Tag: Agile

Building a Business Analysis Center of Excellence: A Blueprint for Success

Written by Abhi Puri on September 21, 2023. Posted in Articles.

A Business Analysis Center of Excellence (BACoE) is a dynamic and strategic organizational asset that can significantly enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of business analysis processes. Often referred to as a Competency Development Center, a BACoE serves as a hub for collaboration, best practice management, and competency development in a specific functional area. This article explores the key elements of establishing a BACoE and its pivotal role in increasing business success.

Defining a Business Analysis Center of Excellence

A BACoE is more than just a department; it’s an organization that promotes collaboration, manages best practices, and elevates the competency level within a specific domain. Whether established as a virtual entity integrated into the broader organizational structure or a distinct group with a dedicated budget and authority, a BACoE can be staffed with either full-time or part-time members.

Creating a BACoE signifies an organization’s move toward higher organizational maturity, and as maturity increases, the risk of project failures tends to decrease.

Responsibilities of the BACoE

One of the primary responsibilities of a BACoE is to ensure consistent quality in business analysis artifacts throughout the organization. Variations in the quality and format of these artifacts can lead to project risks. The BACoE takes the lead in standardizing the expected quality, format, and presentation of artifacts, initially through training and artifact templates. Additionally, it promotes the use of standardized tools among business analysts and provides support for projects to maintain consistent professionalism.

Functions of a Business Analysis Center of Excellence

A well-established BACoE should provide support and oversight in several critical areas:

Tactical Project Assistance: The BACoE offers assistance to projects through project coaches, mentors, and staff. This includes planning business analysis activities at the project’s initiation phase, ensuring appropriate resources and approaches are in place, and providing resources as needed.

Methodology: The BACoE defines standard approaches for business analysis planning, monitoring, and execution. A methodology aligned with industry best practices, such as the IIBA®’s Business Analysis Body of Knowledge® (BABOK®), serves as a foundation for training and practice within the organization.

Best Practices: The BACoE curates a collection of company and industry-best practices for business analysis and artifact creation. This includes standards for use cases, data models, process models, and other documentation types.

Learning and Professional Development: It manages a competency model, training curricula, certifications, assessments, and practices for knowledge sharing. This includes the maintenance of knowledge repositories, discussion forums, and collaborative tools like “wikis.”

Tool Standards: The BACoE provides guidance on tools essential for preparing high-quality, standardized business analysis artifacts, including requirements management and visual modeling tools. It also maintains a repository of templates and guides for artifact preparation.

Forming a Business Analysis Center of Excellence

The establishment of a BACoE involves a series of steps:

Assessment of Current State: Evaluate the organization’s current business analysis maturity by assessing the skills of business analysts and gathering feedback from project managers.

Determination of Desired Future State: Define the level of maturity needed to support projects effectively.

Analysis of Gaps: Identify gaps between the current and desired states.

Specification of Desired Level of Maturity: Clearly outline the competency model and practices required to bridge the gaps.

Development of Competency Model: Create a competency model that aligns with the organization’s needs and industry best practices.

Dissemination of Improvements: Implement strategies to disseminate competency improvements through training, mentoring, and internal resources.

Maintenance and Continuous Enhancement: Regularly assess and enhance competencies through retrospectives, surveys, and ongoing training.

Best of BATimes: 10 Steps to Transition from Your Current Job to an Amazing BA Career

Written by Ananya Pani on August 3, 2023. Posted in Articles.

Over the years, professionals wanting to pursue a career in business analysis have been seeking my advice.

A few of the questions posed to me:

“How do I launch my career as a business analyst?”
“How do I switch over to BA role? “
“Is it possible to move to a business analyst position for someone working as a sales engineer?”
“Is it possible to become a business analyst without having BA experience?”
“How can I take up a career as a business analyst? I am currently working in freight forwarding and operations.”
“I’m working as a software developer since last 3 years and planning to change my career to be a business analyst. Where should I start from?”
“Can I become a business analyst after BBA?”

