we move forward in our careers? How do we always be taking that next step and advancing our careers and, of course, getting the salary, and the responsibilities, and the authority, and the reputation, and all the good stuff that comes with that.

How Certifications Support Your Inner Game

In our profession, we see a lot of people go for certifications to get this external view of, “That person’s really credentialed,” or “That person must know what they’re doing. They’ve got their CBAP®. They’ve got their PBA. They’ve got their PMP.” Whatever that is.

I have my CBAP®. I’m not against certifications, but I don’t think they have that effect that we really want them to have. So, they can have this false sense of, “Oh, now I have my CBAP®, now what?” People aren’t magically knocking on my door offering me tons of business analyst opportunities.

The interesting thing is the people who take that application process to the CBAP® super seriously, like super seriously, and allow it to not just be an academic process, but to be a process of, “Look at all this stuff that I’ve done in business analysis.”

If you’re not familiar with the application process, you go through this entire book for the CBAP®, the BABOK^® Guide version 3. It’s quite thick – a few hundred pages. You need to, as part of the application, show how your experience lines up with what’s in that book.

When you do that, and not just an academic, “Somebody said I could kind of fudge it this way,” but an actual appreciation of your business analyst skills. That gives you that presence of, “look at how awesome I am.”

It feels like my current place and my present place.

It gives you that sense of purpose that allows you to radiate out that energy and that confidence because now you’re like, “I’ve actually done a lot of what’s in that book. Ha, look at that.” And, so, the confidence comes as a result of that. The confidence comes as a result of realizing the value of your skills and believing it on the inside.

Then, the CBAP®, once you take the exam and finish your application and prepare for it, the preparation process also feeds into that. Now, you’re learning it on a completely nuanced level and applying what you’ve learned.

The best way that I’ve seen people apply for the CBAP®, and what I did, was take every little piece in that book (I did version 2), and how does that relate to my own personal experience, and how can I internalize what that book is telling me about business analysis through the filter of my own experience so that it locks stuff in. What I’m doing when I do that is appreciating the value of my own skills and my own experience and cementing, for myself, how much I know about business analysis.

Then you go through all that, and then you get the letters behind your name, but then you can own them too, because it means something to you and you’ve experienced that transformation along the way, that confidence that it comes from just knowing your skills.

Inner game work is super important in career advancement. We teach a lot of the outer game stuff in our training. How do you do business analysis? What do these terms mean? How do you put together requirements models? All of that is important, but the inner game stuff is what allows you to take that learning and make sure it creates new career opportunities for you in your work environment.

Just wanted to share this message with you. Thank you for being part of Bridging the Gap. Have a great week. We help you start your business analysis career, inner and outer game.

For those who like to read instead of watch, here’s the full text of the video:

I’m Laura Brandenburg with Bridging the Gap, and this video is all about what to do when you’re frustrated with your career opportunities because your organization needs YOU.

Let’s talk about why organizations need business analysis.

Organizations Need Business Analysis

Business analysts create positive change. They make our organizations more effective, and they help us add value to our customers. We solve business problems. Every organization is concerned about their bottom line, adding value, keeping customers on board, making their companies more efficient.

This is what we do as business analysts. We do this through creative active problem-solving. We make sure that everybody understands the problem to be solved and isn’t trying to solve a non-issue or a symptom of the true problem.

We analyze. We figure things out. What does that real solution look like? We collaborate with all kinds of people across the organization to make that happen, both business stakeholders and technology stakeholders, to make sure everyone is onboard with that solution and understands what that problem is why we’re solving it.

Part of this is just communicate, communicate, communicate. We cannot communicate enough, and this is part of what accelerates our skillset, when we’re able to combine the analysis that we do, the way we solve a problem with that collaboration and that communication. All these skills together, make us what I like to call “problem-solving engines of change.”

How Business Analysis Solves Problems

Here is what happens. Being a problem-solving engine of change isn’t always easy. It’s not like somebody comes to you and be like, “Will you be my problem-solving engine of change?” It requires us to step up. It requires us to do work in a new way, especially if you’re not in a business analyst career today. It requires you to start doing this and start solving these problems and getting involved and making the change happen.

Resistance is Normal

Along the path, you’re going to face resistance because change is hard. It’s hard for you. You’re going to have that internal resistance of, “What am I doing?” You’re going to have resistance from your stakeholders. Maybe it’s not even resistance against you. Maybe it’s resistance against the change itself.

And, so, learning to separate that, “What’s resistance to how I’m doing my job?” And what’s resistance to the job, the work, the change, and the problem itself, can be a useful tool to navigate some of these. Let’s talk about some quick tips for getting started and stepping up.

Some Tips for Getting Started

One of the ways is just to focus on quick wins. Quick wins allow you to get credibility quickly. It allows you to make a positive impact quickly. You might be seeing this huge project. What small slice of it can you take that would be a win? Not a win, always, for you. You want it to be a win for you because you’re involved in the project, but what is the piece that people care about? The piece that the people that are in the decision-making realm who have the authority to drive the change, what is urgent and important for them? Get involved in that piece and help see that piece through. That’s going to open up more doors for you. Focus on those quick wins.

Here is another thing. It might sound a like a bit of heresy, but don’t always talk about business analysis. People don’t really care that you’re going to create a use case, or you’re going to analyze their business process, or you’re going to do their data modeling. Oh my gosh, that sounds so scary and icky. Like, “Oh, I’m going to model your data for you.” Like no, don’t do that.

They want you to solve their problem. They want you to be a part of the positive change. They want to get the right people involved. Talk about that part and don’t feel like…your stakeholders don’t have to be bought in to the terms and technologies, and techniques of business analysis to get bought in to the process of business analysis. Just focus on talking about the work that you’re doing in the terms that they care about, and go from there.

Step Around the Roadblocks

Finally, there are some roadblocks that you could face. I’m going to go through a few of those and some strategies that you could take to work around them.

First, you don’t have authority as a business analyst, especially, as someone who’s looking to get into business analysis. You don’t have to have authority to get started. You just start from where you are, and you make change up. Expand your container of the role that you’re filling inch by inch, by inch. And your authority comes with that.

You might not have a training budget. You might feel like you need to learn new skills. Go to your local chapter meetings. Start a peer learning network. Invest in your own development because you know you’re worth it.

You might have management or stakeholder apathy. People might not really care in your organization. This is a tricky one because you can’t always make them care. You can’t force somebody to care about something that they don’t care about. You can, when you focus on quick wins and letting go of the business analysis, you can (business analysis terms, not the actual skills), you can circumvent that non-caring. But if they’re truly apathetic, maybe it’s your time to go into a different organization, or a different situation, a different part of your organization where you do find people that care, that have that passion, and that are trying to solve problems. Those are where the opportunities are going to come for you.

Your Organization Needs YOU

The final message I want to leave you with is your organization needs you. If your organization doesn’t, there are organizations in the world that need you. The business analysis profession is growing by leaps and bounds. There are hundreds of thousands of new business analysis job openings projected in the coming years. This is a skill set. People need you and it starts with you stepping up. It starts with you doing that bit of work. It starts with you taking action in a different way.

Just look at what problem can you help solve. How can you be that positive change agent in your organization? How can you take one step forward today that’s going to make a huge impact in your organization, and a huge impact in your career?

We’re so honored, at Bridging the Gap, to be part of this path for you. We have lots of resources that can help you out. We just want to inspire you to take that next step.

Again, my name is Laura Brandenburg, at Bridging the Gap, and we help you start your business analysis career.

>>Ready to Step Up? Download Your Free Business Process Template

Get started analyzing a business process today, with our complimentary business process template.

• Help business users from multiple departments clarify their actual step-by-step workflow;
• Avoid wasting money on software solutions that don’t solve the right business problems;
• And even helping new business analysts figure out what questions to ask when starting on a new project or domain.

Business process analysis is often the very first technique used by business analysts when we start learning a new domain or analyze the scope of a project. Your organization needs you doing more of this work today!

Click here to download your free business process template today

• Perhaps you took a career break to take care of children or aging parents, and are now going back into the paid workforce.
• Perhaps your role took a bad turn somewhere, or an unexpected layoff or downsizing forced you to take on a role that wasn’t really a business analyst role.
• Or perhaps your organization started shrinking instead of growing, leaving little room for interesting project work.

No matter what the reason, now feels like the time to restart and recharge your business analyst career. So, what do you do? That’s what this video is all about.

For those who like to read instead of watch, here’s the full text of the video:

Today, I want to talk about how to get back on track if your career as a business analyst falters along the way or gets stuck somewhere. This can happen if you take a long break, maybe, to take care of children, or aging parents, or if somewhere along the way your career takes a bad turn and you end up in a role that wasn’t really what you started with. That could happen as well, if you get laid off, or if your organization starts shrinking instead of expanding. So, the opportunities to do new and interesting project work kind of starts to diminish.

No matter how you got here, we’re going to talk about how to get you unstuck and how to make sure your business analyst career is back on track and growing.

Let’s jump right in. I’m going to share five different steps that you can take to walk through this process of going from not feeling great about where you are in your business analyst career, to feeling like you’re a tried and true solid official business analyst.

Step 1 – Clear Out the Clutter

The first thing you want to do is just clear out the mental and emotional clutter of being stuck. It’s really easy to get frustrated with your past employers, maybe the projects, or other people you’ve worked with, or family members you had to show up for, or whatever it was that got you off track, to focus on that.

You need to have a little bit of compassion for yourself and for others. Forgiveness is a great tool to just clear that out and let it go. So, forgive yourself for whatever position you’re in now and be ready to move forward. Do some cleansing and let that old story go so that you can move on and create a new story.

Step 2 – Recommit and Re-Energize

From there, the second thing is to think about recommitting and re-energizing yourself in your business analyst career. Think about what is that brought you to this in the first place. Why did you love business analysis? What were you so excited about?

Maybe it was that first opportunity that was just something so new and exciting. I remember, for me, it was like QA was great, but I had gotten kind of stuck in that. It was the same over and over, and I had a new opportunity for a fresh start and a fresh role doing higher level responsibilities. That’s something, even today, I’ll pull back from. Why am I doing this? Oh, right, I remember how exciting that was and how exciting it still is.

One way to do that, if you haven’t already, take the business analyst litmus test. It’s in my book, How to Start a Business Analyst Career, right at the beginning because it’s so important. I’ve also recorded a video that has the litmus test, and I read through it for you. So, if you don’t want to buy the book, you can go and find that video and check that out as well.

Another way to do that, the litmus test, is just think about your most favorite job that you’ve ever had or your most favorite project, not even job. Because a job can have a lot of parts. Maybe you like some, and you didn’t like other parts. Think about the best project you ever worked on.

• What was that project like?
• What was your role?
• What were some of the criteria?
• What were the people like?
• What was the team like?
• What kind of things did you work on?
• What made that project unique and special?
• What made your contribution so amazing?

Use that as a touchstone as you start to think forward and plan out your career goals to bring that back. How can you bring that kind of project back into your career? That’s going to set you in the right direction. That’s that re-commitment, the re-energizing phase of getting back on track.

Step 3 – Make Bigger Contributions

The third thing is to start making bigger contributions. A lot of times we’ll wait until somebody will say, “Hey, Laura, can you go ahead and analyze this process?” or, “Can you solve this problem for us?” We’re waiting for somebody to tell us what to do and how we can be helpful.

They may not even know, especially if you’ve been frustrated for a while. They might not know that you have this extra thing that you could do, or this extra desire or way to contribute more effectively. Go out and start volunteering to do things that you wouldn’t normally do, maybe, aren’t part of your formal job description. It could be analyzing a process that is problematic.

Start by, even inside your own team or inside your day-to-day work. It could be facilitating a meeting of a small group of people to solve a problem. Whatever it is, just get started. Don’t make a big deal out of it. Don’t over think it. Just do something that’s bigger and better than what you’re doing currently. And make that step up to make that happen.

When you start to step up, good things tend to happen in your career, whether it’s in this opportunity or something else.

Step 4 – Refresh Your Skills

The fourth thing is it can be necessary, especially if you’ve had a long break, to update your business analyst skills, or refresh your skills. The wonderful thing about business analysis, in my opinion, is your skills are never really outdated. So, your communication skills, your ability to analyze requirements, that core competency, it doesn’t change. Once you’re a business analyst, you’re always a business analyst, and you’ve always got great skills, very transferable skills that you can apply in a business analyst role.

But you might feel a little rusty around them. You might not quite remember what it’s like to go through a big project again. Participating in some training, or watching videos like this, or reading a few books, that’s a way for you to hit “refresh,” you to feel more confident in what it’s going to take to be a business analyst. For you to kind of remember all the cool, fun things that you’ve done in the past, even if those things were 10, 15, 20 years ago – essentially your transferable business analyst skills. You’re bringing that back up and training can help you do that.

(By the way, if you are looking to fill your BA toolbox with the key skills to launch your business analyst career, be sure to check out The Business Analyst Blueprint® certification program.)

Step 5 – Connect with the BA Community

The fifth thing is to connect with others. Make sure that you’re finding ways to connect with other business analysts. Go to your local IIBA chapter meeting if you have one. If not, maybe it’s time to start one in your local community.

Virtually, you can do this online. Look for LinkedIn groups that you can contribute to. A lot of the major players in the online space all have LinkedIn Groups around business analysis where you can connect with other business analysts.

Connect with people, personally, have those conversations, comment on their posts, be part of the conversations so you feel dialed into and connected with the business analysis profession instead of feeling like you’ve got to go this alone. The business analysis profession is truly a giving, generous, very open community. And, so, if you feel like you’re in this alone, it’s because you haven’t been looking for those resources and haven’t been taking advantage of all that there is out there for you. Go out and start looking for it and participating where you can.

Another way to do this might be to hire a coach or a mentor who’s in the business analysis profession and how can give you that 1:1 support and accountability to go after your career goals and to set those milestones, and to be moving forward in your career.

What Will Your Next Step Be?

Those are five things to be thinking about if you feel stuck or you’re not quite sure how to get back on track with your business analyst role. So, my challenge to you, as I would love to hear, what step are you going to take this week?

Leave a comment below. This is a great way to get some accountability and build a little bit of that community. Start to connect with other people who are also leaving comments. Let us know what are you going to do this week to get back on track? What’s the one thing that you’re going to do? It doesn’t have to be huge, but it does have to be a concrete action step that takes you forward.

Leave a comment below. I’d love to hear what it is. Check back in with us when you do it and let us know what you’re going to do next.

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When you join The Business Analyst Blueprint® training program, you’ll learn all 12 of the industry-standard techniques and the business analysis process framework – to build your confidence in the best practices of business analysis.

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Today we get specific as I’m sharing 3 examples of some of our business analysts and to-be business analysts, and exactly how they applied business process modeling to change not only their organizations, but also the forward trajectory of their careers.

For those who like to read instead of watch, here’s the full text of the video:

This is Laura Brandenburg from Bridging the Gap. One theme I love to talk about is how you create a ripple effect as a business analyst. What’s your ripple effect as a business analyst?

How to Transform Your Career with Business Process Modeling

Today, I want to go a little bit deeper and share three examples of ways that some of our course participants have used business process analysis and improvement activities to really transform their careers. They’ve had that ripple effect in their organizations and created drastic change for their organizations. But they also received a personal transformation, either in terms of more respect, or moving into the business analysis role for the first time.

If you’d like to learn a bit more about business process analysis for context, here’s a complete video tutorial on how to analyze a business process:

Archana Uses Business Process Modeling to Discover Requirements More Effectively

Let me jump right in here. Our first story is Archana.

Archana was a practicing business analyst when she started the business process course (this is now part of our flagship program – The Business Analyst Blueprint training program– as part of the online business analysis training we offer at Bridging the Gap).

But she had this frustration where she wasn’t getting all the requirements that she needed. She kind of communicated out to the stakeholders and was waiting for them to bring the requirements to her. She didn’t have a strategy for reaching out and getting the requirements from them.

When she took the course, she started doing the techniques right away in the projects that she was actively involved in as a BA, and it was like a switch flipped. She went from people not being super engaged with her work, maybe not responding to her emails, not showing up for her meetings, or just being kind of, “I don’t know all the answers to all these questions that you’re asking,” to having a strategy to reach out and find the questions to ask and walk them through a structured approach to giving her, essentially, what became the requirements.

Software Requirements May Almost Fall Out of the Business Process Model!

All your functional requirements in the software, they just kind of fall out of the business process. When you start to talk at that level, often, it’s so much easier for your stakeholders to give you the information you need and that you can then pull the requirements out of as a business analyst.

So, fast forward – within a year or two of participating in the course, Archana is thriving in her business analyst role. She’s been promoted to a Senior Business Analyst and is in charge of updating and improving the practice in her organization.

She went from, “I’m not sure if this is right for me. Things are going well. I’m not getting great feedback on my work,” to promoted as a Senior BA and seen as a leader and a trusted, respected leader within her organization.

First story. For those of you who are practicing BAs, if you’re not doing this kind of thing, that’s the kind of shift it could have for you.

Let’s talk next about Adam.

Adam Uses Business Process Modeling to Gain Confidence in His BA Skills

Adam was in customer service when he did the Business Process Analysis course. He wasn’t even a business analyst yet, but he took our course and he went to his manager and said,

“You know, I’d love to help you improve a process or analyze a process. Is there anything that is troublesome? Anything bothering you? Anywhere I could be of service?”

And his manager was like,

“Yes, we have all this stuff that’s supposed to show up at these trade shows and it’s always a mess and we don’t have the things that we need. We get there, and we’re scrambling. Let’s sit down and map this out.”

Adam led that session and walked through all the steps that we talk about in the free training that you can get to discover the process, analyze the process, and improve the process.

I got to interview Adam a while back and he talked to me about this business process modeling experience. One of the pieces I remember so clearly is he said,

“I really thought that I needed to have this list of questions to ask or I needed to be super prepared going into the first session. But I decided to trust you.”

Quick Tip: When Process Modeling, Clarify the Starting and Ending Point of the Process

One of the techniques we teach in the course is you are basically just like, here is the starting point in the process; here’s the ending point of the process. You map that out for your stakeholders. Not the stuff in between. Then you say, “You know, if we’re starting here and ending here, tell me what happens in between.”

Not every stakeholder is going to come in and start telling you everything, but probably 75% – 80% of them will at least give you something to go from. At least three steps that fit in between that start point and end point – something to start to analyze and ask questions around. It’s a great way when you don’t know what questions to ask, to just ask the question, “What happens in between the start point and this end point?”

It worked for Adam. I know that’s a quick tip that you can apply if you’re like, “Where do I start on a project?” Just, “Hey, here is the start point, end point, tell me what happens in between. Let’s draw it out together.”

Here’s a video on process mapping which gives you a great starting point for the types of techniques Adam was using.

And here’s a resource specifically on mapping the “As Is” business process, which is where Adam started with his analysis:

Wendy Uses Business Process Modeling to Improve a Software Configuration and Deployment Process

What I want to close with is Wendy’s story. Wendy was also not in business analysis when she took our course. She was a software developer. Wendy really wanted to become a business analyst.

I forgot to mention, Adam, about a year after that, also transitioned into his first business analyst role. The same is true for Wendy.

She went through our Bridging the Gap training course. She documented a process, actually, in her technology organization. We don’t think of technology as a business process. Technology and business – aren’t those two separate things? But she documented the process that her tech team went through to customize, release, and deploy updated software for a client. It was a process that software developers wanted to automate and management wanted to understand better. She went and said,

“I’d love to use some of the techniques that I’m learning about in this course to do this a little bit better, or to analyze it and bring some clarity to it.”

Presenting Your Process Model to Stakeholders Increases Your Visibility and Credibility

She ended up getting to present that business process in a manager-level meeting (so very high-level stakeholders), and talk to some of the improvements that they could make right away.

Here’s a video all about analyzing the “To Be” or Future State process, which is where you make improvements to what exists today:

Then she started getting invited to customer meetings. Then she started to talk more openly about her goals to become a business analyst.

A year or so later (and that seems to be the key here), you do these things and then a year or so later, this awesome stuff happens.

A year or so later, she was promoted into a business analyst role that was created specifically for her.

Those are three examples from the hundreds of participants we’ve had in this course. There have been so many business processes that we’ve seen come through. It’s just absolutely amazing the variety.

Here’s a Starting Point to Model a Business Process

If all of this seems like too much, don’t worry. You don’t have to start from scratch. We have a free business process template that you can download today and that will help you get business users from multiple departments on the same page and clarify their actual step-by-step workflow.

This download can even help new business analysts figure out what questions to ask when starting a new project or working in a new domain.

Click the image below to claim your free business process template.

There’s a lot more to mapping a business process, and I have another video that goes into this technique in more depth.

In reality, our ripple effect is huge.  You know when you throw a stone in a pond and there are ripples and ripples of water that flow out from that one stone falling into the water? That’s what a ripple effect looks like.

And your work creates a similar flow of value and transformation – much of it goes unnoticed, not just by your stakeholders but also by you. In this video, you’ll start to see more of your ripple effect, and learn some new ways to talk about your value too.

For those who like to read instead of watch, here’s the full text of the video:

Today, I want to talk to you about your ripple effect. One challenge I hear from business analysts and aspiring business analysts again, and again, and again is:

“I don’t know how to communicate my value. People just don’t appreciate me. They don’t appreciate what I do. They don’t appreciate what I have to offer. And they don’t value me as a business analyst.”

The reality is that your ripple effect is huge. If you’re unfamiliar with the concept of a ripple effect, if you think about throwing a stone into the pond, it plops, and then there are those ripples that come away from it. Your work as a business analyst has a ripple effect just like that.

Now, we can’t talk about your entire ripple effect. We’ll be here for hours. I want to talk about just one slice of it. That’s what happens when you engage in business analysis work to improve a business process.

Let’s talk about that.

Discovery Helps Stakeholders Be Heard

When you’re improving a process as a business analyst, it usually starts with the discovery process. You sit down with stakeholders and figure out what they’re doing today and hear about their challenges, and what’s wrong with the process, and all different kinds of things. It might be the first time that stakeholder, that end user, that person, actually feels heard. They might have been complaining about this problem for years. If you do your job right, they will feel like you’ve listened to them, you’ve understood what they’re saying, and maybe you’re going to do something to help. But you at least understand the problem.

Discovery, we’re not talking about the solutions, we’re just talking about what is the problem and how does it exist today. Just by going through that process, you have the ripple effect of helping someone feel heard, and that could shift how they communicate with their next co-worker, or how they show up when the next time they’re on the phone with a customer, or just how they choose to do their work day to day.

Then, of course, you’re discovering those problems, those things, those needling issues that nobody bothered to complain about because nobody was listening anyway. Those are opportunities for your business to improve and do better.

Analysis Leads to Layers and Layers of “Aha!” Moments

Then we roll into more of an analysis process. We put a lot of detail behind it and find all these gaps and understanding and put together documentation. Honestly, this is the part that frustrates the heck out of a lot of end users. They just don’t understand why this level of detail is necessary. But when you persevere, you have to sell them on the process a little bit. When you start to work with them and engage them in your structured thinking about the business process that they own and they do every day, a lot of times they’ll start to have some “Aha!” moments.

So that frustrating point of, “Oh my gosh, Joe in Accounting is always just giving me this work that’s not fully finished,” or “HR just does this and why don’t they know how to do their job?” All these frustrations, these little needling issues that people are probably complaining about at the water cooler or whatever, all of a sudden, it should start to make sense because when you map out the process from the beginning to the end, we see where those gaps in understanding are.

We see why somebody doesn’t receive information that we think they should magically have. We start to plug in our gaps and we also see how our work affects others.

Talking now about your ripple effect as a business analyst and helping your stakeholders cultivate that understanding; that understanding of why their work does what it does, and why other people do what they do. That can lead to much more informed expectations, much more harmonious relationships, work just flowing better in your organization, and people, overall, being a little bit happier in your organization.

Again, the next time they get on the phone with a customer, the next time they talk to that person, what kind of shift happens for them?  What kind of shift happens for them, maybe, when they go home from work and they’re not so frustrated about, what’s been happening and what that other person decided to do or didn’t decide to do. So, just look at that ripple effect again. Ripple, ripple, ripple, ripple, ripple, ripple.

Improvement Frees Up Energy for More Fulfilling Work

Okay, so let’s talk about improving the process. So often we start here. We’re like, “Oh, I achieved this ROI. We eliminated 10 steps or saved hours of work,” or all of these things. Improving a process definitely has a huge effect for your organization. It can save company resources from wasted effort, it can deliver more value to your customers which leads to more revenue. There are hard numbers and reasons that we do business process work.

It can also lead to more fulfilling work for people if there’s a step that gets automated or a redundant step that gets eliminated. There may be a lot of busy work that just kind of gets set aside and no longer becomes necessary once you look at, and improve, your process.

Think about those things and how this little slice that you did was improving a process. All of a sudden there are all of these little tentacles going around – I’m mixing metaphors there – but all of these ripple effects of the impact of that work that you had.

And YOU, what about YOU?

Now, I want to bring this around and think about you because you’ve been in the middle of, now, discovering, analyzing, and improving processes for your organization for your stakeholders. What effect does this work have on you?

Most of the people that I work with, when they start applying a more structured approach to how they do this kind of thing, they start to feel more fulfilled in their work too. Now, you get to help these people. You get to be doing work that feels intrinsically meaningful and has a lot of value.

