Before you get too far, I recommend taking a look at the blog from Rich and Elizabeth Larson (7 Trends…) on Business Analysis in 2012. Do your plans take into account these upcoming trends and predictions? Over the last 20 years I have found it extremely helpful to stay on top of trends, predictions, and the general goings on of your industry. The more you can stay in touch with them the better prepared you will be to address any given situation or need. However, have you been waiting for the New Year to make your resolution and plan? We talk predictions and address trends all year long and I recommend that you should make resolutions and plans that way too. Why?

Consider this; there were over 24 million references to New Year resolutions on various search engines this year. People coach all the time to start the New Year right with a “realistic” resolution. Whereas I like the idea of “realistic”, there are a few problems that can get in the way of making a New Year’s resolution successful. Timing, commitment, and lack of understanding about what you truly need. This is why I do not like New Year resolutions. Most resolutions are made without a basic understanding of these things.

We often make resolutions because we think we want something. It is so easy to get caught up with what society expects, influenced by friends and family and the next thing you know, you have a New Year’s Resolution to live up to. What we should be focused on is what we actually need. Sound familiar? All good Business Analysts know that we should elicit needs right? Not to mention, what we “need” is rarely found at the beginning of the year and does it really make sense to wait all year to make a resolution?

I suggest that we need to create resolutions when the need arises or becomes evident. When the need is actually known you can determine your level of commitment and plan appropriately. Hmm… now does anyone see a problem with the way most companies run their planning process? A lot like New Year’s resolutions! Then a BA gets assigned and they spend half the year trying to find out what the true need is… well I think you get my point. So my challenge to you is to take control of your resolutions and make them when they make sense whether in March, July, October or the New Year, if they really do happen then. Just make sure you understand your timing, commitment, and most importantly, what you truly need and then you can build a plan for success in 2012 and beyond!

A New Year’s Resolution? was posted at ProjectBrief Blog. | http://www.watermarklearning.com/blog

And what did 2011 bring us in the world we live in?  In no particular order:

• The deaths of Kim Jong Il, Moammar Gadhafi and Osama Bin Laden.

• The marriage of a Prince and his Princess in Kate and William.

• Another singer added to the “27 club” RIP Amy Winehouse.

• The courtroom drama of the year with Casey Anthony.

• Katy Perry ties Michael Jackson’s record for most number 1’s on one album.

• The record 9.0 magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami and tragedy in Japan.

• Two new American Idol judges who ended up more popular than Simon Cowell’s big brag the X Factor

• The “Arab Spring” with uprisings for freedom in Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain, Syria and Libya.

• New tech gadgets changing how we live including an iPhone that talks to you.

• Occupy Wall Street.

• The end of an era including the space shuttle program, Oprah Winfrey, Borders Books, Harry Potter, Steve Jobs and the Iraq withdrawal.

• Grave predictions from the Mayan calendar for 2012.

But what of Business Analysis and the world we work in for 2011 you say?  Again, in no particular order:

• More and more companies get on the Agile bandwagon and we will explore this quite a bit in 2012.

• A very successful Building Business Capabilities conference in Ft. Lauderdale, FL (I was there – where were you?) Oh, and the theme in 2012 is Creating the Agile Enterprise.

• I saw companies changing the way they think about requirements, adapting to the changes that mobile devices (smart phones and tablets) are making in our companies and everyday lives.

• Several successful IIBA Business Analysis Development Day conferences in Minneapolis, Des Moines, Cincy, Omaha (I was there speaking at all of them – where were you? Lol).

• I saw a disturbing trend of people pushing the BA out of the Agile process (a trend we will reverse in 2012 with some good education!).

• Watermark Learning won the PMI Product of the Year Award for their new Project R.E.A.L. class (developed by someone you might know as BobtheBA. Lol, I just had to add that last part you know…). Real experience, applied learning. A new way of looking at training.

• I saw another disturbing trend of companies using workshops as their only method of eliciting requirements (another trend to reverse).

• More companies recognizing the value of the BA and investing in training (which will help reverse those previously mentioned disturbing trends).

• I saw the development of Business Architecture Forums and Enterprise Analysis rising up with a focus on good business cases (a trend that will continue).

