The time has flown by, and class ended today. Both Elizabeth and I noticed we had very little jet lag – that will probably hit us when we return home. Our delegates (notice I adopted some local terms) worked hard and made good progress. 
The CBAP candidates said they were more motivated to complete their applications and dig into their studying so they can take and pass their exams. Several of them had been in study groups in Cape Town and were very ready for a class to give them their final launch towards their exam.
Watermark Learning Posts
South Africa Journal #4 – Classes End – Aug 5, 2011
Posted: August 19th, 2011 by RichLarson. Comments »
South Africa Journal #3 – IIBA Meeting – Aug 4, 2011
Posted: August 18th, 2011 by RichLarson. Comments »Our visit coincided with the South African chapter of IIBA’s Annual General Meeting. Steve Erlank, our host, is also the President of the chapter, and he gave a lightning-fast review of the past year. They have found it more beneficial to have one national chapter, with satellite chapters in the major cities of Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, etc. They face the same challenges as IIBA chapters around the world – membership, volunteers, meeting locations, etc. We took a photo opp with some of the current and future board members.
Control Projects or People? It’s All in the Details!
Posted: August 17th, 2011 by Andrea Brockmeier. Comments »
Controlling projects is a good thing. Controlling people is not. What does it mean to control projects, not people, and when have you crossed the threshold from controlling the project to micromanaging the people?
When you start telling people how to do their jobs instead of focusing on the results they create is usually an indication that you have stepped beyond the bounds of project control and into the realm of people control.
Some team members are quite adept at complicating this tidy distinction. What about, for example, the team member who tells you they will get the work done on time but sees no need to share details regarding the steps involved or how they’re going to get it done?
South Africa Journal #2 – Classes Began – Aug 3, 2011
Posted: August 16th, 2011 by RichLarson. Comments »
I’m posting this late, mainly due to challenges in Internet access, and being super busy on our trip to South Africa. I wrote some entries on the plane ride back home.
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!
Arrived in South Africa – Aug 1-2, 2011
Posted: August 4th, 2011 by RichLarson. Comments »Elizabeth and I arrived in Cape Town on Monday, and basically crashed due to the long, 18-hour flight. The trip over the Atlantic seems short compared to the Amsterdam to Cape Town flight.
We were literally at the bottom of Africa, at the point where two oceans meet: Atlantic, meet Indian. We started our trip by flying straight to Johannesburg on Tuesday. After getting settled, we visited the Joburg office of our South African partner, Faculty Training Institute. The head of FTI, Steve Erlank, showed us around and we got to see their preparation. Very impressive with three training rooms, offices, a kitchen, and huge cafeteria for students.
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?
Decompose for Better Risk Identification
Posted: July 5th, 2011 by Andrea Brockmeier. 2 Comments »
My last couple of ProjectBrief posts have pertained to risk management best practices. The first post was about the value of articulating risks as events, and my last blog was about including the consequence of risks in the register. This time, I want to remind people of a PM best practice that lends itself well to identifying risks.
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!
Project Risks? So What?
Posted: June 14th, 2011 by Andrea Brockmeier. Comments »
In my last ProjectBrief post, I talked about the importance of clearly identifying risks as events and making sure they aren’t simply stated as facts. Here I’d like to briefly highlight the importance of including the consequence of those identified risks in the risk register.
Risk registers often include risks with little or no indication as to the consequence. Take a look at the register below, for example:
| Risk Event | Prob 1-5 | Impact 1-5 | Risk Score PxI |
| Scheduling classes on new site fails to work with the ISP’s new online scheduling services when going live. | 3 | 5 | 15 |
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?