When you use a process to do this and apply it with confidence, you’re going to earn that respect and trust from your stakeholders.  Instead of just blowing you off, not showing up to your meetings, or telling you, “Hey, I don’t know about requirements,” you have a way to go to them. You have more confidence. You have ways to ask those questions, and that leads to respect.

In my next video, I’m going to talk to you about some specific career changes that have come out of people starting this work. We’re going to talk both about new business analysts and people who are not yet business analysts and how that has worked for them.

The reason this is important is because, quite honestly, you are my ripple effect. We do offer business analysis training at Bridging the Gap. So, we help BAs do business analysis better. When you go out and make these changes in your career, I feel like you are my ripple effect. This is why I’m here. This is why I’m showing up. Thank you for being here.

Before we leave, I want to talk about one more thing. We have a free business analysis and improvement training available for you. It’s only for a limited time, so click the link below. Check it out. See if it’s available. If not, get on our email list so the next time we make a free training available, you’ll be sure to know about it.

This training is going to walk you through what a business process is, what techniques you use to analyze and improve a business process, and three phases that you go through – the detail, the discovery, the analysis, and the improvement – to really create positive change in your organizations. All covered in the free training.

Go ahead and grab it today.

We are getting ready to launch an updated and improved version of our Business Process Analysis and Improvement course.  We’re going to be running it as a live session.  We only do live sessions a few times a year.  If you go ahead and download the free training, you’ll be on the list to know about that as well.

Stay tuned for more details. I will be back soon. I’m so excited. We’ve got lots of fun things going on at Bridging the Gap. 

Right now, though, just take a minute and really ingrain your ripple effect. Think about the things we talked about, the impact that this has on you which, of course, probably impacts how you show up with your friends and family, how you feel about your work – all of that good stuff.

But, also, the effect that you’re having all around you in your organization; both those hard number results of saving money, generating more revenue, but also just the fulfillment people feel in their work and how they feel hurt and appreciated, and the “Aha!” moments that they get to have because you are doing business analysis.

Again, thank you so much for being here. You are my ripple effect.

This video addresses how to deal with this challenge by looking at a specific scenario from one of our community members – in this case, a new central business analyst team has been created, along with each development team having their own business systems analyst.  And the team leader’s concern was advancing the central business analyst role in the department and getting recognized for their value.

For those who like to read instead of watch, here’s the full text of the video:

Today, I want to talk to you about a common challenge that business analysts face, and that’s getting their value recognized, or the value of their business analysts team recognized.

Today’s question comes to us from Jeff who has a specific take on this challenge. Jeff is part of a centralized business analyst team that just got formed within his IT department. Now, there’s a centralized business analyst role as well as a business systems analyst role. His question is, “How do I get this central role that I’m a part of recognized within my department, and how do I make sure our value is truly seen and appreciated?”

Five suggestions

Well, Jeff, I have five suggestions for you. These apply to anyone who’s ever struggled with getting the value of business analysis recognized within their organization, which I know from my experience, there are a lot of you.

#1 – Create a team charter

The first thing to do, Jeff, is to create a team charter. What you want to do is look back at why your team was formed in the first place. Why is there this new centralized business analyst role? What problem was this team designed to solve?

Put that down on paper clearly so that you know what your main pain point is, your main problem that you’re here to solve so you can share that, effectively, within your organization. You can spread that message and talk to other team members about that as well. So, that’s the first thing; get your team charter in place so it’s clear why you’re here and what that team is here to do.

#2 – Assess your team’s skills

Next, you want to assess your team’s business analysis skills.

• What are the unique value, unique skills, unique qualifications that put people onto the centralized BA team vs. one of the other teams in your department?
• What is unique to the people on this team?
• What kinds of challenges can you and your team solve for the organization?

You want to make sure that’s reflected in your charter and that people are really set up to capitalize on their unique strengths. That’s how you’re going to add the most value to your organization.

#3 – Deliver immediate value

That leads to the third suggestion which is to deliver immediate value. Most likely you have this big idea in your head about what this team is going to be and the value that you’re going to provide for the organization and some newer expansive ways that you want to deliver value to the business, and the responsibilities that you want to take on. That is all fine and well. We will get to that with suggestion #5.

Before you get the license to do that, you need to make sure that you don’t get your feet cut out from under you before you ever get started. The way you do that is by delivering immediate value.

• So, look at the projects that are on your plate right now.
• Make sure that your BAs are assigned to the most important, high impact projects in your organization, and make sure that you’re using your unique skills to accomplish the goals laid out in your team charter, and to solve some problems on projects right now.
• Help those projects get moving quickly, get moving effectively, and solve any challenges that are coming up.

You might look at the intersection between the business process and the functional requirements making sure that the new functional requirements that your systems analyst might be creating are reflected in the business process. Or meeting with those stakeholders to understand the problems in the business process and make sure they are reflected in the more detailed system or technical requirements. Just an idea.  It depends on how those roles are defined in your organization, but make sure you’re adding value.

#4 – Share wins

As you do this, suggestion #4: share your wins. Make sure the BAs within your team are sharing wins with each other. Provide suggestions for how they can share wins within their project teams, so if they solve a problem, identify a missed requirement, get a new stakeholder involved, or save somebody some time, make sure that win is shared and people are starting to recognize the value your team is bringing to your organization.

Share those internally, have little celebrations, maybe team lunches or cupcakes or whatever it is that would reward the people inside your team. Share them within those project teams. Share them up to your manager as well of your IT department. And share them beyond, if you can, on the company intranet or however it is that you can share it within your organization.

That’s how you start to get your value seen and noticed so that people are more open and understanding of what your role is and what kind of contribution to expect from that centralized BA team.

#5 – Expand value

Finally, you want to look at expanding your value. Now you’ve dug in. You’ve made an impact, you’ve shared those wins, you’re using your unique skills.

What can you do next? This is probably the idea you had when you formed the centralized IT team or centralized BA team in the first place. This could be things that are outside the project like business case work, evaluating ROI between different projects, or helping look at a program of projects and how these are going to deliver value for the organization. Thinking about that next level of expanding the value.

Essentially, you go through these same five suggestions again where you’re expanding your team charter to account for those new ideas, assessing your team skills, making an impact, and sharing those wins. You’re continuing the cycle so that you’re continually expanding your value, which is also going to expand the career potential for you and everyone else on your centralized BA team and really getting you into doing some of the more cutting-edge, advanced level business analyst work that we see out there.

I hope these suggestions are helpful. Please leave a comment and let me know how they work for you. I’d love to hear from you regarding any challenges that are coming up for you, specifically, around getting your value as a business analyst or your business analyst team recognized in your organization.

Here is a list of 65 business analysis techniques that are useful to know about. Not that you would use every technique on every project (though some of these are definitely my tried-and-true, go-to, techniques), but so you have a toolbox of ideas to refer back to when your business analysis process isn’t flowing like it should, so you can get your project unstuck and moving forward again.

**If you’d like to expand your business analyst toolbox, take a look at our business analyst templates. At $97 for each toolkit (or $347 for the Bundle of all 5), these provide an affordable way to bring a wider variety of techniques to your business analysis work.**

And please feel free to add a business analysis technique in a comment below. Just be sure to include a description so we know what it is and/or link to an article that shares more detail about it.

1. Active Listening – A communication technique that involves paraphrasing back what you heard during a conversation to confirm understanding.
2. Agenda – A document containing the pertinent details for a meeting, including an objective and list of topics to be discussed.
3. As Is Process Analysis – Defines the current state of a business process in an organization.
4. Brainstorming – A spontaneous group discussion designed to generate ideas without initial critique or evaluation.
5. Business Analysis Plan – Document that summarizes the business analysis approach, list of deliverables, and schedule for completing the business analysis deliverables.
6. Business Domain Model – A visual model that logically represents the business concepts to be fulfilled by the system and how they relate to one another.  It should not be confused with a data diagram, which represents the actual database design or architecture.  Although they may look similar, a business domain model should use terms that are in the business domain.
7. Business Process Model – A step-by-step description of what one or more business users does to accomplish a specific goal. Those steps can be manual, paper-based, or software-based.
8. Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN) – A standardized notation for creating visual models of business or organizational processes.
9. Business Rules – A statement that defines or constrains some aspect of business.
10. Change Request – A document or collection of information summarizing a change to be made. Often associated with a formal approval process.
11. Competitive Comparison – Document or matrix comparing the current or potential future state of a product or system to that of an organization’s competitors.
12. Conference Call – A meeting conducted via a conference bridge, with multiple participants joining from different physical locations via a phone line.
13. Data Dictionary – Also called a Data Definition Matrix, provides detailed information about the business data, such as standard definitions of data elements, their meanings, and allowable values.
14. Data Feed Specification – A document containing the business and technical details involved in exchanging data between organizations. Can be used as part of managing API integrations or other types of ongoing data feeds.
15. Data Flow Diagram – Illustrates how information flows through, into, and out of a system. They are especially useful when evaluating data-intensive processes and looking at how data is shared between systems or organizations.
16. Data Mapping – A specific type of data dictionary that shows how data from one information system maps to data from another information system. Creating a data mapping specification helps you and your project team avoid numerous potential issues, the kind that tends to surface late in development or during user acceptance testing and throw off project schedules, not to mention irritating your stakeholders.
17. Deliverables List – A list of deliverables to be created as part of the business analysis effort for a project or initiative.
18. Document Analysis – The process of analyzing documentation to discover information related requirements.
19. Entity Relationship Diagram (ERD) –  A data model describing how entities (or concepts or things) relate to one another. When created by business analysts, ERDs can be used to understand the business domain, clarify business terminology, and connect business concepts to database structures (see Business Domain Model above).
20. Feature Map – A visual representation of multiple features, often user stories on a product backlog, that shows their relationships.
21. Given When Then Statements – A formula for writing acceptance tests for a user story. Given (some context). When (some action is carried out). Then (description of observable consequences, or requirements).
22. Glossary – A deliverable that documents terms that are unique to the business or technical domain. A glossary is used to ensure that all stakeholders (business and technical) understand what is meant by the terminology, acronyms, and phrases used inside an organization.
23. Grooming the Product Backlog – A process for reviewing new product backlog items for clarity, estimation, and priority, prior to or during sprint planning.
24. Interface Analysis – The process of analyzing an interface, such as a user interface to connect between two software systems, to discover information related to the requirements.
25. Interview – A session with one to multiple stakeholders to ask and answer questions related to any aspect of the problem, project, or requirements.
26. Issues List – A document or repository that contains a list of all issues relating in any way to the requirements for a project.
27. Meeting Notes – A document capturing the essence of topics discussed during a meeting, along with any resulting decisions and action items.
28. Mind Map – Suggested by Bola Adesope, a visual model with a topic in the center that shows a hierarchical relationship between different concepts and ideas. This is a great tool for brainstorming.
29. Observation – The process of observing people using a system or executing a process, often in their actual work environment, to discover information related to the requirements.
30. Organizational Chart – A visual model representing the organizational hierarchy in place for an organization or a part of an organization.
31. Performance Measurement – Process of collecting, analyzing and/or reporting information regarding the performance of an individual, group, organization, system or component.
32. Performance Report – Document or model showing the results from a project, project phase, or business activity.
33. Portfolio Management – Process for organizing, prioritizing, and showing relationships between multiple active and proposed projects for an organization.
34. Problem Definition – The process of discovering and defining the actual problem to be solved by a project or solution.
35. Process Improvement Progress Report – Visual model showing the improvements made to a business or technical process as the result of a project or initiative.
36. Process Walk-Through – A working session in which subject matter experts walk through a future state process to validate it.
37. Product Backlog – List of all requirements under consideration (written using a user story syntax), rank ordered, and matrixed with other key characteristics that facilitate planning and prioritization for an agile software development team.
38. Project List – A single list of prioritized projects under consideration by a team or organization.
39. Prototype – A functional visual model that shows the user interface of a not-yet-built software system. Often prototypes allow for some limited interaction based on sample data.
40. Requirements Questionnaire – A list of questions about the project requirements. Typically the questions are organized by feature (or business requirement or project objective).
41. Requirements Review –  A meeting gathering stakeholders together to walk through the requirements documentation, page-by-page, line-by-line, to ensure that the document represents everyone’s complete understanding of what is to be accomplished in this particular project.
42. Retrospective – The process of reviewing a work completed (often for a project or segment of a project) to discover and bring forward lessons learned.
43. Root Cause Analysis – The process of analyzing a problem to discover the underlying causes, or true issues, creating the problem.
44. Scope Model –  A visual representation of the features, processes, or functionality in scope for a specific project, solution, or system.
45. Stakeholder Analysis – A document defining who is part of the project team and what they are responsible for.
46. Stakeholder Map –  A visual diagram that depicts the relationship of stakeholders to the solution and to one another.
47. Stakeholder Request List – List of requests related to a project or solution prior to defining scope.
48. Survey – A series of questions posed to multiple stakeholders in an asynchronous format, such as an online questionnaire. Useful for gathering lots of information from multiple people.
49. SWOT Analysis – A visual model showing information about the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats an organization faces.
50. System Architecture Diagram – Visual model that identifies the system components and how they interact as part of the solution and can help you figure out how to best organize the detailed requirements.
51. System Context Diagram – A visual model defining the primary system to be addressed during a project or initiative and the relationships between the primary system and other systems.
52. To Be Process Analysis – Defines the future state of a business process in an organization to clarify how the business process will work, at some point in the future, once changes are made.
53. Traceability Matrix – Suggested by Nikkita Nguyen, this document is used to map business requirements to functional requirements.
54. Triple Constraint – A model showing the balance between project budget, schedule, scope, and quality.
55. Use Case – Use cases are a type of textual requirements specification that captures how a user will interact with a solution to achieve a specific goal. They describe the step by step process a user goes through to complete that goal using a software system.
56. Use Case Diagram – A UML (Unified Modeling Language) diagram that shows the actors, use cases, and the relationships between them.
57. User Acceptance Testing – A validation process in which business users use a new solution, often before it’s deployed, to confirm it will meet their needs.
58. User Interface Specification –  A document defining the rules of engagement for a user interacting with a specific page on a website or screen within an application.
59. User Story – A short document capturing a description of a software feature from an end-user perspective. User stories are often written in the following syntax: As a ____ {user}, I want ____ so that ______. User stories are often coupled with acceptance criteria (see Given When Then Statements).
60. Video Conferencing – An expansion on a web conference, where participants are also able to share video of themselves.
61. Vision Document – A document describing the business objectives and scope of a project.
62. Web Conference – A meeting held via a webinar, online meeting, or combination of screen-sharing software and conference bridge, with multiple participants joining from different physical locations via an internet connection being able to all see one visual screen and talk to one another.
63. Wireframe (Also called a Mock-Up, Related to a Prototype) –  A visual representation of a user interface screen, typically one that is fairly low-fidelity.
64. Workflow Diagram (Also called Activity Diagram) – A simple visual model that captures the steps, decisions, start point, and end point of a functional, technical, or business process.
65. Workshop – A meeting in which real-time collaboration on one or more work products, such as requirements deliverables, occurs inside the working session.

What business analysis techniques do you use most often? Do you have a favorite technique that’s not included on the list? Please share it via comment below and be sure to include a short description to define what it is and when to use it.

And, if you’d like to expand your business analyst toolbox, take a look at our business analyst templates. At $97 for each toolkit (or $347 for the Bundle of all 5), these provide an affordable way to bring a wider variety of techniques to your business analysis work.

At Bridging the Gap, we serve mid-career professionals, and most of the individuals who ask me about the ECBA have at least a few years of professional experience. Some have decades.

The ECBA is an Entry-Level Certificate

From the perspective of a mid-career professional, it’s important to note that the ECBA is an entry-level certificate that does not validate the recipient’s work experience. In contrast, the CCBA® and CBAP® are both certifications that are backed up by documented work experience in business analysis.

While earning the ECBA does allow you to check the box of holding an IIBA certificate, it’s not technically a business analyst certification.

The ECBA Brands You as an Entry-Level Business Analyst

One significant challenge I see with the ECBA is that is brands you as an entry-level business analyst. In the vast majority of cases, seeking an entry-level business analyst role is NOT the best path to success for a mid-career professional.

Entry-level business analyst jobs are reserved for recent college graduates at entry-level salaries. The harsh reality is that whether or not you are willing to accept a lower salary, often employers will pass over more experienced and qualified candidates for recent college graduates.

So by pursuing the ECBA and entry-level roles, you are actually taking the more difficult path to starting your business analyst career.

An Alternative to the ECBA – credentialed training

For over a decade, Bridging the Gap has been providing the following career advice to mid-career professionals starting business analyst careers:

• Find yourself employment in a professional role in an office setting. (This may be a transitional role.)
• Complete an analysis of your transferable business analysis skills.
• Expand your experience to include business analysis responsibilities, focusing on those where you have actual skill gaps.
• Update your resume to highlight your business analysis experience and pursue both internal and external positions that you are closely qualified for.

Expanding your business analyst work experience, while building a vetted set of work samples, is the exact process we walk you through as part of  The Business Analyst Blueprint training program.

And because you apply business analyst techniques and processes on-the-job as part of the program, you’ll immediately see an ROI in your on-the-job business analyst work, giving you a stepping stone to mid-level business analyst roles where you will find the most opportunity as a mid-career professional.

The CCBA and CBAP are Also Alternatives

As they go through our online business analyst training programs, many professionals build up the confidence in their work experience and skill set, and feel more prepared to tackle the CCBA^® or CBAP^®, both IIBA certifications.

Either certification is a suitable choice for a mid-career professional with transferable business analyst experience.

The ECBA is Appropriate for Entry-Level Candidates

All of this being said, the ECBA is an appropriate choice for entry-level candidates. For example, a recent college graduate who did not take business analyst training as part of their college coursework could benefit from the ECBA to showcase their general business analyst knowledge.

In this scenario it is possible that earning a certificate like the ECBA could help you get an interview for a business analyst job. Any extra credential you have can slightly stack the deck in your favor.

How to Start Your Experience in The Business Analyst Blueprint

We’d be honored to help you take your next step and create a purpose-filled career in business analysis.

Click here to learn more about The Business Analyst Blueprint training program.

We build our profession one business analyst at a time. Success starts with you.

And yes, The Business Analyst Blueprint training program does qualify for the professional credits you need to apply for the ECBA, CCBA^®, or CBAP^®. But perhaps more importantly, this program helps you build the business analysis work experience you need to actually move into a full-fledged business analyst career. This principle of integrating learning and action is foundational to how we structured our training programs at Bridging the Gap.

Even though I had several years of experience as a business analyst, just a few as a quality assurance engineer, and none directly as a project manager, I found the business analysts to be the most difficult people on my team to manage.

It was easy to evaluate the work of my QA engineers. Was their test coverage complete? Did releases go live with findable issues that they failed to bring attention to?

And even though a lot of factors play into successful project management, I could look at metrics like on-time delivery, clear and actionable status updates, and the ability to manage a team of people to a desired end result.

But when it came to business analysts, I felt like the “right” qualities slipped through my hands like sand on a beach.

On the one hand, part of me believed that great business analysis required a little bit of magic, so I simply wanted to hire talented professionals and let them do their thing. (If you’ve ever felt like your manager gives you an incredible amount of independence and trust, maybe more than you feel you deserve, this is probably why.)

On the other hand, I was too close to the work, and I thrived on understanding the details. (If you’ve ever felt micro-managed as a business analyst, it could be because your manager needs to understand it all to make decisions. Getting out of this mindset requires a big personal growth curve.)

As I’ve matured as a business analyst, trainer, and leader, I see now that I was missing the opportunity to hold my BAs accountable to what was most important – gaining clarity and alignment around the vision and requirements for the project.

What’s more, since I’d been in their shoes, it was way too easy for me to make up excuses for why the requirements might get delayed or be unclear. I knew such and such stakeholder was difficult, or such and such system integration was complex, or such and such developer wasn’t being forthcoming with information.

As you grow in your business analyst role, and eventually seek to move into a team lead or management position, you’ll likely run up against these same thought patterns too. Getting on the growth curve into leadership is not natural for us as business analysts.

And if you are just getting started and wondering why your manager is doing something that seems completely counter-intuitive, it’s probably because they are on a rocky part of their development into BA leadership.

I vividly remember my first project. I’d be flying along, thinking that this whole new BA role was so fun and amazing. Then an unexpected issue would pop up. I’d feel like I was taking 5 steps back as we muddled through balancing business desires within technical constraints.

What I needed were some touchstones to gauge if I was really on the right track or not. Having gone through dozens of projects as a business analyst, I now have some touchstones that ease my concerns, even when it feels like everything is incredibly messy.

Here are some questions you can ask yourself week to week, which will help you feel more secure in whether or not you are doing this right, or whether it might be time to invest in some training or engage a mentor to help you out.

• Is my work moving the project forward in understanding? What are some of the concrete decisions we’ve been able to make based on the analysis I’ve done and the discussions I’ve facilitated?
• Am I receiving questions from my stakeholders, showing that they are really understanding the requirements and working from them? Silence is not golden! Silence often means you are out of the communication loop, which means your work is not being seen as essential.
• Do I see people taking action around the requirements? Action could be design, code, testing, or even research. Any sort of resulting action is a sign that you are on the right track and your work is having an impact.

Of course, even when you are moving forward and doing things right, issues will come up. No matter how well it’s done, business analysis does not happen in a perfectly linear way. Click the link below to read an article from our archive with quick tips for managing requirements issues:

http://www.bridging-the-gap.com/quick-tips-for-managing-requirements-issues/

As always, I wish you the absolute best success as a business analyst, and I look forward to helping you in any way that I can.

• Your business stakeholders answer your questions in clear and precise requirements language, making writing your good requirements a breeze.
• Your technical stakeholders show up to a requirements meeting seeking only to learn about what the business wants, and never once complains about how impossible the requirements will be to implement.
• Your project manager gives you copious amounts of time to discover the business needs and create a business analyst plan, before ever even mentioning that horrible thing we call a deadline.
• Your project sponsor avoids talking about solutions, and clearly shares exactly what their business objectives are.
• And, the best luck of all is when everyone shows up to a meeting right on time, having read the documentation ahead of time and fully prepared to discuss only the most legitimate concerns they have.

Who needs the luck of the Irish when you can experience the luck of a business analyst!

While it’s difficult to send you glitter (and you are probably grateful for this – seriously, we are still finding glitter all over the house), I can sprinkle a little love by helping you appreciate the work you get to do as a business analyst.

Here are 8 things (plus a bonus!) to love about a career in business analysis:

#1 – You get to make the world a better place. If you can solve even just a few problems and help a few people understand each other better, you’ll have done your good work for the day.

#2 – You get to help smart people communicate. There’s no doubt that you work with some awesome people. Yet, without your help, they still seem to talk past each other. As a business analyst, you get to jump right in and facilitate some amazing, collaborative working sessions.

#3 – You get to ask the tough questions. Seriously, you get paid to ask the difficult, challenging questions that no one else wants to ask to make sure that the project goes more smoothly and truly solves the underlying business problem.

#4 – You don’t have to be super techy. Sure, you like to understand how the latest and greatest systems work, but you don’t have to code them or even understand them in a super-detailed way. (You get to use analysis skills like use cases, wireframes, and data models instead.)

#5 – You get to learn. Business analysts never stop learning. New domains. New stakeholders. New techniques. New approaches. There is always something new and interesting to do around the next project corner.

#6 – There is no shelf-life on your skills. But at the same time, the business analyst skills you build like facilitating, problem solving, and leadership will serve you in your life-long career. The facilitation technique you learned as a junior BA can be just as applicable on your 100^th project as it was on your 1^st.

#7 – The salaries are rising. Consistently. The most recent salary survey (which is getting a little dated) showed average salaries upwards of $90K in the US for mid-to-senior level business analysts.

#8 – The role is on a rising tide. Every day, the business analyst job role is becoming more widely recognized, the opportunities are growing, and the role is expanding. Yet, as a profession, business analysis is still new enough that you’ll be starting when things are fresh.

BONUS #9 – You are creating a career safety net. Whatever shifts happen in the workforce, you are building skills and career experiences that future employers will always value.

There will always be needs for your skills as a communicator, problem solver, and keen ability to transform ambiguity into clarity, no matter what title you are given or what specific responsibilities you have.

What do you love about business analysis?

I won’t lie. It’s a lot of work to make this happen.

You, personally, need to be motivated to make this year different than than the last. And your organizational leaders also need to understand what’s in it for them.

(And we’re here to help you do that with the Project Prioritization Organizer.)

But back to your motivation. Let’s look at some of the positive outcomes that happen when you are managing all of your delivery team’s work on a single list, both for you and your organization.

#1 – The top projects get done

While it might feel like a lot of work isn’t getting done (after all, a ranked list means some things fall to the bottom), the projects toward the top of the list start to experience more momentum than they ever have before.

Everyone’s attention is on them. Roadblocks are worked around. Hold-ups are batted down.

And then all of a sudden they are done. Then it’s on to the next item on the list, please!

#2 – Executives hold each other accountable

When your Steering Committee meets every other week to review the active and pending projects, executives will start to hold each other accountable. Is this project being held up because you can’t get stakeholders to come to your meetings? All of a sudden that issue gets a lot of visibility. It’s not just holding up this project, but holding up the projects under it on the list.