• I worked with and saw so many people really take control of their careers this year – people that wanted to become BAs or just improve their careers and did despite the odds because they had passion, drive and understood that they needed to be leaders in their domain. Congrats people, congrats. You know who you are so now go inspire others to greatness as well!

Well, that is just a few of the things that 2011 brought us. Certainly I could go on and on and on. What did you see that we should not forget about 2011? Please feel free to share with everyone! Do you know what you are going to do in 2012? In my next blog I will chat about what 2012 has in store for us and talk a bit about how to sustain that promise of change in the New Year.

2011 BobtheBA and A Quick Look Back was posted at ProjectBrief Blog. | http://www.watermarklearning.com/blog

The close of one year tends to make one reflect on what has occurred in the past year and ponder the future. Here we ponder some trends in the Project Management and Business Analysis fields for 2012. Here are our top seven predictions for business analysts (BAs) and project managers (PMs) in 2012.

1. Divergence of the PM and BA Role. In 2009 we predicted that as the economy tightened, organizations would decrease their project budgets and combine the role of PM and BA. For 2012 we believe that organizations will see the need for both roles, particularly on strategic projects, and move away from a combined role. There are several factors for this trend:

• Business analysis is maturing as a profession. As the IIBA has gained traction, more organizations have become aware of the BA role and its importance. From 2010 to 2011 the number of IIBA members increased about 50%.
• Organizations have found that even with successful project management, many projects fail because of dissatisfaction with the end product. Having business analysts helps ensure that the product is a solution that works and is one the organization needs.
• PMI has recognized the importance of the business analyst role. In 2010 they undertook a study to determine areas of overlap, handoffs, and how the two roles could collaborate.

2. Combined Agile methods. We predict that Agile methods will continue to change and merge as organizations take advantage of the benefits of Agile. In our 2009 Trends blog we stated that “Integrating Agile methods into project management and business analysis is a trend that will continue in 2009. Currently, the industry has a wide, varied, and inconsistent use of Agile techniques. This trend is likely to continue.”

 In the two years since we wrote that article, Agile methods have continued to evolve. Although organizations have widely adopted Scrum as the predominant Agile method, they still struggle with its implementation. We think that organizations will continue to adopt Agile methods, but that these methods will continue to evolve. Combined techniques, such as Scrum-ban (which combines Scrum with the Lean technique Kanban) or Scrumerfall (a combination of Scrum and Waterfall) will be adopted for different kinds of projects.

 3. PM and BA on Agile projects. We predict that the role of the BA and PM on Agile projects will solidify. When Agile started to be adopted, some organizations thought that the roles of PM and BA were obsolete. However, more and more organizations have recognized that the need for both roles, even if the titles are new. The Scrum Master role is best filled by someone with the expertise to coordinate the initiating, planning, executing, monitoring, & controlling, and closing each iteration and release. In other words, the work typically done by a PM. The designations of Certified Scrum Master (CSM) from the Scrum Alliance and Agile Certified Professional (ACP) from PMI have solidified this role.

 The role of the BA on an Agile project has not solidified. BAs are used in a variety of ways or not at all on Agile projects. There have been heated discussions on LinkedIn discussion groups and at conferences about this role. While many organizations use BAs in the product owner role, the fundamental issue of the product owner having to make business decisions makes this problematic. Going against most of the current thinking, we predict that organizations will realize in the next few years that business analysis is essential to Agile projects. Agile projects still have requirements, and there is a need to go from high-level user stories to the detail needed to develop the needed functionality. Organizations will realize that this in-depth analysis cannot be completed during an iteration, that it has to happen just prior to development. This is called grooming the product backlog and is the perfect role for the business analyst.

