You’ll receive a sneak peek into:

• BA Template Toolkit
• Email Communication Templates
• Requirements Discovery Checklist Pack
• Project Prioritization Organizer
• Visual Model Sample Pack

You’ll leave with a better understanding of how templates support business analyst workflows and if the templates offered by Bridging the Gap would be a worthwhile investment for you.

(By the way, if you aren’t on the waitlist yet for the Spring 2022 session, you totally should be because you can receive some exclusive bonuses, including a live workshop in October, when you complete your enrollment in The Business Analyst Blueprint® certification program.)

>> Click here to join the waitlist <<

And now…onto our new instructors! They each recorded a video to introduce themselves.

Beverly Sudbury, ACBA

Beverly Sudbury, ACBA, shares her experience creating functional specs from business needs, having over 25 years of experience in technology in a wide range of sectors, including tourism, national defense, telephony, lottery, and retail banking. She is a past participant in The Business Analyst Blueprint® program and earned her ACBA in 2020.

Andrea Wilson, ACBA, PMP

Andrea Wilson, ACBA, PMP, shares her experience in a wide range of business analysis and education activities, with over 20 years of experience in IT, BA, and education. She shares how she loves to see new concepts take root in those she trains and mentors, and planting seeds of change. She is a past participant in The Business Analyst Blueprint® program and earned her ACBA in 2020.

Please join me in welcoming Beverly and Andrea, who are joining a great team of talented, passionate professionals!

>> Click here to read the detailed instructor profiles <<

As I’ve mentioned in previous messages, I’ve been on a bit of a journey of expanding my self-awareness and really understanding the issues when it comes to this inflection point of awareness about racial injustice we find ourselves in right now.

And even as I became clearer on my own views, I was actually resisting coming out with a public message, because I didn’t want to do it just to save face or make myself look good. And, sure, there was a bit of fear. Not everyone supports Black Lives Matter.

But I do. (I also realize that some of you may have different opinions, and that’s fine.)

The tipping point for me in terms of deciding to send this message was when one of my black course participants shared how important it was to see companies supporting her. Otherwise it was unclear who was really on her side.

That statement helped me realize that some of you may need to hear this message from me, even though you’ve already heard it from others. And you deserve to be supported.

Why do I support Black Lives Matter?

I support Black Lives Matter because I’m tired of seeing the pain in our black community. I support Black Lives Matter because I believe in a world in which all voices are heard and celebrated. I support Black Lives Matter because I believe in true equal opportunity for all.

I support Black Lives Matter because it’s clear to me that there are systemic issues negatively impacting members of the black community.

I support Black Lives Matter because I believe we live in a society where many of us are unconsciously conditioned with racial prejudices. Prejudices we’ve learned to bury – and often been shamed into burying – but are still unconsciously part of our actions and decisions.

I know many want to respond to “Black Lives Matter” with “all lives matter.” And you really can’t disagree with that statement.

But what that statement does is deny the legitimacy of the issues we are facing as a culture, as a country, as a human race.

So, yes I support Black Lives Matter.

But what does that really mean in terms of what I do today and tomorrow? What does positive action look like?

I’m not going to pretend that I have it all figured out. I don’t. And I do also believe in staying in your own lane – doing the work that’s most tightly aligned with your purpose, as that’s where you will do the most good.

For me, and for Bridging the Gap, that’s looked like:

• Continuing to ensure we have a racially diverse team, so that I am actively engaged with professionals who have a different life experience than I do.
• Continuing to represent a diverse set of backgrounds in our case studies, including race, so that more people in our community can be inspired by finding someone who has done what they are trying to do.
• Having conversations and reading books that help me confront my own unconscious biases, so I can be a better coach, mentor, friend, colleague, manager, leader, and most importantly, a
• Starting to leverage my platform to share the work of people of color more frequently and amplifying the reach of their voices.
• Collaborating with Paula Bell, our Bridging the Gap Program Manager, to host open discussion about racial issues in our Circle of Success community. We have a second one on the agenda for July.

And right now, asking you – do you have any constructive suggestions for improvement as to how Bridging the Gap can be better allies to supporting people of all colors in their career success? I’m not going to engage in a debate about whether or not these issues exist, but I am open to hearing your constructive ideas.

As always, I wish you the absolute best success as a business analyst, and I’m here to help in any way I can.

Warmly,

Laura

Less than a year later, Amelia started a senior BA lead role, making $90,000/year. I’m going to be reconnecting with Amelia soon, to get all the juicy details on her story so you know exactly how to recreate her success in your own career. In the meantime, I wanted to share the highlights she’s shared with me.

