Breakthrough Business Analysis

Breakthrough Business Analysis

by Kathleen B. Hass
Released November 2014
Publisher(s): Berrett-Koehler Publishers
ISBN: 9781567264654

Read it now on the O’Reilly learning platform with a 10-day free trial.

O’Reilly members get unlimited access to books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.

Start your free trial

Book description

Traditional business analysis jobs are going away and are not coming back. BA tools are growing up, and typical BA tasks are being automated and commoditized. Instead of being regarded as documenters, BAs are being sought out to focus on strategy, innovation, and leadership.

Breakthrough Business Analysis: Implementing and Sustaining a Value-Based Practice provides a framework for implementing a BA practice that is strategically positioned and value-based. Realizing the positive impacts of a value-based BA practice could very well mean the difference between success and failure for businesses negotiating 21st century challenges.
Value-based business analysis centers on strategy execution, world-class enterprise capabilities, and delivery of innovative products and services. The framework for implementing and sustaining a value-based BA practice involves three phases:

1. Readiness: “Is our organization ready?”
2. Implementation: “How do we build the BA practice?”
3. Sustainability: “How do we institutionalize and continue to improve BA practices?”

Take the lead and be your organization's champion of a value-based, breakthrough BA practice that is focused on value to the customer and wealth to the bottom line.

Table of contents

  1. Foreword
  2. Preface
  3. Introducing the Value-Based BA Practice Framework 1
    1. 21st Century Challenges
    2. Breakthrough Practices for the 21st Century
    3. Emerging View of Business Analysis
    4. BA Practice Implementation and Sustainability Framework
    5. Putting It All Together
  4. Part I Readiness: It’s All About the Culture
    1. Chapter 1 Is Your Organization Ready?
      1. Assessing the Culture in Your Organization
      2. Building the Business Case for the BA Practice
      3. The Anatomy of a Business Case
      4. Establish the BA Practice Governance Structure
      5. Manage to the Business Case
      6. Firmly Establish the BA Practice Lead Role
      7. Putting It All Together
    2. Chapter 2 Are You Ready to Be a Value-Based BA Practice Lead?
      1. Be a Positive Politician
      2. Create Your Political Management Plan
      3. Build and Maintain Your Network of Supporters
      4. Assess the Environmental Risks
      5. Use Experts to Help
      6. Where Does the BA Practice Lead Reside?
      7. Where Does the BA Team Reside?
      8. Putting It All Together
  5. Part II Implementation: It’s All About the Fit
    1. A Home for Your BA Practice
    2. A Capable BA Team
    3. Effective BA Practice Standards
    4. Chapter 3 Establishing a Home for Your BA Practice
      1. The Business Analysis Center of Excellence
      2. Implementing the BACOE
      3. BACOE Models
      4. The Formal BACOE Model
      5. Where to Start?
      6. Putting It All Together
    5. Chapter 4 Building Your BA Team
      1. Step 1: Assess the Complexity of Projects and Programs
      2. Step 2: Determine the Mix of BAs Needed to Build Your Capable BA Workforce
      3. BA Workforce Supporting Competencies
      4. Build Your Capable BA Workforce for Levels 1 and 2: Low to Moderately Complex Projects
      5. Build Your Strategic BA Workforce for Levels 3 and 4: Highly Complex Programs and Projects
      6. Step 3: Establish/Refine Your Formal or Informal BA Career Path
      7. Putting It All Together
    6. Chapter 5 Determining the Current State of Your BA Practices and Closing the Gaps
      1. Step 1: Assess the Maturity of Your Current BA Practice Standards
      2. Step 2: Develop a Two-Year Roadmap and 12-Month Plan to Close Gaps and Build Effective, Lean BA Practices
      3. Step 3: Conduct Periodic BA Practice Maturity Assessments and BA Workforce Capability Assessments
      4. Putting It All Together
  6. Part III Sustainability: It’s All About the Value
    1. Chapter 6 Running Your BA Practice Like a Business
      1. Visioning: The Inspiration for Your BA Practice
      2. Planning: The Beacon for Your Journey
      3. Modeling: The Blueprint of Your Practice
      4. Growing: Continually Increase the Maturity of Your BA Practice
      5. Valuing: Your Scorecard for Performance and Strategy Management
      6. Putting It All Together
    2. Chapter 7 Measuring the Effectiveness of Your BA Practice
      1. Project Performance Measures
      2. Quality Performance Measures
      3. BA Process Performance Measures
      4. Putting It All Together
    3. Chapter 8 Focusing on Innovation
      1. Embrace Creative Leadership
      2. Welcome Change
      3. Foster Innovation
      4. Leverage Complexity
      5. Become an Inspiring Business Analyst
      6. Tap the Wisdom of Innovation Teams
      7. Nurture Innovative Leadership
      8. Implement Innovation Metrics
      9. Adopt New Technologies
      10. Putting It All Together
    4. Chapter 9 Changing the Way We Do Projects
      1. Focus on Value-Based Decision-Making
      2. Relieve the Burden of Analysis
      3. Lead Projects Collaboratively
      4. Manage Complexity
      5. Maximize Business Value
      6. Putting It All Together
    5. Chapter 10 Communicating Strategically
      1. Thinking Holistically
      2. Crafting Powerful Messages
      3. Drafting a Strategic Communication Plan
      4. Influencing Positive Decision-Making
      5. Putting It All Together
    6. Chapter 11 Leading Your High-Performing Team
      1. High-Performing Teams
      2. High-Performance Team Leadership in the World of Business Analysis
      3. Lead Your Team to Distinction
      4. Jumpstart Your Team to Build Momentum
      5. Sustain High Performance to Make Lasting Change
      6. Maintain Inspiration and a Culture of Discipline
      7. Leverage the Advantages of Virtual Teams
      8. Putting It All Together
  7. Looking Ahead: BAs of the Future
    1. BA as Strategist
    2. BA as Business Process Expert
    3. BA as Architect
    4. BA as Rules/Decision Analyst
    5. BA as Technology-Driven Change Expert
    6. BA as Business/Technology Optimization Expert
    7. BA as Value Creator
    8. BA as Agilist
    9. BA as Virtual Team Leader
    10. BA as Transformational Change Agent
    11. Putting It All Together
  8. Epilogue
  9. Case Study: Unleashing the Potential of Your BA Practice
  10. Appendix A: Sample Business Case
  11. Appendix B: Innovation Process Checklist
  12. About the Contributors
  13. Index

Product information

  • Title: Breakthrough Business Analysis
  • Author(s): Kathleen B. Hass
  • Release date: November 2014
  • Publisher(s): Berrett-Koehler Publishers
  • ISBN: 9781567264654