 4. The BA as management consultant. We predict that in 2012 BAs will actually function as described in the BABOK® Guide, version 2.0. That is, more BAs will “recommend solutions that help the organization achieve its goals.” They will do that in a variety of ways:

• Business cases. More organizations will recognize that the BA is in the best position to develop business cases. Although often performed by PMs, this function happens prior to the initiation of a project and is input to project initiation (PMBOK® Guide – Fourth Edition). The PMBOK recognizes that the performing organization (business owner) is accountable for the business case, but it is the BA who is in the best position of developing it.
• Ability to Influence without Authority. We are seeing more organizations tell us that they want their BAs to move away from taking customer orders and start using their expertise to recommend solutions. This need correlates to the enthusiasm we have seen around the need to influence without authority.
• In her keynote at the BBC conference in Ft. Lauderdale last year, Kathleen Barrett, CEO of IIBA mentioned that one of the key competencies of the enterprise BA is management consulting.

5. BAs as change agents.We think that BAs will be more involved in change management. At the BBC conference in Ft. Lauderdale last year Kathleen Barret announced a new tag line for IIBA—that business analysis was about changing how organizations change. In other words, BAs will be more involved in change management. Changes might include changes in business processes, job descriptions, reporting structures, software, and more. Here are some of the ways we see this happening:

• Enterprise analysis. Before projects are initiated, BAs determine the business need across the enterprise and recommend solutions, which need to include the ways in which organizations will need to change when these solutions are implemented.
• Project work. While the identified at the enterprise level are by necessity high-level, the changes resulting from each project will be specific in nature. We predict that BAs will develop better tools for assessing whether or not the organization is ready for the change. We think that they will act as management consultants once the project has been defined to ease the pain associated with implementing the changes associated as with implementing the solution.
• Post-project follow-up.We believe that BAs will be called on to monitor the post-implementation changes and continue to consult with the organization on the best way to make the solution work, even when there is some organizational resistance to it.

 6. The virtual environment.Now that it is here, the virtual environment will continue to flourish, even if the economy improves. There are a variety of reasons why organizations will continue to rely on the virtual environment for completing projects, for training, and for webinars to replace live conferences.

• Travel budgets.Spurred by a sluggish world economy, many organizations have reduced travel budgets for team meetings, training, and international conferences, relying instead on the virtual environment. Although colocation of teams is ideal and preferred, it is not always possible. More teams communicate and collaborate virtually, more virtual training will occur, and more webinars will take the place of live conferences.
• Globalization has made travel impractical. Although face-to-face time, particularly during project initiation, is helpful in building trust, respect, and relationships, it is not possible to be together for all project meetings and/or requirements elicitation interviews and workshops when the team is located across the county or world.
• Collaboration toolshave made the virtual environment not only possible, but practical. Net meetings, as well as more robust training and webinar tools have supported virtual teams, so that real work can be accomplished. In addition, teams have learned how to build relationships and trust in the virtual environment. Building relationships and trust in a virtual environment is easier and quicker once people accept and feel comfortable with the virtual tools available.

 7.  “The economy, stupid,” a past political slogan said. During a slumping economy, organizations look of ways to maximize efficiencies. Focus turns to business processes and how to improve and manage them. During more prosperous times, interest in business process management tends to wane. We predict that business process management, with an emphasis on eliminating waste in organizations, will continue throughout 2012, even as the economy (hopefully) shows signs of improvement. We also predict that there will be no dominant tools for managing processes and recommend that project professionals doing business process work focus on core concepts and skills and be flexible when it comes to using BPM tools.

7 Trends in Business Analysis and Project Management to Watch for in 2012 was posted at ProjectBrief Blog. | http://www.watermarklearning.com/blog

“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).

I was working on a small project to make some minor enhancements to a website.  The requirements were simple so I did not do much other than write up some bullet points in a MS Word document in 20 point font, double sided.  So 2 pages of bullet point requirements in large print, easy to read, they were clear, concise, correct, necessary, testable, traceable and all of the other characteristics of well-written requirements.  I was feeling pretty good, they had been discussed, signed off on and I sent the requirements to the developer so they could crank them out and we would be on to the next phase.

Time goes by and I do not hear from the developer.  This was supposed to happen quickly so I was surprised.  I sent an email and received no response.  I went to talk to the developer and as I approached, the developer took the double-sided, well-written, large font requirements and pushed it toward me and said, “I don’t value reading” and they went back to looking at their computer screen.  What???  Really?  Bah humbug you say?  I did a double take and looked behind me thinking the comment could not really have been made to me not to mention the absurdity of not valuing reading.  Yet it was and this started a multi-hour argument (yes, argument and not debate or discussion) about the requirements.  This was not about the quality, lack of understanding or how they fit into the vision, but instead the argument was about the packaging of the requirements.  It was not what they wanted.  It was two pages!  What could they possibly want?