#3 – Business cases come under scrutiny

You’ll also start to see executives hold each other accountable to the business rationales behind each of the projects. Because they are all negotiating over a shared pool of resources, they will start to call out each other’s false projections.

This might not happen the first time around, but when the next project pops up with the same expected benefit, you better believe someone is going to notice and say something.

#4 – You are less of the bad guy

All of this amounts to the business analyst and project manager being less of a bad guy. It’s not about you saying “no”; it’s about this versus that.

It’s a powerful position to be in, because you get to offer up choices and options and enable your executive team to buy in to what they choose to do with the resources they have.

#5 – Developers get more committed

But the changes do not just happen at the executive level. In the old world, your development team gets involved after a project is prioritized, scrutinized, and an arbitrary delivery date is set.

The full implementation of a portfolio management process requires you get delivery team input early. Once the project is active, they’ve already had a say. And as a result, they are more invested in following through.

#6 – More good ideas surface

In an organization that has little track record of delivering results, good ideas never see the light of day. No one expects anything to happen from them anyway, so why bother bringing them up.

Once you start finishing projects and delivering value, people notice. This can result in a flood of new project proposals, which is a great way to surface game-changing ideas.

#7 – Elevated business analyst role

But something needs to be done with all those new ideas. We know they can’t go straight to the development team. What’s more, there is likely to be redundancy and overlap among the ideas.

In comes the business analyst, who gets to work at more of an enterprise level, vetting new ideas and ensuring they are fleshed out enough to get a solid development estimate. This is a great place to be as a BA.

#8 – Requirements meetings get a little easier

Once people see projects getting delivered, your message of “that’s out of scope, but let’s put it on the parking lot” becomes a lot more effective. As a result, you start to see your requirements meetings for active projects being a little easier to manage in terms of staying on scope.

The parking lot isn’t a deep, dark place where ideas never see the light of day. An item on the parking lot can become a project request which can get prioritized on the project list.

>>Get the Project Prioritization Organizer

The Project Prioritization Organizer contains all the templates and processes you need to implement a project portfolio management process, as well as a guidebook to walk you through how to implement this process the first time through.

Click here to learn more about the Project Prioritization Organizer

In the spirit of keeping it light this week, let’s look at a few of the nicknames business analysts have been given over the years.

1. Colombo (the detective from the television show) – One of my mentoring clients shared that her stakeholders gave her this nickname because she always had “one more question.”
2. Mr. Wolf  –  Even though I could never stomach finishing the movie this character was in – Pulp Fiction – I loved that my stakeholders felt that I was successfully cleaning up their messes.
3. Leonardo (as in da Vinci) – This one comes to us from Bob the BA because we use a tremendous number of skills and have expertise in a variety of different areas.
4. Bad A** – Who says that the “B” is for business and the “A” for analyst? Cecilie Hoffman started a series over at BATimes called the Bad A** BA where she shared her hard-earned lessons from taking the tougher routes.
5. Explorer – This one comes from one of my Twitter followers, Aotea Studios, and I absolutely love it. Business analysts explore everything – business domain, pain points, problems, stories, options, etc.  Here’s a picture they shared of how they put the “Explorer” label right on their laptop!

Do you have a favorite business analyst nickname? Leave a comment below.

I found myself making a lot of mistaken assumptions about what to expect, having those assumptions prove to be unfounded, and then needing to find ways to adjust and course correct. Looking back, there is nothing unexpected about my experiences, except that they were unexpected to me at the time.

Knowing that many of you are just getting started, today I am sharing 4 of the things I wish someone had told me when I was just starting out in my business analysis career.

#1 – That I would need to set expectations early and often, and then again and again and again…

As a business analyst, it’s not uncommon to receive too many assignments, tasks that are outside your bailiwick, or unreasonable deadlines. I was surprised to find myself constantly explaining what I was doing, why it was taking so long, and what could be expected of me over the coming weeks, even though I didn’t always know what the next week would look like!

I also found that deadlines would seem reasonable but became overly optimistic when I didn’t hear back from stakeholders in a timely manner, couldn’t get time on the calendar with a critical stakeholder for weeks at a time, or encountered unexpected issues.

I learned to continually clarify my role, communicate about what would be done when, and seek feedback to be sure I was meeting expectations.

Click here to read about 4 ways to set clearer expectations

#2 – That getting other people to give me the information I needed could be a little painful.

Early on in my career, I naively expected unlimited access to stakeholders and their unhindered involvement in and passion about my projects.

The reality was much different. My stakeholders had multiple projects, conflicting priorities, and too much to do. Even when my project was important to them, it could still be difficult to get the information I needed in a timely manner.

Over my career, I learned to be a bit of a squeaky wheel – a very polite, diplomatic, and conscientious one – but squeaky nonetheless. My projects started to move more smoothly and I met my deadlines with less angst.

Click here to read about how to get the information you need from stakeholders

#3 – That although I was the requirements author, I was not the requirements owner.

I love to write and I love to write requirements. But I could get so caught up in writing and documenting and modeling that I would take on more ownership than was prudent. This would lead to a lack of buy-in from critical stakeholders, which could translate to unexpected changes late in the project.

The reality is that we absolutely need stakeholders to take ownership of the content going into the requirements document, even as we author that document on their behalf. And yes, they are likely to resist reading, reviewing, and providing feedback on requirements.

I learned that providing early, incomplete drafts that were clearly imperfect would help stakeholders see that they could add a lot of information and clarity into the requirements. I also learned to be very specific about the status of any given deliverable when sending it out, and equally specific about what I was asking of my stakeholders of this document at this time.

Click here to read about 4 steps to finalize a requirements document

#4 – That dealing with issues professionally would take a new kind of finesse.

I’ve always been a proactive person and a bit of a whistle-blower. When a new issue surfaced, I would signal the alarm, rally the troops, and facilitate a problem solving meeting.

However, discovering requirements is a gradual process of gaining clarity and minimizing ambiguity. At a certain point in time, every requirement was once an issue. Business analysis surfaces so many issues that you can’t possibly resolve all of them immediately.

With experience, I learned to blow the whistle more softly, keeping everyone informed about what was surfacing, but not unnecessarily alarmed. To keep the requirements process moving forward, I also learned to take ownership of the issues that surfaced inside of the requirements, and make more decisions about how to resolve issues and which options to choose or recommend.

Click here for quick tips on managing issues

Now that you know what to expect…

Now that you know what to expect, perhaps you won’t be as caught off-guard as I was during your first days as a business analyst!

For more help handling these situations professionally, check out the Email Communication Templates.  The Templates contains 32 simple, copy-and-paste email templates covering these business analyst work scenarios so you can stop worrying about how to write the perfect email.

Click here to learn more about the Email Communication Templates

Because looking back can help us look forward with more clarity and confidence, in this article we’ll look at 5 ways the profession has changed since 2009 or in the 5 years since the first edition of How to Start a Business Analyst Career was published.

Change 1: New Business Analysis Certifications

While the IIBA® Certified Business Analysis Professional (CBAP®) certification has been available since 2004, two new certifications have been created in the last 5 years.

• First, IIBA® introduced the Certification of Competency in Business Analysis (CCBA®) in 2011, providing a certification option for business analysis without the extensive work history required by the CBAP®.
• Second, Project Management Institute (PMI)® released the Professional in Business Analysis (PMI-PBA)℠ certification in 2014, providing a certification option for business analysts who work primarily inside projects and programs.

New certifications mean a growing awareness of the business analysis profession, along with professionals having options when it comes to adding to their individual credibility. What’s more, the new options have lesser work experience requirements, making certification a more viable option for more professionals relatively new to business analysis. As we look forward, the number of business analysis professionals will continue to grow.

Accordingly, the second edition of How to Start a Business Analyst Career contains a new section on certifications and how they can fit into your career planning.

Change 2: Expanded Set of Business Analyst Job Roles

Despite what we might like to see as business analysis professionals, business analyst job roles are still specialized. In the last 5 years, we’ve seen this pattern become entrenched within the profession, and experienced an increased number of flavors of business analyst job roles.

In the second edition of How to Start a Business Analyst Career, the discussion of specializations was expanded and several examples of how to leverage and highlight your industry and domain experience were included.

The new job roles added include:

• Business Intelligence Analyst
• Business Process Analyst
• Systems Analyst
• Product Owner

The book further explores specializations by splitting apart Industry-Focused, Tool-Specific, and Functional Domain-Focused Business Analyst Roles, which were all covered in the first edition, but not with as much depth.

As more organizations recognize the value of business analysts and look to increase the value provided by their business analysts, I think we’ll continue to see specializations expand, at least at the mid-level and senior-level roles.

Change 3: Increased Focus on Business Process

Although the vast majority of business analyst jobs fit within the IT Business Analyst job description, the business analyst role itself has seen an increased focus on business process. I know in my early days as a business analyst, a lot of product decisions were necessarily driven by technical constraints.

While we haven’t obliterated technical constraints, they tend to have a much less significant role in our early requirements discussions and we are free to explore more in the way of business needs and opportunities. This means business analysts are involved not just in analyzing and specifying software requirements, but also with understanding current state business processes, helping plan business process improvements and changes, and driving the implementation inside the business user community.

For many business analysts, these changes have resulted in a subtle expansion of their role. For others, they’ve found themselves drawn to one side or the other in yet another specialization force within the profession.

Rest assured, we’ve got you covered in the second edition, with additional skills for process analysts, a deeper focus on collaboration techniques, and an entirely new Underlying Core Competencies section. I also updated the discussion of the Business-IT balance specifically to address some of the shifts we are seeing in business analysis work.

Change 4: Increased Adoption of Agile Practices

Five years ago, agile practices were beginning to transition from the latest fad to a respectable trend. The business analysis community was just starting to get engaged in the discussion. As of 2014, the majority of business analysts I talk to have experienced or are working in agile teams. That’s because agile is much more widely accepted and adopted now as a discipline.

Strangely enough, despite historical claims that agile does away with business analysts, we only see positive signs for the business analysis profession so these two disciplines must be co-mingling.

In the first edition of the book, I was unable to cite any resources specifically looking at the intersection of business analysis and agile. Thankfully, this gap has been filled in many ways, and there are several relevant resources suggested in the updated text. The most prominent resource is Discover to Deliver: Agile Product Planning and Analysis, co-authored by Mary Gorman and Ellen Gottesdiener, who also contributed a foreword to the second edition of How to Start a Business Analyst Career.

And while agile is clearly the way of the future, the book still contains a discussion of waterfall and iterative approaches because we still see many business analysts working in environments that approach projects in this way.

Change 5: Increased Awareness of the Business Analysis Profession

Obviously we are still fighting many battles to have our value, skills, and experience appropriately recognized. However, there are many signs that awareness of business analysis is growing.

Let’s look at a few key indicators:

• In 2010 the average business analyst salary as reported by the IIBA® salary survey, was $82,493 in the United States. In 2013, the average US salary for a business analyst rose nearly $10,000 to $91,514.
• Membership in the primary organization for business analysts – IIBA® – rose from 5,000 in 2008 to over 28,000 in 2014.
• There were numerous mentions of roles related to business analysis on top job lists, albeit often under titles such as Computer Systems Analyst, Management Consultant, and Business Technology Analyst.

Everywhere you turn, business analysis is being recognized where it was previously ignored or rising where it was previously under-valued. This doesn’t mean that we don’t individually experience frustration, but overall the tides have turned and are building in a very positive way.

And What Hasn’t Changed (Much)

Despite all the steps forward in the last 5 years, there are still some aspects of business analysis that haven’t changed all that much.

There is still a dizzying array of job titles referring to business analyst jobs and myriad job responsibilities included inside business analyst jobs. The section on hybrid roles was actually expanded to more fully address the challenges an aspiring business analyst faces when exploring job options.

Another aspect of business analysis that hasn’t changed much – and I see this as a positive – are the fundamentals. Here are two sentences that are exactly the same in both the first and second edition of the book.

“What is not going to change all that much are the fundamentals of business analysis. If you focus on learning the fundamentals and work your way through a few projects, you will reach a point where you have mastered the basic techniques but can keep on refining the art. “

And while refined and re-organized, the core business analyst skills and related business analysts skills lists remain essentially the same between the two editions.

It’s Our Time

After taking this look back through the profession, I’m energized because there seems to be so much momentum behind what we are doing in business analysis. I’m happy to see some of the positive changes – the growth in awareness and salary – along with the wider range of opportunities that are available to me with my business analysis background.

To me, this means that the work I love to do and love to help others do will continue to be valued and rewarded for a long time to come. It means that we will all have more opportunities to make a positive impact in our teams, organizations, and last, but certainly not least, our careers.

I can’t think of a more apt way to close this article than with a quote from the conclusion of How to Start a Business Analyst Career:

As business analysts get better, the world gets better.

I’m proud to be part of the business analyst community and to offer this new resource to help more talented professionals expand their opportunities in business analysis.

Click here to learn more about the book

In this article, we’ll look at a concept I call the Business-Technology Balance and then discuss 4 ways that the IT Business Analyst job is expanding as the balance shifts.

The IT Business Analyst Job Description is Impacted by the Business-Technology Balance

One concept I write about in How to Start a Business Analyst Career is the Business-Technology Balance.

While our profession is called business analysis, the vast majority of business analyst roles as they exist today deal specifically with software projects. Business change and software implementations tend to go hand-in-hand. Even so, some roles focus more on aligning the business team around the scope of a solution, and some focus more on detailed requirements for the technical team to implement.

And then:

In a business-focused role, you might have the following responsibilities:

• Understanding the needs of multiple stakeholders.
• Facilitating the negotiation of requirements amongst multiple stakeholders.
• Identifying the current- and future-state business processes.
• Helping the business stakeholders envision the future and how their work will need to change to support the future.

In a technology-focused role, you might have the following responsibilities:

• Creating, analyzing, and validating detailed functional specifications.
• Facilitating design sessions with the implementation team to define the solution.
• Delivering elements of systems design, including data migration rules, business rules, wireframes, or other detailed deliverables.

Source: How to Start a Business Analyst Career, Second Edition. Laura Brandenburg, pages 124-125.

A traditional IT Business Analyst job description was more technology-focused and the role was often defined around a system or small set of systems, commonly proprietary systems in use by only one organization. This kind of job description still exists today, but it is both career-limiting and offering decreased value to the organization.

More and more, we’re seeing expanding IT Business Analyst job descriptions that offer professionals the opportunity to shift more towards a business-focus and/or work at a more strategic level in the technology aspect of their roles. These jobs provide IT Business Analysts the opportunity to grow their skills, expand their value, and become more marketable.

Let’s take a deeper look inside the ways the IT Business Analyst job description is expanding and what this means for your opportunities in a business analysis career.

Expansion #1 – IT Business Analysts Work on More than One System

Historically, companies built and maintained single, monolithic systems or small collections of large systems to run their businesses. With the expansion of Commercial Off-the-Shelf (COTS) systems available to meet almost any business or feature need, organizations are investing in and supporting an increasing quantity of systems. What’s more, in order for these systems to deliver the value business stakeholders expect, they need to talk to one another.

One way that IT Business Analysts’ job descriptions are growing is that they are focused on several systems and integrating those systems to deliver maximum efficiency and business value. When working on multiple systems it becomes more important to consider information flow and data requirements, as well as make strategic decisions about what functionality belongs inside what system.

However, even when working on multiple systems, an IT Business Analyst job description is still focused more on the technology side and less on the business side. There are other ways their role can expand to align more towards the business. Let’s look at that next.

Expansion #2 – IT Business Analysts Evaluate the Business Process

A second way the IT Business Analyst job description can expand is by looking into the business process. Traditionally, requirements discussions might be focused around the features and functions needed by any of the systems under the analyst’s domain. This is still important work.

But again with the introduction of new tools and software, meeting business requirements is becoming easier and easier. This can free up the IT Business Analyst’s time to focus more on the business processes driving the software requirements or helping modifying the business process once the software changes have been made.

This means that even as an IT Business Analyst you can play a role in clarifying, updating, and improving the business processes impacted by the technology changes that are part of your projects. This role requires you to partner more deeply with various members of the business community.

Expansion #3 – IT Business Analysts Support Multiple Stakeholder Groups

One of the recurring themes here is that systems are becoming more complex and technology implementations are able to offer an increased number of features. A corollary to this is that stakeholders from more departments tend to use any given system, meaning that more stakeholders get involved in any given project. For example, a seemingly simple update to the sales system could impact marketing, fulfillment, customer service and accounting.

This means that the IT Business Analyst gets more involved in the elicitation process, navigating the competing needs of multiple stakeholder groups, defining an end-to-end business process that is accepted by all groups, and finally mapping out the requirements for one or more systems to support these needs and the process. This type of job requires stronger communication skills, along with facilitation, prioritization, and scope management.

Expansion #4 – IT Business Analysts Look Beyond One Project

A fourth way that IT Business Analyst roles are expanding is by working on more than one project at a time. Historically, projects were larger in scope and fragile systems required full-time focus on analyzing and specifying requirements for one system inside one project. With the introduction of more fully-featured out-of-the-box systems, scope can be handled in different ways. And with the introduction of more agile processes, more organizations are breaking down big projects so that they can be delivered incrementally.

For the IT Business Analyst, this means you might work on many projects at one time or have the opportunity to participate in pre-project analysis work that helps enable informed decision-making about what investments to make in technology. In this way, you are involved in a more strategic role in addition to your tactical role on projects.

The IT Business Analyst Job is Great Place to Be!

If you find yourself in an IT Business Analyst job or are considering a business analyst career path, the IT Business Analyst role is a great place to start and can provide a launching point for a business analyst career. As you can see, an IT Business Analyst role is necessarily expanding beyond the technology component and into the business component, and that means great things for the career prospects of analysts in this space.

>>Learn More About Becoming an IT Business Analyst

In How to Start a Business Analyst Career, we discuss all types of IT Business Analyst roles in greater depth and look at the wide variety of roles in the IT Business Analyst space.

This book will help you find your best path forward into a business analyst career. More than that, you will know exactly what to do next to expand your business analysis opportunities.

Click here to learn more about How to Start a Business Analyst Career

Certified Business Analysis Professional (CBAP®)

Although I very, very reluctantly pursued my CBAP®), I do believe that PMI entering the business analysis space is a good thing for us as business analysts.  In my opinion, the more business analyst certification options, the better. Each certification expands our profession and provides each individual with more opportunities to achieve their specific career goals.

And this is one reason why at Bridging the Gap we’ve introduced the Applied Certification in Business Analysis, which you can earn by joining a session of The Business Analyst Blueprint® certification program.

In this article, you’ll learn about a few of the differences between the PMI and IIBA® certifications, why the PMI-PBA℠ is good for business analysis, and then I’ll offer up some criteria you might use to choose the right certification as part of your near-term professional development goals.

First, let’s take a look at what the PMI-PBA is.

The PMI-PBA is explicitly for business analysts who work on projects and programs, as well as project and program managers who perform business analysis as part of their role. According to PMI, the certification spotlights your ability to work effectively with stakeholders related to project or business requirements, and ensure projects drive successful business outcomes.

To obtain a PMI-PBA, first you complete an application that verifies you meet the following requirements:

• Minimum of 3 years (4,500 hours) of business analysis experience within the past 8 consecutive years if you have a bachelor’s degree. (Or 5 years/7500 hours of experience if you do not.) (For comparison, the CBAP® requires 7,500 hours of experience and the CCBA® 3,750.)
• 2,000 hours working on project teams within the past eight consecutive years.
• 35 business analysis education (contact hours).

Source: PMI Professional in Business Analysis (PMI-PBA)℠ Handbook

Then, you must pass the PMI-PBA exam covers the following material:

• Needs Assessment (18%)
• Planning (22%)
• Analysis (35%)
• Traceability and Monitoring (15%)
• Evaluation (10%)

One insight to take away is the the PMI-PBA is much smaller than scope than the CBAP® and even the CCBA®. The Examination Content Outline appears to be written around what the business analyst role looks like when the business analyst is working under the wing of a project manager on a discrete project.

The IIBA® view of the business analyst role is much larger than this.

In contrast, IIBA® does not confine business analysis to projects or programs. In fact, IIBA® explicitly defines a collection of business analysis activities that transcend the project and are applicable to all types of organizational improvement. And, at its best, business analysts should be routinely involved to evaluate opportunities before projects are even approved – or before a project manager has even been assigned.

Of course, the PMI view of business analysis is what’s more commonly in place at today’s organizations. However, the IIBA® view gives us something to strive for as we seek out senior business analyst opportunities and grow our careers generally.

Let’s look at some specific differences between the two understandings of the role:

• The Needs Assessment in the PMI-PBA outline is much more limited in scope than the Enterprise Analysis Knowledge area of A Guide to the Business Analysis Body of Knowledge® (BABOK® Guide), which includes many additional tasks to proactively determine the business needs, current capabilities, and define the business case, rather than to merely review and refine the existing business case or meet with stakeholders to understand their needs.
• In the PMI-PBA outline, Elicitation is wrapped up inside the Analysis knowledge area, rather than being a discrete Knowledge Area that applies to a wide-variety of different business analysis activities.
• The Planning task as defined by the PMI-PBA outline is confined to the Requirements Management space, rather than the broader view offered by the BABOK® Guide in the Business Analysis Planning & Monitoring Knowledge area. The IIBA® BABOK® Guide gives business analysts a role in identifying the best possible techniques, activities, and approach to the entire business analysis effort.

One area that the PMI definition is broader in scope is that the Evaluation tasks cover some elements of Quality Assurance, whereas the BABOK® Guide specifically limits the business analyst role in this matter.

Why more certification options is a good thing for business analysts.

Even with a more limited view of the business analyst role, PMI’s decision to enter this space is a sign of many positive things to come for business analysts.

With the strength of PMI behind the business analyst role, I think we will see wider adoption of business analysis, as a discrete role from project management, on more and more projects. Through the new practice guide and PMI-PBA certification, PMI will drive an awareness of the role globally that IIBA® has simply not had the resources to do. This is a good thing as it means more jobs, even higher business analyst salaries, and less time spent selling our value.

However, it doesn’t seem as if PMI will define and promote the next generation of business analysts – the type of opportunities that excite me about being a business analyst and that make it an attractive profession for senior-level professionals looking for leadership opportunities. We need the IIBA® for that. This work is much more challenging and the path to success will necessarily be slower. IIBA® will need our support, strength, and resources to lead the charge on our behalf and keep it going even as the number of PBA credential holders quickly surpasses the number of CBAP® and CCBA® Recipients.

Is the PMI-PBA or IIBA® CBAP® or CCBA® right for you?

As a professional with limited time and resources, you might be wondering whether you should choose the PMI-PBA instead of the IIBA® CBAP® or CCBA®. While it’s way too early to know for sure how each certification will impact your job prospects and career aspirations, here are some criteria you can use to decide what is in your best interest in the short term.

• If you are in a project-focused business analyst role right now, and happy to stay there, and your organization is engaged with PMI, the PMI-PBA could be a really good option to gain more internal credibility.
• If you are in a project-focused business analyst role, but discontent and want a bigger seat at the table (or a seat at all), look to the CBAP®. As a by-product of the certification process, you’ll expand your view of your own capabilities and discover ways to add even more value to your organization.
• If your organization already supports the CBAP®/CCBA® route or your certification process is underway, stay the course. You can always pick up the PMI-PBA later should it prove beneficial.
• If you are targeting project-focused business analyst roles, either the PMI-PBA or IIBA® CBAP® or CCBA® could help set you slightly ahead of the pack when it comes to your business analysis job search. It’s too soon to tell if the PMI-PBA is going to significantly outstrip the CBAP® or CCBA® from the perspective of employers hiring business analysts.
• If you are happy where you are in your career or dislike certifications, then do what you would have done anyway and ignore them all!

Of course, many professionals have already chosen both by opting to add the PMI-PBA to their existing CBAP® or CCBA® credential. Since each certification means something different, that is certainly a valid path.

Personally, since I’m already a CBAP®, I’m keeping an eye on the PMI-PBA since I want to do everything in my power to help my readers, course participants, and coaching clients as much as possible.

No matter what certification you choose, business analysis training is important

Many participants in The Business Analyst Blueprint® training program report that they are so glad they participated in our practical, deliverable-focused training BEFORE trying to prepare for an exam-based certification.

With our training, they were able to apply what they were learning on-the-job and familiarize themselves with the business analysis terminology and way of approaching a typical project. This made their exam prep so much easier!

If this sounds like a path you’d like to take, we’d be honored to help you take your next step and create a purpose-filled career in business analysis.

Click here to learn more about The Business Analyst Blueprint training program.

We build our profession one business analyst at a time. Success starts with you.

And, the last word.

Obviously, the prevalence of certification options only more good things to come for business analysts. We’ve reached the point of the professional timeline where we are no longer in the early adopter stage. Business analysis is making its way as a proven profession with a wide variety of viable career paths.

If you’ve been on the fence for awhile, it’s an excellent time to consider starting your business analyst career, whether that means starting a new business analyst role, shifting your responsibilities, or gaining formal acknowledgment for the business analyst job responsibilities you’ve been doing for awhile. And while the time to get in on the ground floor has passed, it’s still a great time to get in and experience a lot of growth relatively quickly.

Of course, if you are looking to get into business analysis, you should pick up a copy of the second edition of How to Start a Business Analyst Career.

