Innovative Business Analysis Techniques

I was fortunate enough to be part of an amazing community and share some of my experience at Building Business Capability 2014 this past week and gathered so much feedback and ideas how to continue to innovate in my current role.

A number of people requested the handout from the session, which was also the basis of my overall presentation.  Below is the content of that I would love others to add additional comments to and continue to build on the discussion.

“Driving Business Innovation” – different approaches to performing BA techniques with success!

“Insanity – doing the exact same thing over again and expecting a different result.” ~Albert Einstein

If looking for different results – what are you doing differently?

Meetings

Ø  Think of how you start your meetings – if you want excitement and energy out of them, try starting with a game!

Ø 
Or even have a meeting standing up – you’ll have to keep the length short and to the point if you have to stand the whole time!

Requirements

Ø  Ask everyone to “draw a pig.”  Give everyone a few minutes and then compare the different versions that were drawn!  Then analyze with the info here.

o   REMEMBER: Everyone has a unique view in this world and what one person envisions may not be what another does, so remember your perspectives of your stakeholders.

Ø  You could do this differently by giving everyone a piece of foil with the word “dinosaur” written on one side.  Hand them out and tell people that everyone has a word on their foil – don’t show it – but everyone has to create that ‘thing’ out of the piece of foil.  You’ll get plenty of differently shaped ‘dinosaurs’!

o   Again – you gave everyone the exact same requirement and look at the ways it was interpreted!

9.1 Acceptance and Evaluation Criteria

Ø  Write one criteria per large white board or easel and place in high area of traffic with markers handy.  Repeat for each of your criteria’s.  Encourage everyone to comment on the criteria over the course of 1-2 weeks and then review the feedback.

9.3 Brainstorming

Ø 
Divide groups into 5 people, sitting or standing in a circle.  Assign a sixth person to be the scribe, sitting just outside the circle.  Put the topic of discussion in a Red Solo cup that one person will then read to the team as their ‘challenge.’   Rules are as follows:

o   The person with the cup says one idea and passes to the right.

o   Only the person with the cup may say an idea.

o   Only one idea can be said at a time.

o   You may not “pass” the cup without saying an idea.

Try to encourage teams of 5 to get around the ‘circle’ 10 times in 2 minutes.  The format and pressure on time:

v  Keeps everyone equal – no person’s idea carries more weight than another

v  Focus on generating quantity of ideas - not focused on analyzing; not worried about being “right”

v  Forces everyone to participate - no one monopolizes the conversation or can ‘hide’ in the background

9.11 Focus Groups

Ø 
Consider the “outliers” when trying to learn more about a topic

o   We often focus on “average” – but if you want to explore new markets, ask those who are not currently in the market and WHY!  Get to know the “super users” and what and WHY they can’t live without it!

9.14 Interviews

Ø  Ask the right QUESTIONS

o  
Consider a group interview: get people from all different aspects of a process (marketing, call center, help desk, technician, etc.) – one person at a time sits in front of group and shares their ‘experience’.  Encourage them to “tell me more” about it and ask “Why” and then get the other participants to help you ask more questions to learn more about WHY they do things the way they do.   Inconsistencies will quickly be brought to light and clarified by participants when they challenge each other’s process (vice the BA having to go back and forth between stakeholders on their own)

Ø  Focused on LISTENING – get someone else to scribe (they don’t talk, just write!)

o   Take notes with a sharpie and post-its – only one thought per post-it (short!); then after interviews go through post-its and layout in related groups to see themes and map out processes

9.18 Observation

Ø  Record sessions – images speak a thousand words to get body language, relationships, culture, etc. – especially when you’re the one facilitating

o  
ASK Permission!  Or at least inform participants what you’re doing and why (tell them where you plan to share this!)

