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Tuesday, 29 September 2009 01:00

Business Analysts are Set-up to Fail

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There is so much talk about business analysts not getting the respect we deserve; no one knows what we do, not enough people know the value we add, and on and on. Some camps even go so far as to say we do not need business analysts. What are we to do? I say we stand up and fight and show our value on the "playing field." The better we do our job (show results), the more respect we will get. The better we do our job, the more our team members and customers will realize the value our role adds. The better we do our job, the more responsibility we'll be given. Let's be honest, if we prove our value the money will follow. Does all that sound good to you?

To make this a reality, the people we work with need to have the "BA Experience." The "BA Experience" is when a person playing the business analysis role elicits the true needs from the customer and communicates those clearly so the right solution is delivered. You'll know there has been a BA experience when everyone involved with a project yells, "Wow that was great! I need that BA on every project!" The problem is my unscientific research shows that most business analysts are set-up to fail, which prevents teams from having the BA experience. The way organizations have their business analysis organization set-up is the number one reason business analysts are fighting an uphill battle.

The skill set necessary for analysts is wide and deep. Take a quick look at the IIBA's BABOK and tell me you mastered all of those techniques. I have been doing this for many years and still learn things everyday. Due to the large skill set needed there is talk within the IIBA to start special interest groups, or niches, for BAs, like process analysts, data analysts, or analysts for a specific industry.

Even though it is not easy to master business analysis, how do many companies organize their BAs? They have a group of BAs that individually get assigned to projects. Each BA basically has the same responsibility for their project regardless of their skill set. A more senior BA has for the most part the same role and responsibility on projects as a junior BA. What happens is the projects that have the more senior BA are very happy and want that BA on every project. They had the BA experience. The more junior BA struggles a little because they have less experience and/or less training. These teams that have the junior BA often have an unfavorable or bad experience. Often, due to that experience, team members will claim they don't need a BA on their team.

This flat organization structure (see Figure 1) causes a situation where teams want certain people (the senior BAs) on their team, but the company as a whole is not seeing the overall value of business analysis.

BA-set-up-to-fail1

Figure 1 - Flat BA Organization Example

The main reason for the junior BA's struggle is a lack of support. Many BA managers don't have the time or the experience to be mentors to the junior BAs. The senior BAs have the experience, but no time. They are booked full time on projects.

Let's look at this from the customer's point of view. Would you want a person with little hands- on experience performing your heart surgery? No way! This is what junior BAs are up against. I want the doctor who can perform heart surgery with her eyes closed. I am more than happy having a new doctor assist the experienced doctor, but I want to know the experienced doctor is running the show.

This is why I promote a tiered BA organization structure. (See Figure 2)

BA-set-up-to-fail2

Figure 2 - Tiered BA Organization Example

Here are three main components of the tiered structure.

  1. Senior BAs kick-off projects ("run the show"). In this model the senior BA kicks-off the project, gets a good understanding of the project purpose, and develops a plan for the business analysis effort. During the project the junior BA will take on tasks that fit their skill set.
  2. The senior BA is a mentor. In this model the senior BA is not 100% dedicated to project tasks. The junior BA needs to grow, so the senior BA will help guide and mentor the junior BA during projects. This allows the junior BA the opportunity to try new techniques in a safer environment.
  3. Promote the work of the junior BA. As the junior BA gets more experience, they can be given more responsibility. When you are in heart surgery do you know how much work the new doctor is doing? No, you are knocked out. This concept applies to the tiered structure for BA organizations. Once the project begins, the team may not be fully aware of how much is being done by the junior BA. For the growth of the junior BA, it will be important to communicate what that individual is doing so the team gets more comfortable with the junior BA.

What this does is give the team the comfort level of having that experienced BA involved in every project. What will happen is companies will start to see the value of business analysis.

I know at least one question you may have. How do you distinguish between a senior BA and a junior BA? Good question. We'll have to address that in another blog post! I'd love to hear how your BA organization is structured, what is working and where you see room for improvement.