As business analysts, we need to be wary of how we invest our time. Our analytical brains predispose us to misuse our time in ways that are not always productive in the bigger picture of things.

Here are a few of the most common time wasters I see in business analysis.

Time Waster #1: Perfecting Documents

Yes, our documents should be good. But all too often we spend more time on them than is merited, especially early in the business analysis process. Engaging stakeholder feedback early and often helps ensure we are on the right track.

Besides, when we perfect what should be draft documents, we get over-invested and tend to resist changes to those documents, making us less open to the very feedback we need to be successful.

A quick rule of thumb: Make every document good enough to take the next step forward in the project, and no better.

Time Waster #2: Attending Every Meeting You Are Invited To

As your influence grows, you’ll be invited to more meetings. Some business analysts complain about every day being all meetings, yet it is difficult to say no. What if we miss important information? What if the facilitator is upset when we don’t show up?

Steve Blais has written an excellent article about how to say no to meetings.

Time Waster #3: Learning Without Doing

On one project, I remember a developer coming to a status meeting week after week reporting that his progress was “learning more about tool X.” Weeks went by and we had nothing tangible to show the business. The project manager finally asked the developer to demo the tool to the other project participants. It became clear that his knowledge was still cursory.

In his defense, it was a very complex tool and the company probably should have invested in more training and consulting up front rather than allow this developer to self-study for weeks on end. Still, this did not put him in anyone’s good graces.

Let this be a warning to you. Accompany learning by doing. What’s more, make sure what you are doing has a tangible value for your organization. While it is much easier to learn one more thing before putting your work out there, you risk wasting a lot of time if you don’t produce a meaningful deliverable as early as possible.

The developer would have been much better served by creating a working prototype, no matter how preliminary, of how we could have used the tool in our organization.

Time Waster #4: Facilitating Meetings Without Agendas

One of the most valuable take-aways from our Essential Elicitation Skills course is the insight for how to create a useful meeting agenda, one that moves the project further ahead towards its goal. Although it can be tempting to leave the agenda open because you don’t know what you don’t know, taking a little time to plan out your approach yields huge time-saving dividends.

When you facilitate meetings without an agenda, you risk not achieving what you need to be successful. This leads to countless hours asking follow-up questions, scheduling follow-up meetings, or researching information. In other words, a lot of time is wasted.

Time Waster#5: Answering Communications – All the Time

While business analysts do need to be responsive, you also need a fair amount of focused time to successfully complete requirements documentation and other deliverables. Watching every email come in, answering the phone, or keeping your instant messenger open can create a steady stream of interruptions. I know it’s tempting to be constantly aware of what’s going on in your projects or be the first to know when a critical issue surfaces. However, every time you are distracted by a new message,  even if you don’t respond, you lose the time it takes to refocus.

While there are appropriate times to be accessible and available, and you definitely need to plan time into your work day to respond to communications, there also needs to be time to minimize distractions and focus your creative, analytic energy on the task at hand. If you never seem to get your deliverables done as quickly as you’d like, consider creating time blocks in your work day where you turn off distractions.

In this article, we’ll explain the difference between PDs, CDUs, and PDUs, which are terms used by the International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA®) and the Project Management Institute (PMI)®.

Professional Development Hours (PDs)

Professional Development Hours (PDs)  is a term used by the International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA) to define the type of coursework required as one of the many requirements to sit for the ECBA, CCBA® or CBAP®.

To qualify for PDs, the training must involve meaningful interaction with the instructor and cover a BA topic included in the BABOK® Guide.  To qualify for PDs, the course does NOT need to be an exam prep course. Courses offered by an Endorsed Education Provider (EEP) of IIBA have already been evaluated by IIBA and the education provider may advertise the PD hours for which the class qualifies.  Should you take a class from a non-EEP, you can list the class on the certification application and IIBA will determine if it qualifies for the PD hours that you are requesting. (As long as the class meets the requirements specified by IIBA in the certification handbook, this should not be an issue.)

Bridging the Gap is an Endorsed Education Provider of IIBA and The Business Analyst Blueprint® training n program, qualifies for 36 PDs, or what you need to apply for any IIBA certification.

Continuing Development Units (CDUs)

CBAP and CCBA recipients must re-certify every 3 years if they wish to maintain their designation. Re-certification involves filling out an online application and documenting a certain number of CDUs or Continuing Development Units. CDUs are broken into 6 categories. Three of those 6 categories can be fulfilled by participating in training opportunities. Like courses that qualify for PDs, courses offered by an EEP have already been evaluated by IIBA and will automatically qualify for a certain number of CDUs.

However, the requirements for some categories of CDUs are more lenient. Self-study courses, webinars, professional development meetings, and other less formal training opportunities to learn about business analysis can all qualify for CDUs. And, as is the case with PDs, an offering can qualify for CDUs even if it’s not pre-endorsed by IIBA as long as the opportunity meets the requirements of the CDU category you list it under.

Again, The Business Analyst Blueprint® training program qualifies for 36 CDUs, and can help you meet your re-certification requirements with IIBA.

Professional Development Units (PDUs)

Finally, let’s talk about PDUs or Professional Development Units. The PDU term is used by the Project Management Institute (PMI) and is very similar to IIBA CDUs. PDUs are relevant for maintaining any of your PMI-supported certifications, the most common of which is the Project Management Professional (PMP)®.

Because the acronyms are so similar, PDUs are often confused with PDs, but they are most definitely not the same. Similar to CDUs, many less formal learning opportunities such as webinars and professional meetings can easily qualify for PDUs without meeting the more stringent requirements of the IIBA PDs.

In a Nutshell

In a nutshell, if you are applying for the CBAP or CCBA, focus on earning your PDs. If you are already a CBAP or CCBA Recipient, focus on CDUs. If you are a recipient of one of the many PMI certifications, focus on PDUs. (And, yes, many offerings count for both CDUs and PDUs. If you hold certifications from both IIBA and PMI, you can count the same opportunity on both re-certification applications.)

About The Business Analyst Blueprint®

When you join The Business Analyst Blueprint® training program, you’ll learn all 12 of the industry-standard techniques and the business analysis process framework – to build your confidence in the best practices of business analysis.

> Click here for more information about The Blueprint <<

One question we receive again and again is whether to pursue the CBAP or CCBA.

About the CBAP and CCBA

Both certifications are offered by International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA®). The CBAP is the Certified Business Analysis Professional (CBAP®) and the CCBA is Certification of Competency in Business Analysis (CCBA®), how do you choose between the two?

There are two big differentiators between the two options:

• The total amount of business analysis experience required.
• The overall diversity of business analysis experience required.

You can qualify to sit for the CCBA exam if you can document at least 3750 hours of  work experience aligned with the BABOK^® Guide in the last seven years. You also must have at least 900 hours in 2 of the 6 knowledge areas or 500 hours in 4 of the 6 knowledge areas.

In contrast, applying for the CBAP requires more experience. A minimum of 7500 hours of BA work experience aligned with the BABOK^® Guide in the last seven years is required in the last 10 years. You also must be able to document 900 hours in 4 of the 6 knowledge areas.

The exams are also different and I would imagine that given the lesser experience requirements for the CCBA, that the exam might be easier overall.

CBAP or CCBA for You?

If you can meet the experience requirements for the CBAP, I would recommend pursuing it instead of the CCBA. If not, then consider the CCBA as an interim certification and, provided you are still leveraging your business analysis skills and expanding your business analysis experience, work towards qualifying for the CBAP before your recertification period.

Of course, you could choose to do both certifications, but unless you work for a training provider looking to build materials specific to each certification, I can’t imagine why you would.

No matter what certification you choose, business analysis training is important

Many participants in The Business Analyst Blueprint® training program report that they are so glad they participated in our practical, deliverable-focused training BEFORE trying to prepare for an exam-based certification.

With our training, they were able to apply what they were learning on-the-job and familiarize themselves with the business analysis terminology and way of approaching a typical project. This made their exam prep so much easier!

If this sounds like a path you’d like to take, we’d be honored to help you take your next step and create a purpose-filled career in business analysis.

Click here to learn more about The Business Analyst Blueprint training program.

We build our profession one business analyst at a time. Success starts with you.

One of the many paths into your first BA role is proposing a new business analyst role in your current organization.  In this article, we’ll do a deeper dive into what that process looks like.

Step 1: Understand Your Organization’s Current State

There are 3 primary criteria that need to be in place within your organization for a new BA role to be created:

1. There needs to be a clear benefit or problem to be solved by adding business analysis competencies to your organization.
2. There needs to be enough project or process work to fill the plate of a full-time business analyst.
3. There needs to be management support for the new role.

While it’s relatively rare for #1 not to be true within an organization, because nearly all organizations are dealing with some level of change, it’s not uncommon for individuals in other roles to pick up the key business analyst responsibilities. For example, the product manager may work on the high-level business requirements and the technical lead may turn these into detailed system specifications. If this approach works for your projects, a formal BA role may not fill a needed gap in the short term and it will be difficult to make a case for a new role.

The second criteria is often not fulfilled in small organizations or organizations with very little to invest in upgraded systems and processes. In this scenario, you could instead propose a part-time BA role or a BA role that’s combined with other responsibilities, such as project management, quality assurance, or even business operations.

And, finally, all too often an organization meets #1 and #2, but not #3, meaning that there is an opportunity and enough work, but management doesn’t realize it. In this scenario, you must educate your management team about what kinds of problems a BA could solve and what kinds of projects a BA could work on.

The rest of this article assumes that your organization meets the first two criteria and that you need to help management buy in to creating a new role. (If this isn’t the case, you can continue to expand your business analysis experience while staying on the lookout for golden BA opportunities, which we’ll talk about at the end of the article.)

If you’re wondering whether or not you have the skills required to step into a full-time BA role, take our free Business Analyst Skills Assessment to gain clarity on your strengths and transferable skills. 

Step 2: Identify a Valuable BA Role

Now that you understand the context in which a business analyst role would fit, take some time to identify the core role to be filled by a business analyst in your organization. Identify the key responsibilities and skill sets needed, and even consider what types of projects the business analyst would contribute to.

Essentially, you want to write your own business analyst job description.

Business analyst roles vary widely across the industry. When putting together an ideal BA role for your organization, it’s more important that the skills and responsibilities be perceived as immediately valuable to the organization than they fit into an idea vision of a business analyst role you might find proposed elsewhere. You can leverage our Business Analyst Skills Assessment – a free download – as a starting point, but limit the initial set of responsibilities to those of immediate value internally.

Once in a business analyst role, you can always take on more Senior BA responsibilities.

Step 3: Propose the Role to Management

Proposed job description in hand, sit down with your manager or a manager you think would be receptive to creating such a role on his or her team and walk through your ideas. Discuss the problems or opportunities you’ve seen. Detail how the person filling the BA role could help solve these problems. Speak to tangible examples of where business analysis activities have already helped create value in your organization.

Your actions in this step will be better received if you’ve already begun to incorporate business analyst activities into your work. One of the reasons The Business Analyst Blueprint certification program focus on applying BA practices regardless of your job title, is that actions speak louder than words. If your stakeholders can see the impact of business analysis in action, they’ll be more likely to embrace the idea of someone filling this role on an ongoing basis.

As an outcome from this step, you are looking for the manager to create a new job role on their team. In some less formal organizations, you might begin doing the work before the role is “official.”  In other organizations, the role will be officially created and open to both internal and external candidates, in which case you’ll need to apply for it like any other job applicant. Let’s talk about that step next.

Step 4: Apply For the Role

Just because you succeed in getting a new role created doesn’t mean you’ll necessarily be the one chosen to fill it. You may need to apply and you may be up against well-qualified internal and external candidates.

By taking our free Business Analyst Skill Assessment, you’ll gain a better understanding of where you stand as a business analyst and discover an action plan to expand your skillset.  

Update your resume, prepare for the job interview, and be prepared to position yourself as qualified and ready to fill these new job responsibilities. In particular, speak to your experience doing similar business analysis activities in the past for this organization, your knowledge of and relationship with internal stakeholders, and the value of your organizational knowledge and expertise. This is also a good time to share any professional development you’ve done to grow your own business analysis skills and your intentions for continuing to expand your skill set.

Along the Way: Watch Out For Golden Opportunities

These 4 steps don’t always work in the short term. Even if your organization will benefit greatly from increased business analysis competencies, there can be external factors such as a lack of budget, overwhelm of work for your current job, or management resistance that impact your ability to propose and be positioned in a new internal business analyst role. If you hear “no” the first time, don’t give up, but do keep your eyes open for opportunities to make your case a second, third, or fourth time.

Golden opportunities that can break down the barriers to creating a new business analyst role include:

• Your organization starts a new project, bigger than your organization has taken on recently, such as a new software system, integration of a newly acquired product or company, or the re-engineering of a critical business process. Volunteer to help on the new project and look specifically for assignments related to business analysis.
• A key individual filling many BA responsibilities (but without the BA job title) decides to leave the company or take an extended leave. Volunteer to fill in for the gap left by this individual in the short term, especially the BA responsibilities. If the same position is reopened, consider applying for the open vacancy.
• Your organization begins growing unexpectedly and needs to quickly deal with “issues” related to increased customers, sales, or channels. Volunteer to sit on tasks forces, SWAT teams, or any new projects started to deal with the issues. Take on as many BA responsibilities as you can.

By demonstrating the value of business analysis activities to meet short-term needs, you’ll often be able to create long-term needs within your organization that eventually lead to a more formal business analyst role.

And while you are waiting for the golden opportunity to fill a business analyst role, be sure to continue to fill new business analyst responsibilities and practice using new skills wherever you can. You’ll be both solidifying your expertise in business analysis and demonstrating how these capabilities and skill sets will add value to your organization.

>> Get Your Quick Start to Success

Earn the respect you deserve and get the insider details on how to get into a business analyst career quickly, with our free Quick Start to Success workshop. You’ll learn how to avoid the most common pitfalls faced by new business analysts and the step-by-step business analysis process to create predictable, consistent project success.

>> Click here to register for the free workshop today <<

A long time ago, back when I first started working with Laura and Bridging the Gap, I sat for the CBAP exam and failed. In December of this last year, I finally sat down to try again and have achieved my certification. There were so MANY convenient and juicy excuses to put off the inevitable along the way, but I finally ran out of them. This is the last chapter in my story about seeking the certification and picks up when I was coming away from the first try on the exam.

(By the way, if you are interested in pursuing the CBAP, you’ll want to be sure you check out our overview article: 8 Steps to Becoming a CBAP.)

I learned many lessons in my first attempt and have shared them here previously. A couple really stand out through the time that has passed.

First, one must really sacrifice a period of time to properly study not just the BABOK, but also the ancillary materials that have fed the creation of that document and the practice of business analysis. One document cannot provide justice to all we need to really understand. Second, get over yourself. I had this thought process that had me convinced that I knew it all in a practical sense and simply didn’t memorize the content properly. In all honesty, I do have a lot of practical experience, but that mindset brings arrogance to the table and stands in the way of being fully open-minded about new ways to perform my craft. I was not able to learn and absorb and focus until this occurred.

Additionally, the BABOK has a lot of little tiny pieces of information that I never picked up the first fourteen times I read through it because my mind was closed off. There are small portions of sentences and direction that tie various aspects of the content in the BABOK together in order to provide the links to proper practicing of iterative business analysis. Remember, there are often multiple places to start our work, and this is highly dependent on the situations that are presented to us, and our actions are often altered as a result. Therefore, the BABOK cannot address a front-to-back approach in the written content, but it DOES hold little gems that will guide the reader toward a holistic approach IF you are open to seeing it.

Finally, I truly don’t memorize things well or test well. Only in removing my own misconception about knowing more than I did was I able to really push into the detail over and over again to pick up information.

So these are the mechanical lessons learned that I bring back from the edge of the ledge with me. Let’s delve into the other side…the emotional stuff.

When I failed the first time in trying, I really took a confidence hit. Not because I failed, but because I thought I knew more than I really did. It took me a long time to bounce back emotionally to realize that the knowledge was there all along, but it wasn’t there robustly enough to be useful for personal improvement in exam testing or even in practice. Once I had a big slice of “humble pie” and got out of my own way, I began the journey of understanding my walls and then breaking them down.

Mission accomplished. Test taken. Certification achieved. Woohoo!

Now, it’s time to tackle the final question, “Is it worth it?”

Yes and no is my response. The CBAP designation is still young and gaining influence; I notice more and more roles are requiring the certification in candidates. My own firm, Avanade, Inc., is a very strong proponent of the certification and so am I…just not for the reasons most would think.

The completion of any certification shows only one tangible thing, and that is that the student can pass a test. Nice piece of paper. I still hold this view after passing, because a test score does not make the master. What I find extremely valuable is the insight gained through learning the material in the first place, and if that insight is then put into practice there is a very powerful gain. If the new paper-holder continues with incompetent practices, then shame on the wasted opportunity to grow. Each person who takes and achieves certification must be evaluated individually for what he or she does with it.

Come to think of it, there is much we can do for ourselves even if we don’t pass. For me, I am able to bring insight from the way I studied, not to mention the volume of studying, into the workplace and immediately implement some of the learned practices. I also now have something for those who do not know me or my BA work history to make an initial evaluation that I MIGHT know what I’m doing; I can build on that first impression very rapidly. That is FAR more than I had before.

So yes, it’s worth it FOR ME. In short, if the exam is taken for the right reasons and used with good intention of improvement to the individual and profession, there is great value. If you are looking for letters or dollars as a result, find something more enjoyable to do with your time.

Thanks for joining me on the road to success.

>>Kick-Start Your Own Road to CBAP Success

We’ve broken the road to the CBAP down into 8 steps, each own getting you closer to your CBAP certification goal.

Click here to read about 8 Steps to the CBAP

Case studies abounded. Real-world challenges were addressed head-on. And most importantly, opportunities for growth and change for those of us in the profession surfaced. Presenters discussed the kind of opportunities that will create the next generation of business analysts, but only if we, the analyst community, not only embrace them but also expand our skill sets.

While the challenges are significant, the rewards are substantial. Those that realize the opportunities of the next generation of business analysts will have increased influence, more exciting jobs, and be nearly immune to changes in project methodologies and role shuffling. Let’s look at why.

The Future of Business Analysis

Let’s start towards the end – at the most compelling presentation I attended at the entire conference. That presentation was delivered by Kevin Brennan, Chief BA at IIBA, on the past, present, and future of business analysis.  Kevin started his BA career like many of us – in an informal role with mixed responsibilities on a highly unsuccessful project.

Years later, studies show that projects are not doing much better. Why? Kevin says it’s because business value lies outside the project. It comes before the project – in deciding why to make an investment – and after the project – in helping transition project implementations into operations.

Today’s business analysts need to start taking responsibility for business outcomes, not just requirements work inside of projects. This is a big hat and the skill sets change.

• We are not taking responsibility for business outcomes when we document our lists of 1000s of system shall statements and call it a day.
• We are not taking responsibility for business outcomes when we stop working once the project is implemented.
• We are not taking responsibility for business outcomes when we fail to ask and understand “why?”, or even if we do ask “why” but don’t get to the underlying root cause that truly helps the business understand what they are doing, how they are doing it, and what the result is.

Kevin admits this is not going to be a short transition. The path to being a next generation BA starts with being an effective contributor today. And that might mean chipping in and taking on non-BA responsibilities – whatever it takes to build credibility as a team player. Then it’s time to move into a facilitator role, where you start to get stakeholders to think about tough questions. Often we have to propose answers, because the questions we ask are difficult ones. Once we’ve established that we can help facilitate a better understanding of what to accomplish in a project, then we get to make a move towards filling more strategic roles.

In many ways, the themes Kevin brought together in his keynote were played out in many small ways across the other sessions I attended. Each presenter filled their own piece of the BA pie.

Here are some of the other take-aways I had from BBC 2013:

Business Rules are Not Going Away

As businesses become more complex and more agile, managing business rules and business decisions will gain prominence.  There are great leadership opportunities for BAs to lead initiatives to separate out business rules from traditional requirements documents so they can be analyzed, implemented, and changed more effectively.

Yet, there is no one way to document decisions and business rules. Like everything else in BA, your leadership and judgment is required. Long lists are common, but difficult to comprehend and maintain. Business rules repositories often fragment rules implemented by process from rules implemented by systems. Visual models, such as process flows, concept models, decision tables, and functional decomposition diagrams help organize and analyze rule- and decision-related information.

Glossaries are Necessity

Ronald Ross started with a quote by the famous German philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein:

“All I know is what I have words for.”

Even though it might seem like your terminology changes quickly, often the reality is that your core business concepts and business knowledge are very stable. Glossaries help us define terms and use more consistent terminology across the organization and in our requirements documentation.

Glossaries are an absolute necessity in parallel with business rules and decisions. If rules are expressed using a variety of terminology or ambiguous terms they are likely to be misunderstood, misapplied, and implemented inappropriately.

Processes and Capabilities Are Key

I was surprised and disappointed at the undercurrent of politics that crept into some conference presentations. Were processes or rules more fundamental? Or capabilities or processes? Or cats or dogs? While IIBA representatives did a great job at rising above these debates (as any BA should, we’re leaders after all…more on that below), other keynotes chose to use the podium as a way to reinforce their preferences.

I share this not to overshadow the positive vibe of the conference but because the nature of the debate was eye-opening to me. It’s important to be aware of so you don’t get swept up in it. Dogma surfaces in many forms and often comes with unmerited confidence that can spread like wildfire.

Whenever you see someone speaking from a space of proposing that one type of requirement, one technique or one perspective offers a perfect or primary solution, take a step back. Learn from their passion, but not from their perspective. BAs need to have a perspective that is separate above all of this debate. Otherwise we risk seeing everything as a nail because all we have is a hammer.

But back to business processes and capabilities, a topic area where this undercurrent rose heavily to the surface. Business processes and capabilities exist in a relationship to one another. Processes are a series of actions that lead to an end result. Capabilities are the abilities an organization has or the outcomes it is able to achieve.

Obviously, if we are going to enter the world of taking responsibility for business outcomes, we need to master our understanding of both. We do this by not only analyzing business processes, but also by understanding the outcomes and results enabled by our organization’s efforts, which is a nice segue to my next take-away.

Metrics Matter

Metrics came up in every single presentation I attended.

• The BPM COE panel spoke to the importance of creating a value proposition and measuring the impact of the COE as a way to encourage the ongoing investments required.
• Ellen Gottesdiener’s talk on retrospectives suggested you start with bringing data about the project to the conversation, even if it is low fidelity.
• Making better business decisions requires data. Often the first phase of decision analysis reveals that current decision-making is rather arbitrary and uncovers opportunities to gather and report on more data to improve decision rules in the future.

Data, metrics, quantification. These are all new skill sets for many business analysts but an area where the profession is challenging us to grow. It’s also where BA meets value. That’s a big topic, let’s talk about it a bit more.

Increasing Your Value as a BA

Steve Erlank put it straight – if you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it. Benefits and business outcomes must be quantifiable for us to understand project results and our own contributions. He broke becoming more valuable as a BA into three components:

• Focus on finding the value of projects, often by including more stakeholders and facilitating them to agree. This helps us explore stated wants and discover what the business truly needs – i.e. what’s good for the organization as a whole.
• Being selective in applying BA activities and choosing only the most value-adding activities to apply for each project. He suggested BAs create a balance sheet linking specific BA tasks to ROI.
• Building assets that contribute to organizational knowledge, whether they be business rules, glossaries, or knowledge bases. The BA brings out what the organization knows and helps it learn from itself.

Leadership Comes From All of the Above and Then Some

Leadership comes not from specialization but from what Bob Prentiss labeled being a polymath – or someone so skilled in multiple disciplines that they make their work look easy.

This means moving forward is not about specializing in business rules, BPMN methodologies, analytical models, glossaries or writing better requirements. It’s about learning to do all of these tasks well and being able to apply them as needed in your organization. This is a very high-level of skill, but it’s different than being a specialist.

My over-arching take-away is that core business analysis skills – defining terms, expressing requirements clearly, using visuals, and facilitating conversations will never stop being important for business analysts. Yet on top of these core skills, it’s becoming increasingly important that we layer leadership, breadth of knowledge, advanced communication and facilitation skills, and a focus on value.

Focusing on value takes not just insight, but guts. It means saying “no” and redefining your role around what matters. It means breaking away from business as usual to do something different that might create a break-through. It means asking the hard questions and proposing possible answers.

>>Looking For Some New Techniques?

My experience at BBC has reinforced that breadth and depth of techniques is more important than ever. One category of skills that is absolutely required for a next generation business analyst is visual modeling.

Click here to check out 22 visual models used by business analysts

(I expect you’ll find at least a few that are new to you and could make a strategic difference on your next project.)

It’s my honor to bring you this interview with Ellen Gottesdiener and Mary Gorman. They recently published a new book – Discover to Deliver – which makes a significant contribution to the business analysis profession. I was privileged to be an early reviewer and I highly recommend their book to anyone looking for a solid grounding in how to apply BA practices in an agile environment.

In this interview, we cover why Ellen and Mary embraced agile analysis, the business analyst role in an agile environment, and list specific practices you can use to evolve your business analysis skill set and stay relevant in an increasingly agile world. (And if you are interested in the book, there’s a discount for Bridging the Gap readers at the end, so be sure to check that out.)

