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Author: Kupe Kupersmith

The Sadness of the Silo’d BA

Written by Kupe Kupersmith on . Posted in Articles.

Many organizations need to shift how they staff their internal BA resources. These organizations primarily staff one BA to a project. The BAs are out on an island working through the joys and challenges of a BA’s life. On smaller initiatives this is very appropriate, similar to having someone play the PM/BA role on smaller initiatives. For larger initiatives, (multiple stakeholders, larger business areas, etc.) BAs should be paired on projects.

The concept of pairing is discussed and debated in the programmer world, so I thought I would get that debate going in the BA space! I talk to people all the time about the need to come together as a community and support each other, especially when their organization structure has them out on islands. Coming together provides the opportunity to help each other and share stories of success and lessons learned. That is a great first start for learning and growing from each other. Now it is time to make the next step so organizations get the best from their BAs. Here are three key factors why BA pairing is critical.

Skill Set Development

The range of skills required by a business analyst is very wide. Even the best analysts may not have all the skills necessary for every situation. For the purposes of this discussion let’s distill the skills down to four key areas. The BA needs to elicit the business needs, analyze what they elicit, document what is necessary, and communicate what they elicited to ensure they understood the true need, and give the solution team what they need to build the right solution.

How many organizations have business analysts that can do all of these things at a high level, on every project? I think it would be safe to say, zero. So why do these companies staff one BA to every project? There is a huge risk in assigning less than qualified people to projects on their own. It is critical to evaluate the BA staff and identify everyone’s strengths and areas for improvement. Begin to pair BAs on projects to utilize the strength of each BA.

The pairing also becomes built-in training. By working closely with another BA you learn by being part of a real-life example. This is also a great way to help each BA try out new techniques with the help of a mentor.

Two Heads are Better than One

My current assignment has me analyzing business processes for a large business area for four sister companies. The goal is to determine the feasibility of implementing an enterprise technical solution to support all companies. I initially started off this endeavor as the only analyst on the team. I realized quickly that I needed another head to bounce ideas off of and validate my understanding of all the information I was trying to analyze. By pairing in this situation, key points were not missed and healthy debates allowed us to provide clear benefits and cautions for moving forward with an enterprise-wide technical solution. You can not deny that two view points provide a better chance for success than one.

I know many organizations do a great job implementing peer reviews. That only helps resolve a piece of the puzzle. The one doing the peer review does not have enough knowledge of the business area to help with the analysis. They review the end product after analysis was completed.

Increased Knowledge Sharing

The more people that have a deep understanding of a business area reduces the risk of that knowledge walking out the door. The down turn of the economy has slowed down the number of retirees and the amount of attrition due to people switching jobs. Once the economy begins to rebound, both retirement and attrition will start back up. This is the time to pair those BAs and keep some consistent knowledge within the team.

Many customers find it frustrating when the BA gets moved around and new BAs are assigned to each project. They feel they have dedicated a lot of time to getting an analyst up to speed on their business and then have to start over. Pairing helps resolve this by having multiple people with knowledge of the business. New BAs can be brought up to speed without having to take a lot of the business customer’s time.

This is a shift in how many organizations operate. Give it a try; I think everyone will be pleased with the results!

Happy Holidays everyone,

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 [email protected]

Going Rogue: A Business Analyst Life

Written by Kupe Kupersmith on . Posted in Articles.

As business analysts, we should have a goal to be perceived as though we are going rogue.

At The Free Dictionary there are plenty of negative definitions of the word rogue. The definition I use for a Rogue BA is the following: Operating outside normal or desirable controls. At the most senior levels we need to look at every situation and do what is necessary for the success of that project. We should not be following a step-by-step process or take the same approach on every project. Every project is different, therefore we need to assess the project and determine our approach based on that assessment. This is why I believe so strongly in the need to dedicate the necessary time on a business analysis work plan prior to starting down the path of the analysis effort. Check out this short webcast on Developing a Business Analysis Work Plan to understand where I am coming from.

Side note: Just in case you were wondering, this post does not in any way represent my views of Sarah Palin. I do thank her for the inspiration in creating the title.

