A couple of days ago I fired up my online calendar and started to schedule a meeting with my manager. Our meetings are typically less than 30 minutes long, but I had a lot to talk about, so I was going to make it an hour long. Yessirree. I had a lot of stuff on my mind, I needed an audience, and he was the logical person to hear me out!
ProjectBrief Blog
For Business Analysts and Project Managers
What do you need to make your projects a success? Read, share, interact, and learn tips and ideas. Our goal is to help you extend and reinforce your project management and business analysis training and skills.
Is Your Meeting Worth the Time?
Posted: December 20th, 2011 by Andrea Brockmeier. 2 Comments »Ask the CBAP/CCBA Experts
Posted: December 13th, 2011 by RichLarson. 2 Comments »
Are you thinking about getting your CBAP® or CCBA™? Struggling with the application? Currently preparing for the exam? Almost ready to take it?
We can help! Join us monthly for a free, live CBAP®/CCBA™ Q&A session. Each month a CBAP®-certified expert from Watermark Learning will be available online to answer your questions. We have seven CBAP instructors on our staff to give you the most complete information possible on the CBAP®/CCBA™ process, application tricks, and preparation tips. In our jobs and relationship to the IIBA®, we encounter a great deal of information. Let us share that with you live and direct! We are dedicated to helping you apply for and pass the CBAP® or CCBA™ exam.
Scrooged!
Posted: December 6th, 2011 by Bob Prentiss. 1 Comment »
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).
Why Spend Time on Use Cases in Agile Projects?
Posted: December 2nd, 2011 by RichLarson. Comments »
Someone at a recent conference asked me how to respond to project stakeholders when they say that Use Cases take too long in an agile environment. I was presenting a talk on “BA Toolkit for an Agile Project (or any other for that matter).” Here are my answers with some added depth. (Thanks to Justin Roebuck for the great question.)
Grapevines and Rumor Mills – Assets or Liabilities?
Posted: November 30th, 2011 by Andrea Brockmeier. Comments »
Communications is, of course, the single biggest indicator of project success or failure. As project managers, we have to think about all aspects of communications, including how much, to whom, in what format, etc. We also get pretty savvy at knowing which communication channels to use.
A lot of project work gets done through informal, undocumented communication channels. This is not only OK, it’s actually necessary. Imagine if every conversation or information gathering effort we conducted required a documented plan. The fact is a lot of good data can be mined from the water cooler and coffee klatch gatherings.
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).
CBAP Success – The Second Time Around
Posted: November 10th, 2011 by RichLarson. Comments »
Not every road to certification is the same, and some don’t go the way we plan. It’s gratifying to hear from people who have passed, and we get spontaneous notes frequently from successful CBAPs and PMPs. We love hearing from you! We also get emails from unsuccessful candidates, and do our best to offer advice or when appropriate, coaching or other tutoring. Here’s a success story that started off with hours of study, but a failed CBAP® exam, and ended with a successful 2nd attempt and obtaining the CBAP®.
Training for Project Closure
Posted: November 8th, 2011 by Andrea Brockmeier. Comments »
I ran my first triathlon this past summer. My biggest concern going into the race was how I was going to hold up toward the end. Running is the last of the three events, and the one about which I was least confident. I wondered if I would be able to finish that last mile or if I would simply be so exhausted that I would not make it across the finish line. As it turns out, I was so invigorated by the experience and so excited about completing the race that the closer I got, the easier it actually became as I moved toward the finish line.
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.
Who Owns Project Success or Failure?
Posted: October 18th, 2011 by Andrea Brockmeier. Comments »
Recently, a project management colleague was expressing frustration with her inability to get a project moving in a constructive direction. She commented that she knew the success of the project was her responsibility, but she felt hamstrung in her ability to get what she needed from people. Even simple requests for information from external stakeholders went unanswered and resulted in project inertia.
I hear this from project managers on a regular basis and it always brings me back to one of the truisms in project management: The project manager is responsible for project success.