My response to them is that in the field of business analysis, business experience, no matter how inconsequential it may seem, counts. This is because Business Analysis is not restricted to a particular field but in most cases, cuts across diverse fields.

If you are a self-motivated professional with strong analytical skill, have excellent written and verbal communication skills plus the ability to work well with employees at all levels of an organization, a business analyst position is a great fit for you.

Business Analysis is one of the fastest-growing professions with an all-time high growth rate of 14%, while the average growth of any profession is 5%, as per the US Bureau of labor statistics.

Here’s a data insight from SEEK on the job opportunities for BAs and how the job market is trending:

Business Analysis is a career which is filled with a good balance and proportion of leadership skills along with technology exposure. It makes one step out of their comfort zone and realize their full potential while performing the role. It’s challenging as well as rewarding at the same time. This is one of the careers that puts one to a High Growth Path Leading to a C Suite Role.

Business Analyst is a role where one can contribute to the organization’s strategy, its offerings, its revenue, and its margin. A ‘Business Analyst’ helps the business to grow and become more efficient, organized, and more successful.

Business analysts, understand the problems and goals of an enterprise, analyze needs and solutions, devise change strategies, drive change, collaborate with stakeholders and also advise organizations on improving efficiency, finances, and various other aspects of business.

A business analyst works in a multifaceted world. In order to meet all the business needs a business analyst has to act as a mediator, moderator, facilitator, connector, and ambassador. They are the bridge that fills in the gap between each department throughout every step of development. Business analysts must be great verbal and written communicators, tactful diplomats, problem solvers, thinkers, and analyzers – with the ability to engage with stakeholders to understand and respond to their needs in rapidly changing business environments.

In short, a BA is the backbone of the growth and advancement of the organization.

The image below talks about a few professions from where it is easier to foray into the business analyst profession.

Having said this, crossing over to the land of business analysis demands you to learn and hone new skills and tools.

So, here are some steps, that will help a professional to carve the path to a successful and rewarding business analysis career

1. Learn the basics of business

The very first step to understand is how businesses run and what they do. One also needs to have a good background of the various functions of the organization and how directly/indirectly serve the internal as well as external customers. A good starting point would be to go through the generic process classification framework provided by APQC. You can download the free personal version of the APQC process classification framework from the APQC. It also would be a good idea to read up basic books on business strategy, marketing, finance, HR, and operations.

2. Learn the business analysis process

Like any other activity, Business Analysis also follows a process. The best resource, which is available free, is the Business Analysis Core Standard from IIBA. It is a fairly short document of about 50 pages but is very informative. It will give you a good idea about how business analysis is actually performed.

3. Develop behavioral skills

As a business analyst, one must learn how to interact with a sponsor, Domain SME, End users, and all other business-side stakeholders including suppliers. This requires honing one’s skills in behavioral aspects. Key skills for business analysis are communication, stakeholder interaction, active listening skills, facilitation, conflict resolution, creative thinking, etc.
Behavioral skills are very essential for a BA and the best way to hone these skills is to practice it extensively.

4. Learn requirements modeling tools and management tools

Business analysts use many tools as part of their work. Some of the popular tools are business process modeling, state modeling, and use case modeling. Download the trial version of Microsoft Visio. This tool is very popular with most organizations. You can also learn other free tools such as Lucid chart, BizAgi Business process modeler.

Here’s an opportunity to access BA books and tools to practice- https://www.adaptiveus.com/adaptive-inner-circle/.

Image curtsey: MCAL Global

5. Learn the domain of the organization/domain of your interest

There are good resources available on the internet almost on all domains and maybe within your own organization. Another good advice we suggest is to look for a handbook on your domain. For example, if you are in the retail domain, look for a book by the name Handbook of retail. Go through the handbook, you will get a fairly good idea about how retail domain functions. When you understand your domain and you understand your organization, your stakeholders’ acceptance for you as a business analyst will increase manifold.