Keep up the great work,

Kupe

Don't forget to leave your comments below

Jonathan "Kupe" Kupersmith is Director of Client Solutions, B2T Training and has over 12 years of business analysis experience. He has served as the lead Business Analyst and Project Manager on projects in various industries. He serves as a mentor for business analysis professionals and is a Certified Business Analysis Professional (CBAP) through the IIBA and is BA Certified through B2T Training. Kupe is a connector and has a goal in life to meet everyone! Contact Kupe at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

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Kupe Kupersmith

Kupe Kupersmith, President, B2T Training, possesses over 14 years of experience in the business analysis profession. He has served as the lead Business Analyst and Project Manager on projects in the utility, television and sports management and marketing industries. Kupe is a Certified Business Analysis Professional (CBAP) through the IIBA. Kupe is a trained improvisational actor and performed for years in clubs around Atlanta.  He is a big believer that we can work and learn while having fun. Kupe is a connector and has a goal in life to meet everyone!

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Comments  

 
0 # Doug Goldberg 2009-09-29 02:58
Thanks for this write-up Kupe. You're right on target with your assessment...no t only of the BA-(lack of) Experience, but also the hits that junior BAs take. I was looking at your tiered structure example and wondered what would happen if you actually made the SR BA a level under the Junior BAs. In most org structures out there, the lower levels are accountable to the higher levels. This fosters a "you work for me and I tell you what to do" attitude. Would the mindset of the senior BA change if they became accountable to the junior and make the thought process "You work for me, but I'm responsible for how successful you are" ? I think that this is what is supposed to happen today with a normal org chart, but I really don't see that happen too much. When factoring in a mentoring relationship, it changes the dynamics of the supervisor/subo rdinate relationship to one more like a partnership. The junior BA needs all the support and commitment a Sr BA can deliver, and I'm not so sure that it is always available as it should be. Yes...I know....kind of a strange comment. But at least you can say your post made me think. Doug
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0 # Kupe Kupersmith 2009-09-29 03:07
Doug, I'm glad the post got you hinking! Maybe we are both crazy, but I agree with you. The mentor should be responsible for the success of the mentee. If that means flipping the org chart then so be it!
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0 # Tracey Styles 2009-09-29 21:53
Personally, I don't know how Snr BAs would take to being lower down the org chart then the Jnr BAs, but companies which are using "objective setting" as part of the BAs role and annual review could use this to assist the relationship. That way you get the accountability of the Snr BA to teach. I would also add that this does not just apply to Snr and Jnr BAs, although appreciate the definition of Snr and Jnr BAs is to be in the next article so my comment may be more relevant there. I have worked in companies where the Snr BA has more years BA experience then me, but has only worked in one specific area. This has meant I had more skills to offer as a service, then they had. There were also issues within the objectives caused by this as whenever I highlighted what I had down outwith our documented role; the response was "we know you are capable" but others would have smaller elements recognised. In there; we moved to a model that recognise the BA subsets as Business DESIGN Analyst (high level); Business REQUIREMENT Analyst (speaks for itself) and Business SYSTEM Analyst (more technical/desig ned GUI) etc.... This allowed PMs and others understand who had what level of capability; plus the differences were reflected at salary level so it gave different career paths for individuals to follow as well.
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0 # Kupe Kupersmith 2009-09-30 00:05
Tracey, Like you, I am so against years of experience as "the" distiction between Sr and Jr. That should a factor because you do learn with experience, but if you are working on the same application, using the same skills, interatcing with the same stakeholders for 10 yrs are you more qualified than some that has broader skills...not so much. What I am happy to hear is that your company made an adjustment to alow for growth and career paths. Thanks for your comment. Keep them coming!
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0 # Nathan Caswell 2009-09-30 05:04
