BobtheBA here and the last time I blogged, we briefly took a look back at 2011. The New Year is a time when people make predictions, resolutions, and plans with the hope of change and improvement. It can be a very exciting time with anticipation to see if the predictions come true, resolutions are met, or if the plans were effective. What resolutions and plans have you made for 2012? I have to tell you though, I am not a big fan of New Year resolutions. More on this shortly.
Author Archive
A New Year’s Resolution?
Posted: January 23rd, 2012 by Bob Prentiss. Comments »
2011 BobtheBA and A Quick Look Back
Posted: January 9th, 2012 by Bob Prentiss. Comments »
BobtheBA here taking a look back at 2011 before we get too far into 2012 where we will boldly go where BA’s have not gone before! The New Year, a time of renewal and promised change. And generally speaking it is the only time when all creatures on this planet embrace change, but unfortunately not in a sustained fashion (more on this in my next blog as we look forward to 2012). For now let’s take a brief look back at 2011 from the world we live in to the world we work in. There was much to celebrate, mourn and marvel at. Was it a good year for you?
Scrooged!
Posted: December 6th, 2011 by Bob Prentiss. Comments »
Scrooged!
“Bah humbug!” Well at least that is what it sounded like to me (BobtheBA) at the time, a few Christmases ago. And all I could think of was “What a Scrooge!” So what’s the story that brought out the worst in two people during the holiday season? Well before I tell you this true story just know that this person and I are close friends and I do have permission to tell the story (we laugh about it a lot now).
My B.A. Holiday Wish List for You
Posted: November 15th, 2011 by Bob Prentiss. 2 Comments »
Hello there – BobtheBA here wishing you fantastic Holidays in advance. Yes, it really is that time of the year again! Where did the time go? Seems like yesterday when 2011 was full of plans, promise and new projects. Now, with less than 7 weeks to go everyone will be busy cramming (whoops – I meant implementing) projects and of course focused on family and friends during the Holiday(s) of your choice. So whatever you are celebrating be it Thanksgiving, Hanukah, Christmas, Boxing Day, Kwanza, New Years, or something else, I thought I would share my B.A. Holiday Wish List for you. Many of you may not know (my students and some of my colleagues do) that I am actually the Santa Claus of Business Analysis. That’s right, I will know if your requirements have been naughty or nice so here are my top 5 things I wish for you during the Holidays (to remain on the nice list of course).
A Business Analysis Foodie in Las Vegas
Posted: October 26th, 2011 by Bob Prentiss. Comments »
BobtheBA here, as I headed towards my vacation destination of Las Vegas I started to think about the wonderland of Business Analysis that Vegas surely had in store for me. When I travel I am always on the lookout to see how business analysis was and was not applied. I mean, think about it… the financial applications alone in a world where you are geared to lose has extreme business rules written all over it. For the record, I go to Vegas for the world-class restaurants and the shows but gambling does fascinate me and there is business analysis happening everywhere you look. However, the one thing that really caught my attention on this trip was the service and underlying competencies. This cannot be more important than in the food industry in Las Vegas where the economic downturn has turned up the competitive heat for business.
Pause-ability
Posted: September 13th, 2011 by Bob Prentiss. Comments »
BobtheBA here and for the last several weeks I have found myself driving along in my car at about 4PM on Sunday afternoons strolling through my preset radio stations. Each time I would find the NPR show Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me! (with Peter Sagal and Carl Kassel). I do not remember making a conscious effort to find a way into my car and tune in at 4PM on Sundays but certainly each time I have, I was pleasantly surprised. On my last NPR drive I cannot say that I remember who was on the show or even what they were talking about but I do remember a phrase that caught my ear; “in radio, a good pause is used to give the listener time to picture what is being said”. This certainly made complete sense and I started to give some thought to Business Analysis efforts and the pause-ability that BAs need on the job.
As Business Analysts, it is in our nature to want to share everything we know. Often when we do so, we do so at a rapid pace and with a level of thoroughness that can only be described as impressive. Despite our thoroughness and our ability to disseminate the information quickly there are still those individuals that need to interrupt us and ask questions before we can cover everything. Why is that? There are of course several reasons but one possible answer to this is that we did not let them absorb at a rate where they could take in the information in a comfortable fashion. By comfortable I mean one where they can listen and paint a picture of what they are hearing. They ask questions because they are trying to connect the dots. One thing we can do Business Analysts is to develop some pause-ability. A well-timed pause during a presentation by a Business Analyst can go a long way. Actually, several well-timed pauses will go a long way but how many, and when?
There are a lot of different ways that a Business Analyst can utilize their pause-ability. I am a big fan of less is more coupled with the dramatic pause for extra effect. There are also the open-ended questions in which a natural pause follows. What about letting people know that you will pause for a few moments to let them think about what you said? Or let them know you will pause to gather your thoughts? On the flipside, if you use pauses excessively or without direction (the um, uh, oh, er… pauses) they can impact credibility so they really should be well thought out and purposeful. So why else would you pause? How does your pause-ability rate? What has worked for you?
Turning Requirements Trash into Stakeholder Treasure – Part 2
Posted: August 23rd, 2011 by Bob Prentiss. Comments »
Hello all – BobtheBA here and when we last left off we were exploring how innovation can be key to turning requirements trash into stakeholder treasure. The scenario we were exploring was a difficult stakeholder that was not forthcoming with their requirements. Your job (should you choose to accept it) was to improve your 1:1 interview process through innovation by looking at it through different eyes like those of a hostage negotiator. It may yield a different result or help you to be more prepared than what you thought possible.
Turning Requirements Trash into Stakeholder Treasure – Part 1
Posted: July 12th, 2011 by Bob Prentiss. Comments »
Hello all – BobtheBA here. So have you been assigned to a project where you immediately felt like someone handed you a T-shirt that said “I just started a project and all I got was this lousy business case!” You are not alone. Many of us struggle at the beginning of our projects to wrap our brains around what little we have been given. It becomes worse when we end up several weeks into the project and we still feel like we have nothing to go on. What do you do? I turn to age-old proverbs as both a reminder and motivator. Making something from nothing. When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Turning trash into treasure. I could go on and on with these much stated proverbs – I really, really could because I love them. They are constant reminders of what I, as a Business Analyst need to be doing on a daily basis to bring order from chaos. The chaos that I was given. So how does one bring this order and turn requirements trash into stakeholder treasure?
Secrets from a Corporate Training Monster: How to get your Training Request Approved – Part 2
Posted: June 21st, 2011 by Bob Prentiss. Comments »
Hello all – BobtheBA here and ready to share some more corporate training secrets to help get your training requests approved. Last time we discussed that you needed to keep your audience in mind. WIIFT (what’s in it for them – the people that need to approve your training request) vs. what’s in it for you. If you have been doing your research, stakeholder analysis and all-around prep work you should have a good idea about what they want now so it is time to focus on what you want!
Secrets from a Corporate Training Monster: How to get your Training Request Approved – Part 1
Posted: May 31st, 2011 by Bob Prentiss. Comments »
Hello all – BobtheBA here. Have you ever wondered why some people get to go to training and others don’t? In the early stages of my corporate business analysis career I certainly did! I would ask and ask and it seemed that I never got to go and others did. It was confusing and it felt like I was not valued. Over time I realized that I was valued and that there were many, many factors being considered when training requests were granted. So over time I made every effort to figure out what those factors were so that I could not only get training for myself but for my colleagues and team too. I have been quite obsessed with training and education over the years, so much so Watermark Learning became my new home and the next part of my business analysis journey. So now it is time to share my secrets as a corporate training monster. So how does one get training requests approved?