6. Participate in professional groups, conferences on business analysis

There are many professional groups, virtual and physical conferences on business analysis. Participate in these events to understand how business analysis is changing, what are the trends in business analysis and how you can bring new business analysis concepts to your organization.
Become an IIBA member, join their events, volunteer for the local events and chapters. This not only opens new doors for you but also expands your professional network and experience.

7. Use stepping stones: Explore roles which are gateways to business analysis

Find mid-position careers between your current job and the job of a business analyst. Roles such as business process analyst, reporting analyst, customer support analyst – such roles teach you certain aspects of business and make you ready to be BA. Keep taking small jumps – in a few years, you will find yourself in your dream role.

8. Get yourself certified

Along with a degree and experience, getting a Business Analyst certification carries a lot of weight with organizations and also helps the candidate to acquire the requisite knowledge and meet their professional goal. Certification can improve overall performance, remove uncertainty, and widen market opportunities. A certified business analyst has a broader perspective of the BA techniques and approaches. It also shows commitment, as preparing for these certifications and clearing the exam is not an easy task. Organizations also recognize individuals for the hard work and commitment which the candidate has put into it.

For those who are making a foray into the business analysis domain, ECBA certification from IIBA is a good choice. ECBA not only gives a rock-solid foundation for getting into the BA profession but also helps with global certification. The ECBA certification does not call for any eligibility criteria in terms of education and covers aspects related to requirements elicitation, requirements analysis, and management, stakeholder management, techniques used by BAs, etc.

It is strongly recommended that you undergo proper training from a seasoned BA coach. This will help increase your chances of passing in the very first attempt and in the shortest possible time. My organization Adaptive US (adaptiveus.com) is an EEP with IIBA and has helped scores of professionals get ECBA certified and step into a successful BA career.

For more details- ECBA Training

9. Start from within your organization

Upon completing the training and certification, you can utilize your newfound learning and experience in your industry/domain to start looking for opportunities within your current organization.

The first thing to do will be to look for possibilities for an internal transfer. Discuss your career goals with your manager and seek opportunities to practice BA skills/techniques. Show interest, gather knowledge, and be proactively involved in the requirements gathering and documentation process. Shadowing the business analyst for a particular project in your organization would allow you to practice the concepts that you have learned.

If finding an opportunity with the current organization is not possible, you could update your resume accordingly to highlight your ‘functional knowledge’ in your industry/domain, along with your certification details. Showcase how your past experience qualifies you for business analysis roles and how your profile is enhanced with the ECBA training and certification you have completed.

10. Learn to network and leverage it

If you wish to climb higher in your career, you need the right push. Sometimes, this push comes from those you are surrounded with. Surround yourself with like-minded people who are experts or passionate about their BA jobs, learn from their experiences, share your thoughts and ideas, identify opportunities and devise strategies on how you can advance in your career.

Many times, we are limited by our mindset and comfort zone to switch careers, which prevents us from utilizing our full potential. Our minds get overwhelmed with “What-ifs” and we stay stuck in situations, which we want to overcome. However, there have been professionals who have shown the grit to change, took action in the right direction, and worked their way to reach where they wanted to. What is inspiring is that they have been very successful too.

A good business analyst is one of the best assets that an organization can have. Having a good and competent BA in the organization is like finding a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow.

So, plan ahead, learn & hone the skills needed and forge your way ahead with one of the fastest-growing and exciting professions.

Published on: 2020/11/04

Use Case or User Story

Written by Steve Farrall on June 1, 2023. Posted in Articles.

An interesting question! Do we stick with use cases or switch to agile user stories as the best way to model, understand and deliver requirements?

The answer is to apply both techniques and together they work well to complement each other. In this approach, I view the use case as a business use case focused on business actions and processes; the user story is focused on the system requirements elaborating what is required of the system to support the business use case and supporting the agile sprint development process.

