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!