So in the heat of the moment I went there… again, how hard is it to read two pages in large font?  I accommodated their need of not wearing their glasses (hello… 20 point font).  Was I supposed to put them on CD so they could listen?  Did they want them in user story format?  Use cases?  What?  They wanted a matrix.  Let the argument continue.  “You can’t read two pages and you are angry because it was not in a matrix?  How hard is it to read two pages in large font?”  Scrooge!  “Bah humbug, do them again.”  Sigh, what a Scroogy McScroogerton.  This was certainly feeling like I was seeing nightmares with the Ghost of Christmas Future and not drinking the Milk of Human Kindness with the Ghost of Christmas Present.

So whose fault is it?  One side can argue that it is not hard to read two pages in large font.  For the good of the project just plough through quickly and get over it.  The other side can argue that it is the BAs responsibility to ensure the right format for the right audience regardless of project size and complexity.  Well, in this case it was my lack of vision.  In every case as a Business Analyst you need to consider your audience.  I did consider them but only from a historical perspective (past projects and behaviors).  Where I missed my opportunity was that I should have also asked them directly and confirmed my approach.  If they were in agreement with the approach then the two pages would have been fine.  However, if they had been asked they would have said they needed a “matrix” and that would have given me the boundaries for what I needed to do.

I have relayed this story many times and people end up on both sides of the fence.  Some say BobtheBA you should have asked.  Others say tell Scrooge to get over it.  What do you think?  Whatever you think and in whatever you do, I hope this Holiday season you will not have reason to be called Scrooge, call someone else Scrooge or just feel Scroogy in general.  Let’s all take the approach of the Ghost of Christmas Present and have a great Holiday season!

Scrooged! was posted at ProjectBrief Blog. | http://www.watermarklearning.com/blog

#5.  I wish for you a great plan.  Really?  A great plan?  What about turkey, candy canes, dreidels or snow?  Well we are talking Business Analysis here…. So, if you have been going at things status quo lately I urge you to stop and take stock of what is going on around you and analyze what you think is about to happen.  You must readjust your requirements plan for so many reasons during the Holidays taking into account schedules, preferences, culture and more.  I have already heard horror stories in just the last week of people scheduling meetings on actual Holidays, back-to-back meetings from 9 to 5 day over multiple days as well as people flat out declining meetings without explanation.  Now some of you may say how is that different than the rest of the year?  Sadly, it is not for some and all the more reason you need a good plan when you factor in the Holidays.  Business Analysts are leaders in their domain so it is up to you to step up and educate people on how it is done.

First, make sure that you are respectful of people’s time especially during the next 7 weeks.  Spread those meetings out.  Think through the types of meetings you have.  Can you combine some individual interviews into a panel or group interview?  Can you hold a JAR (Joint Application Requirements) workshop?  What can you do to ensure you can still meet goals and objectives during this abbreviated timeframe?  Ask your stakeholders what they think will work.  They may surprise you with some effective and creative options for combatting the Holiday hustle.

Make sure you know what everyone else’s plan looks like.  They may have similar ideas in mind or something completely opposite.  Some coordination here will go a long way in making the Holidays go smoother. 

Finally, factor in all of your personal time.  Do not let your Holidays be overrun by your job.  A personal plan that is working in conjunction with your work plan may make for your best Holiday season yet!

#4. I wish for you all the training that you need and want in 2012.  Well of course this ties into #5 of having a good plan.  It is neither too late to see if any budget has remained unused in 2011 or to plant the seeds with your management about building your skill sets for the next year. 

#3. I wish for you Verification and Validation.  So many companies around the world have big December releases and code freezes.  Hey… that means you have WAY less than seven weeks to get things done!  It is important to ask yourself a couple of questions: A. Are we building the right product?  B. Are we building the product right? 