Completely agree with the notion that BA's aren't recognized for the critical role they play. Further, they are generally unprotected and at the tip of the sword when the lack a alignment appears down the road. Also strongly agree with the notion that the solution is corporate visibility. Would argue, though, that roles and operational structure of the department requires a little refinement. Pa rt I: A first, crucial, choice is between a craft focused organization or a corporate function. At a high level, the craft organization is all about what it does while the corporate function is about what it delivers. Most COE's are craft based, meaning that they hire out specialists who are individually responsible for their performance in projects. Individuals, even rock start, don't promote the lasting structure of role though, or exercise structural power within the firm. They just charm, or not, executives and create, or suppress, other rock stars. It is interesting to compare another vital corporate function, say accounting. What sort of firm would have an accounting COE? Well, consulting firms might have multiple accounting practices but odds are they would have a corporate function as well. I'm sure we could construct a partnership structure that hired it's own consultants, but the point is that it would look jury rigged.
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0 # Nathan Caswell 2009-09-30 05:08
Part II (to avoid length limitation. Although it appears I have to wait 30 seconds to avoid being a spammer. Is there a rule about two monte python references in one post? :) So, I think the better option is an operationally managed corporate function. In this case, there is a direct accountability line into the C-suite. A Chief Business Analyst next door to the CFO may be a step to far, but a VP or Director with executive accountability isn't. There is an executive responsible for the overall performance, budget, and strategic business value delivery. Inside such an organization, assignments are prioritized and made by the corporate management. Just as everyone has their favorite buyer or HR person (if there is a choice), individual preference may be honored at the working craft level. What is added is a professional management layer, with a career path distinct from the craft path. There is a particular problem managing BA's in that the BA role as liaison incorporates the management skills of communication, coordination, negotiation, etc.. The difference is that the BA, generally only exerts bottom up leadership while the manager has top down decision responsibility. A really good BA might be the last person you want as manager. :)
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0 # Jenny Nunemacher 2009-09-30 05:11
I'm not sure if the change needs to be formalized in an org chart/reporting structure, but I do agree that an organization with a BA team and manager should organize assignments as you've proposed. In my career I have definitely missed out on having an opportunity to be mentored and it is one thing that I am looking for in future opportunities. I did work in one place that had a dedicated BA team. Our group members were assigned to different types of work - one section was working on a brand-new system and the other on maintenance/enh ancements of existing systems. I prefer the later, so that was a good fit for me. And yet, we did peer reviews periodically, so that we got exposure to the other team's work.
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0 # Nathan Caswell 2009-09-30 05:14
Part III Well, I really am a spammer now, but notice the change of topic from the original post to a comment on Doug's comment. Doug' s notion of Sr's reporting to "Jr's" make good sense if the "Jr's" are really managers, i.e. they have different roles and responsibilitie s. Back in the day, as a young manager I had some very senior people reporting to me. Some of whom were, umm, unhappy that I got the job. Once they figured out that they actually had more time and freedom to do the work while i did administration and provided credit and budget, the situation became much happier. (btw, as monte python put it, "I got better") Since a lot of the work will still be project oriented, an flat alternative with an informal hierarchy where Sr's are responsible for mentoring and supervising a flock of Jr's can work as well. This is, however formal or informal, a craft hierarchy separate from the management hierarchy.
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0 # Colin MEGSON 2009-09-30 10:08
I believe that the best approach is for the BA manager to provide a “BA Service” to the whole organisation rather than providing specific BA’s for a project. This means that they must aim to raise the over all standard and experience of their BA team Good BA managers use different techniques to do this, such as: •pairing experienced and junior BAs on a project team, •ensuring BAs work on different types of projects , •ensuring BAs gain experience of different functional areas of the business, •perf orming peer reviews of documentation, •placing experienced and junior BAs on adjacent desks. Custome rs will often request the most experienced BA for their project. A good BA manager needs to be assertive and consider their service to the entire organisation and not just to a specific project. Of course, there may be some compromise, such as making the requested BA available for several hours per week to ‘oversee’ the BA activities or available for the project ‘kick-off’ meeting.