About Ellen and Mary

Ellen Gottesdiener, Founder and Principal with EBG Consulting, is an internationally recognized facilitator, coach, trainer, and speaker. She is an expert in Agile product and project management practices, product envisioning and roadmapping, business analysis and requirements, retrospectives, and collaboration. In addition to co-authoring Discover to Deliver: Agile Product Planning and Analysis with Mary Gorman, Ellen is author of two acclaimed books: Requirements by Collaboration and The Software Requirements Memory Jogger.

Mary Gorman, Vice President of Quality & Delivery with EBG Consulting, is an expert business analyst, facilitator, coach, and trainer. She has deep expertise in business systems and product development. Mary writes on requirements topics for the Agile and business analysis community and is a Certified Business Analysis Professional. Mary was instrumental in developing the IIBA^® Business Analysis Body of Knowledge^® and the IIBA^® certification exam. Mary is co-author with Ellen Gottesdiener of the recently released book, Discover to Deliver: Agile Product Planning and Analysis.

Making the Transition to Agile Analysis

Laura: Over the last 10 years or so, you’ve transitioned from a focus on business analysis to Agile analysis. What was the key driver in this transition for you both as consultants, coaches, and trainers?

Ellen and Mary: We’ve been on this journey for about 12 years now, and we’re seeing more and more organizations adapting lean/agile practices. Just as important, we’ve seen how lean/agile practices amplify the benefits of business analysis.

Here’s why. Increasingly, our clients—like most organizations—need faster product delivery, super-efficient practices, and, above all, a relentless drive toward value. At the same time, they face a host of practical problems. First, products are complex and therefore expensive to build and maintain. Second, customers are getting more savvy and demanding. Next, requirements risks continue to be the most insidious challenge in any development effort. And then there is the fourth practical problem—people. Products are discovered and delivered by teams of human beings whose best work emerges from healthy collaboration. But that doesn’t happen spontaneously. People need to learn how to systematically plan and analyze the product at a high level while at the same time drilling down to the details.

A core element of these problems is the need to specify product requirements, the basis for development and delivery. While technologies get better and better, requirements remain a conundrum—they are necessary to know, but wickedly difficult to obtain and agree on. Requirements will always be, to paraphrase Fred Brooks, the most difficult part of any development effort.

The world recognizes the value of lean/agile development for many products: you have to plan for uncertainty, work on small batches of requirements, deliver them as soon as possible, test your assumptions about which requirements will deliver the most value, and all the while instill a sense of partnership among stakeholders. We’ve found the best products come from teams that act as a living learning lab—constantly delivering, learning, and improving. This continual improvement cycle is the hallmark of a successful lean/agile team.

Agile analysis synthesizes a toolkit of practices drawn from business analysis as well as requirements, project, and product management; strategic thinking; and collaboration.  We’ve been fortunate to work with a variety of clients either interested in or compelled to adapt how they go about business analysis and requirements practices.

When calibrated for the situation at hand (after all, context counts) agile analysis practices help product partners build the right product right, discovering and delivering high-value, high-quality products.

Also, before we go on, let’s take a minute and define what we mean by lean/agile. As defined in Discover to Deliver, lean/agile (or sometimes just agile) is “an umbrella term describing the family of practices for building software and systems using iterative and incremental development and delivery, with a focus on maximizing customer value while minimizing waste.”

The Business Analyst Role in Agile

Laura: You have been vocal for a number of years, in both the traditional and the agile communities, about distinguishing the agile BA role from agile business analysis work. Why? 

Ellen and Mary: Yes. We prefer to focus less on roles and turn the focus to goals. To that end, we published a widely referenced article, “It’s the Goal, Not the Role: The Value of Business Analysis in Scrum,” to jump-start this conversation.

Here’s why. As we observed agile teams, we saw many of them ignoring or avoiding requirements analysis, and they ended up delivering buggy software, fragile architectures, or products that had little value to users or buyers. In addition, we continued to hear a hue and cry from analysts who were confounded or worried about whether and how they fit into agile projects.

Before we talk about how business analysis skills fit, let’s clarify the work that needs to get done.

The entire product community—from the customer, business, and technology realms—shares responsibility for discovering the highest-value product to deliver at any given time. To continually make smart decisions, these people need to act as partners to explore product options, evaluate them to identify those that have high value, and define confirmation criteria to verify and validate the delivered product. This is the work of knowledge discovery—in other words, analysis. Furthermore, it’s not a one-shot deal. It’s ongoing. And it requires discipline.

This knowledge discovery work requires people who have interconnected skills such as strategic thinking, evaluating, and envisioning; elicitation, analysis modeling, and efficient specification; user experience and design thinking; user acceptance testing; and facilitation. Talented business analysts have all or most of these skills.

Laura: Given that distinction, and to use the language of “role” applied to agile teams, what business analysis skills and knowledge are applicable to which agile roles?

Ellen and Mary: Here are a few examples.

• A person (possibly a business analyst) who has skills in testing; defining lean, testable requirements; and turning examples into acceptance tests may serve as a tester.
• A person (possibly a business analyst) who has good analysis modeling skills, knowledge of user experience design and architecture, design skills, and a bent toward empathy for users may serve as a user experience designer.
• A person (possibly a business analyst) who has excellent facilitation, communication, coaching, and leadership skills may serve as a project manager, release manager, scrum master, coach, or software manager.
• A person (possibly a business analyst) who has rich domain expertise, especially in large organizations, may serve as a tactical product owner—assuming that the product champion gives the analyst decision-making authority.
• A person (possibly a business analyst) who is a domain expert, has strategic planning and thinking skills, and has a background in product management may serve as a product champion (also called a product owner or business owner).

How to Expand Your Agile Analysis Skill Set

Laura: I know many of our readers realize that Agile and Lean are significant industry trends, but are not yet employed in Agile software development environments. What concrete steps can they take to make their business analysis experience more relevant to an Agile environment so that they can remain competitive in the job marketplace?

Ellen and Mary: Indeed, we see agile less as hype and more as mainstream, commonsense practice. Agile has crossed the chasm of software practices. In other words, just as object oriented development went from hype to trend to common practice in software development, so too is agile becoming the standard product planning and analysis.

Business analysts need to take note: most organizations—especially the ones business analysts want to work for—are integrating, hybridizing, and synthesizing agile practices into the way they do business.

Here are specific recommendations for business analysts:

1. Learn the foundational principles and practices of lean, agile, and organizational change.

2. Become fluent in a variety of ways to elicit and specify product needs driven by value. This includes product visioning, goal and objective specification, risk assessment, and exploration and evaluation of options to fulfill product needs (product options) at any planning horizon.

3. Build mastery in analysis modeling. Learn how to use a variety of analysis models; how to select models based on the problem domain; how to calibrate models’ breadth, depth, and formality; and how to interweave them to yield clear and precise requirements quickly.

4. Learn how to think with, and specify with, a testing mind-set to verify and validate requirements concurrently. Find out how to devise acceptance tests from concrete examples and use them to both elicit and test requirements. Understand how to validate requirements by using measurable outcomes expected with each delivery. Learn how to help your technology, business, and customer partners by insisting on clear validation criteria.

5. Become a skilled facilitator, with the ability to design and lead collaborative work sessions for a variety of stakeholders, whether scopes are wide or narrow and time horizons are near term or long term.

We think these five steps not only will make you relevant and also will demonstrate the kind of business analysis leadership that makes you indispensable.

About Discover to Deliver

Laura: I couldn’t agree more. Tell us a bit about Discover to Deliver and how it will help new and aspiring business analysts apply Agile analysis techniques on their software development projects.

Ellen and Mary: By working with numerous agile teams—and non-Agile teams as well— we’ve learned, over many years, that great products are the result of stakeholders having a product focus, staying value-driven, and continually collaborating and conversing as partners. More and more, we’ve found ourselves homing in to help agile teams set context, be explicit about value, and learn from each other by having succinct, rich conversations about the product they’re working on.

We wanted to codify this know-how in Discover to Deliver in a way that would be useful and practical and would stand the test of time. After all, requirements are the basis for planning, architecture, development, testing, and, ultimately, product value. So we wanted to describe ways to do that well, honoring Lean/Agile principles.

Among other things, Discover to Deliver explains how to:

• Engage stakeholders as product partners.
• Identify value considerations in order to focus on high-value product needs.
• Clarify planning by recognizing multiple time horizons (we call them the Big-View, Pre-View, and Now-View).
• Plan and analyze product needs with increasing specificity according to planning horizon.
• Hold structured conversations to explore product options across the 7 Product Dimensions. The 7 Product Dimensions encapsulate what is classically referred to as functional and nonfunctional requirements. The structured conversation is a metaphor for the ongoing collaborative practice of exploring, evaluating, and confirming product needs
• Use the 7 Product Dimensions as an efficient way to holistically explore product options.

We took special care to make the book usable and practical for a variety of readers and learning styles. The book uses a straightforward visual language as well as text. In addition to a comprehensive glossary, the book offers a rich narrative case study that allows readers to “listen” as a team plans and analyzes requirements. And detailed case study examples are woven throughout the book. Readers can also refer to a suite of tools and techniques (with examples) that are mapped to the book’s key concepts and practices. A graphical navigation mechanism lets you see at a glance where you are in the book.

Laura: I know many of our readers already own and frequently reference Ellen’s Software Requirements Memory Jogger. How would you bridge their experience with that book to what they will gain from Discover to Deliver?

Ellen: I continue to be gratified when I learn of the value the Jogger book has provided to many people in our community—as well as many others in the software development community. Since I wrote the Jogger, Mary and I have adapted and extended traditional requirements practices as a result of our direct agile experience.

Discover to Deliver helps readers apply the foundational knowledge and skills described in the Jogger. The Jogger’s model essentials supplement Discover to Deliver, and vice versa. (We have crossed referenced the techniques in the two books, as well as mapped Discover to Deliver to the PMI-ACP® Handbook, PMBoK®Guide, IIBA BABOK® Guide and Agile Extension to the BABoK®; you’ll find these mappings on our book’s website, on the Resources page).  While it’s certainly helpful for Discover to Deliver readers to read the Jogger, it’s not necessary.

The same is true for my first book, Requirements by Collaboration. The essence of collaborative practices is as true today as when I first wrote the book. Many agile leaders and coaches are returning to Requirements by Collaboration to sharpen their skills in facilitating successful team collaboration.

>>Read More About Agile Analysis

Here are some additional Bridging the Gap articles about being an analyst in an agile environment:

• How to Create a Product Backlog
• How to Define Scope in an Epic
• How to Write User Stories

So this begs the question, what does success look like?

I believe that each of you owns your future and your career direction. I can’t tell you that you should be making $82,493 per year (which is the average salary of a business analyst, according to the most recent, but dated business analyst salary survey), or that you should be creating business cases or leading your team to create better software. I can’t tell you what your success looks like. That has to come from you.

But I can tell you what kinds of success others have found. Let’s take Rob Jowaisis as an example. Rob has shared the start of his BA career journey with us – just last week. You might read Rob’s story and say, “Well, he’s not done yet.” I say, “Of course he’s not done! Are you done?” I’m not done.

We’re done with our careers when we retire, and maybe not even then. Rob’s story is a success story. Rob is being financially rewarded for a job he likes and a job that is giving him opportunities to expand his business analysis experience. Rob is very close to closing the deal on a life-long dream of getting a college degree. Rob is a man with a mission. He is paying the price now for a greater tomorrow. He is a success. If Rob waits until he achieves every part of his dream to celebrate, he’ll lose out on enjoying the amazing journey he’s on.

Let’s take another example. One of our recent course participants, we’ll call her Jo, jumped on an opportunity to analyze a process for a local small business. Jo tackled one of their most complex and error-ridden processes. In the matter of a few hours of discovery and several more of analysis, she was able to put together that process in an easy-to-understand document.

They were so impressed, they asked her to come back and help implement the obvious improvements that were needed. What’s more, the business owner is well-connected locally and willing to make introductions to organizations that can employ Jo full-time.

Is she employed yet as a BA? Not the last time I checked (but she had just secured a second BA job interview from talking about this pro bono work experience).

Is she a success? Absolutely, and without question, yes.

The question is, what does success look like to you?

In essence, success doesn’t have to be about achieving a big milestone. That’s not to say that milestones such as new jobs and promotions aren’t important. They are.

• But that meeting where you leveraged a new communication technique and earned a new stakeholder’s trust and created a happier conversation for both of you? That’s a success.
• That pilot project you did using a new business analysis technique? That’s a success.
• That contract job that in the best of worlds leads to a full-time opportunity, and in the worst of scenarios expands your business analysis experience? Success.

I can tell you what it looks like to me and when I see it in others, but only you will know what it looks like to you. My challenge to you is not to blow success up into something so big you never achieve it. Make it small. Celebrate now. And you’ll get to those big successes much, much sooner.

The only failure is absence of forward progress. Failure is not experimenting with the new technique because you might not get it right. Failure is not sending your resume because you might hear “No.”  You are too special for that. Your life is too short to be doing less than fulfilling work. Your life is too short to wait until later to be fairly compensated.

We are a community of business analysts. We make change. We improve organizations. The world needs us to do what we do. The world needs your successes – the big and the small.

Have you ever heard stakeholders say things like:

“We don’t have time for up-front enterprise analysis… we just need to get going!”

“Why do I need requirements?  It’s simple – I just want xyz system. That’s my requirement. Now go deliver it, by next Tuesday please.”

“Why do we need to understand the ‘as is’ system – surely we can just worry about the changes?”

“Why do you keep asking me about business goals and objectives?  That’s not for you to worry about.”

If you haven’t ever heard sentiments of this type, I am extremely jealous!  I know from my work with organizations and BA practitioners in the UK, that misunderstanding, and in some cases resistance against the BA role does occur.  Sometimes it feels like they don’t really want a BA at all.

As a community, it’s easy to blame the stakeholders for misunderstanding the BA role.   “Those annoying stakeholders… why don’t they understand the benefits that structured change and analysis can bring to them?”   However, I think it’s time for us as a community to turn the conversation around.

A Challenge: The Cocktail Party Test

One of the challenges we face in articulating the value we add can be illustrated with what I call the “cocktail party test”.   Imagine you’re being introduced to a new friend at a party – someone you’ve not met before.  They don’t work in business change, in fact they’ve never worked in a project environment at all.  Perhaps they’re a chef or a baker.  Imagine you tell them that you’re a business analyst—and you’re met with a blank stare.   Followed by the question: “What does that mean?”

How would you explain your role to them? Take a moment to consider this before reading further.

This is what some people describe as an “elevator pitch”, and many BAs (myself included) find it incredibly difficult to succinctly and meaningfully describe the role and the BA value proposition.  What we do is so broad—we work on projects from conception to realisation—and it’s hard to cut down the essence into a single, snappy sentence. Particularly to someone whose role is outside of business change.

It’s like there’s a brick wall…

Add into the mix that if you ask 50 different BAs to describe the role, you’ll get 50 different descriptions, all of which are probably perfectly correct.  There will undoubtedly be some areas of controversy; what counts as “systems analysis” or “design” varies between organizational contexts. So, if as a community of analysts we can’t agree on a succinctly and useful definition of our role,  no wonder our stakeholders are confused!

You may ask “why does this matter?”  History is littered with expensive project failures… and we know that good quality business analysis (along with our change colleagues – project managers, architects etc.) can avoid this. But, sometimes it feels like there’s a brick wall between us and our stakeholders.   We know that we can help them so much… if only they’d engage us earlier.  If only they’d let us help them before key design decisions were made.   But they don’t yet know the breadth of problems we can solve for them.

The million dollar question:

So my final question:  Does anyone ever really want a BA anyway?  Or a project manager for that matter, or an architect? Controversially, I think the answer is no.  To draw on the commonly quoted cliché… people don’t buy drills because they want a drill.  They buy a drill because they want a hole in the wall.  In the same way, people engage BAs and other change professionals because they want effective business change that delivers business and customer value.  Sounds obvious, right?

However, this provides a useful lens to break down the brick wall of misunderstanding.  When we’re faced with scepticism, we need to break it down – brick by brick – by explaining and demonstrating how we add value in the context of the change that the business needs and wants.  Then, we need to faithfully deliver that change.

We can’t bulldoze down the brick wall, but through reliable and consistent delivery, mixed with superior stakeholder management and marketing, we can nibble it away—a brick at a time… leading to better quality earlier engagement and better quality project and business outcomes.

Are BAs difficult people?

Or, to look at the question differently, how can business analysts, despite their best efforts, be difficult?

Actually, the reverse is true.

The least difficult of all people are attracted to the BA role because the requirements of the role itself are difficult.

What we are required to do as BAs is difficult, maybe not for us, but for those that engage us and those that work with us. And this can make us be perceived as difficult to deal with, which is why soft skills are so incredibly important for success in this role.

Let’s look at why what we do as business analysts is inherently difficult for us and for our stakeholders. Let’s understand why we are difficult.

We Have to Say “No” or “Not Now” or “That’s Last on the List.”

Part of scoping a project that can be realistically achieved (i.e. requirements that are implementable within the project’s constraints) means saying “no.” Sure, we can help our stakeholders scope out a beautiful solution and they might love us for it. But at the end of the day, we deliver value when something gets delivered and change is made. Beautiful solutions on paper might have intrinsic value, but they don’t have real, practical value. They don’t generate anything in the way of business results.

Saying “no” and helping our stakeholders prioritize is the difficult work that BAs must do.

The Ambiguous Role of the “Liaison.”

Few aspects of our role come under more direct attack than that of “liaison.” I myself have been guilty of thinking of myself as a “go between.” In reality, as I wrote in a recent StickyMinds article, titled Three Essential Elements of Business Analysis,

At our best, business analysts engender collaboration amongst diverse members of a cross-functional team involving various departments within the organization and levels in the organizational hierarchy.

Getting everyone in a room to discuss a problem and find a suitable solution requires strong leadership and advanced communication skills. Bringing together the right business and technology stakeholders and keeping the discussion at the right level so everyone is engaged and time is used wisely takes a certain finesse.

These are difficult meetings to lead and difficult to participate in. Depending on your stakeholder’s role and competency, they might feel like their knowledge is challenged, their job is on the line, or that they have something to contribute but don’t know the right way to say it.

Change is Hard.

A recent course participant let me know her key takeaway came from the fact that I asked her to use a different template than she usually would to document a business process. She found using a new template to do a familiar activity a difficult task and, in the process, she felt like she had walked in the shoes of her subject matter experts for a day. She had a new appreciation for how difficult it was for them to change the way they have always done things, even when the change would make their job easier or the process more efficient.

The truth behind this realization is that change is hard. And as BAs, we help a lot of people change.

Another student wrote to me about a project she led as a BA intern. She’d discovered an elegant solution that was going to help the business be more efficient, but she faced resistance in discovering the information and incorporating the change.

Her question: Is it always like this?

My answer: Yes, most of the time.

Even with supportive leadership and willing stakeholders, change is still hard. You will face resistance. In fact, part of the value of the BA role is working through the resistance to achieve a positive result.

For New BAs, It’s Difficult to be Difficult.

I hope I’ve made it apparent now that sometimes being difficult is just the reality of the game. We have to lead stakeholders through difficult tasks like scoping projects, understanding models, and, often the worst of it, making decisions.

Part of gaining your confidence as a BA is embracing these challenges as learning opportunities. Part of becoming a great BA is getting our stakeholders to do difficult things, love us for it, and want to work with us again.

But getting to this point means that you take the difficult road, not the easy one.

• Instead of letting our stakeholders put everything they want into the requirements spec, we lead them through a prioritization process and help them see how prioritization helped them get more of the right stuff done (instead of just less stuff done).
• Instead of allowing conflicting stakeholders to duke it out and asking for their decision to document in the spec, we jump in and help them work through the issue and come to a shared solution. In the process, we help elevate everyone’s understanding of the issue and of each other.
• Instead of allowing a passive sign-off and waiting for the inevitable changes to come later in the process, we force true understanding and surface as many issues as possible as early as possible. We play the bad guy so IT or QA or the technical writer doesn’t have to.

Being a BA is Not for the Faint of Heart.

As much as we do here to help aspiring BAs find their path and as much as I want to help as many talented professionals as possible get started in their BA careers (and if you are one of them and new to Bridging the Gap, please join our free BA career planning course), I have to be honest and let you know that being a BA is not for everyone. If the idea of working through these sorts of challenging situations and investing in continuous improvement of your soft skills, especially your communication, leadership, and relationship-building skills, is not compelling, then this is not a good career choice for you.

It’s difficult to be difficult and do difficult work. But it’s also immensely rewarding.

In the words of one of my most trusted mentors, “if it were easy, anyone could do it.”

Click here to read why your organization needs you to step up.

• You hit roadblocks; you work around them.
• You don’t hear from anyone for months then you get 5 interviews in one week.
• You plug along adding value, getting very little feedback, and then seemingly out-of-the-blue you learn about a new internal opportunity.

Anyone who has successfully made a BA career change will tell you that when that opportunity came, it felt quite serendipitous. As much as we love to plan, we cannot plan a career transition in a perfectly linear step-by-step way. They are simply too unpredictable because you are at the mercy of many factors you can’t directly control.

I’ve watched a lot of people navigate this career change. Here are the signs I look for to know they are moving, not stuck.

#1 – You are Meeting Concrete Goals

When we put together professional development plans, a common tendency is to capture a set of activities we can do, but not make them very concrete. Here are some examples:

• Make LinkedIn connections.
• Go to networking meetings.
• Learn new skills.

#2 – You are Applying Your Training

I always get nervous when someone emails me and starts by listing the various training courses they’ve participated in. Participating in training is not itself progress. (Yes, this is coming from someone who provides business analysis training for a living!) Leveraging what you learn to take on new responsibilities or identify transferable skills is progress. Training can help you do that.

Someone with traction in their career is engaging in purposeful learning. They have specific expectations as to what they will achieve through training and are taking action based on those expectations. They also happen to be my favorite type of customer because I get to see them do amazing things and feel a small part of their success.

But I digress. Let’s move on to sign #3 that you are making progress and not spinning, even if you are not seeing big success signs all around you.

#3 – You are Getting Calls

If you are searching for a job, you are getting calls about potential jobs and landing some job interviews. They might not all be a perfect fit. But, if you compare the calls you are getting this month to those from last month, they are, relatively speaking, a closer fit to what you are looking for.

#4 – You are Hearing “No”

This one might be counter-intuitive, so let me explain.

• “No” is different than the dead silence of no response.
• “No” typically comes with information as to why your qualifications are not a good fit for a particular opportunity.
• “No” is not a rejection of you. It’s a “not now” or “not in this situation” or “not a good fit.”

Dead silence does not help you at all, which is what often happens if your career transition activities are limited to submitting 10 job applications a day via a job board or participating in self-learning without sharing the results of your work. If you are only getting dead silence from your activities, you might be busy, but you are not making progress.

If you are hearing “no,” you are putting yourself in a position to learn, and thereby making some progress. Which leads me to my next point.

#5 – You Are Learning From the Marketplace

In my philosophy training, I learned about a concept called “arm chair experiments.” The idea was you sit in a big comfy arm chair, consider a set of hypotheses, and then think through the implications of those hypotheses. You emerge a more enlightened soul, but you haven’t necessarily proved anything.

In the context of a career transition, you can get stuck in arm chair experiments too. Or, you can do things that give you real information, such as talk to recruiters, apply to jobs and follow-up on your applications, and discuss career options with your manager.

It’s easy to sit back and make a set of assumptions about how your experience will be valued. And it’s easy to do so and be wrong.

Those who are putting out a consistent stream of feelers have real information to work with and are moving forward. Those who are conducting arm chair experiments are stuck trusting their own (often mistaken) assumptions.

#6 – You Are Validating Your Learning

Sometimes I’ll hear someone say that one recruiter told them X was a bad idea. And they stopped doing X. Oftentimes X is something very worthwhile, like soliciting LinkedIn recommendations, applying to jobs just a slice beyond their qualifications, or reaching out directly to hiring managers.

Yes, feedback from the job market is important, but it’s also important to validate one person’s opinion against those of others and to understand why this particular person is giving you this particular piece of advice. Questioning well-intentioned advice gives you a broader perspective and helps you avoid being busy without making progress.

#7 – You are Revising Your Approach

A career transition is a learning process. Every time you submit a resume, interview for a job, or talk to another business analyst you can learn something about your local BA job market and the value of your experience.

This means that your plan will change. You might start pursuing opportunities internally and switch your focus to transitional roles at new organizations. Or vice versa. You might switch from applying to 10 random jobs per day to submitting custom, well-researched applications to 5 on-target jobs per week.

As long as you are setting concrete goals, learning from the marketplace, and validating your learning, you will revise your approach as many times as you need to until you achieve your career goal.

Career transitions are not a linear process. Revisions are a sign of progress.

The Most Important Thing

The most important thing not to do is to substitute effort for progress. The most important thing to do is look for any external sign of success and celebrate it.

In fact, if you’d like a little dose of celebration and an idea of what success look like, I suggest checking out this post next:

http://www.bridging-the-gap.com/what-does-success-look-like/

For some reason, this feels like a difficult conversation. But it doesn’t have to be.

