Author: Giorgos Sioutzos

Change is everywhere. From small to bigger scale change is a fact.

Going from a current state to a future state is something that occurs frequently in the liquid and challenging business environment. Redefining a process, changing the timeline of a project, establishing a new common practice that will be followed or daily routine, removing or adding a feature to a product or changing the hierarchical structure of a division are examples of change. However in this article we are going to focus on more system/product related changes.

Generally speaking there are two types of changes. The proactive and the reactive ones. Proactive changes reveal a strategic wisdom and can have more controlled results that the reactive ones that many times are spasmodic and urgent. Proactive changes in general allow more time for preparation and also are characterized by a higher level of freedom and creativity than the reactive types of change.

Business analysis field can contribute to the design and implementation of a successful change. Supporting beneficial changes that will deliver additional value with the need to protect customers and users from the adverse effect of changes, is something that may be achieved with the contribution of certain BA activities.

Analyze Current State:

Business analysts examine the current state in the context of the business need to understand what may influence proposed changes, and what will be affected by them[1]. Describing as much accurate as possible the as-is landscape in crucial in order all engaged parts in th change process have a clear understanding of what the situation is right now. The key benefit of this process is that it provides a sufficient understanding of the existing state of the organization, providing context for determining which elements of the current state will remain unchanged and which changes are necessary to achieve the future state[2]. Ηowever a holistic view is more than necessary as a change may indirectly affect certain aspects that must be included in the scope of current state analysis.

Define Future State:

Try to define the future state in realistic, clear, understandable and agreed among all stakeholders’ terms. Future state must meet the business needs. Having in mind the business justification that is accompanied with every aspect of future state is crucial in order to provide a future state description that is aligned with the Goals and objectives that are defined by the project board or change committee.

Define Change Strategy:

How the company is going to achieve to be landscape? What are the alternatives and what is the most dominant alternative after the evaluation and ranking? The appropriate representation of a change strategy depends on the perspective of the change team and their stakeholders. The change strategy might be presented as part of a business case, Statement of Work (SOW), an enterprise’s strategic plan, or in other formats.

All changes should be assessed by people who are able to understand the risks and the expected benefits; the changes must then be authorized before they are deployed. This assessment, however, should not introduce unnecessary delay. Business Analysis activities are crucial in order the change committee or project board proceed to decisions. Having all the possible information available and the agreed between stakeholders views the executives with the change authority are going to approve or not the proposed change strategy and to initialize next phases of the change process.

[1] BABOK®

[2] The PMI Guide to Business Analysis

A business analyst has to continuously ask questions and to critically translate the information they collect into clear needs and requirements.

It’s the inner trigger that has to lead a professional to find the deep problems and to reveal the actuals needs of stakeholders. A business analyst is not only a recorder of needs and requirements. They have to critically evaluate different needs and to confirm that the actual problems and their causes are fullfield by the suggested solutions. A pathetic view and record here is not enough. Critically judging and sometimes challenging the status quo can lead to meaningful solutions that will add value to all stakeholders and a win-win outcome will be possible.

Creative Dispute and asking questions can be applied across all the business analysis pipeline. For example:

Business Justification:

The business justification is the reason for the project and for the business analysis work concerning the project. Without it no project should start. If business justification is valid at the start of a project, but disappears once it is under way, the project should be stopped or changed. An analyst must have always in mind what is the aim of the project and which actual needs is fulfilling. They have to continuously ask if this action or step is aligned will the overall project scope and if it is meaningful.

Tailoring- Plan Business Analysis Approach:

Αs a business analyst you have to continuously ask where the standard methodology can be applied. What we have to tailor and what parameterizations are needed in order to have the best outcome? This is an ongoing question.

Business analysis pipeline involves selecting the appropriate business analysis processes, tools, techniques, inputs, and outputs for use on a specific portfolio, program, or project. The business analyst performs this selection activity in collaboration with the project manager, sponsor, functional managers, other business analysts, or some combination thereof.

Analyze Current State:

As a business analyst you need to describe accurate and realistic the current state. Assess Current State is the process of examining the current environment to understand important factors that are internal or external to the organization, which may be the cause or reason for a problem or opportunity. The key benefit of this process is that it provides a sufficient understanding of the existing state of the organization, providing context for determining which elements of the current state will remain unchanged and which changes are necessary to achieve the future state. Which are the current state and the non-obvious visible competencies that can lead to success?

Elicit Requirements- Confirm Elicitation Results:

Ηere you have to actively try to obtain information from stakeholders and confirm the results. It’s not only to keep notes of the information and to track the requirements. You have to critically evaluate the aspirations expressed by stakeholders and to form clearly the requirements in a way that support the actual business need(s). Confirm Elicitation Results activity involves ensuring that stakeholders have a shared understanding of the outcomes of elicitation, that elicited information is recorded appropriately, and that the business analyst has the information sought from an elicitation activity.

Business Analysis is the field where critical questioning and challenging is the basis of the everyday tasks. Challenging well established formulas and approaches is something that may lead to better outcomes.

A business analyst has to continuously ask questions and to critically translate the information he collects into clear needs and requirements.

It’s the inner trigger that has to lead a professional to find the deep problems and to reveal the actuals needs of stakeholders. A business analyst is not only a recorder of needs and requirements. He has to critically evaluate different needs and to confirm that the actual problems and their causes are fullfield by the suggested solutions. A pathetic view and record here is not enough. Critically judging and sometimes challenging the status quo can lead to meaningful solutions that will add value to all stakeholders and a win-win outcome will be possible.

Creative Dispute and asking questions can be applied across all the business analysis pipeline. For example:

Business Justification:

The business justification is the reason for the project and for the business analysis work concerning the project. Without it no project should start. If business justification is valid at the start of a project, but disappears once it is under way, the project should be stopped or changed. An analyst must have always in mind what is the aim of the project and which actual needs is fulfilling. He has to continuously ask if this action or step is aligned will the overall project scope and if it is meaningful. 

Tailoring- Plan Business Analysis Approach:

Αs a business analyst you have to continuously ask where the standard methodology can be applied. What we have to tailor and what parameterizations are needed in order to have the best outcome? This is an ongoing question.

Business analysis pipeline involves selecting the appropriate business analysis processes, tools, techniques, inputs, and outputs for use on a specific portfolio, program, or project. The business analyst performs this selection activity in collaboration with the project manager, sponsor, functional managers, other business analysts, or some combination thereof.

Analyze Current State:

As a business analyst you need to describe accurate and realistic the current state. Assess Current State is the process of examining the current environment to understand important factors that are internal or external to the organization, which may be the cause or reason for a problem or opportunity. The key benefit of this process is that it provides a sufficient understanding of the existing state of the organization, providing context for determining which elements of the current state will remain unchanged and which changes are necessary to achieve the future state. Which are the current state and the non-obvious visible competencies that can lead to success?

Elicit Requirements- Confirm Elicitation Results:

Ηere you have to actively try to obtain information from stakeholders and confirm the results. It’s not only to keep notes of the information and to track the requirements. You have to critically evaluate the aspirations expressed by stakeholders and to form clearly the requirements in a way that support the actual business need(s). Confirm Elicitation Results activity involves ensuring that stakeholders have a shared understanding of the outcomes of elicitation, that elicited information is recorded appropriately, and that the business analyst has the information sought from an elicitation activity.

Business Analysis is the field where critical questioning and challenging is the basis of the everyday tasks. Challenging well established formulas and approaches is something that may lead to better outcomes.