Use Cases

The objective of the use case in this context is to communicate the understanding of the requirement to the SMEs and stakeholders to ensure that the correct solution will be developed. It won’t be fool proof, but it should help steer the development in the right direction; until the first show and tell session, you can never be absolutely sure the requirement has been fully understood.

I would restrict the use case content to be only that essential to explain how the requirement will be delivered; alternate flows etc should be pushed into the use stories as far as possible. It may well be useful to expose some draft business rules for discussion as part of the use case but keep in mind the rules will need to be included and implemented via the user stories.

The Tool

We had already setup a wiki using the Atlassian Confluence tool, the logical step was to extend the existing wiki and introduce a fairly simple template for our use case pages; different tools could be adopted, even PowerPoint would work. Using Confluence allowed existing content to be linked directly into our use case pages as needed; it also includes a presentation mode allowing page content to be used directly in a presentation and exported to PDF or Word format documents.

The use cases can then be used to present back to the SMEs and stakeholders to confirm the understanding of requirements and the validity of the proposed process.

Tip – Catalogue Use Cases

It is useful to have index of all the use cases that includes a status to show work in progress, which ones have been published and those reviewed with SMEs. We managed our use case catalogue within Confluence using custom decision pages to provide an index view of all the cases.

User Stories

The key differentiator with the story is that it targets a specific system requirement and product feature, explaining a feature to an SME is a valid activity but without the context of the overall process, it might be a hard sell. Typically, you will need to introduce some supporting product features which may not be immediately obvious to SMEs; hence combining the stories together into a coherent business process will help SMEs to understand the overall solution context.

User stories can be identified but not elaborated depending on the level of confidence in understanding for a given requirement and business process. It may be appropriate to propose a change based on the understanding prior to a workshop or it might be better to get feedback from the workshop and then work on the stories with the knowledge gained.

The objective is to gain confidence in the understanding of a requirement so that everything can proceed down the right track with a joined-up set of product features.

Tip – Catalogue User Stories

A template for developing user stories can be adopted, this is useful as a prompt for details which may be appropriate e.g., what’s the existing feature doing currently and what needs to be changed. We managed our use story catalogue within Confluence using custom decision pages to provide and index view.

Joined Up Thinking

Use cases and user stories come together in the steps of a use case i.e., supporting the flow, whether it is worth elaborating main flows and alternate flows within a single business use case is debatable. The key objective is to keep the use case as simple as possible whilst demonstrating how the requirement will be met, so adding exception flows may cause confusion at this stage.

It is also possible that an existing feature will support a requirement without the need for a change story to be introduced; it is valid to include this feature in the use case as a step to demonstrate how this will work. For an existing feature, screen shots can be included and marked up with candidate changes; for a new feature then a wireframe mock-up may be included where a user interface is needed to support a step in the process.

Tip – Catalogue Use Cases

It will be useful to have index of all the use cases that includes a status to show which ones have been published and review with SMEs. We managed our use case catalogue within Confluence using custom decision pages to provide and index view.

Requirements and Use Cases

Now we are starting to build up a comprehensive set of product features that will meet the requirements and these will have been validated with SMEs; so, we are in a good position to elaborate the details of the user stories that will be needed to change existing features and add new features to the product.

Tip – Link Requirements

Linking requirements to use cases is a useful way to file the information, not all requirements will need separate use cases only those where confirmation is needed to better understand the underlying business need which can sometimes be obscured by a badly written requirement.

Conclusion

The use case is the glue that binds the product features and stories together into a comprehensive system that will meet the stated requirements; the user stories allow this requirement to be broken down into manageable features for delivery by agile sprint development teams.

Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Business Analysts and BA Jobs

Written by Ananya Pani on May 25, 2023. Posted in Articles.