This feels like a difficult conversation because there is a bit of fear that can surface on both sides. For you, the fear is that your boss might say “no” and what that means. For your boss, it’s trading something that’s working, even if it’s not working well, for an unknown and what that might mean about how she looks to her boss.

At the end of the day, it’s likely that your boss cares about a few key things and once she hears you confirm that her fears aren’t based in reality, then you are likely to get permission to take on a new task.

(Just watch out, because this can be a slippery slope…but a very good one if you want it to be!)

#1 – I’ll Continue to Fulfill My Day-to-Day Responsibilities.

Most of you have too much to do, not too little. So when you go to your boss asking to do something else, the logical assumption to be made is that you need your boss to take something off your to do list.

Do you?

If you don’t, you want to let her know why and how. How can you do something new and fulfill your existing responsibilities? Or, even better, how can you do this new task and fulfill your existing responsibilities better? If your boss hears this, she may not even need to hear the next two things. That’s how important it is.

Now, if you can’t honestly say this, then it helps to go in with a plan.

• How do you propose to have your existing responsibilities fulfilled while you complete a new task?
• Can you mentor someone more junior in your department?
• Delegate to someone who has the time?
• Get the new person to do it? (And, while I’m thinking of it, any time a new hire is being made is an excellent time to be proactive about shifting your role, as there is a new person waiting to take on the tasks you need to hand off to make your career goals possible.)
• Complete the activity, just on a different schedule?

Yes, it’s your boss’s responsibility to ensure all the work gets done…but she’s done that by hiring you. Recognize that in your request you are creating more work for her, and help her sketch out an achievable, sensible plan.

#2 – I Can Do This.

While your boss typically has a good idea of your capabilities, it might be narrow or she might be missing windows into some of your special skills, particularly your business analysis skills.

Therefore, when she hears, “I want to try X,” she thinks, “I need to help you with X.”

But maybe you’ve got that covered. If you’ve found a book, an online resource, or a course to take on your own time, you may not need help with X, just permission to do X.

Alternatively, you may have found a mentor in your organization who has already taught you to do X or has committed the time. If any of this is the case, let your manager know so she doesn’t fill in your request with her own story about how she needs to support you.

Now, it may be that you don’t have this covered and do need your manager’s help. Recognize that this makes the request on her time a bit bigger and be ready to let her know exactly what help you need:

• money for training,
• review and feedback,
• permission,
• soliciting stakeholder involvement, etc.

The more specific you can be, the easier it will be for her to say “yes” as she isn’t committing to an ambiguous task.

#3 – This is Important Because ____.

While we already know that doing this task is important to you, why would it also be important to your boss? Does it help solve a problem, prepare for a new and bigger type of project that’s coming soon, or stand to make your department more reputable or efficient? The important thing here is to look at things from your boss’s perspective, not just your own, and ask what benefit you doing this task can have for your boss.

For example,

• I know we’re hiring a new person to help with this task. When I first started, I made a series of mistakes that I didn’t need to make. If I document this business process, I can review it with the new person and help them be more successful right away.
• Last time we did a project like this, we found several errors after the software was released. In fact, 15 customers called to complain! If I help organize user acceptance testing and detail out some test scenarios, I think we can cut that down significantly.
• We’re consistently inconsistent and it’s causing confusion when new people work together. By documenting the process and reviewing it with the team, I can help us get on the same page, work more effectively, and work more consistently.

With these three communication points prepared, you are not guaranteed to get your boss’s blessing, but you are definitely stacking the decks in your favor. And those that consistently stack the decks in their favor eventually draw a Royal Flush.

Interested in learning more?

Click here to read how to be the one good things happen to << those happen to be my top 6 career management lessons.

As I’ve been thinking about eggs, it got me revisiting the chicken-and-egg scenario for aspiring BAs. You know the dilemma: I can’t get a BA job without experience but I can’t get experience without a BA job.

So, what comes first the business analyst or the business analysis experience?

My answer: They both happen at once.

Let me explain. Being a business analyst is 80% mindset. It’s more about how you approach a problem or an opportunity than what your title is or even what responsibilities you have at work.

This reality empowers you because while you can’t control what your boss asks you to do or what your job title is, you can control your mindset.

• When your boss asks you to add a new field to the database, do you take the time to understand what business process requires this?
• When a customer calls to complain that your product “doesn’t work,” do you look at things from their perspective and how the tool you support works within their process (i.e. using a few elicitation techniques) or do you rattle off product specifications and claim the product works “as designed.”
• When a co-worker complains about the input they receive from your department, do you put up a wall of defense or jump in and discover how the hand-off works between your respective departments?

(By the way, if you are looking for more helping stepping through this process of looking at problems, building a BA mindset, and even racking up some valuable business analysis experience along the way, the virtual courses in our professional development series are designed to help you apply BA techniques whether or not you are employed as a BA.)

By focusing on the business process and the root cause of the problem, you can be a self-proclaimed business analyst doing business analysis work before anyone ever anoints you with the business analyst job title. By reframing the opportunities right in front of you, you can cultivate the mindset of a business analyst and at the same time build a business analyst work experience worthy of adding to your resume or chatting with your boss about come performance review time.

It’s time to break the egg.

>>Looking for More Opportunities?

Here are some articles to help you cultivate your business analyst mindset:

53 Tips for Discovering All the Requirements

How to Expand the Work History Section of Your Resume

5 Processes Worth Mapping

And you won’t want to overlook How to Start a Business Analyst Career, the most comprehensive guidebook available to help you craft a plan to get started as a business analyst.

You finally find a job as a business analyst! You start your new job with high energy. But then days turn into weeks and weeks turn into months. One day you wake up and realize that while you might have the business analyst title, this isn’t at all what you expected out of a business analyst job.

Two of our community members are dealing with this very issue.

I need help with a bit of an identity crisis. I was recently hired as an IT business analyst. After 6 months on the job I realize that what they really want is more like a project coordinator or admin assistant. My boss forbids me to write design documents or detailed requirements for our software projects. How can I turn this around, or is it likely to be a mistaken hire?

***

 I recently made a big change; moved overseas and managed to get a Business Analyst position coming from a more Service Delivery in IT/Telecommunications background. However the job hasn’t been what I expected so far…I have been here for almost year and while I think I have done some good stuff here like writing training and other documentation as well as testing some pretty complex solutions, I haven’t really had the opportunity to do any of the core BA activities. What advice would you have for this sort of situation?

What’s going on here? There are a few reasons why this might happen.

The Job Title Was Wrong In the First Place

It may be that the manager or human resources professional in charge of putting together the job description simply titled it wrong. Take a second look at your job description. Do the responsibilities line up with the definition of a business analyst role?

If there isn’t a fair amount of overlap in responsibilities, you have the title but not the role.  You’ll need to determine if you can turn this role into a business analysis role, move into another role in the organization that does have business analysis responsibilities, or if it’s time to move on by moving out.

Your Manager Doesn’t Understand Business Analysis

Perhaps you have the title and the job description is a fairly close match to a true business analysis role. Then what?

Well, if your job description says “analyze requirements” but your manager forbids you to write detailed requirements documentation, then it might be that your manager doesn’t truly understand what it means to be a business analyst. This is an opportunity to educate your manager. Use references from books and websites (like this one maybe!) to help communicate how you could be helping the organization.

But this conversation should not be one-way.

Take time to understand why your manager hired a business analyst in the first place. In that answer lies the value of employing a business analyst to your manager and the seeds of some real business analysis responsibilities. For example, if your manager wants “requirements analyzed” or “clarity for the dev team” but doesn’t want a “detailed requirements spec,” understand what they are expecting. Ask for work samples, templates, or a detailed explanation of what’s required.

It may be that you two are using different language to talk about the same deliverable or the same language to talk about different deliverables. Getting more specific can often clear up these misunderstandings. And this leads us to our next possible issue.

More Pressing Matters Take Priority

If none of the above fits, it’s quite possible your manager hired you to do business analysis but organizational priorities have since shifted. Since the skill set of a business analyst tends to help us do well in a wide variety of roles, they reassigned you to more pressing tasks.

If this is the case, it’s time for a heart-to-heart conversation with your manager. You deserve to understand if this is a temporary sidetrack or a complete redefinition of your role. With this information in hand, you can make a good decision about staying put or pursuing other opportunities.

Choose Your Path

No matter where this analysis takes you, realize that you always have a choice and it’s your responsibility to choose.

• You can choose to stay and do the work in front of you to the best of your ability, letting go of the resentment and frustration.
• You can choose to gradually expand your role to higher-level responsibilities and inch your way into business analysis.
• You can choose to move into a new role in a new department or a new company, with more potential and opportunity.

Whatever you choose, we at Bridging the Gap are here to support you in expanding your skills and experiencing more confidence and success as a business analyst. Be sure to check out our online business analyst training and business analyst template toolkits. And don’t miss the book on getting started as a business analyst – How to Start a Business Analyst Career.

I have been working in the medical and spa industry for over 10 years. It seems every position I have involves some BA type duties from rewriting policy and procedure manuals to doing efficiency studies. I need to find a mentor to assist me in turning all this random experience into a BA career. I feel like I have the skills and the desire, even a natural aptitude; I just need some direction. I hope that you can help me with this. I feel like I’m wasting my potential.

Aaron’s reply:

Don’t mistake your “random” experience as just jobs because each of those experiences is a stepping stone to your Business Analysis career.  It is up to you to take charge of your career and drive it in the direction that you wish. I have done so and have been driving my personal career into the business analysis arena for the past several years.

There is no single way or roadmap to develop a business analysis career; each of us got here from different starting points and on different paths.  Some have come from the business side of the organization and others have come from the technology side.  The fact that the reader is requesting a mentor to assist them in developing their career shows that they are ready to take charge of their career and drive it in their desired direction, and not that of whichever job or task may come their way at any point of time.

Some ways to find a valuable mentor:

Look for a Business Analyst Mentor Inside Your Organization

The best mentors may be ones that you can meet with on a face-to-face basis and that you have access to on a daily or weekly basis.  Look for someone in your organization that exhibits the characteristics you would like to develop.  Look for someone that the rest of the organization considers the “go-to guy” when it comes to solving business problems.  This is not to say that a “virtual” mentor would not add value; and it really depends on the type of help for which you are looking.  A mentor that “sees” your work habits and interactions with stakeholders will be in a better position to give you work experience advice.

Look  for a Business Analyst Mentor in the Community

Another great place to find a mentor for career advice is in the business community.  They are still local and know that community in which you wish to develop your career.  One of the best places to find a mentor in your business community is in your local IIBA® chapter.  Connect with your local chapter and get to know other BAs within your local community.

Look for a BA that is active within the chapter and others go to for answers and advice.

Look for a Business Analyst Mentor Online

There are BAs that write many of the articles and blogs dedicated to helping professionals get started in a business analysis career or continue developing their career.  Stay abreast of the information these mentors create here on Bridging the Gap, or on BATimes.com, TheBAMentor.com, BusinessAnalysisMentor.com, ModernAnalyst.com, PracticalAnalyst.com and more.  

There are also individuals that will mentor new BAs virtually, such as our own Doug Goldberg, who gives advice over the internet to those individuals who seek him out.  They can give you the advantage of their years of BA experience.

Get the Book

In How to Start a Business Analyst Career, you’ll learn how to assess and expand your business analysis skills and experience.

This book will help you find your best path forward into a business analyst career. More than that, you will know exactly what to do next to expand your business analysis opportunities.

Click here to learn more about How to Start a Business Analyst Career

When I was preparing for my CBAP, I learned that it had been really easy to scan the BABOK and say, “I’ve never done that.” But when I dug deeper during exam preparation, I discovered my 10+ years of business analysis experience was even more relevant than I thought.

If I twisted my view of the world just a little, I could see where I had not fully appreciated what I was able to do as a BA and often why I was able to succeed as a BA.

What’s amazing is that this activity, to deeply appreciate your experience and learn to talk about your experience in the terms that are quickly becoming standard within our profession, has great intrinsic value, even if you don’t care a darn about the CBAP.

You might find value if:

• You are reworking your resume or preparing for a business analyst job interview and you want to incorporate BA appropriate BA terminology.
• You think you might have some business analysis experience, but want to see how qualified you are as a business analyst.
• You’ve been putting off your CBAP application because documenting your BA work experience overwhelms you.

The BABOK Tasks

Here are the tasks from the BABOK v2 we were able to address before BABOK v3 was released. Use these stories as a guidepost to discovering your own relevant business analysis career experiences.

• Getting Elicitation Right – With Preparation (BABOK 3.1)
• Do You Define the Business Need? (BABOK 5.1)
• Evaluate Solution Performance (BABOK 7.6)
• Do You Have a Favorite Elicitation Activity? (BABOK 5.2)
• The BABOK might not be a methodology, but the BA still needs one (BABOK 2.1)
• It’s Not “All Requirements” – Assumptions and Constraints Matter Too! (BABOK 6.4)
• Mind the Gap – The Capability Gap (BABOK 5.2)
• Are You Responsible for the Solution? (BABOK 7.1)
• Business Analysts Plan to Plan (BABOK 2.3)
• Good Things Come in Nice Packages (BABOK 4.4)
• Oh where, oh where does this requirement belong? (BABOK 7.2)
• The Value of Reusable Requirements (BABOK 4.3)
• Let Your Stakeholders Know You Heard Them (BABOK 3.3, 3.4)
• What are your requirements verification practices? (BABOK 6.5)
• How to Distinguish Requirements Validation and Verification (BABOK 6.6)
• Let Your Stakeholders Know You Heard Them (BABOK 3.3, 3.4)

>>Learn More About Becoming a CBAP or CCBA

Interested in becoming a CBAP or CCBA? We cover 8 steps to the CBAP certification, that will take you to just learning about the certification to successfully sitting for the exam.

Click here to read the article

Perhaps even more than planning for elicitation, planning the business analysis approach will set a mature business analyst apart from the crowd. The purpose of ‘Plan the Business Analysis Approach’ is to select an approach to performing business analysis, which stakeholders need to be involved in the decision, who will be consulted and informed of the approach, and the rationale for using it.

Although the BABOK is not a methodology, that doesn’t mean the BA is off the hook for creating a methodology in the context of their project or organization. And this is the task where that methodology, more generally called an approach, is put together.

First, BABOK distinguishes between plan-driven approaches and change-driven approaches, noting that most methodologies are somewhere in the middle. Plan-driven approaches focus on minimizing upfront certainty – we might think of “pure waterfall” (if such a thing even exists anymore) as a pure plan-driven methodology. Change-driven approaches focus on rapid delivery of business value in short iterations. The most visible example of a change-driven approach is agile, though continuous process improvement initiatives such as Six Sigma would fall under this category as well.

An important note is that the BA methodology does not live in isolation – it is either part of or integrated with the methodology for the project, which will cover many other aspects of delivering the project in addition to the requirements development effort. By the time you’ve defined your BA methodology, you’ll have a good idea of the role of the BA for this project, timing of BA work, formality of BA documentation, approach to requirements prioritization, change management process, business analysis planning process, and any requirements management tools you’ll employ.

This is quite a lot of decisions to make! My formal experience in this area is somewhat weak. The reality is that I’ve done individual pieces of BA planning often, such as choosing a prioritization scheme. Others I’ve done informally, such as timing the BA work with the project and choosing a level of formality that suits the project.

Instead of upfront planning to figure this out, I often approach timing and formality through trial and error. Sure, I’ll start by asking about expectations and look for guidance, but instead of starting from scratch, I’ll leverage something from my repository of templates (which I’ve now made available in the BA Template Toolkit), ask for feedback, try something different, rinse and repeat. I have also worked in many smaller environments where we are building the BA practice from scratch and my stakeholders just don’t know what they don’t know about what they want from a BA. So instead of diligent planning,  eyes-open trial and error tends to lay out an approach most efficiently.

There is one story I have to share where I truly did complete a much more rigorous plan. I’ve written a few times about my role in helping consolidate technology systems from 5 disparate organizations. In this position, I hired first one BA, then a second to help support the project. With more than one BA on the same project, a defined approach became essential. We developed some common templates and set expectations about the level of granularity of requirements within each template. We defined some common ways of working with a very large stakeholder group and prioritizing requirements. We explored potential tools to store and manage requirements, first using Excel spreadsheets and a SharePoint site, then exploring DOORS and other configuration management tools. This was one area that we iterated through several times throughout the project and modified as plans for delivering the solution changed.

This post is one installment in our Journey Through the BABOK with BA Stories series.

Kick-Start Your BA Methodology

The Business Analyst Template Toolkit includes a set of fully annotated business analysis templates you can use to develop your BA methodology or plan for your next project.

Click here to learn more about the BA Template Toolkit

I began to distrust the exam simulators and also my own test taking skills.  Although frustrated, I withheld judgement. How could I provide an honest evaluation of the simulators before I could compare them to the real exam?

If you remember, I was using simulators from two different companies: Watermark Learning’s, to which I purchased a 60-day license, and BA Mentor’s, to which as a Bridging the Gap partner I was provided with complimentary access. Both were helpful tools and they were similar in many ways.

The Features

Watermark Learning

• Provides 3 modes – Warm-Up, Study Drills, and a full exam simulator. I did not see the need for the warm-up, but used several of the study drills to determine how well my studying was going with a particular knowledge area. I also did not have the opportunity to use the full Exam Simulator because my subscription expired a day earlier than I expected, so I can’t comment on that aspect of the tool.
• I really liked how Watermark explained the answers – there were explanations both for the right answers and the wrong answers. So if I chose a wrong answer, I’d be able to read why it was wrong (often with some interpretation of why my thinking may have wrongly led me to that answer). The right answer included a reference to the appropriate section of the BABOK and, for the most part, some more detail from the BABOK or summarizing the BABOK.
• I did not like that in order to view all my wrong answers, I had to scroll back through each question individually. (I was told that an enhancement was being made to address this and so it may no longer be an issue.)
• You do have the option to submit one question at a time and receive feedback about whether the answer was right or wrong with the detailed explanations.
• Also, Watermark only saved one exam at a time, so as soon as I started a new drill, I lost the results to the previous drills and could not review those answers or see progress in terms of scores.

BA Mentor

Pricing

Watermark Learning: CBAP Online Study Exam

• 30 Days: $99
• 60 Days: $129
• 90 Days: $159.

If in doubt, purchase the longer package. I purchased a 60 day package and then wanted to extend for a week before my exam and was only offered a 30-day rate of $79 to renew.

BA Mentor: CBAP Exam Simulator:

• 15 days: $39.99
• 30 days: $59.99
• 45 days: $69.99
• 60 days: $79.99
• 90 days: $99.99

Renewal discounts are approximately 50% and you can renew for as little as two weeks at a time.

Which one is best for you?

Well, first, be clear that there are many other exam simulators out there. I chose Watermark Learning because they seem to be the most globally trusted among BAs, and BA Mentor because I have always trusted founder Linda Erzah and her passion for helping BAs get certified. Before choosing one or the other, you might want to do more research into the other options out there. (If you have publicly published reviews of other products, feel free to leave a link below.)

It will really depend on what’s important to you as you prepare. Are you confident in your test-taking skills? Do you want specific features? How important is the price difference? Can you afford more than one tool so that you don’t have to put your eggs all in one basket?

Looking back, the biggest difference was the questions and I found that BA Mentor’s exam simulator did a better job of preparing me for the unexpected and convoluted questions I faced on exam day. Maybe not everyone had this same experience with their CBAP exam, but it definitely caught me by surprise. Like I mentioned above and in this post on my experience with the CBAP exam itself, I didn’t believe the questions would be confusing until I was actually sitting in the room. It didn’t seem right to me at all (and it still doesn’t). And, while I’m still disillusioned by the relationship between the exam questions and being a good (nevermind great) BA, that’s really not the point. If you want to pass the exam, you need to be able to fight your way through the confusing questions. Prepare yourself.

>>Learn More About Becoming a CBAP or CCBA

Interested in becoming a CBAP or CCBA? We cover 8 steps to the CBAP certification, that will take you to just learning about the certification to successfully sitting for the exam.

Click here to read the article

At about 12:55, I had signed in, made chit chat with the exam proctor, confirmed bathroom procedures, put my stuff in my locker, and gone through the exam instructions and was looking at my first question. It was about business needs and I did not know the answer. Actually, the question didn’t make a lot of sense to me. Hmm..must just be a fluke. (But a little flake of self-doubt creeps up nonetheless.)

For the next hour or so, I continue through this pattern.

• About one out of every three questions is crystal clear and I answer confidently.
• About one out of every three questions is slightly confusing, but I can make a good guess. There’s two reasonable answers and I am choosing what I think is probably the best one.
• About one out of every three questions does not really make sense to me and I feel that I can eliminate one, sometimes two answers but am not really doing a great job of picking the best one.

After an hour or so of this pattern, I reflect on what’s happening and realize I could actually fail this exam. Answering 1 out of 3 with confidence does not provide very good odds. And it’s definitely not how I expected to feel after all of my preparation.

In cycles a flow of negative energy. The questions get harder. Now I am doubting myself for about 2 out of every 3 questions. Then the negative energy shifts to a bit of anger. I studied. I know the material. Why can’t I understand these questions? Is that a typo or is it deliberately misleading? That seems like the right answer, if only there was another comma or one letter was shifted. None of these answers seem right at all. Oy.

At 1 1/2 hours in, I decide that a break will do me good. I get up and go to the bathroom. I take two long drinks at the water fountain. I stretch. I shake my head. I take deep relaxing breaths.

Since the middle of last week, I’ve done a lot of last minute prep which is helping me feel more confident. Here’s a quick rundown of my last-minute efforts:

• Analyze results of the CBAP full exam simulation and re-review relevant sections of the BABOK and my notes to fill in obvious knowledge gaps.
• Read the Underlying Competencies section, which had not yet been part of my “deep dive” since I’m likely to only get 2-3 questions on the exam in this area.
• Drew out a model of the inputs and outputs of the first 4 knowledge areas, to visually walk-through for myself how they related.  I only stopped because I ran out of paper and, well, it was time for dinner. This was a valuable exercise as it helped me clarify some of the relationships between tasks and it would be great to see if someone could pull this together with no overlapping lines!
• Did one last review of my notes, focusing on the purpose for each task and technique.
• Confirmed the exam logistics. Went over my confirmation email with a fine tune comb for instructions. Since I’ll be at a Community College, confirmed the location of the exam place within the college, printed out duplicate directions, and typed up a quick schedule to allow for pre-exam snacks AND extra time in case something unexpected happens.

How Technical Awareness Will Set You Apart

At a CIO Panel put together by the Cincinnati IIBA Chapter as part of their professional development day earlier this year, the panelists emphasized again and again the need for strong business analysts to be aware of emerging technologies and how these new possibilities might impact the businesses in which they work. They painted a picture of IT-savvy business users coming to the project with new ideas and expecting the BA to be able to keep up with the conversation or perhaps even drive it into new territory.

In other contexts, I’ve seen BAs (or been the BA) with some awareness of new possibilities helping the business stakeholders break out of their rut of expecting little from IT and see into the realistic future of how to leverage new tools to improve their business process, or increase their effectiveness.

Regardless of the BA’s role of defining the solution, being aware of the solution options just makes good career sense. For one thing, it can help us hold our own in conversations with our stakeholders. For another, it can help us come up with new and innovative solution approaches to address critical business needs.

What Technologies to Be Aware Of

“Technology” is one of those terms that is just about as broad as “Business.” It can mean and include many things. When we talk about becoming more aware of emerging technologies, what, exactly does this mean? Emerging technologies could include any of the following:

• New tools and third-party software applications. For example, if you are in publishing, the latest content management technology would be especially relevant.
• Capabilities of custom-coding technologies (such as .NET or Java). More than a few years back, I remember learning that .NET 2.0 made a certain kind of real-time data processing fast and efficient, essentially blowing away a problem I’d worked with on a team a year earlier (coding in the 1.0 version) for months without a good resolution.
• New technical developments related to your industry or business domain. Are there new tools or capabilities your partners are making available which will also be available to your competitors?
• Social media applications. External technologies such as Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, 4Square, etc enable organizations to communicate with customers and potential customers in new ways. Because they are supported external to your organization, they can sometimes provide very cost effective ways of meeting new business needs. For example, could marketing’s new idea for a community site be fulfilled by a Facebook fan page?

Resources Available on Emerging Technologies

One of my favorite new magazines is FastCompany. This is not just a tech magazine. As I read, I learn not just about what’s new and interesting but about how other businesses are applying these technologies, gaining a blend of new business and technical ideas in one swoop.

Other resources include CIO.com (or the print magazine), Mashable.com, and Forbes Tecnnology.

And one very important resource to keep in mind is your own professional network. With so many possibilities, we can do much better if we pool our resources. Whether that means you form a small group of BAs who share emerging technologies of particular interest, attend a local professional meeting of IT professionals, or find an enterprise architect or two in your network (I’m lucky, I’m married to one) to meet for lunch on occasion and hear about the latest developments, finding a way to discuss these ideas with others will make the ideas (which might seem outlandish at times) more concrete.

I’m the biggest culprit when it comes to seeing a new technology — my immediate reaction is almost always “what would I do with that?” And the answers almost always surprise and enlighten me.

This past week I took my first two practice exams. The first was Watermark’s 50 question “light” exam. The second was BAMentor’s full 150 question exam. (Watermark also offers a full 150 question exam, but my subscription ran out a day earlier than I was expecting, so I didn’t get to try it out.)

