We will make you love Business Analysis
Here are 8 things that we love at CreativMinds about Business Analysis (BA) & that we are sure you'll also love :
#1 SEARCH FOR VALUE
The search for value is the primary objective of the BA (as described by IIBA).
Used correctly, your BAs will help you add value to your company throughout projects and processes. BAs can use methodologies and tools like value analysis in any type of project.
#2 STRATEGIC ANALYSIS
If you use BAs at the right time, which means starting before launching projects, they will make you save time & money … a lot of time & money! We often forget that the BA’s real added value in a company is to analyse current situation and changes in order to propose several options of solutions, with their pro’s & con’s. Once done, management is then able to take the best strategic decision.
#3 INTERPERSONAL SKILLS
BAs are usually empathetic and good at communicating. A big part of their activity is to make people talk about their issues and needs. By asking the right questions, they also bring out the best in teams by using methodologies and tools like Innovation Games.
#4 TRANSLATORS
Thanks to their interpersonal skills, BAs are able to gather a lot of information from all the stakeholders of a project: business, IT, management, legal, finance …. Most of all, they are able to translate and simplify all these information for everybody to be on the same level of comprehension.
#5 CHALLENGE YOUR NEEDS
Contrary to what one might think, the BAs are not only there to write down your needs and translate them to be understandable by all the stakeholders. Once a BA has understood your needs, he/she will challenge them in order to be sure that what you express is your TRUE NEED.
#6 PROCESS IMPROVEMENTS
BAs will help your company document your current processes. This way, your company will be able to have a good overview of its activities. Once done, BAs will then be able to propose improvements to fit your company's needs & support its transformation.
And don’t forget: IT is not always the final solution!
#7 AGILITY
Don’t think that because you are working in Agility, you don’t need a BA anymore ! The business analyst can position himself on one of the following 3 roles :
He can take the role of the Product Owner (PO)
He can become the expert of a specific part of the product (requiring a real expertise) and help the PO to write user-stories on this particular part. He will be part of the PO Team.
Even if many contest the presence of a Proxy PO the BA can take this role. Its purpose is to fill a generally problematic gap in the operation of the project : the PO is barely available for developers because it is located on the business side and not in the Scrum team directly.
#8 DRIVE CHANGE MANAGEMENT
It’s inevitable, your company needs to change and adapt to survive. But implementing new projects to follow these changes is only half the battle. If employees are not embracing the changes brought by these new projects, the result will be a failure and money/time will be lost. BAs are here to help ensure staff adapts well to changes by acting as change management practitioners.
Sources :
https://elabor8.com.au/what-does-a-business-analyst-actually-do/
http://www.stellman-greene.com/2009/05/03/requirements-101-user-stories-vs-use-cases/