Artificial Intelligence is no longer a buzzword, and it has been making waves in the tech industry. We are experiencing AI in our day-to-day life in the form of chatbots, Voice assistants in serving customers’ requests, forecasting market trends, detecting possible future ailments, and much more. In recent years, businesses have begun adopting AI to improve their operations and gain a competitive edge. But what does this mean for business analysts and BA jobs? With the rise of AI, will Business Analysts become obsolete, or will it create new opportunities? Let’s dive into how artificial intelligence affects business analysis and explore what the future holds for those in this field.

If you are a business analyst, you need to be skilled to leverage these technologies as an added advantage to your capabilities to deliver continued value to your organization.

So, are you geared to make the most of it or see it as a threat, or are apprehensive of losing your job to AI?

AI is your new superpower

As a business analyst, you have access to a wealth of data to help you make better decisions for your company. But what if you could tap into the power of artificial intelligence (AI) to supercharge your decision-making process?

With AI-powered business analytics tools, you can get insights that would otherwise be hidden in your data. For example, you can use predictive analytics to identify trends and patterns in your data and then use those insights to make better decisions about where to invest your resources.

AI can also help you automate repetitive tasks so that you can focus on more strategic work. For example, you can use natural language processing (NLP) to automatically generate reports from unstructured data sources like social media or customer feedback surveys. Using these opportunities helps us converse with customers about new possibilities.

In short, AI is your superpower when it comes to making better decisions for your business. So why not put AI to work for you?

Use AI to have more control over your time and use it more efficiently –

Let AI do all your routine, monotonous/repetitive jobs that free up more time and energy for Business Analysts.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is increasingly being used to automate low-level tasks, freeing time and energy for Business Analysts. This allows Business Analysts to focus on more strategic tasks, such as identifying new opportunities, analyzing data, and improving processes. As AI continues to evolve, it is expected that even more mundane tasks will be automated, further freeing up time for Business Analysts to add value to their organizations. Let the easy and monotonous tasks be taken up by AI, leaving the complex and the more challenging tasks to humans. Having said that, it requires us to grow and sharpen our skills.

BAs add significant value to the organization with their cognitive abilities

BAs add significant value to the organization in many ways that AI can’t take up.

They:

Perform a pivotal role in bridging the gap between business and IT.
Help/collaborate with stakeholders in prioritizing the requirements, helping them refine the requirements, and eliciting them using various techniques.
Influence/assist stakeholders in moving towards the unified project goal by communicating effectively.
They understand the business domain and processes and translate them into technical requirements.
They often apply out of the box solution approaches to solve business problems where a straightforward solution may not be available.

All these skills are essential for the success of any project or organization but cannot be replaced by AI.

Here is a detailed analysis of skills/tasks that currently are not possible to be taken up by AI.

Problem-solving

BAs help in Problem-solving – For impediments faced in the process or by the team:

Artificial intelligence has altered the role of business analysts and BA jobs. In the past, BAs were responsible for gathering requirements and documenting them. However, with the advent of AI, business analysts now need to be able to solve problems that may arise during the process or by the team.

This is where AI can be beneficial. With its ability to identify patterns and correlations, AI can help business analysts understand why specific problems are occurring and how they can be solved. Additionally, AI can also help BAs predict future problems that may arise and recommend solutions accordingly. As a result, BAs are now able to provide more value to their organizations by helping to solve complex problems.

Out of box thinking

Organizations are under constant pressure to do more with less. As a result, they need their employees to be creative and come up with innovative solutions to problems. This is where out-of-the-box thinking comes in.

Business analysts are in a unique position to help with this. They are trained to think critically and creatively, and they have the analytical skills to back up their ideas. BAs can help organizations see problems from different perspectives and come up with new solutions that they may not have considered before.

AI is only going to increase the demand for out-of-the-box thinking. As AI capabilities continue to grow, businesses will need employees who can think outside the box to keep up. BAs who can provide this critical thinking will be in high demand.

Critical decision making

BAs help in coming up with the best possible solution from the various alternatives.