In order to figure out if you are “building the right product” you must trace all of your requirements back to goals and objectives.  Yes, it is a good practice to do this early and often and perhaps you have already done so but another check at this time will help to both ensure the best interest of the business at heart and determine that all of your requirements are in scope.  Requirements that are not traceable to goals and objectives generally mean some kind of scope creep happened or you have incomplete goals and objectives.  Santa does not like scope creep.

In order to answer “are we building the product right” you must trace all of your requirements to design.  Did the design capture all of your requirements?  Did the designers alter any of your requirements without your knowledge?  Have you been attending those design meetings? 

In both cases, failure to answer these questions could mean that your 2012 might not get off to a great beginning because that is when your rework would start.  Happy New Year.  Whee.

#2. I wish for you lots of Holiday movies to enjoy and share.  I have about 65 in my collection (and counting) that I rotate through each year (I know, nuts right?).  What does that have to do with Business Analysis you ask?  Depends on how you look at it.  I would argue that there is a lot of Business Analysis going on in Charlie Brown’s Christmas.  Look at the analysis that went into choosing the Christmas tree, Snoopy’s Holiday decorations, the stakeholder analysis for casting the school play.  Need I say more?  Santa thinks not.  In the end these movies inspire me, motivate me and they instill in me a sense of joy and wonderment.  And everyone needs that.  Which is why…

#1. I wish for you what I would wish for myself – joy!  Joy in your jobs; joy in your pursuit of great Business Analysis, the joy of sharing with your families, friends and colleagues and whatever Holiday and reasons you have to celebrate.  And in this joy that we share, I do believe we can all find happiness, some success and peace.

Happy Holidays!

PS The Santa Claus of Business Analysis is making his list… checking it twice…

My B.A. Holiday Wish List for You was posted at ProjectBrief Blog. | http://www.watermarklearning.com/blog

Well, it would be a nice meal… if you can get it.

My dining companion was a Project and Portfolio Manager – which always makes for interesting conversation with BA/PM viewpoints. We had made a reservation at one of our favorite fine dining restaurants in Las Vegas at the Mandalay Bay. It is helmed by one of our favorite chefs, who is known around the world and is also a frequent guest judge on the Top Chef television series on Bravo. I won’t tell you who but if you put your business analysis foodie detective skills to good use I am sure you will figure out which restaurant and chef. When we got to the restaurant we found out things had changed. The front layout of the restaurant now resembles a sports bar feel (oh dear) and the menu changed from full courses to Tapas (small plates). The inside of the restaurant (where we would be dining) remained a hip, earthy, vibrant scene. On the surface the changes did not bother us too much as we both knew the food would still be great and that this is natural for all businesses. You must reinvent, solve underlying problems and seize opportunities to continue to compete in the highly competitive world of restaurants. Do you see the Enterprise Analysis theme there? When we arrived a few minutes before our reservation we were greeted in a snotty voice “Oh, you… have reservations? The dining room does not open until 5 PM and if you want to eat now you have to sit out here”. And that was that. She turned away. Really? Did I mention she said this while chomping gum? Sigh.

Let’s talk Underlying Competencies shall we? Just like in the restaurant world, it is paramount that you display a modicum of competency in your business analysis efforts. I tell my students that the number one goal of a business analyst is to be asked back on a project. Why? Well it means you either knocked it out of the park with your hard skills or they like you, they really like you (soft skills). In the restaurant world, you want people to like you. For the food (the hard skills) and for the service (soft skills) which equates to experience that brings you back again and again. Back in the restaurant, where was the “Hello! Thank you for coming. We will be happy to seat you in just a few minutes. If you prefer to be seated right away we would love to accommodate here on our lovely open patio area.” Honestly, anything would have been better than her gum chewing, throw us away attitude and response. I am pretty sure that the organization and business principles of the (insert famous chef’s name here) do not embrace that kind of behavior. Certainly her oral communication was not clear or in the language of the people. The audience was not considered. She was influencing us and not in a good way. Her facilitation was lacking with her direct assault engagement. Her problem solving and decision making skills only led to one solution and let me tell you that eating “out here” was not what we came for. In the end, we did not feel comfortable at all. Guess what? That lack of trust was warranted since we did not get seated until 5:15 for a 5 PM reservation. The house manager was clearly having staff and process issues as several guests were left waiting near the sports bar of terror. Does 15 minutes really mean that much? Certainly. It was 15 minutes less time we had to eat and get to our show. It is a plate of food not sold for every person that did not get seated on time. Has 15 minutes ruined one of your requirements meetings? I am sure it has. This is why we have ground rules which help us be successful. As Business Analysts, we must be consistent and talk the talk and walk the walk. Credibility is key to our success. Well, we almost left but stayed when we saw (insert famous chef’s name here) in the restaurant and knew that the food would save the day.