I liked the light exam because it was reasonably efficient to complete and gave me a breakdown of how I did by knowledge area. I could quickly see that Requirements Management and Communication was my weakest area and used that information to plan some short-term cramming.

But it was when I got to the full practice exam that I really learned what it’s going to take next Tuesday, when I sit for the real deal. Here are a few of the challenges I’m preparing myself for.

Distraction and Boredom

While it doesn’t seem that big, 150 questions is a lot of questions. It took me nearly 2 1/2 hours to complete the practice exam. Admittedly I checked email and Twitter a few times and got up for snacks and bio breaks. But I felt I needed to do these things to keep my energy up and refocus. During the exam, I doubt I’ll have access to Twitter (though it would be great to leverage your collective expertise!) so I’ll need some quick, short distractions that will help me refocus my energy on the task at hand. And, well, at about 8 months pregnant, I’m sure I’ll need some bio breaks too and will hopefully be able to snack on a handful of almonds or something.

Uncertainty and Self-Doubt

Undoubtedly, there were questions I did not know the answers to. Sometimes this uncertainty created a lot of self-doubt.

Some were big and impacted many questions. How could I forget the purposes of the elicitation knowledge areas? (This cropped up especially after about the third question on elicitation where it became clear I was missing some key transition or output.) What was the difference between requirements validation and verification again? (I thought I had nailed it but then grew wary.)

Some were small. What’s the difference between an operative and structural business rule? Did I even see this model that looks like a decision tree and was it labeled? Is the input for this task business need (since so many are) or is it something further down the process (many more are than I thought during the exam)?

These doubts really speak to the need for a bit more preparation. As I made my way through the exam I realized it would be useful to capture these patterns so I could do more detailed reviews of these areas before my next practice session.

But regardless of how much I study, I know I’ll forget something or doubt something. So I think what’s important during the exam is to isolate these areas of doubt to specific questions and not let them creep into the entire exam.

Choose Between the Two Best Answers

Despite my doubts, I could almost always rule out two answers. Then it was a matter of choosing between the two best answers. They might both seem logical or relevant. Sometimes I could build some confidence that one seemed better than the other. Sometimes I just had to choose randomly. But choosing randomly between 2 gives you better odds than between 4. I’ll take my chances.

Opportunity and Sunk Cost

These are both concepts from the BABOK but they apply to the exam prep process too. When I looked back at my afternoon, I was a bit disappointed at the amount of time (sunk cost) I had invested in the practice exam. I wondered about the opportunity cost of this activity. In the context of exam preparation, I think the time spent taking a sample exam was well spent. In the context of all the other areas of my professional and personal life I could be investing in, it was a difficult pill to swallow. I’ll be swallowing it at least one, possibly two, more times before Tuesday. And then it will all be sunk cost behind me…and we know there’s no reason to fret over a sunk cost. At that point I’ll be able to look forward to all the magical things the future holds.

>>Learn More About Becoming a CBAP or CCBA

Interested in becoming a CBAP or CCBA? We cover 8 steps to the CBAP certification, that will take you to just learning about the certification to successfully sitting for the exam.

Click here to read the article

Some of this seemed so readily apparent, the BABOK terms falling nicely into place. Other aspects seemed so completely foreign.

And that’s when it hit me over the head.

The BABOK makes so much sense when…you’ve done it before!

Never having done decision analysis, the description to “calculate expected value of outcomes” seemed foreign until Kym went over it a second time. (Then it was relatively simple.)

Never having done a sequence diagram, I had to break apart the elements and try to piece them together. Essentially, using the BABOK descriptions to teach myself how to do a quick and dirty sequence diagram.

But having written user stories, the knowledge fell right into place (or validated what I already knew). And though I’ve never done anything I called Functional Decomposition, I could definitely relate the material to examples from my own work.

Obviously, this opinion isn’t the result of any fancy rocket science. But the realization hit me with so much force, I thought it would be worth sharing.

>>Learn More About Becoming a CBAP or CCBA

Interested in becoming a CBAP or CCBA? We cover 8 steps to the CBAP certification, that will take you to just learning about the certification to successfully sitting for the exam.

Click here to read the article

When I first started my journey with CBAP exam simulators, I posted a Tweet voicing this frustration. Kevin Brennan promptly replied that IIBA purposefully does not use trick questions on the exam. So perhaps the exam providers are helping us over-prepare (or freak out) with crazy questions that make no sense? Or, perhaps Kevin’s understanding of a trick question and my own are different? How will I know before I sit for the exam?

When I started taking sample tests 5 weeks ago somehow I thought by answering more questions and reading the BABOK with more care and attention, this would magically get easier. So it’s frustrating to find that it’s not. My test scores seem to be going down instead of up.

This isn’t one simulator either — it’s both the simulators I’m working with. So something tells me it’s not them, it’s me. It’s frustrating now to realize I need to work more on my test taking skills, something that has about zero value for me in my career, except that I get to put these 4 letters behind my name at the end. But alas, I’ve started on this journey and I’m not about to give up now.

If I had more time ahead of me, I think I would give up on the exam simulators and trust that my best-Laura-test-taker would magically emerge come exam-day. (She tends to come out when needed. For me, stress creates focus and focus brings forth the right skills for the right situation. I know stress shuts other people down, but I guess I’m lucky that doesn’t happen to me too often.) I would study the BABOK, be confident in my knowledge, and sit for the exam to the best of my abilities. Then, if I failed, I could revisit the exam simulators with the prior experience of what the exam was really like so I could focus my time and attention. But I really don’t want to be taking this exam with a 6-month old in my lap (I’m pretty sure that’s not even allowed — heck I’ll be 8 months pregnant and can’t even bring in water to drink!). So I must fight a way through this and be confident by exam day that I have done everything in my power to pass.

And soon. I scheduled my exam for September 27th!

>>Learn More About Becoming a CBAP or CCBA

Interested in becoming a CBAP or CCBA? We cover 8 steps to the CBAP certification, that will take you to just learning about the certification to successfully sitting for the exam.

Click here to read the article

Laura, I wanted to let you know that your article on system knowing and BA competencies has been a critical article for me, as this both encouraged me to make a recent job transition, and it has been assisting me in pulling through that transition. In short, I began questioning my skillset and considering if I was an effective Business Systems Analyst, or if I was relying on my technical and systems knowledge to see me through. When I initially encountered this article, I put a two-fold plan into action: a. achieving the CBAP certification (I suppose as ‘proof’ of my BSA legitimacy, as well as an avenue to opening new opportunities), and b. breaking away from my current domain and existing systems knowledge (with which I had grown comfortable) to a completely different domain in which I had no little to no prior knowledge.

It was a frightening choice, and I had to keep telling myself why I was making the move. When I finally made the move, I had to once again tell myself why I had made the move. Even now, when I get discouraged and crave the familiarity of old systems, I realize I need to maintain faith in my BA competencies (I might make a case that the BA profession is in itself a ‘system’!). I admit, I was surprised that I was hired into a new domain sector (even if inside the same industry), so I consider myself lucky to have been hired by someone with the foresight to recognize that BA/BSA skills need not be systems nor domain specific.

Clearly, Eve is taking on the right challenges and taking ownership of her career. Clearly she sees herself as part of the BA profession and is focused on staying relevant. Clearly, we are really lucky to have her here at Bridging the Gap.

My challenge to you this week is to consider whether or not you are taking on the right challenges to move your career forward. Are you stuck in a comfortable place where new challenges are few and far between? Or, are you taking steps to put yourself in the uncomfortable situations that create growth. I dare you to take a critical look at where you are at, and where you are headed and see if it might make good career sense to stretch yourself just a bit farther.

>>Get Help Stretching

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Click here to check out business analyst course offerings.

But now I am at the point where the rubber hits the road. Literally. About two weeks ago, I sent the check in for my exam fee. I walked it down our little dirt road to the mail box, breathed in deep, dropped the letter in the box, and put up the flag. We’re not exactly in the country, but we are not in the city either. The mail truck going by is a rusted out old jeep, painted white. This being one of the first pieces of mail I sent from our new home and given my choice to use a recycled envelope instead of a nice clean new one, I had some lingering doubts about whether the check would arrive safely.

So every day I check to see if the check is cashed. Every day it’s not. Although the entire CBAP process is really well documented with timeline expectations, this is one piece that’s a little vague. So I’m actually not sure what to expect next.

Luckily, IIBA sends a confirmation email when they have received a check. I received that last week. And then earlier this week (about a week later) I received the email that’s now plaguing my inbox. This one is from the test center. It has every piece of information I need to schedule the exam. And given there are exam times just about every morning and afternoon from here to eternity, now it’s up to me to decide.

When do I sit for the exam?

• Morning or afternoon?
• Beginning of the week or end?
• September or October?

I decided to use any free time that my schedule allowed – no matter how little, to get the process started. And as it often happens, after I got done with it, I thought, “gosh, this wasn’t so bad – I wish I had done this sooner!”  It was actually very invigorating and motivating. That’s when it dawned on me what an excellent idea it would be to share my experience and the template that I had created to structure my thought process, with my fellow BAs so that a larger group could benefit from my efforts. And then what else could be a better place than Bridging-the-Gap to share this – I have grown so much with the help of this blog, its members, its experts: Doug, Michelle, Linda, and last but no means the least, Laura!

(By the way, for more advice on getting your CBAP, check out Laura’s 8 Steps to Becoming a CBAP resource page.)

The worksheet that I have provided here is a template to help you capture information about your projects as they pertain to your CBAP application. The way this worksheet was planned, it allows you to work in in bits and pieces. So even if you have 20 minutes every day, I believe this worksheet will allow you to capture the required information and any related thoughts that come to mind, thus allowing you to keep the process going.

There are 6 sheets in the attached worksheet:

1. Start – Provides an overview on how to use this worksheet.
2. Projects – Allows you to list all your relevant projects and the associated details required for the application.
3. Project Tasks – Allows you to match your experience with the tasks defined in BABOK.
4. Org Info – Allows you to collect details about the organizations where you have performed these BA tasks and information about your project contacts.
5. Questions – Allows you to capture questions as they arise in your mind. There will be several questions that will come up in your mind while you are working on your application. This space will serve as a placeholder before you can draft an email to IIBA.
6. To Do List – To keep the application process on track. Write down the things that you need to attack to keep things moving for your CBAP application.

When I started this document for myself, I only had the Projects and the Questions sheet. I worked on my worksheet in bits and pieces over the span of my three weekend travels, and I am glad that I decided to forge ahead rather than waiting for a big free slot of free time, else I could have never finished it.

So my two cents would be to begin working on your CBAP application as little or as much you can every day! If you can set aside a dedicated time, that is superb, but if not, don’t prevent yourself from putting in those few minutes every day.

I hope this template serves as useful to you as it did to me.

>>Learn More About Becoming a CBAP or CCBA

Interested in becoming a CBAP or CCBA? We cover 8 steps to the CBAP certification, that will take you to just learning about the certification to successfully sitting for the exam.

Click here to read the article

Then the reality hit. Another week, another chapter, another simulated exam. Although the material is new, there is a certain monotony in preparing for an exam. At first, you are trying different study techniques, experimenting with new ways of absorbing information, and exploring new tools. Around every corner surfaces something new and unexpected. Then you land on what seems to be the best way for yourself to study the material, and you become acclimated to the discovery process. And there’s nothing left to sludge on through, using the process you’ve discovered, again and again and again. It’s more like getting on one of those little kid trains that goes a few feet up and down than the Gemini, the Blue Streak, or the Millenium Force. (Yes, I live in Denver, but I grew up near Detroit where boat trips to Cedar Point were yearly occurrences. I remember approaching Cedar Point from a mile or more away and seeing the initial climb of the Millenium Force rising into the air and thinking, “tomorrow I’ll be up there.” But again, I digress. CBAP. CBAP.)

This is where you find me now. Diligently moving forward. Occasionally putting off studying. Doing what needs to be done. The excitement is gone. The passion for the process was really never there so there is nothing to rekindle. But I might be being a bit dramatic here. There have been a few moments of excitement along this otherwise now routine path. A few blips that keep my interest piqued and my intellectual faculties engaged. Most of them have come from interactions with my CBAP study group. And, again, they revolve around this core idea of discovering how what I do is similar or different to what “the BAs of the world” do.

Elicitation results vs. Documenting the Results of Elicitation

This is one of those things you read in the BABOK and makes sense, but then when someone else explains it to you, it becomes more puzzling. The Elicitation knowledge area of the BABOK is split into 4 tasks:

• Prepare for Elicitation,
• Conduct Elicitation Activity,
• Document Elicitation Results, and
• Confirm Elicitation Results.

The output of Conduct Elicitation Activity is “Elicitation Results,” which is an input to the next task, Document Elicitation Results. But in a pattern that emerges throughout the BABOK, the output does not have a prescribed form. Often it’s safe to assume it’s some sort of document and storage of information, even if in the real world that information is captured in a deliverable with outputs from one or more other tasks. But the Documenting Elicitation Results task clearly indicates that meeting notes, meeting recordings, or even picture recordings of a whiteboard fall within its domain. So what exactly is this output from the earlier task? It seems that the Elicitation Results are things that hang in the ether somewhere.

I raised this question in the CBAP prep class I’m taking and was glad to learn that I wasn’t alone at being a little puzzled. Through the chat box, several participants shared possible examples and we had a bit of interaction about the possibilities. I ended up deciding to keep things straight in my mind by thinking of “Elicitation Results” as raw notes, perhaps even those transcribed by hand during the meeting, and the outputs of Document Elicitation Results, which are Stated Requirements and Stated Stakeholder Concerns, as organized notes ready for analysis.

Of course, in the real world, I blend all of this together for expediency and because I can often quickly move to analysis. But I get the separation and think I have the concepts straight enough to answer questions correctly on the exam.

What is a focus group anyway?

It’s always surprised me that focus groups are a technique in the BABOK as I think of them as a marketing activity. And as we talked through Focus Groups in class my perception didn’t shift. Then someone from class asked a question about the difference between Focus Groups and what she has called Breakout Sessions. After the instructor summarized the technique, the student added a bit more context about her Breakout Sessions and how she used them to better understand a problem and stakeholder perceptions of a problem. It seemed that she was probably facilitating Focus Groups in a very different way than I had thought of them before. This line of thinking opened up the possibility that I, too, had used the technique. While the broader definition I now understand isn’t likely to help me with the exam, it does expand my view of my own experience and help me think about the separation between Focus Groups and Requirements Workshops, which might help me plan a few meetings better in the future.

Discovering my primary elicitation practice is 1/3 interview, 2/3 requirements workshop

I made a lot of assumptions about the techniques in the BABOK. It’s funny what you learn when you actually take the time to read the text carefully. I had always assumed a Requirements Workshop was the kind described by Ellen Gottesdiener in Requirements by Collaboration – a full day meeting in which participants collaborate together on requirements deliverables. After reading the BABOK‘s description of the technique, I discovered while the time frame of 1-2 days is referenced, the creation of deliverables is not. In the general way the technique is described, it could include collaborative creation of deliverables. But it could also include group dialog, around a set of requirements, which are captured by a scribe, and then put together after-the-fact by a BA. And this is the type of meeting I typically run. Still, since the BABOK specifically says these meetings typically last 1-2 days and mine typically last 1-2 hours, I say I’m about 2/3 there. And the other 1/3 is captured by the Interview technique which can include interviews of more than one person together.

Interesting?

Where am I going with all of this?

I’ve been reticent to offer advice to other potential CBAPs along this journey, since I know not yet whether my process is going to work and do not have the real experience (i.e. taking the exam) to enable me to reflect on what aspects of my preparation were most useful and why. But one thing that’s emerged so far is that finding a group of BAs to share the experience with might be the most important thing I did in terms of keeping my energy up.

This doesn’t have to be a prep class. It can be a study group or just one other BA to share experiences with. But you have to step through the BABOK with them, share experiences, share frustrations, work out details, and use dialog to absorb the material. I think this group picks you up when you get down (or bored) and reigns you in when you get lost. I’m really glad our instructor treads the fine balance between interaction and focus, allowing us some discussion about the material, and how it relates to the real-world, to ensure we actually get it and then refocusing us back to the BABOK and what we need to understand for the exam. Because sometimes all I need to hear is, “yes, that’s a good point, but let’s be sure we understand what the BABOK is telling us.” This sort of subtle redirection that keeps the energy I have focused on the preparation that will help me be exam-ready.

How about you? Has being part of a group helped you prepare for the CBAP exam?

So it’s no surprise that I’ve bypassed a good deep reading of the preface and introduction to the BABOK until preparing for the exam. What a mistake I had made! There’s some good stuff in there! Here are a few of my favorite passages:

IIBA encourages all practitioners of business analysis to be open to new approaches and new ideas, and wishes to encourage innovation in the practice of business analysis (2) .

Sometimes the BABOK can feel like a self-contained world in which everything we do as business analysts must have a spot. But when you begin to look at the content with this perspective, it’s more about a framework for bringing new ideas into the profession. I still think that we BAs have a lot to learn from UX professionals (and vice versa). And when you read the list of sources of information that follows the introduction, you get the feeling that business analysis is more about inclusion and trying new approaches, than following a rigid methodology or process. Nice. This is my kind of BA.

The BABOK Guide contains a description of generally accepted practices in the field of business analysis. …. In addition, practices which are not generally accepted by the business analysis community at the time of publication may be equally effective, than the practices described in the BABOK Guide (3).

As Kym Byron, my instructor for BA Mentor’s Exam Prep Class, so nicely noted, this is what separates the BABOK from other BA texts. It’s not one person’s opinion on how to do BA. It’s not an example of a methodology that has worked in a certain set of circumstances. It represents a collection of tasks and techniques that have been validated by a large number of business analysis professionals in their active work.

As such, the BABOK is an “as is” document, not a “to be” or, definitely a “should be.” Although many take it that way and look to the BABOK as a methodology. This is an important constraint to keep in mind when we consider the value of certification against the knowledge in the BABOK as well as consider how we use the BABOK in our work. Assimilating the BABOK is more about becoming connected with business analysis as it’s done today, flaws and all. For individuals or organizations looking for a baseline to measure themselves against, the BABOK would provide that framework. For organizations and individuals looking to become best in class, this might mean leveraging the BABOK framework but looking beyond it for practices and approaches. At least that’s how I understand the implications of this passage.

Finally, my absolute favorite.

Similarly, we do not assume that requirements are analyzed at any particular level of detail, other than to say that they should be assessed to whatever level of depth is necessary for understanding and action (5).

Get out the yellow highlighters and pink stickers! Or, you might be re-reading the above sentence and wondering what the heck I’m so excited about. Well, I feel like a bit of my own BA Manifesto is validated (even if it’s publication does post-date the publication of the BABOK 2.0) with the focus here on understanding (what I called alignment) and action (what I called positive change).

I also feel validated in the natural tension I feel on so many projects where I try to balance clarity and ambiguity and decide when “enough is enough.” Here’s our professional body of literature telling us that this tension is justified, because our work is not just to document the requirements, but to assess the requirements at the right level of detail to keep the project moving and ensure everyone understands the implications of those requirements.

Hmm…perhaps I should re-evaluate my “skip the introduction” philosophy. I wonder what else I’m missing?

>>Learn More About Becoming a CBAP or CCBA

Interested in becoming a CBAP or CCBA? We cover 8 steps to the CBAP certification, that will take you to just learning about the certification to successfully sitting for the exam.

Click here to read the article

Regardless, how others’ perceive our work is critical to improvement and that’s a concept that’s built right into all of our instructor-led courses here (this is one of the many attributes that makes them unique in the marketplace). Understanding how our work is perceived gives us critical information when it comes to increasing our value and improving the actual work that we do.

But how do we come to understand others’ perceptions? One word: feedback. We need to hear or read what they actually think about what we are doing day-to-day.

OK, but how do we get it?

Here are a few techniques I’ve used to get feedback on my work, even when I’m a consultant and there are no performance reviews or formal evaluations.

1 – Ask For Feedback on a Deliverable or Meeting

Sometimes it can be tough to ask for direct feedback. And others might think that it’s the job of our manager to give us that feedback. So asking for feedback on a deliverable, such as a requirements specification, or a meeting, can be a nice way to slide around this dilemma.

I particularly like to ask for feedback on my meetings. I’ll wait for a meeting that comes to a close a bit before the scheduled time, and then casually ask participants to share any feedback on the meeting. I’ll say something like:

We’ve been running meetings the same way for awhile and it would be great to know how this is working for you. Do you see any areas we could improve? Or, is there a way I could help run these meetings more effectively?

Or

This is the first time we’ve tried this format for a meeting. How did it go? Anything we should adjust for next time?

Now, when I receive feedback, I tend to interpret it directly. I incorporate the feedback into improving the meeting, but also use it to evaluate my skills and find ways to improve more generally. For example, if someone says that it would be more helpful to have a visual instead of a text document, I’ll not just make this adjustment for the next time, but also reflect on how I could have anticipated this request and improved the meeting, thereby honing my meeting preparation skills.

2 – Watch For Non-Verbal Feedback

While our teammates might not want to give us direct feedback, few can help giving at least some feedback non-verbally. This might be as obvious as an eye roll (I’ve had it done to me) or as difficult-to-spot as a slightly puzzled look. Either way, being hyper-aware of this non-verbal feedback can create an opportunity for more feedback. Take the chance to ask the person, in a non-threatening way, if they have any ideas for how to improve whatever it is that you are discussing. Or simply ask if they have anything to add.

The challenge with non-verbal feedback is that you don’t necessarily know the trigger or the meaning. You could think that eye roll has to do with what you just said when the reality is that a rude teammate just noticed your lunch in your teeth! Without validating and drawing out the real feedback, you risk changing behavior that doesn’t need improvement at all.

3 – Ask for Direct Feedback

Some organizations support direct peer feedback via formal 360 review processes, which is great. But in lieu of a formal structure, simply asking your peers for feedback on your work could turn up some hidden gems. Instead of asking for general feedback, ask specific questions, focus on the impact of your work, and try to ask questions framed by the goals of the team. Some possibilities include:

• How did you see my efforts contributing to the success of this project?
• What did I do that was particularly helpful to you?
• Do you see any ways I could have made contributions to help alleviate some of the issues we faced as a project team?
• I felt like this {meeting, email chain, etc.} didn’t go so well and I’d like to improve how I handle similar situations in the future. Do you have any specific suggestions for me based on your own experience?

The trick is to be sincere and open-minded. As soon as you try to defend yourself, you are likely to shut the other person down. Instead, ask clarifying questions and, if appropriate, for advice.

Since peers might have a limited perspective of what great business analysis looks like, it’s a good idea to ask several peers similar questions and compare notes. It’s also important to reflect deeply on what you learn. Or, discuss the feedback you’ve received with a senior BA, mentor, manager to validate it and decide how to improve based on what you learned.

>>Improve Your Requirements Writing Skills

Looking for practical ways to reduce requirements defects while also improving your requirements specifications? Check out one of our business analysis training courses:

• Business Process Analysis
• Use Cases and Wireframes
• Data Modeling for Business Analysts

At Bridging the Gap, we help you start your business analyst career and gain confidence in your business analysis skills.

I was almost a complete slacker this week. I spent just an hour or two on Wednesday progressing against this week’s goal, which was to work through (and maybe finish) the techniques section of the BABOK. At about 80 pages, this chapter is the longest. It also contains the real tactical gems that we all love. Yet, I made it through about 10 pages total.

Now, I did do some studying this past weekend, finishing up Solutions Assessment and Validation and going through a practice exam (again topping out at 78%). This chapter was the most difficult I’ve tackled so far. Maybe it’s just my type of BA experience, but I found it abstract and very difficult to relate to. I kept trying to pull out pieces of my career history for examples, but there were a lot of cases where I just wasn’t sure exactly what part of my experience aligned. This is one chapter I’m definitely looking forward to reviewing as part of the BA Mentor prep class, as I hope by talking about it with other BAs it starts to sink in.

But Wait – Some Good News!

But in all my honesty about my slackerdom, I have forgotten to share the good news. On Wednesday I also received an email indicating my application had been accepted. I’m all clear to sit for the exam! Now to pull together the $325 and be ready to commit to an exam date.

The Slacker Antidote

One thing I’ve learned about myself in the last few years is that if I don’t know why I’m doing something, I usually stop before I finish. There are a few reasons…and they might surprise you.

Learning from the PMP

First, if you look at the BA career path and assume it might evolve similarly to the PM career path, there’s a definite risk factor in choosing not to earn the CBAP while I have the experience to do so. If in 5 years (or 10 or 15) I want to go back to a full-time BA job and, like the PMP, the CBAP is so prevalent its a “must have” requirement, my options will be limited. I’m not sure I will want to do this, but I don’t like having my options limited.

But I don’t make decisions based on fear alone. And something tells me that the 300+ posts I’ve written here will count for something. I’ve already earned credibility and trust by sharing what I know and what I don’t. Do I really need some letters behind my name to further validate what I’ve already proven?

Related to the above is the idea that the very success of my mentoring and training organization might come to depend on my being certified. I actually received my first response from a potential mentee a few weeks back challenging my experience and lack of certification. My response is (and will still be even once certified) that you should judge me based on the results I can deliver for you, not based on a certification. Still, it makes me wonder how many people are caught up on the idea that I’m not certified and use that as an excuse to look elsewhere for their training needs.