BAs help organizations to make sense of all the data they collect and to use it to make better decisions. With the help of artificial intelligence (AI), BAs can now do even more to improve decision-making. AI can help BAs to identify patterns and correlations that they might not be able to see with their human eyes. AI can also help to automate some of the tedious tasks that BAs have to do, such as gathering data from multiple sources. This frees up the BA’s time so that they can focus on more strategic tasks.

AI is also helping BAs to come up with better solutions from the various alternatives available. With AI, BAs can test out different scenarios and see which one is most likely to succeed. This helps organizations to make better decisions and to avoid costly mistakes.

Overall, AI is having a positive impact on the job of the BA. With AI, BAs are able to do their jobs more effectively and efficiently.

Stakeholder collaboration –

BAs play a critical role in validating and prioritizing needs.

In any business, it is essential to have a good understanding of what your stakeholders want and need from you. This can be difficult to do without the help of a business analyst. Business analysts are experts in stakeholder collaboration. They can help you validate and prioritize the needs of your stakeholders. This is important because it ensures that you are meeting the needs of your stakeholders and that your business is able to run smoothly.

Bridging the gap between tech and users

As the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) continues to grow in businesses around the world, the role of the business analyst (BA) is evolving. BAs are uniquely positioned to help bridge the gap between technical teams and users, and workshops are one way they can do this.

Workshops help BAs understand the needs of users and translate them into requirements for technical teams. They also help technical teams understand the capabilities of AI and how it can be used to solve business problems. By facilitating communication between these two groups, BAs can ensure that AI is deployed effectively and efficiently.

What’s more, as AI becomes more complex, the need for BAs who can navigate its increasingly murky waters will only grow. With their deep understanding of both business and technology, BAs are essential partners in helping organizations realize the full potential of AI.

Data analysis –

Deriving intelligent insights from the data to facilitate business decisions.

A Business Analyst (BA) is responsible for analyzing an organization or business domain and documenting its business or processes or systems, assessing the business model or its integration with technology. They also help in data analysis and derive intelligent insights from the data to facilitate business decisions. Data analysts use statistical techniques to examine data and draw conclusions from it. They help businesses to make better decisions by taking into account a wide range of factors, including cost, time, resources, risk, and objectives. The role of a BA has become even more critical in recent years as organizations strive to become more data-driven in their decision-making.

With the advent of artificial intelligence (AI), there is ample opportunity for BAs to leverage AI technologies to improve their efficiency and effectiveness in data analysis. AI can help BAs to automate repetitive tasks such as data collection and cleansing so that they can focus on more strategic tasks such as identifying trends and patterns in data. AI-powered tools can also help BAs to make better recommendations by providing them with real-time insights based on large volumes of data.

In order to take advantage of these opportunities, BAs need to upskill themselves in AI technologies. There are many online courses and resources available that can help BAs get started with learning about AI.

Ethical and responsible use of confidential customer information

As business analysts, we are constantly working with confidential customer information. It is our responsibility to use this information ethically and responsibly.

Here are some ways that we can do this:

Be transparent about how we will use the customer information.
Get explicit consent from the customer before using their data.
Keep the customer information secure and protect it from unauthorized access.
Only use the customer information for the purpose it was collected for.
Dispose of the customer information securely when we no longer need it.By following these guidelines, we can ensure that we are using confidential customer information in an ethical and responsible manner.

To sum it up, keep your skills chiseled, use your cognitive skills to deliver value, keep your learning on, and leverage technology to keep you in demand.

Building a House: Analogy for the Business Analysis Role

Written by Nicola Myers on May 10, 2023. Posted in Articles.

Two years ago, my friend asked me what my job role was, and I said that I was a business analyst in Information Technology (IT). However, after all this time, she still doesn’t understand what my job entails. To assist friends of other business analysts around the world, I have written this article to explain what we do. I can’t wait until she reads my article!

Let us propose a world where business analysts are architects, the developers are builders, the inspector is the quality assurance team, and our software client would like to build a house.