9.19 Organization Modeling

Ø  Comic Strip – have people draw out their roles and responsibilities

o   Even better – get different departments to draw their view about other roles, not themselves

9.22 Prototyping

Ø  Build something FAST and CHEAP for FEEDBACK from those affected – what do they like? What would they change? Get them to interact with – put it in a visible place for a week to see what resonates with users

o   And build AGAIN!  Keep iterating until everyone is comfortable with solution, THEN capture requirements

9.25 Root Cause Analysis

Ø 

Ask Why 5 times – write question and then place answer below.  If the answer is not hierarchical, save for later and go back to asking why to decompose to single element for the root of the problem

9.26 Scenarios and Use Cases

Ø  Charades! Get users to act out how they do things today and what it would be like if they could change it!

o   Removes non-value added activities from process descriptions

Requirements Prioritization

Ø  Write each requirement on a post-it and lay out on table.  Give each stakeholder the equal number of POKER CHIPS.  They then “bet” on their requirements – you will quickly see the priority items!

o   All stakeholders’ votes are now equal, no extra chips and eliminates the ‘nice to haves’ from discussion

So how do I do this?  You TRY it!  Even if it doesn’t work as planned, look how much you learned!! You at least know what your project/requirements are NOT.  Ask your SPONSOR to SUPPORT!  Getting their support to try an often faster approach (i.e., less employee time spent in meetings) that build buy-in to the project (more committed stakeholders) is worth the time to try a DIFFERENT APPROACH for DIFFERENT RESULTS!

The WHAT and the WHY and then the HOW

This last week I had the extraordinary privilege to speak at the Project Management Institute (PMI) Honolulu Chapter Professional Development Day (PDD)2014.

In speaking to a group of Project Managers about How to Effectively Work with a Business Analyst, a great question came up about how you deal with a PM and BA working together who's lines for roles and responsibilities begin to blur.  Considering real world examples and how to address this, the answer that was so positively received was - "What, Why, and How".
 

Whenever a PM and BA are having a conversation, a great thing to consider whenever roles and responsibilities begin to blur is that the PM should consider the WHAT and the BA to consider the WHY.  Those are the swim lanes to stand in.  What - the project, the schedule, the scope, the budget - these are all PM responsibilities.  They have a specific answer and the PM ensures they move to completion.  WHY -  why is the project good for the business, why the requirement should be included, why the test cases are required - this is where the BA lives.

I took it a step further from personal experience that the BA (and also PM) needs to especially recognize when they delve into the HOW realm.  The moment they start determining HOW something should be done, you're getting into Design.  This is the swim lane for your SMEs, architects and designers.  It keeps the roles and responsibilities clear.  It's also extremely helpful when developing business requirements as you know you've gone far enough when you start to explain HOW the feature is supposed to look, act and feel.

Finding Inspiration in Speech

I took a moment the other day to attend the Bankcorp Toastmasters meeting on my lunch hour.  I was fortunate enough to be a member during my employment at Bank of Hawaii and felt excited and almost a little nervous to attend.

Nervous you say?  Things always change and think that there's a little uncertainty that always questions whether the good things are still there, those aspects you enjoyed, made you excited to be part of something bigger than your own self.

An hour later, with many smiles shared and even a few good laughs, I slowly made my way back to work with a hightened sense of energy pulsing through me. What I couldn't help feeling as I left the building on the beautiful afternoon was summed up in one word:

My hour was spent surrounded by a group of individuals who remain motivated to build something bigger and better out of not only themselves but also each other.  The passion they conducted their roles with overflowed to each and every audience member.  They share personal insights that speaks to the volume of trust within the small room.

And on top of that, their topics included ways of building the membership, the club, the business and even their own personal and family lives.  It's amazing how small activities that force you to reflect, challenge and push yourself to explore new horizons actually fosters this grass roots effort to boost the entire organization to a higher platform!

Often in my speeches I refer to an element of PASSION - everyone has some, the trick is to understand your passion and find an outlet where you can share it.  When you speak from the heart, you share your passion with others in a way that connects emotionally, not just mentally.  From here you have built the foundation for a great relationship with those other people.  Imagine if you infuse this into your daily activities, particularly the work place.  The BA that is passionate about helping others, understanding issues and overcoming obstacles, can be so positively energetic that business owners clamor for the BA's assistance.

How are you sharing your passion and building positive connections with others?

