book

Delivering Business Analysis

by Debra Paul, Christina Lovelock

September 2019

Intermediate to advanced

405 pages

11h 34m

English

BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT

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IntroductionBusiness analysis as a serviceThe Community of Practice conceptSituating the BA ServiceThe role of the business analystThe 3rd Wave model for business analysisChallenges facing the BA ServiceConclusion
IntroductionThe nature of serviceThe nature of valueApplying the BASFThe BASF and the portfolio business analystThe business case for the BA ServiceConclusion
IntroductionRecruitment strategyRecruitment planningSearchSelection approachInductionRetentionSuccession planningConclusionCase study 1: Recruiting in a competitive market
IntroductionThe T-shaped professional business analystSkills development frameworksService view of skills developmentThe BA Service as a learning organisationConclusionCase study 2: Green-field BA Service
IntroductionAppraisal and performance managementApproaches to facilitate performance managementUnderstanding personal motivationProviding feedbackRemovalConclusionCase study 3: Managing performance with empathy and understanding
IntroductionThe role of standards and templatesSelecting the standardsModelling standardsCreation and maintenance of templatesAdoption of standardsConclusionCase Study 4: Providing consistent business analysis
IntroductionSupport tool categoriesSupport tool maturity assessmentSelecting business analysis support toolsReasons tools can failConclusionCase study 5: Realising benefits from investment in support tools
IntroductionWhat is a leader?Role of the BA leaderEffective leadershipLeadership frameworks and stylesChallenges facing BA leadersConclusionCase study 6: Leading a BA Service transformation
IntroductionGap analysis of the management processesBusiness analysis consultancy managementBusiness analysis demand managementBusiness analysis planningBusiness analysis process managementConclusionCase study 7: Operating a large-scale BA Service
IntroductionIdentifying the ‘customer’Categories of customerWorking with customersAnalysing customersConclusion
IntroductionThe essence of cultureCultural frameworksThe BA Service cultureConclusion
IntroductionQuality and improvement cultureContinual service improvement (CSI)Quality managementQuality management techniquesConclusionCase study 8: Instilling a quality focus to enable business analysts to succeed and thrive
IntroductionThe Importance of metrics and measurementTypes of measuresFinancial metricsCustomer metricsLearning and growth metricsInternal process metricsConclusion

Content preview from Delivering Business Analysis

6 STANDARDISING THE BA SERVICE

INTRODUCTION

The role of the business analyst has been the subject of much discussion in this book. Clarification of the role is supported by adopting a service viewpoint, and this is enhanced by introducing standards and templates that provide a basis for consistency and efficiency. Consistency is important, as it helps to remove role ambiguity and ensures effective communication with stakeholders and colleagues. Efficiency is equally relevant given the time pressures upon business analysts (and many other roles) when working on business change and IT projects; business analysts are expected to be able to be productive immediately so ‘reinventing the wheel’ for each project is not acceptable. Therefore, the introduction ...