The food was not at issue, it was a lack in demonstrating underlying competencies in the front of house staff. (Insert famous chef’s name here) are you listening? If you get to the root cause of that problem and take action we will be back. If not, we still think that your food is brilliant, you are genuinely nice person and look forward to seeing you on TV and perhaps visiting your other restaurant on the coast. So Business Analysts, make sure you address your front of house skills as much as you address your food skills and you will do well!

A Business Analysis Foodie in Las Vegas was posted at ProjectBrief Blog. | http://www.watermarklearning.com/blog

Pause-ability was posted at ProjectBrief Blog. | http://www.watermarklearning.com/blog

In any interview process, the key to being successful is to be prepared. However, we often get caught up with the one thousand and one things we have going on and we do not prepare as well as we should or (cringe!) we even wing it. Besides preparing a list of questions, one of the things that I do when I go into an interview is to have my checklist that helps drive my process. I used to struggle with being prepared until I related my experience with that of the hostage negotiator. Guess what? They have to be very prepared and they have a checklist too. Let’s see what their checklist looks like and then translate into BA speak to see if we can be more successful!

The hostage negotiator arrives on the scene and goes through their checklist (Credit to “howstuffworks.com” and “Ed Grabianowski” for the hostage negotiation checklist steps):

All questions “Q” are from the Hostage Negotiator. All answers “A” are from the Business Analyst and how you might respond.

Q What has occurred?
A As a BA you need to know all about what has occurred and what has not. Make sure you dive deep and understand the reasons for the project, the issue and/or the reason for why you are interviewing. There is a reason that your interviewee is holding requirements hostage and being difficult. Get a good layout of the situation so that you can approach it from a stable point of view. A perceived unbalanced approach could enflame the situation more. You must understand the context of the problem you are trying to solve.

Q Who initiated the call?
A Stakeholder analysis – it is NOT just for PMs! Determine who is driving the project you are on and why. The sponsor is your friend and should be your biggest supporter. Know what they want and why. Do they have a relationship with your difficult stakeholder? They might be able to help.

Q Time of occurrence?
A Does time really matter? Absolutely. Why was this project pursued at this time? What are the impacts of doing this project now vs. later? When does it really need to be completed? How does the timeframe impact your difficult stakeholder? It will certainly impact the questions you might ask during your interview.

Q What is the nature of the surrounding scene?
A Do you understand the political landscape of your environment and how it impacts the project you are working on? What about how it impacts your difficult stakeholder?

Q Police injuries? Suspect injuries? Hostage injuries? Other injuries?
A What relationships have been damaged in this “hostage” crisis? Have people, processes, data or systems been impacted, cutoff or disallowed as a result of this requirements hostage crisis? Will there be future injuries?

Q What kind of contact has been made with the suspect? When?
A What contact have you made with your interviewee? Did you just email them and set up a meeting? How well do you know this person? Did you reach out to them as soon as you knew they were involved? After the kickoff? Not at all yet? How you answer this question may give you insight as to why they are being difficult.

Q Is the situation locked in?
A Rarely have I come across a situation that is truly locked in. You may feel that it is locked in but as you explore what it means to be a good Business Negotiator (or Hostage Analyst) you will find that you can affect the outcome in a positive fashion. Remember, your difficult stakeholder wants something and there is always hope of influencing them.

Q Where are the suspects located?
A Know the dynamics of team and business. Geographically dispersed? Teleconferences not working? You may need to travel to more effectively to deal with the situation.