Over the years I have watched companies struggle with determining the right level of flexibility in their business analysis methodology or approach. A thought I have been playing with is that the methodology/approach needs to have the proper amount of rigor for the individual executing the methodology. For example, new and junior BAs struggle if they are left alone to try and assess the project needs and adapt their approach. They will fail miserably with a flexible process. The new and junior BAs do not have the right level of training and/or experience to adapt. How can you bend the rules, if you don’t even know the rules yet? Without the knowledge and experience they don’t have enough stories and history of why certain tools and techniques work for certain situations, while others don’t. They need a mentor and a step-by step process to follow.

goingrogue1At lunch a few weeks ago with my friend Jeff Hyatt, he introduced me to a concept that helps illustrate my thought. It is called ShuHaRi, which he heard about through Alistair Cockburn. ShuHaRi is a Japanese martial arts concept, and describes the stages of learning to mastery. You can read more about how Alistair has written about it here.

In short the idea is that a person passes through three stages of gaining knowledge.

Shu (obey). In this beginning stage, the student follows the teachings of one master precisely. He concentrates on how to do the task, without worrying too much about the underlying theory. If there are multiple variations on how to do the task, he concentrates on just the one way his master teaches him.

Ha (digress). At this point the student begins to branch out. With the basic practices working, he now starts to learn the underlying principles and theory behind the technique. He also starts learning from other masters and integrates that learning into his practice.

Ri (separate). Now the student isn’t learning from other people, but from his own practice. He creates his own approaches and adapts what he’s learned to his own particular circumstances.

Based on this concept, organizations need a methodology or approach that is flexible enough to work and properly support their BAs in all three stages of learning.

Here is a simple application of this concept to levels of BAs.

  • New and junior BAs need a prescribed approach with the help of a master.
  • Intermediate BAs need the support of a community.
  • Master BAs need to be set free on their project and teach the new, junior, and intermediate BAs.

Many organizations seem to have methodologies and organizational structures that address one of the above, but not all. I have seen organizations that jump right to Ri and set all of their BAs free where many need a step-by-step process. These organizations do not have mentor programs or promote collaboration amongst their BA community. Other organizations have such a rigid process which suits the new and junior BAs, but hinder the more senior BAs.

What stage are you in? Is your organization structured to support all levels of BAs? I challenge you to think about what stage of learning you are in and continue to work on reaching the goal of being perceived as a Rogue BA.

Yours in going rogue,

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 [email protected].

Business Analysts Need to be Project Managers

Written by Kupe Kupersmith on . Posted in Articles.

I know what you’re thinking. Kupe has lost his mind…he’s a flip-flopper! In my last post, What?! You Don’t Want to Be a Project Manager, I gave my view on why companies need to have career paths for their BAs other than to become a Project Manager. I sit here today still defending that position. But, I do feel BAs with project management experience have a slight advantage. As some of you know, earlier in my career, I went from an accountant to business analyst. What you may not know is I took a project manager role at one point in my career. I was one of those new guys trying to move up that company ladder and thought all my happiness would come from being a PM. Wrong! The good part of that experience was that I was formally trained and had the opportunity to work with a great mentor. My last year and a half as a PM I had to play both roles, PM and BA. I found myself spending more time on the analysis side of things, therefore neglecting some important PM tasks. It was at that time I realized my true love was business analysis. I found an opportunity to go back to business analysis full time and never looked back.

With every situation I try to find the positive. For me, gaining PM experience made me a better business analyst. In the spirit of this week’s US holiday, Thanksgiving, here are the top three reasons I am thankful for being a project manager.

Planning

I am thankful for understanding the basic concepts of a work breakdown structure. As business analysts, it is our responsibility to plan our activities. Then working with the project manager our plan gets incorporated into the overall project plan. When developing my plan I am able to layout my schedule with proper dependencies and include adjustments for my working time and my stakeholder’s working time. With the help of MS Project I can see where I need to add or where I can reduce time. For this I am thankful that I have PM experience.

Project Lifecycle

I am thankful for understanding the full project lifecycle. As business analysts, everything we do impacts all phases of a project lifecycle. As a PM I was able to get better insights into the needs and challenges for development, testing and implementation. Every project we work on is a change to the people for which we implement solutions. As a PM, I learned to work closely with the business stakeholders to develop strategies to help the user community implement and adjust to the new or enhanced system. For this I am thankful I have PM experience.