Still In The Blueprint, and Already Into a More Formal BA Position

Here’s a short case study interview with Amelia last year – when she was just going through The Business Analyst Blueprint®. Already, she catapulted her engagement in the program into a new business analyst position with more formal BA responsibilities.

Celebrating Her Next Job Offer, as a Senior BA Lead

And here’s what she shared on February 6, 2019, in our online community for The Business Analyst Blueprint® – celebrating her new $90K salary in Brentwood, Tennessee, and moving into business analyst lead role. This move represented a $20K salary bump in less than a year.

When you evaluate the investment you make in your own professional development over the return you could potentially receive for the rest of your career, you can easily see how the investment could multiply itself many times over.

What’s possible for you when you up-level? Join us for the next session of The Business Analyst Blueprint® certification program and find out.

About The Business Analyst Blueprint®

When you join The Business Analyst Blueprint® certification 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.

You’ll create validated work samples and be a credentialed business analyst as a recipient of the Applied Certification in Business Analysis (ACBA).

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

In the meantime, let’s focus on the here and now. Thanksgiving. A day of giving thanks or sharing our gratitude with one another. I am writing to share my gratitude with you.

As we were talking about in last week’s webinar, we often don’t feel our work as BAs is valued. The kind of work we do is difficult to quantify, and when we are at our best it’s almost as if we are unnoticed. Not generally being the self-promotional type of people, we only further hide our value.

That all adds up to us not receiving a lot of praise or appreciation.

On behalf of everyone you work with, please accept my personal thank you for doing your best in business analysis. For the passion with which you approach your work and role. And for always seeking to get the best outcome for your stakeholders and your projects.

I honor your careful preparation for meetings. I appreciate how you agonize over choosing the right word to ensure each requirement is properly understood. I value your decision to select from a wide variety of models and techniques to clarify needs and create understanding among your stakeholders.

Thank you for continuing to do the work you do every day and even on occasion letting your attention to work slip outside your workday, especially when a difficult problem is in need of a solution.

I know it’s easy to get overwhelmed by all the possibilities of being a business analyst. There are always new models to put into your toolbox, better processes to apply, and certifications to consider. It’s often easier to see what we don’t know and do, rather than focus on the positive impact we are making each and every day.

Today, I am writing to say thank you for doing what you do, as you do it in the here and now. I know in my heart that you are doing your best possible work and that your organization is lucky to have you.

If you are celebrating the US Thanksgiving, I hope you enjoy your well-deserved time off this week and are able to embrace the abundance around you with gratitude. And no matter where you live and what holidays you celebrate, thank you for being part of what we do at Bridging the Gap.

TH worked in a variety of industries that all utilized her requirements elicitation and analysis skills, with a particular focus on solving organizational and data tracking issues. While in a business development and knowledge management role, she advanced her requirements elicitation and analysis skills through documenting requirements and creating process flows.

Now in her first role as an official BA, she elicits, analyzes, documents and manages requirements as part of an agile software development team. The key’s to TH’s success were exploring the resources available at Bridging the Gap which led her to understand just how much her past and current experiences aligned with the work of a business analyst.

She was originally skeptical about how helpful the How to Start a BA Career book would be, but was pleasantly surprised at how comprehensive it was.  TH also found a lot of valuable information using the search feature of Bridging the Gap and wants to thank all of the contributors for providing great original content as well as linking to great content at similar sites.

Three final keys to her success where:

• Joining IIBA
• Studying the BABOK, and
• Speaking with business analyst she discovered in her personal network.

Please join me in congratulating TH!

Aniket Sharma was working as an implementation engineer in the telecom domain and then moved into a role as Application Support Specialist for a Business Process Management (BPM) tool. In this latter role, he was in touch with the development team and the business users to understand the functionality of the tool and this has helped him a lot in working as a liaison between stakeholders.

After two years as an application analyst, he asked his manager for an opportunity to work as a business analyst. A new role surfaced and he was given the opportunity.

The keys to Aniket’s success included:

• Doing a lot of independent research to learn about business analysis activities.
• Attending a few IIBA-endorsed workshops and doing a short course on Program and Project Management from the Indian Institute of Technology.
• Joining the Starting a BA Career LinkedIn group and reading a lot of articles at Bridging the Gap. He found that they helped his current prospects.

He would like to say that success doesn’t come by hard work, but by perseverance. Aniket encourages other aspiring business analysts to keep trying and you will certainly land in your dream role.

Find Aniket Sharma on LinkedIn.

Join me in congratulating Aniket!