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.
Posts Tagged ‘Business Analysis’
Arrived in South Africa – Aug 1-2, 2011
Posted: August 4th, 2011 by RichLarson. Comments »
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?
Relationships Span the Chasm
Posted: June 7th, 2011 by RichLarson. Comments »I recently heard on NPR a doctor named David Loxtercamp, author of “A Measure of Days: The Journal of a Country Doctor.” He described his views of the medical profession, and sounded like a wise and thoughtful physician.
During his interview, he read some of his pearls of wisdom, one of which really resonated with me. He was talking about patients and their doctors, but I think it could be applied to any profession in which practitioners must understand the needs or “pain” of its patients, clients, customers, etc.
The Template Annihilation Paradox
Posted: May 10th, 2011 by Bob Prentiss. 4 Comments »
Hello all – BobtheBA here. I have recently read some blogs, tweets, had several conversations and listened to various viewpoints on the subject of “Template Zombies” and use of templates in general. The concept of “Template Zombies” was first addressed (as far as I am aware of) in a book entitled “Adrenaline Junkies and Template Zombies” by Tom Demarco (and team) which focused on patterns of project behavior. There is a recent blog out on BA Times (kudos to Robin Grace for addressing this). However, I was in a heated discussion just last night on this topic so I felt the need to blog (my therapy) because there is a lot to say. The general thought in the latest arguments (I mean discussions) that I have had is that templates are to blame when it comes to poor requirements because bad templates encourage bad behavior. If we simply annihilate templates we would suddenly be free to elicit, document and communicate requirements untethered right? I tend to disagree – hence the title of Template Annihilation Paradox. It is not the template, but rather people that are at the root cause (track the behavior). We cannot annihilate people (who would do the work?) nor should we annihilate the template (it provides a structure to communicate – it is a starting point). What we can do is educate the people who can fix the template and then educate the people using the template.
Illicit Requirements
Posted: April 19th, 2011 by Bob Prentiss. 2 Comments »
Hello all – BobtheBA here. Sometimes we can be inspired by the littlest things like a bee, a mosquito, or a play on words. Such was the case for me last month in all three examples, where the last of which I was inspired by one of my students who accidentally substituted “illiciting” for “eliciting” during a class exercise. We all knew what was meant and in class spelling does not count (which is the beauty of it happening during training – a safe environment!). However, in that moment I was immediately drawn to the concept of illicit requirements and what that might mean. Illicit is an adjective meaning “contrary to accepted morality or convention”. Is it possible to have requirements that do not fit accepted convention, i.e. “illicit” requirements? Absolutely!
The Art of Business Analysis War
Posted: March 8th, 2011 by Bob Prentiss. Comments »
Hello all – BobtheBA here to briefly talk about strategy. Business Analysis? War strategy? What do these two things have in common? Surprisingly a lot. It is very important to plan and manage your requirements effort but more importantly it is how we deal with the moments in-between the tasks and deliverables that truly show the art of business analysis. Planning and Managing your requirements may be new for you and if it is not, you will know how difficult this can be. Training may be in your future to help out in this area. In the meantime, why don’t we get some inspiration from one of the definitive works on military strategy of all time?
Task-Specific BABOK® Techniques to Know for the CBAP Exam: Part 6
Posted: February 22nd, 2011 by RichLarson. Comments »
Prioritization Techniques
One of the most difficult things for many decision-makers is to prioritize their needs. It is far easier to say “everything is an A priority” than to rationally sort through the many features of a project and make tough decisions. It is frustrating to project teams to deal with this type of stakeholder, and fortunately there are techniques that can help.
There are three techniques mentioned in the BABOK® specifically to support prioritizing requirements. Some of the techniques are in wide use, and one of them is more a guideline than a technique. If you are studying for the CBAP® or CCBA™ exams, there is a good chance of being tested on one of these because of their importance.
Assumptions are Project Killers!
Posted: February 8th, 2011 by Bob Prentiss. Comments »
Let me be candid and up front – I do not like assumptions. Never have, never will. I truly believe that they can be one of the most destructive forces in business analysis. I do not like them here or there. I would not like them anywhere. I do not like them I believe, so make them go away and leave! (Thank you Dr. Seuss, you always inspire me). So why is BobtheBA all jacked up about assumptions? Well… let’s just say he has first-hand experience with the pain they can bring. Now even though I do not like them I will also recognize up front that they are a necessary evil. Notice I said evil.
Top 10 Mistakes to Avoid When Earning your CBAP® or CCBA™
Posted: February 4th, 2011 by RichLarson. Comments »
I’ve helped many people achieve their CBAP®, and I’ve seen a number of approaches. Most have been successful I’m happy to say. A few others have not been, either because candidates stressed out or were underprepared. Below is a summary of the top mistakes people have made in working towards their CBAP®.
- Not enough study time. A major mistake is not studying enough. According to our research, successful CBAP® candidates spent an average of around 100 hours studying for their CBAP®. Give yourself at least several weeks and spread that time out before you take your exam.
Task-Specific BABOK Techniques for the CBAP and CCBA Exams: Part 5
Posted: January 18th, 2011 by RichLarson. Comments »Problem or Vision Statement and Feasibility Analysis
This week I’m writing about two specialized and powerful techniques that are useful not only for business analysis, but project management and other disciplines. These two come up in context of Enterprise Analysis, which deals with understanding business needs, devising proposed solutions for those needs, and building a business case for getting it done. I’m writing about BABOK® techniques not only to help people pass the CBAP® or CCBA™ exam, but because they are useful on the job, too.
Problem or Vision Statement