Spheres of Control, Influence and Control

Working on a team that includes Business Analysts, Project Managers and Software Developers, the sphere of responsibility can quickly grow out of control.  Like any team or organization, prioritization always represents a challenge and a great manager made an interesting thought when some discussion was being made:

"Consider your sphere of control, your sphere of influence and sphere of concern."

I loved this visual concept when thinking about priorities.   I found it a great way to reset myself. 

Think about the things you CAN do (whether you should or not is another thing to think about later) - these are things in your control.  If you can't change how the other team will react, what their priorities are, etc., then stop trying to control it.  Control what you can and prioritize that accordingly.  Then those things you're worrying about - consider what you can influence.  And then only focus on those items.  If you think you have no effect on the outcome, then save your time.  And then concern - what do you need to know so that you can best plan your actions for the future.  These thoughts are great when considering which meetings to attend.  Setup a meeting when you need action - control what you can and influence others to attend and contribute so that you can move on with your deliverables.  When responding to a meeting invite as what your level is for that meeting - control, influence, concern. 

And this can go both ways, especially when considering organizational structures.  A manager that chooses to attend a meeting may positively or negatively influence those attending. 

Everyone is given 24 hours in a day - it is up to you how you spend it, so prioritization gets to be a key component in your daily actions.  So remember what you can control, influence and are concerned about and see if this approach helps you streamline your day for more attention to higher priorities (like surfing! :) ).

What are your thoughts?

Some Good Questions Every BA's Should Ask

Business Analysts (BA's) live in a world of requirements.  And while  never the 'owner' of a project, they often bear the burden of requirements responsibility.

Two interesting things I got to see in the fascinating world of business analysis this last week made me think about how exactly I would recommend approaching these scenarios (one shared here, the second in the next post).

Business analysts assist in make sure things not only go smoothly, but also in ensuring the RIGHT things continue on track.  So a BA received feedback on a report.  The person addressing the BA told them to put the report in a certain format.  Now a more junior BA, he listened intently and described what he had done.  He asked what was wrong with his method and the response was basically it wasn't in the format as she was describing.  This went back and forth for a few minutes with nothing more decided than someone feeling that the report should be in the new format and a very unsure junior BA.

In talking through this situation with the junior BA, two very good questions came up:

1. Why?  What's the purpose of the report?
2. What question(s) is the data answering?

Two very simple thoughts, but something I'm not sure all us BA's really stop and ask ourselves, ask our stakeholders.  We put SO much effort in all our documentation, but do we stop and validate ourselves?  Do we double check the information we're providing is solving the need and ONLY solving the need (no sugar coating)?  I think these are two great things we should work on asking up front and more often on every single piece of documentation we work hard to create.

But these are only two good questions - many more are there!  What questions always help you ensure you're only doing activities that will help your initiatives and ONLY those initiatives?

More Thoughts on BA's and Change

 
  As in prior posts of Words of Wisdom for BA's, I had summarized some further thoughts on leadership and managing change in the Business Analysis profession.  I figured this was a good "Monday morning food for thought" type of post such to charge you up ready for another week in the challenging world of business.

Comments and thoughts are welcomed and continue to lead change from wherever you find yourself!

More Words of Wisdom for BA's (Part 2 of 2)

Continuing on my last post regarding the amazing discussions taking place at Building Business Capability (BBC) Conference 2013, sponsored by the International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA), business analysts and other professionals continued to garner insights from discussions around change – incremental versus transformational.  Do you know the expected type of change demanded of the organization before you begin an engagement?  What are their expectations around timeframes, costs and impact?  Small scopes might imply incremental change, leaving harder challenges for later as showing any progress would be more meaningful than exists today.  Larger scopes coming from the top down around new visions and transformations refer to transformational changes that are more permanent.  These will take more time and cost, but go back to the objectives – what is the overall goal of the engagement and get the owners to understand that their objectives and expectations are going to need to match up to the time and resources required to get them there.  An interesting thought for those who love to capture processes – if the new process is so different from the current, only spend limited time documenting the current one as it will have little matter once the new process is in place.  Utilize your resources carefully such that they spend their time on the most valued activities on the critical path to success. 