I’m not ashamed to admit that I’m creating a bit of a fail-safe for myself and protecting my career against potential future circumstances. Because we all deserve to take care of ourselves once in a while, right?

I Care About BA

Which leads me to my second reason. I care about business analysis. When I left my full-time job just over 3 years ago and took the summer off to find my career direction, I discovered that business analysis is where I belong. And then I started writing here and meeting many other talented BAs, the kind I had been looking for in my work for a long time, and everything kind of clicked. And you know what, many of the talented BAs are CBAP Recipients. There is definitely a sense of being one of “them” that’s inspiring me on this journey.

That being said, I show I care and belong to this group in many ways, mostly through writing but also through training and mentoring. I could choose to say ‘that’s enough’. There are some great BAs out there sticking to this approach for their BA careers and I will never think anything less of them. In fact, I might think more of them because they are choosing the more difficult path of consistently proving their value and contribution to the profession through their actions and not by relying on credentials.

The Value of the Certification Process

But let’s go back to this certification and what it really means. At the end of the day, it means that you can have the designated experience and can pass a multiple choice test that represents you have comprehended or memorized the BABOK. That being said, many people find value in the process. The application process alone requires you to dig up elements of your BA work history and many people find this creates a great sense of confidence. I agree. I’ve been digging up my career history ever since I wrote the first Bridging the Gap blog post. It’s a valuable process I do because it’s valuable, not because I need to do it for a certification.

And how about that exam preparation? In a comment on my first CBAP Journey post, Deb Hill said something that clicked.

There is still a lot to be learned from the BABOK. My first reaction to seeing it many moons ago (I think I first saw version 1.6) was … wow, somebody really gets what I have been doing for the past twenty or so years. A lot of good stuff … Understanding how the outputs from one knowledge area/task flow into another knowledge area/task is really helpful.

Yes, this is what I needed to hear. And it’s resembling my own experience as well. By going through the BABOK and putting the pieces together in my head I’m building a model for business analysis that goes beyond what I had before. I have the pieces and parts, I can diagnose my experience, now maybe I’ll be able to be a bit more “formal” or at least informed about my approach.

I’ve also already found that as I create new lessons for My Business Analysis Career, I’m bringing elements I’ve learned through my study to bear. These represent small tweaks, but definite improvements. Again, I could do this without ever taking the exam, but even though I’ve read the BABOK a couple of times, reading it with an eye for the exam is encouraging deeper comprehension.

My Deep Dark Secret

So then to the final reason. If you look carefully at the archive of posts on CBAP here at Bridging the Gap, you’ll notice I’ve rarely presented my personal opinion on the value of CBAP. I’ve shared others’ opinions, interviewed CBAP Recipients about their experiences, and published posts by CBAP Recipients and CBAP-wannabes, but I’m relatively quiet on the topic myself. (And there’s not much I’m quiet about, is there?)

Why is this? Well, despite talking to so many great BAs who also happen to be CBAP Recipients, my impression of certifications in general is not favorable and I wasn’t ready to share my view publicly. I think there is a significant disconnect between documenting experience and successfully passing a multiple choice exam and great business analysis. Although I’ve heard the stories and listened to the experiences, I haven’t drunk the CBAP Kool-Aid. Something is missing.

What I think we see happening right now is that those who are most passionate about the profession chose to earn the certification because they’ve been waiting for a way to say, “yes, this is me!” And that’s definitely honorable and it means that CBAP Recipients, at least those in our readership, represent a top-notch group. Five, ten, fifteen years from now when there might be 20,000 CBAP Recipients, the story will probably be very different.

Although I’m pursuing my CBAP, my opinion hasn’t changed. I’m not pursuing certification because I think it will make me a better BA or because I think it should lead someone else to think I’m a better BA. But I am curious about the process and the benefits it might have for my career, even if I am not-so-secretly still questioning that those benefits are valid. A girl can be practical, can’t she?

Besides, I’ve realized that I simply don’t have the right to be critical of a certification I myself haven’t yet managed to earn.  Rest assured, when all is said and done, I’ll share if and how going through the process has changed my opinion of certification.

So there you have it…my ‘why’. I know I won’t get anywhere without it and, quite honestly, I think it’s a little weak. It still frustrates me that I have to take time to do this when I could be creating better products or helping more people advance their BA careers or honing my skills by picking up a small contract. For me, all of the above are the opportunity costs of becoming a CBAP and the reason why I’ve put it off to the very last responsible moment.

>>Learn More About Becoming a CBAP or CCBA

Interested in becoming a CBAP or CCBA? We cover 8 steps to the CBAP certification, that will take you to just learning about the certification to successfully sitting for the exam.

Click here to read the article

Could you provide tips to not appear ‘meek’ in interviews and during your first days on the job? When I start a new job I’m usually quiet while I listen and gather information. I am called a sunny person because I smile and talk positively around everyone. So, the context is from other people that are going to be working with me, after 5 days on the job – observing me. My latest manager has reported this to me that the functional analysts are worried because I seem meek. I checked with a former boss and he thought so too at the beginning. So, I guess having been seen like this in several jobs – I don’t think that is the way I want to come across. How do you seem strong, capable and intelligent without being meek, or going the other way and seeming like a bulldozer?

Laura’s answer:

I think I often act similarly in a new position and it is great that your latest manager took the opportunity to give this feedback…otherwise how would one know about how such laudable actions (taking time to understand before being understood, and cultivate a positive relationship with your stakeholders) are being perceived?

As I thought this one over, a story came to mind. In my director role I interviewed someone to take over the PMO for our organization. She had worked with our CIO previously, so her capabilities were known. After we had each met with her, our VP of Technology made an interesting point. He thought that as a leader of project managers, she seemed like she might be a pushover and he was wary about bringing her onto our team because she didn’t seem like she could stand up to the business. The CIO (who was anything but meek herself) reported that was one of her strong traits. She created the perception that she was acquiescent, but when circumstances dictated it, she held fast. So she built strong relationships without being confrontational and created a position of strength for her team.

Perhaps part of this story rings true to you? And you might wonder whether it’s worth changing this initial perception, and what position of strength might be sacrificed in the long run, if you did?

But perhaps some expectation setting is in order, and some small tweaks might help you. Another story comes to mind, but this might seem unrelated so please bear with me at first.

I’m a writer and a note-taker. If I’m in a meeting, I write notes. As I prepare for my CBAP, I’m practically rewriting the whole BABOK by hand. When I interview someone for a new position, I also take copious notes. It’s how I process information best, and when I was sometimes in meetings 5-6 hours per day, I needed to use every tool at my disposal to ensure I processed the information coming in.

But I noticed that my note-taking was sometimes having adverse impacts on job interviewees or in 1-1 meetings with staff. Even good candidates get nervous and I realized that my note-taking was sometimes causing them to hesitate and not fully engage in our conversation. So I started a new habit of explaining my note-taking at the beginning of an interview, and let my staff know about it too, just to be sure they understood that regardless of what I thought about what they were saying, I was going to take notes. I apologized if this was distracting and explained my way of processing information.

This seemed to help ease the tension a lot. This habit has filtered over to my consulting where if I’m in a meeting with new stakeholders, I just mention my note-taking habit up front and let them know to expect it. Typically in this situation, I also take the opportunity to cast it as a benefit, letting them know that I take a lot of notes so that I don’t have to come back to them repeatedly with the same questions.

How might this help you? Well, would it make sense to consider being up front about some of the ways you behave that make you be perceived as meek with your manager or other analysts, and provide them with alternate interpretations for these behaviors up front? Possibly let them know that you tend to be acquiescent as you build relationships with new stakeholders and that this has caused you to be perceived as meek in the past, but it really helps you in the long-run get done what needs doing. Perhaps by admitting this “flaw” in the beginning, you’ll be able to control the perception from those who really matter, avoid any negative short-term consequences, and also be able to do your job in the way that makes you successful?

>>Learn More About Starting a New BA Job

What to Expect in a Business Analyst Job Interview

How to Get Noticed for On The Job Opportunities

How to Learn About a New Business Domain

• Submit CBAP Application
• Initial Absorption of Solutions Assessment and Validation
• Exam simulation for the above and BA Planning and Monitoring

There’s no turning back once you hit submit…

First off, I submitted the application. The second reference came through and I hope he said good things about me. I did a final review and hit submit. Yes, once you hit submit there are NO changes. This was a big moment. Now just 21 business days until I find out the results. That seems like a woefully long time…but no reason to pause on my studying.

Absorption and the BOK

Exam preparation consumed most of my energy this week. As I started doing what I’m calling the “absorption” of the BABOK, which is essentially a deep read along with detailed hand-written notes (this is just how I learn best), I realized I didn’t have a clue if what I was learning was enough to pass the exam. Sure I felt a bit smarter and more aware. I definitely read a few things that surprised me and was doing pretty good at “being the BOK.” But was this all I needed to know or was I missing something?

I think anyone who uses a self-study approach is going to feel this lack of confidence. It’s like, I “get it” but do I really get it? And what we mean is, will I be able to transform this newfound knowledge of business analysis (which really doesn’t feel all that new, just different terms than I’m used to using), into successfully passing the exam?

Because again, this exam is not about writing about business analysis (which I could do for a long, long time) and there’s no real-life person on the other side of the exam who can say, “I know what you meant and I see you understood the material. Nicely done.” In fact, you don’t get to say anything. You just get to read a question and select, A, B, C, or D. And hopefully you make the right selection enough times to pass.

There’s no translator and no benefit of the doubt. And of course that drives me crazy.

So to get myself out of my head on this one and into something tactical, I purchased an online exam simulator. What better way to see if I could pass than actually answer exam-like questions? I purchased Watermark Learning’s online exam simulator and will be evaluating BA Mentor’s online exam simulator when I start their prep class in a few weeks.

Why two simulators? Two reasons.

1 – This whole idea of someone who didn’t write the exam crafting questions that test my exam preparation is a bit sketchy to me. I mean, really, no offense to the training providers out there, but how do you know what’s on the exam? You don’t. That stuff is kept under lock and key in a lead-sealed vault in Toronto. (Probably not, but I’m sure it’s safely tucked away somewhere…) I figure by leveraging the resources of two companies, I’m covering more bases.

2 – I have always been a huge fan of BA Mentor on the site and recommended their materials. That recommendation has been based mostly on knowing Linda Erzah, the founder of the company, and the spirit of what makes them tick. Linda gets BA and is devoted to helping others pass the CBAP. As a reluctant participant on this journey, I can tell you I really appreciate her energy and enthusiasm. She’s sent me countless emails (in addition to her comments here) to help me stay motivated.

But now that I’m actually preparing for the CBAP myself, I figure it’s time to compare what BA Mentor brings to at least one other company’s materials, as a way of giving you a more informed opinion. I chose Watermark because they are reputable and involved. Founder Richard Larson came to visit our Denver IIBA chapter earlier this year and talked about CBAP prep, and instructor Bob Prentiss  is one of the most motivational speakers on business analysis I’ve ever had the pleasure to experience. My experience with them made their materials a logical choice.

My first simulator results

OK. So that’s my why…let’s move onto what happened with the exam simulator. Well, I scored 73% on Requirements Planning and Monitoring and 78% on Business Analysis Planning and Communication. I think these are decent scores? Not so sure. They are a little lower than they should be because Watermark’s exam includes questions about the techniques with the Knowledge Area(s) in which they are referenced. This just doesn’t gel with how I’m studying as I’ve set aside a separate time to go through that humongous chapter at the end instead of doing it in pieces and parts as I go through each knowledge area.

While it’s frustrating to get a question you know you haven’t prepped for yet, I’m honing my testing skills by seeing some patterns in what I have prepped for. One mistake was glancing to quickly at terms and see “requirements” when it should have been “business analysis” and making a wrong choice. Another was to blur together inputs, outputs, techniques, tasks, deliverables, work products, etc…which all are used in very specific ways in the BABOK and, at least in this sample set, for the questions as well. This often led to a conceptually logical choice but a wrong one.

Here she goes again…

Now, I could get on my high horse and start complaining about this. In fact, I think I already did a bit earlier. The truth is that right now I just want to pass the darn exam. Even if I conceptually get it and whether or not that should be enough to become a credentialed business analysis professional, I don’t want to fail. Not now that I’ve got all of you watching me! So I’m going to learn the ins and outs and be ready to dot my I’s and cross my T’s in business analysis. And the exam simulator is definitely helping me do that. And doing it chapter by chapter helps a ton. I felt my second and third waves of “absorption” were more on target than the first one, simply because I knew what kinds of questions I might be asked.

Strangely enough, I do feel like I’m enjoying some parts of the studying. It’s sort of like putting a big puzzle together in your head, except the puzzle involves blending “how I do BA” and “how the BABOK talks about BA.” And by looking at it this way, it’s become less about memorization and more about brainwashing assimilation. Some might say I’m crossing over to the dark side. Better or worse for Laura the BA? Not so sure yet, but I’ll chew on that and be sure to share my thoughts when they crystallize.

>>Learn More About Becoming a CBAP or CCBA

Interested in becoming a CBAP or CCBA? We cover 8 steps to the CBAP certification, that will take you to just learning about the certification to successfully sitting for the exam.

Click here to read the article

This week my major milestone was to finish the work experience section of my CBAP application. This is a milestone indeed and is the part that deters many BAs from applying for the CBAP.

I had done an initial round of counting up hours and documenting projects last week. After attending Linda’s CBAP application seminar and getting the concepts straight in my head, I knew I had some adjustments to make. I had unwittingly fallen into a few of the traps that those CBAP application reviewers set for us in how I documented my experience and hadn’t quite added up enough hours yet. On Tuesday, I sat down with Linda’s worksheet and recompiled my work experience in her template.

At first I was peeved…I had to estimate hours by task in order to fill in the worksheet. All the CBAP application asks you to do is document percentages by knowledge area and check off tasks. Why go to all this seemingly extra trouble? However, I really wanted to use Linda’s spreadsheet to ensure I met the requirement of 900 hours in 4 different knowledge areas and I realized that no matter what path I took to figuring this out there would be some grunt work. So I settled myself down and got to work.

And then an amazing thing happened. As I sat there calculating hours and really thinking about what I had done within each task area while also being sure I hadn’t duplicated date ranges or over-counted hours or done anything that might seem even just a little bit shady, I started to feel really good about my BA work. I kind of got addicted to the process.

Where before, I had decided to leave some gaps in my work history since I had some extra hours to play with, I now decided to go for it all. I documented the 5% of my time I spent building a QA process in 2001 and 2002. I documented the enterprise analysis and other BA work I did to create our Bridging the Gap virtual training platform. I documented everything except for a few minor contracts, the BA mentoring I’ve done for the last year and a half, and the last year I spent as a manager. From each of these I could have probably eked out a few hundred more hours, but I finally decided that enough was enough.

When all was said and done, I had over 900 hours in all of the knowledge areas and my total came in at over 10,000 hours. I quickly sent my worksheet to Linda for validation and Tweeted out this cool news. Besides being a round number, the “10,000” hours mark is one that is sometimes associated with “mastery.” So right now, I’m feeling pretty good about myself. I’ll also admit, even though I wasn’t excited about the forms part of the CBAP process, discovering that you’ve done something you’re passionate about for 10,000 hours of your adult life is pretty cool. Side bonus #1 of becoming a CBAP.

And then I discovered side bonus #2. Yesterday I sat down and emailed 6 project contacts that I listed in the work history section, just to let them know I listed them and that if my application is audited they will be contacted to confirm my BA contributions. Some of these are people I’ve been in touch with recently. Others I haven’t talked to in years or more…I’m not even sure if they know I’m running my own business now. Reaching out to all these people was a fun process. It also lets them know I’m engaged professionally, gives me a chance to update them on what I’m up to, and could potentially turn up new collaboration opportunities in the future. If you are a consultant or in a job search process, this step could be a real benefit, especially if you take care with how you craft these messages and use them strategically.

Also on my agenda this week was tackling the first BABOK chapter – the Business Analysis Planning one that I had lost some pages of. As of Thursday, this task had been on my agenda every day and every day it got pushed out as other duties captured my attention. I’m realizing that dedicating the effort to studying is going to take some focus on my part. Last week the newness of it all gave me momentum. Already, that positive anticipation is waning. Still, I know I can finish what I need to do this week. I’ll also be acquiring a CBAP Exam Simulator that allows me to practice questions by knowledge area and test how well I’m absorbing the information I need to absorb from self-study. More on that next week.

Thanks again for your support. By the end of next week, I intend to have submitted my application (just waiting for one reference to come in) and completed an initial absorption of 3 knowledge areas, and have some real feedback on my self-study success by taking a practice exam.

>>Learn More About Becoming a CBAP or CCBA

Interested in becoming a CBAP or CCBA? We cover 8 steps to the CBAP certification, that will take you to just learning about the certification to successfully sitting for the exam.

Click here to read the article

What are these personal reasons you ask? Well, let’s be honest. I’m not super-excited about preparing for the CBAP. I’ve put this cumbersome task off as long as possible. Now I’m looking at a quickly-shrinking 4-month window until I become a mother. And a not-quite-as-quickly-shrinking 2-year window before my “5 years” of BA experience recedes into BA history unless I change my career direction yet again (since I am spending more time now helping BAs than doing BA). I can do it now, do it while insanely tired, or lose the option to become a CBAP. I’m choosing do it now.

But how does writing about the journey help? Well, writing is fun. I love to write about business analysis. Heck, that’s why I started this blog! And sharing real-world stories is just what we do here. I figure a weekly update about what’s really happening on my journey would make this process more fun. If I can pull out the pieces of becoming a CBAP that I find valuable and make light of the more tedious aspects of my journey, perhaps I’ll find more meaning in this experience. Because right now it feels a whole lot like a combination of doing my taxes and preparing for my freshmen biology exams. Both activities I hope never to do again. (My husband does the taxes and, well, I chose degrees in philosophy and English so I could write papers instead of study for exams….here we are back to writing again.) Jeesh, maybe if there was a written exam for the CBAP, I’d have been all over this about 3 years ago. Memorizing the BABOK? OMG–please kill me now.

No, don’t really. I love life too much and I’m carrying a child. Don’t kill me. I’m already having more fun, I promise.

OK. So, let’s see. What HAS been fun about this process this week?

First, I had the chance to reconnect with my prior boss. The one I followed to three different states. Yea, he’s going to be one of my references. Thank goodness ’cause he thinks I’m a great BA. I hope that’s a good thing. Who knows. This app seems crazy.

Second, I spent 1 1/2 hours reading and taking notes on 2 tasks in the Requirements Management and Communication Knowledge area. That’s about 10 pages of the BABOK. Why did I start there? Well, out of all the knowledge areas, it’s this one and Business Analysis Planning that I feel least comfortable with, and somehow I lost the first 20 pages of my BABOK print out, so until I rectify that situation I jumped into Requirements Management and Communication instead. How was this fun? Well, I got to sit outside on our deck on a beautiful day and distract myself by watching the deer roam around our new backyard. I also learned that per the BABOK it’s OK to gain approval for requirements verbally or via an informal email. Woo hoo! Because I’ve been doing that for a few years at least. The risk, of course, is that your stakeholder doesn’t actually understand the requirements they are approving. (So the BABOK does not give you the license to distract your sponsor at the water cooler with a shot of Jagermeister and get them to nod while taking the shot and count that as approval. Right. Remember that, just in case you are tempted.)

Third, I reached out to Linda Erzah of BAMentor to ask about the references because it wasn’t exactly clear to me if these people needed to understand the BABOK knowledge areas themselves. Luckily the answer is no, or my trusted boss would not have qualified. Linda also offered up a chance to sit in on her application workshop, something I’ll be doing later today.

Fourth, I filled in all the minor little details in my application. Everything from changing my address to adding the addresses of my prior companies to starting the guts of my work history and adding Roadmap to Success in as my evidence of professional development credits. Like I said, I hate taxes (er, forms) but the great part about this is now the boring stuff is done. I need to vet my work history and ensure I don’t fall into any pitfalls (something Linda’s going to teach me about later today) but all the little stuff is done.

I suppose that’s about it for now. What can you expect to hear from me between now and (knock on wood) passing the exam? Not wanting to overly control this journey, I’m not going to make any big promises. But given my current state of mind, here are some ideas:

• How the process is going and what value I am getting from it as a BA who cares about their career.
• Things that frustrate me along the way.
• New-to-me concepts I find in the BABOK as well as little tidbits I find interesting or mind-boggling for whatever reason whatsoever.
• Anything I find useful along the way.
• Anything I don’t find useful along the way.
• Random quips about the baby kicking, the dog chasing deer, and the other fun things I focus on to distract me from my studying.

That’s all for now. Wish me luck on this journey and, actually enjoying a few pieces of it. Really, I’m feeling better already. Thank you.

>>Learn More About Becoming a CBAP or CCBA

Interested in becoming a CBAP or CCBA? We cover 8 steps to the CBAP certification, that will take you to just learning about the certification to successfully sitting for the exam.

Click here to read the article

Here are 7 tips for getting the most out of working with a career coach.

1. Have a clear goal for the relationship and a general direction for your career. If you don’t know what you want out of working with a coach, you are likely to be disappointed. If you aren’t sure about your next step, your goal might be to find the direction for your career, that’s OK. But if that’s it, be clear about it.
2. Ask your coach if they can help you achieve your career goals. Sometimes coaches do not have the business analyst skills or experiences you might assume they have and would rather help you find the right person than lead you astray. Be honest and up front about what support you need so they can best support you.
3. Be open and willing to accept help. Oftentimes the advice that comes from my own business coach is completely unexpected. I sometimes find myself thinking he didn’t get it. Then I roll over his input a few times and realize he saw a truth about me or my business that I wasn’t even aware of. And sometimes when working with a coaching client, they shut down every suggestion I make so quickly that we never get anywhere. These relationships tend to fizzle out quickly on both sides. When you work with a coach, be open to the unexpected. (I often say than in requirements elicitation, sometimes my best questions are those that get misunderstood by my stakeholders. It’s the same way when you are working with a coach.)
4. Share your progress. Whether it’s an “aha” moment based on the input from your coach or a total disaster based on advice they gave you, share it. Your coach will learn more about what works for you and what doesn’t and be able to improve their approach to your relationship. A good coach is going to be invested in you personally and want to help celebrate your success.
5. Own the relationship. Don’t expect your coach, even a paid one like me, to drive your bus. As the client, you are in charge of your own career and will do most of the driving in the coaching relationship. This means you come to meetings with questions, feedback, and discussion topics and you do the work that comes from the meeting.
6. Invest for the long-term. From time to time, I receive panicked emails looking for short-term support. At its best, coaching is a long-term relationship and the more the coach knows about the entire context in which you work, the better advice they will be able to give.  This doesn’t happen in a half hour conversation or a quick document review.
7. Engage in a professional relationship. Your coach is not your therapist, your spouse, or your best friend. Don’t treat them like one. They are a trusted professional advisor. That being said, there is a fine line between personal challenges and professional ones.

My past 25 years of work experience has been in the not-for-profit sector, in both program work as well as various IT roles. A part of this work that I have enjoyed very much is when I have had the opportunity to help the organization I was working for to improve its processes to better meet its goals. At times this has involved helping the organization select an appropriate software product, and working with consultants to customize the software to best meet the needs of the organization.

I would like to focus more on this type of work, and am even thinking of taking some formal training in business analysis, but I don’t know if business analysis principles and processes are suited to the not-for-profit sector. Initially I would hope to apply the skills I learn at my current organization, but I would also like to volunteer helping other not-for-profits, and maybe even some day earn a living by doing business analysis with not-for-profits.

Could you tell me if my aspirations are realistic? Are there any BAs out there who do this very thing? Are there any real opportunities available? Thanks.

Doug’s Answer:

Why yes! Yes there are. I can’t tell you strongly enough that you are doing exactly what you should be doing to advance your career. Offering your services to non-profits or small business that cannot afford to hire extra resources will help you work through your growing pains while providing valuable assistance to organizations that are typically desperate for help.

When I speak to working through growing pains, you will have to realize that you are highly likely to make mistakes in judgment and execution as you work on projects. This is absolutely normal and you should look at mistakes and even failures as learning opportunities. The really great thing is that you are able to work through these events without the pressure of getting fired, demoted or having your reputation tarnished. Due to this fact, your confidence grows as you try things again and finesse your techniques along the way. FINALLY, you are less likely to suffer the wrath of your boss due to a mistake, because you are volunteering. This is THE best way to learn a craft, but by combining it with your academic ventures, you are melding book knowledge with life experience and this will yield great results and rewards.

OK, so congratulations on your insight into the things that you need to do. To your comment about whether BA principles are applicable to not-for-profit organizations…..absolutely. Actually, BA principles are applicable in any environment in which there are problems to solve, not just in the business world. Sticking to business, though, ANY business in any industry employs resources in both human and material form, utilizes process to accomplish a task and has inputs and outputs to and from points in the process. Business analysts are skilled in viewing all these components, looking for efficiencies (and deficiencies) and recommending solutions that provide value. From a lemonade stand to a high-tech software company, the analysis is essentially the same at the core.

All the best to you. You’ve got a great start going. Let us know how you progress.

>> Learn More About Business Analysis

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The Business Analyst Career Roadmap

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