Usually, the builders would start building the lounge. This sounds good because they are off to a flying start and the walls are going up, but the builders do not know how many bedrooms the house will need, where the best location for the bedrooms is, or even why they are building the building at all. The kitchen might even end up with four sinks and no oven, or the kitchen might not even exist. Finding out that this is not what the customer wanted when the house is half built is expensive to fix, will not meet the deadline, and worst of all, the house will not be what the customer wants at all!

A far better idea is to include an architect on the team.

Firstly, the architect will sit with the customer and find out the high-level goals of the building, for example, the customer would like a family house in a quiet suburb because currently they live in a noisy complex. They are also expecting a second child. The business analyst (BA) is gathering context on the problem and the customer’s vision.

Right from the start the architect explains the process that will be followed, builds a trusting relationship with the customer, and starts to manage the expectations of the customer, for example, steering the customer away from a water slide in the lounge which could take an extra six weeks. This is change management, which should happen as early as possible and should set the tone for the rest of the project. It should also be noted that the business analyst is the ambassador of user needs and so is the team member that focuses on them.

The architect will then dive into the details and obtain the customer’s requirements, draw diagrams, and can even print a 3D model of the house. It will become clear to the architect and the customer exactly where the main bedroom will be, how large it is, how many windows it will have and so much more. This is the Business Analyst (BA) conducting requirement elicitation, drawing up wireframes, and prototyping the solution. The BA will also choose the best way to engage with the customer, such as through prototyping in workshops or sticky notes on a virtual whiteboard.

To double-check that the architect and the customer are on the same page, the architect will draw up some basic design criteria that the building must meet, for the example given that the room is the older child’s room, when the builders are building the walls, then they must build two windows. This is writing acceptance criteria.

A very important step is that the architect will confirm their findings with the customer to make sure everything is covered and covered correctly. This is the validation and sign-off stage. Note that architects can suggest solutions to fill in the gaps, for example, they can suggest that the house should face north, but it is ultimately it is the customer who makes the decision.

Our builders are brilliant in their field, but they are better at building than communicating. This means that the BA needs to translate what the customer needs so that they fully understand what to do. BAs bridge the gap between the business and technical sides. The architect explains “what” needs to be done, the builders decide “how” it will be done, for example, the builders will use wheelbarrows.

The architect will sit with an interior designer and discuss the finer details to make the house as well designed as possible, for example how to place the cupboards in the kitchen to make the layout practical. This represents the interaction of the BA with the user experience experts to make sure the software is intuitive and a positive experience.

Now the builders know what to do, the building continues nicely, with a few hiccups along the way such as the bricks weren’t delivered on time. The architect will work closely with the builders every day and if the builders have any questions or are unclear on anything then the architect needs to go back to the customer for answers.

Each day the entire team, with the customer, will stand on the pavement and have a quick meeting to let the other team members know what they did yesterday, what they are doing today, and if there are any blockers or dependency issues. This is a daily standup meeting.

Every second week, the team sit around a table on Friday afternoon with some drinks and discuss how the project is going. They say what has worked well and what could have gone better. They decide what to keep doing and what new ways can be put in place to improve the way they are doing their work. This is a retrospective meeting used with an agile approach.

Once a section of the building is complete, then the architect will walk around the building with the building inspector. The inspector will check every detail to ensure the house is built to code and is safe while the architect will ensure that the building is what the customer actually wanted. Sometimes the builders can get really enthusiastic, go off course, and place a central fountain in the kitchen and forget the sink. This is a verification process step.

The house is completed, with a few bumps along the way, but the customer is thrilled (hopefully) and can’t wait to move in.

In conclusion, call us business analysts, business architects, solution designers, or craftsmen but understand that we undertake many daily tasks and play a vital role in the development of successful software projects. We may not build the building but direct it (builders like to build theme parks) and save the customer a lot of money. Hopefully, my friend will understand what I do now!