Back to innovation, a great thought was shared that smart leadership should only create the container, the space for the activities to occur.  Limited boundaries keep things focused, but then allow all creativity to exist within that space HOW they go about implementing the process.  As long as objectives are met (the box you’ve given) the details should be trivial on the execution.  Knowledge workers will look to simplify their own lives and streamline operations into efficiency without being scripted by those unfamiliar with the process.  One can destroy innovation if they put too much pressure on the process versus delighting the customer, internal or external in the end solution.

And finally, consider your own role as a BA and what leadership skills you are sharing with your teams.  To help differentiate between a project manager and BA, often a whole debate in itself, consider how you present the value of your role outside the project.  Rather than focusing on scope, highlight how determining which projects should be undertaken is inherently more valuable to the organization.  Move from software to systems and how individual pieces and projects work together to support the overall business objectives.  The shift should be from requirements focus to becoming a visionary, innovator, strategist and leader.  These roles are so needed and ask any PM – I bet you often they have little time nor authority to consider the solution being put into place and are so driven by deadlines and narrow objectives that having a BA around to see before and after the project would be greatly welcomed!  A great thought I heard was make sure that a project isn’t just being done to satisfy a debate between two competing technologies.  Ask if the technology itself is even needed – that will solve the debate quickly!  But too often this occurs where two options are considered without holding true business value in the forefront, regardless of technology solution.

I love the closing thoughts that to improve your own BA skills, elicit requirements from those you work with on what they require from you.  We spend so much time on requirements definition we often forget ourselves.  Ask your stakeholders and use some of that input as guidelines or benchmarks and then seek opportunities to improve these skills.  Better execution of the old models is not enough, but encourage yourself to innovation and reinvent your approaches!  Know your own strengths and surround yourself with others with different strengths so that you become more diverse.  Remember, trust, an important part of relationships, is a two-way streak.  Ask yourself if you are worthy of the other person’s trust.  And a final note – people follow people who get things done.  Keep your word and use your energy and many others will follow willing to help!

Business Analysts Words of Wisdom (part 1 of 2)

    Last November, I had the exciting opportunity to not only attend, but even share my own experiences at the Building Business Capability (BBC) Conference 2013, sponsored by the International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA).  There were so many wonderful sessions and engaging speakers, it was so hard trying to select which to attend!  In my own experience, certain key areas stood out to me: fostering innovation, facilitating change, leadership skills and collaboration and teamwork approaches.

     Keynote Marty Clarke gave an incredible presentation about “Avoiding Leadership Landmines” to kick off the conference.  He shared great lessons learned we could all benefit by heeding, such as avoiding managing the exception.  Ask yourself if you change a decision, reconsider an approach or completely redirect your strategy for the majority – the most probable outcomes – or are simply letting a one-in-a-million chance derail your hard work.  As he talked about meetings, being a leader – being the one to make a decision and say what everyone is thinking anyways – is not only what is needed, but also remains your job if you are the true leader.  And about these meetings…have as many as necessary and as few as required.  Too much is going on every day that communication at any level can not succumb to outside pressure.  While it may occur faster than ever, the nuances of proper grammar and respect cannot go out the window just because the method is faster.  The message in fact should be shorter and twice the clarity as before.  Consider your voicemails – avoid the endless message.  And emails need to be proofread before sending.  Spell check is NOT proofreading!!

    Focusing on Innovation, I really enjoyed the thoughts that asked us if we felt we do it on a regular basis or its just something that you set an hour of your time aside to do and then go back to your old habits.  Something that I’ve already applied in my work today was how to not only get new ideas but also eliminate the meeting multitasking.  Doing things differently will get you different results and if you want people to not be looking at their phones, get them involved with an activity.  Words and talking do not foster creativity and so facilitate a meeting differently if you want different outcomes.   When someone shares an idea, there are no “no’s” or “but’s” there’s only “and.”  Try next time, when someone proposes an idea, saying “Yes, and…” to get them to think through the idea rather than instantly pointing out the negative.  Give the idea a chance to marinate a little and the true seed of creativity may emerge!

(Part 1 of 2 - more to come next week...)