Leadership/Motivation

I am thankful for being able to lead and motivate teams. As a business analyst and a project manager, you have to lead and motivate without authority. My approach as a project manager was to lead and motivate by building a strong trusting team. By coming together early in the project and determining the tasks needed to accomplish our goals, everyone was bought-in to the project approach. Together we were accountable for our successes and failures. As a business analyst, I find the need to motivate my business stakeholders to participate in the analysis approach every now and then. In my post, Mr. Business Analyst, You’re Not a Good Fit!, @gbusby commented that a senior level BA role requires selling. I agree 100%. Many times stakeholders still want to give a few statements about their needs and then let the project team work their “magic.” That approach almost guarantees failure, so we need to find creative ways to get these stakeholders to fully participate. As a BA you may not be leading the entire team, but at senior levels you will find yourself leading a team of BAs on a project. You need to be able to lead and motivate this group. For this I am thankful I have PM experience.

Even though I do not want to be a project manager, I found my experience helped me become a better business analyst. What role(s) did you have in the past that helped you become a better business analyst? What are you thankful for?

Thank you for reading and leaving your comments,

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 [email protected].

What?! You Don’t Want to Be a Project Manager?

Written by Kupe Kupersmith on . Posted in Articles. 1 Comment on What?! You Don’t Want to Be a Project Manager?

In my last blog post, Mr. Business Analyst, You’re Not a Good Fit!, I discussed three characteristics you should look for in a business analyst. It sparked great conversation and some of the comments inspired this blog post. I stated one of the characteristics hiring managers should look for in a BA is passion for the BA profession. A reader commented, in so many words, that if they feel a candidate is looking for a BA role to get their foot in the door so they can get a PM role later, they shy away from them. Another reader has a manager that wants her to take the PMP exam because it is more popular.

These comments reminded me of what I was up against earlier in my career. A company I worked for had a career path where a Sr. BA “grew up” to be a Junior PM. Many companies still have this approach, and I stand here today saying “this needs to change!” This is a clear indicator of the lack of understanding of the role and/or value an organization puts on the importance of business analysis. In this post I want to highlight the impact on an organization with this career path.

BAs Stop Being BAs

Once a BA is promoted to a senior level all the good stuff starts to happen. It’s like a properly aged wine. At this point, the BA has had enough experience to feel comfortable on most projects and can be a valuable mentor to junior BAs. Unfortunately the BA does not age as anticipated when their next promotion is to a project management role.

What do people do shortly after they get promoted? They look at the next level and see what they need to do in order to prove that they can do that job. If a Sr. BA’s next step is project manager, they will tend to focus more on PM related activities and not as much on the business analysis side. An impact is that organizations always have more junior level staff performing most of the business analysis work. This leads to less than stellar analysis, customers are not satisfied and projects are less successful. The impact is huge in terms of customer satisfaction. I have seen this happen, it’s ugly.

All BAs Do Not Want to Be PMs

Some BAs want to be PMs and I think that is wonderful. Personally, I love when my PM has business analysis experience. So, a target for BAs should be a PM role, just not the only one. If it is the only one, organizations end up only with people in that role that do not want to be PMs. By nature, people want to move up that ladder. They’ll do what is necessary to convince management that they want to be a PM, but they’ll be miserable.

This leads to less than stellar project management; customers are not satisfied and projects are less successful. Do you see the pattern? I did an informal survey two years ago and asked BAs with a PM only career path if they wanted to be a PM. Of the 30 I asked, six said yes. That’s just 20%…yikes! But, almost all of them would take the promotion because it meant more money and a notch up the ladder.

Other Options

That the PM route should not be the only career path, it is only fair I share my thoughts on otherr options. They’re not straight forward and, unfortunately, may give HR professionals heartburn. A big factor is the desires of the individual BA. With a BA skill set (problem solving, analytical thinking, facilitation, consensus building, focus on business value, relationship and team building, etc.) individuals can take one of multiple paths. For those that want to be in the IT space, a potential path can be Jr. BA, Sr. BA, BA Lead, BA Manager, Director, VP, CIO. Additionally within IT, BAs can move into a business architect position and/or strategic business analysis role where they look across the company to help determine the best projects to pursue to maximize business value. BAs can also move into the lines of business. As a BA you gain valuable information about the business goals, operations, and areas for improvement.