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0 # Kupe Kupersmith 2009-09-30 11:55
Great comments everyone. Even Spammer Caswell!!! There are better ways and we need to continue influencing people!
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0 # Declan Chellar 2009-09-30 23:17
Great article, Kupe. I agree with your suggested organisation model. It is something that could work. I don't see that it needs to be flipped, because in traditional top down models, a person is always responsible for the success of the people below anyway. In my experience working for, and in partnership with, global companies, analysis is often done by teams consisting exclusively or mostly of junior analysts. I believe this is because in many organisations, analysis is seen as little more than stenography, so they put the cheapest people on the job - often graduate trainees. Hard ly any of those junior analysts ever get full systems lifecycle experience, so they never get to appreciate the perspective of the developer or the tester. Most of them stick around for years, getting no further mentoring or training and end up as senior analysts because of their "years of experience" rather than any serious ability (as Tracey Brown alluded to above). I once worked with a senior BA, with twenty-five years' experience, whose idea of eliciting, documenting and analysing requirements was to copy and paste a set of meeting notes under each requirement Id. The worst thing about that was everyone else on the project assumed the way he did it was just the way requirements analysis was done, so never questioned WHY it was so crap. When I came along and suggested such things as visual modelling of flows and use cases and business rules catalogues and message catalogues and (most bizarrely of all) a requirements traceability matrix, I was seen as an upstart (until I proved myself). What is the result? The BA Experience is poor for those who have to consume the output of junior (in ability, not years) BAs. I think this is why so many developers think they could do as good a job as the BAs. They probably could!
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0 # Kupe Kupersmith 2009-10-01 04:04
Declan, Love the new picture! Great comments and you are right. developers could do as good a job as the junior BA.
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0 # Jennifer Wray 2009-10-01 06:19
I agree totally with this - juniors should be given protection, mentoring, encouragement and guidance when working in an area that they are not familiar with. However, as many people have mentioned 'junior' does not just mean years experience, and those that are 'experienced' in years don't believe they need any guidance in many cases. This was something I struck recently where I was the lead / senior BA, and the junior was someone with 20+ years in the industry. Unfortunately the junior beleived she was fully capable and her manager re-enforced this image. Me - being the consultant - was asked to step back. The upshot - confused business reps, frustrated and upset BA, and many many enhancements required after go-live ... plus the re-enforced image in the business that IT don't know what they are doing.
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0 # Kupe Kupersmith 2009-10-01 06:54
Confusedkiwi, You don't seem confused at all!
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0 # David York 2009-10-05 05:26
Great article, Kupe. I agree with your viewpoint, tried to implement your proposed BA structure. I struggle with our profession due to the fact without failure there can be no success.
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0 # Scott Pollino 2009-10-20 05:01
You posit "The better we do our job, the more our team members and customers will realize the value our role adds. The better we do our job, the more responsibility we'll be given. Let's be honest, if we prove our value the money will follow." This is not the case. Since our role is mainly used in earlier project phases and we have the agility to move on to other projects before the present one finishes, it is rare to receive the recognition deserved. That requires thoughtfulness. The only time most people spend much time on thought is when they are trying to lay blame elsewhere. Whil e this may sound cynical, I point it out to make sure it is part of "tooting our own horns."
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0 # Kupe Kupersmith 2009-10-20 11:48
@5ToolGuy, Tha nks for your comment. Well, if we don't show our value, we better be looking for another career. Tooting our own horns is all part of it. I'm sorry to hear you are working at organizations that only lay blame. I don't disagree some BA's are involved early in projects and move on to the next. But there are many orgs where the BA is involved in some form or fashion through the end. Even if you move on, are your customers and project team members giving you any feedback? Is that feedback really all blame? Keep the comments coming! Kupe
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