I have a piece of card on my desk with the following words on it: Think without any dishonesty Forge yourself in the way Touch upon all of the arts …
Have You Ever Considered Speaking at One of Our Conferences?
Would you like to find out what it takes to speak at our conferences? We are running a webinar on 20 April at 5pm entitled “Presentation Skills for Conferences: An …
Business Analysis: Turning Gloop into Concrete
Business analysis is often seen as a technical skill. The business analyst builds process and data models, writes precise requirements, makes requirements traceable, estimates the effort involved, and so on. …
The Mythic Business Analyst: The Next Evolution of the BA Role
I have been interested in myths and legends for as long as I can remember, thrilling to the adventures of the heroes and heroines that battled the forces of darkness, …
BA Communities of Practice – Sweet Success Cannot be Achieved Alone
The term “Communities Of Practice” has not been around for that long in comparison to the word “Community” for sure, and the notion of the latter has been prevalent long …
Traceability is Vital in Harsh Conditions!
Adam and Ben, the two CIOs from rival companies eyed each other head to toe as they entered the main conference hall from two different entrances, not deliberate but a …
The Optimal Path to Success is Via Failure
Everyone has been a part of a project, willing for it to be over, disliking the results that they’re getting, and feeling like the project is rigid and they are …
The User Story Considered Harmful
Agile techniques have brought us many advantages and good ideas – unfortunately, the user story is not one of them. The user story is a “placeholder for a conversation”, or …
19 Ways to Boost Your Motivation and Personal Effectiveness
How to stay motivated and improve personal effectiveness is an important question to ask yourself as both of these things have a big impact on your results. There are many …
It’s Time To Ditch The Bridge
I suspect many people reading this article will, at some time in their career, have had the challenge of explaining what business analysis is. We’ve all had that dreaded moment …
Volere – the Evolution of Successful Requirements Techniques
It is more than 20 years since the first Volere Requirements Specification was launched. Since that beginning so much has happened and so many people in so many industries have …
Business Analysis – The What, The How And The Why – A South African Perspective
Saratoga’s Mohamed Bray is a business analyst who wears many hats. From consulting with other analysts and project managers to contributing to the establishment of the profession in South Africa, …
I’m Not a Business Analyst – I’m a Business Analyst Designer
For many years I have been calling myself a Business Analyst. But recently I’ve been feeling somewhat awkward in my own skin. I’ve noticed that I don’t do things in …
Taking Reality Seriously – Towards a More Self-Regulating Management Model at Statoil
At Statoil, we try to take reality seriously, not just a dynamic and unpredictable business environment, but also all the competent and responsible people in the company. It sounds obvious, …
Requirements in an Agile World – Webinar by James Robertson
This talk starts with the idea of the agile world. That is, the world we live in is constantly evolving and changing, presenting both problems and opportunities. The agile project …
Putting Process at the Centre of Business Management
Enabling the increasingly impossible demand to do even more with even less. We traditionally manage organisations via the template laid out by the organisation chart. Yet not one of the entities …
A Business Analyst’s Approach to Lean Strategy Execution
Business stakeholders want projects to deliver fast. They often come to the project team with a clear view of the solution, expecting a quick start and not leaving much room …
How to kickoff your team project: what research says
How to kickoff your team project: what research says In this post, I’ll explore some of what the research says about creating great teams, and what you should include in …
What’s in a Name?
In my previous article for IRM Connects I detailed my opinions on what the future may hold for the Business Analyst profession and this issue continues to occupy my idle …
What does “Value” mean to a Business Analyst?
As a Business Analyst I can contribute analytical and systems thinking So that the eventual solution provides business value by exactly matching the real needs of the business. This Business …