In the end, individuals with a BA skill set have more to offer than just becoming project managers. I also believe BAs with project management skills are better analysts. A future post will address that concept. Organizations need to offer BAs a variety of growth options to maximize their skills. Having a single path can lead to a less productive workforce and attrition. BAs who don’t want to be PMs will eventually leave.

To our continued growth,

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 [email protected].

Mr. Business Analyst, You’re Not a Good Fit!

Written by Kupe Kupersmith on . Posted in Articles.

Last week I read an eNewsletter from author Frances Cole Jones and she shared some ways to find great employees.  There was one tip that stood out to me that I wanted to share with you.  Whether you are looking for a new business analyst for your team, in transition and in the midst of job interviews or looking for another way to differentiate yourself from the pack, this is a must read post.

The tip was a simple statement to determine the level of passion of a candidate interviewing for a job.  At some point in an interview you should look at the interviewee and say, “I just don’t think you’ll be a good fit for the role.”  Based on their body language and response you’ll know if they are a good fit or not.   End the interview if the candidate slumps down, looks uneasy, or even says something like, “you’re probably right.  I knew I was not qualified, but I thought I would give it a shot.” If the candidate looks at you like you are crazy, sits up straight, and responds by saying you have it all wrong and explains at length why they are qualified, you may just have your new team member. I know this works because my colleague Angie Perris did get a job earlier in her career by responding this way when she was initially declined for a position.

This statement will reveal the level of passion each candidate has for business analysis and their career.  It is not a secret that there are more people looking for BA roles than there are open positions.  I recently looked over 10 resumes a client had for one open position.  On the surface, each resume looked great.  On paper everyone was qualified (had relevant experience), and I could not help narrow down the list based on the resumes. I told him to find the one in this list that has the drive and passion for business analysis.

The passionate ones come to the table with a three-point attack. The combination of this three-point attack is how I rate business analysts.  The ones you want on your team come to the table with these three qualities; the ability to do the job, the desire to mentor, and the flair to be a cheerleader.

Ability to Do the Job

The first cut needs to be the candidate’s ability to do the job. You have to keep the lights on and meet an immediate need. You want someone with the foundational business analysis skills necessary for the job. You can see this in a resume than validate in an interview.

This is only a piece of the puzzle. The most experienced one should not always get the job. Many people were moved into business analysis positions from other positions in their company.  Examples include developers whose jobs were outsourced and became BAs over night. Subject matter experts on the business side became BAs as IT functions were centralized. These candidates will have experience, but do they really want to be a BA?  You need to know if they are applying for a BA role because that is what they have been doing for years or if they have been doing it for years because they love it! Dig deeper to see if they have the passion.

Desire to Mentor

The successes of organizations rely on the success of everyone, not just a few individuals.  Make sure the candidate wants to be a mentor and will seek out mentors.  Everyone can be a mentor and needs a mentor. Ask candidates about their working relationship with other BAs.  Did they provide guidance to BAs their junior?  Do they seek the advice of others? This is a big indicator of the candidate’s want and need to continually improve themselves and the collective group.

Flair to Be a Cheerleader

It should be no shock to you that the role of business analysis is not widely accepted in all companies.  There are still many organizations of all sizes that are not “bought-in” to giving business analysis the necessary attention during a project.  Everyone that gets hired as a BA in your organization needs to be promoting the role and the value of business analysis.  People with this cheerleading skill will not come into the interview with pom-poms, but they will be able to tell stories and be comfortable speaking about business analysis to everyone they meet. In an interview ask them to tell you a story about something they are proud of.  Get a sense for their excitement.  If they can get excited about something they are proud of, they will be able to draw people in at the water cooler and get excited about business analysis.

So, Mr. BA, are you a good fit? If you are looking for a job use the interview to show you have the right three-point attack.

Passionately yours,

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 [email protected]