Q Where are the hostages located?
A More than likely the requirements being held hostage are locked up in the stakeholder’s mind and are not documented anywhere. However, do not assume that this is totally true as you may have access to materials that you assumed did not exist. Ask – you just never know. Maybe they are being difficult because they expect you to do all the work of pouring through volume after volume of mind numbing facts.

Q Where are the non-hostages?
A What is the state of other requirements elicitation and documentation? Is there a bigger problem here or is it just the one person? Make sure you know what you have and what you do not. Maybe there is another crisis just around the corner.

Q Where are the suspect’s observation points?
A What powerbase does your stakeholder have? Will they only operate from their home-base (their cube/office, their floor, favorite conference room, working from home)? What are they doing when no one is talking to them? Do they only have rules for you?

Q What firearms, explosives, and chemicals could be used/located on the site?
A What could your stakeholder do to sabotage your efforts if their needs are not met? What tactics will they employ? Do they have access and power to do so?

Q What is the description/profile of the hostage taker?
A Key stakeholder analysis. Do you truly understand your stakeholder? WIIFM – what’s in it for me? Do you know what’s in it for them? Is their effort to hold these requirements hostage unintentional or a directed effort to prevent things from moving forward? Are they in favor (accepting) of what you are doing?

Q What is the offender affiliation/public support like?
A Do you know who they influence and who influences them? Do they have support or are they left on their own? If a decision is not made in their favor will it affect you?

Goodness, there is a lot to think about in interviewing difficult stakeholders and this was all from the eyes of a hostage negotiator! And this was just the prep piece – there is also the techniques of the hostage negotiator and more that we can be inspired by and innovate. I realized early on that preparing was difficult and it took a lot of work. I also learned that when I looked at things a little differently I could introduce something new into my process which is an act of innovation. The result? My innovation = better preparedness = more “hostages” (requirements) released = requirements trash turned into stakeholder treasure!

Turning Requirements Trash into Stakeholder Treasure – Part 2 was posted at ProjectBrief Blog. | http://www.watermarklearning.com/blog

Elizabeth presented to the chapter while we were there, and talked on “Is Your Organization Agile-Ready?” It was a lively session with much discussion about how to successfully adopt Agile – and how not to.  Attendees agreed their organizations were in various stages of being Agile-ready, and said they had good take-aways to bring back to the job with them.

It was cool that we had our food after the presentation, and not before it like chapters in the US normally do. It struck me as similar to having dinner after a theater play vs. before a play like in the US.  I think I prefer the food after the event! We posed with some of the board members of the chapter to mark the occasion.

South Africa Journal #3 – IIBA Meeting – Aug 4, 2011 was posted at ProjectBrief Blog. | http://www.watermarklearning.com/blog

Our first classes in South Africa got underway Aug. 3. The students – delegates as they are called here – were very similar to those in the US. It’s refreshing to work with like-minded people from such a distance away. It reminds me that business in general and business analysis in particular around the world are quite similar. The biggest difference I noticed was our various accents. I’m sure mine made me hard to understand at times like I found some of theirs. The more Afrikaans-influenced inflections were harder for me to understand than the British-oriented ones. My hearing isn’t what it used to be, so that didn’t help!

Our CBAP Prep class students posed with me outside the class. It was only the first day, so they were still smiling (just kidding – it was fun the whole time).

South Africa is a cultural melting pot, much like the US. There are 9 different national languages, with the Zulu and Xhosa being the dominant ones. Add to that the descendants of the British, Dutch (Afrikaans), and Indians, you have a varied mix that works. The government is currently run by a Zulu, but the tribe seems secondary to the political party, the ANC – African National Congress, which Nelson Mandela was the head of.

Back to training. Another difference we noticed is that the environment seemed a bit more formal than in the US.  Our host, FTI, routinely takes class photos on the first day and plans to post them in their training facility. Check out the formal shot of Elizabeth’s BA Fundamentals class. Not sure we’d ever do this for our classes, but it was a fun way to start.

South Africa Journal #2 – Classes Began – Aug 3, 2011 was posted at ProjectBrief Blog. | http://www.watermarklearning.com/blog