Business Analysis Amalgamation with Product Management

Written by Neethu Nair on March 2, 2023. Posted in Articles.

In today’s fast-paced business environment, organizations constantly seek ways to improve their processes, products, and services. Business Analysis and Product Management are two key areas essential to achieving these goals. Traditionally, these functions have been viewed as separate disciplines, with Business Analysts focusing on identifying and analyzing business requirements, while Product Managers focus on the development and management of products and services.

However, there has been a growing trend towards amalgamating these two functions to create a more integrated approach in recent years. By combining Business Analysis with Product Management, companies can benefit from a more holistic understanding of customer needs, more effective use of data, and improved collaboration and communication between teams.

An Overview of Business Analysis and Product Management:

Business Analysis is the process of identifying, analyzing, and documenting business requirements, processes, and workflows. The role of a Business Analyst is to help organizations improve their processes and systems by identifying areas of improvement, gathering and analyzing data, and making recommendations for change. Business Analysts often work closely with stakeholders and other teams within an organization, including IT and project management.

Product Management, on the other hand, is focused on developing and managing products or services. The role of a Product Manager is to identify market opportunities, define product requirements, and work with cross-functional teams to bring products to market. Product Managers must have a deep understanding of customer needs and market trends and/ or the ability to manage budgets, timelines, and resources.

Benefits of Amalgamating Business Analysis and Product Management:

While Business Analysis and Product Management are distinct roles, there are many benefits to amalgamating the two functions. Here are a few of the key advantages.

Better understanding of customer needs:

One of the key benefits of amalgamating Business Analysis and Product Management is the ability to better understand customer needs. By working together, these two functions can create a more complete picture of customer requirements, preferences, and pain points. This can lead to better product design, more effective marketing, and higher customer satisfaction.

Alignment towards Business Goals:

Amalgamating Business Analysis and Product Management also improve team collaboration and communication. These two functions can ensure that everyone is aligned on business goals, product requirements, and timelines. This can lead to better project outcomes and faster time to market.

More practical use of data:

Another benefit of combining Business Analysis and Product Management is effectively using data. Business Analysts are skilled at collecting, analyzing, and interpreting data, while Product Managers deeply understand market trends and customer needs. These two functions can leverage data to improve product design, pricing, and marketing decisions by working together.

Faster problem-solving:

Amalgamating Business Analysis and Product Management also lead to faster problem-solving. By having a team of experts who can analyze data, identify issues, and recommend solutions, organizations can respond more quickly to changing market conditions or customer needs. This can help companies stay ahead of the competition and achieve their business objectives more effectively.

Better outcomes over outputs:

Finally, combining Business Analysis and Product Management can improve project outcomes. By working together, these two functions can ensure that products are designed to meet customer needs and that projects are delivered on time and within budget. This can lead to improved customer satisfaction, increased revenue, and a stronger competitive position in the market.

The amalgamation of Business Analysis and Product Management can benefit organizations looking to stay ahead in today’s competitive business landscape. By combining these two functions, companies can improve collaboration and communication, better understand customer needs, use data more effectively, and achieve better project outcomes. Whether a small start-up or a large enterprise, an integrated approach to Business Analysis and Product Management can help you achieve your business objectives more effectively.

Top Business Analysis Skills To Learn in 2023 To Thrive in a Volatile Economy

Written by Ananya Pani on February 22, 2023. Posted in Articles.

With the economic landscape ever-evolving and uncertainty in the air, it pays to know which business analysis skills are essential for success. In such a business environment, having the right skills can be the difference between success and failure. As 2023 approaches, it’s more important than ever to develop the right business analysis skills that will help you stand out from competitors and thrive in these uncertain times. With new technologies and approaches emerging all the time, developing the right business analysis skills has become more important than ever before. In this article, we’ll explore the top business analysis skills you’ll need to master in order to stay ahead of the pack. Find out how you can get ahead of the curve by acquiring these valuable skills now!

What is Business Analysis?

The term ‘business analysis’ is used in many different ways, but at its core, business analysis is all about bringing positive change, improving business performance with technology adoption, Process improvement and removal of inefficiencies in the cycle. It also encompasses improvement of revenue, market reputation, user experience, understanding how businesses work and how they can be improved. It’s about finding ways to do things better, faster, or cheaper.

Image Source – Freepik.com

Business analysts typically have strong analytical and problem-solving skills, and are able to see the ‘big picture’ while paying attention to detail. They need to be good communicators, great facilitators as well as collaborators, able to explain complex concepts in simple terms, asking the right questions and also be good listeners.

As businesses become more complex and the pace of change increases, the need for business analysts will continue to grow. If you’re thinking of a career in business analysis, or are already working as a business analyst, it’s important to stay up-to-date with the right skills, latest methods and tools.

Essential Skills for Business Analysts in 2023

As the world economy becomes increasingly volatile, businesses must be agile and adaptable to survive. Business analysts play a vital role in helping organizations in changing gears, understand and respond to change and adapt to the new business needs. In 2023, the most successful business analysts will be those who have developed the following essential skills:

Data Analytics: With the increasing amount of tech penetration and the huge amount of data available, business analysts are expected to be skilled to interpret, analyze data, see patterns in them and come up with actionable insights from them. To be able to do all this they need to be proficient in data analytics tools and techniques such as data interpretation and visualization. They will need to be able to not only interpret and communicate the results of these analyses to key stakeholders but also present actionable insights for strategic decision making.

Agile methodologies: Agile methodologies have proven to be effective in adapting to change, taking

frequent customer feedback and prioritizing delivery accordingly. And as a result, today more than 70% projects adopt agile methodology and their adoption will continue to grow. Business analysts need to be conversant with the principles of agile analysis and be able to work effectively within agile teams.

Financial Analysis: In a volatile economy, it is important for business analysts to understand financial analysis and be able to assess the financial impact of different business decisions. They will need to be able to evaluate investment opportunities, assess risks involved, and make recommendations based on financial data. They need to have the ability to know which are the initiatives that can help in quicker turn around for revenue and which changes can bring cost control thus making a better cash flow situation for the organization.

Strategic Thinking: Business analyst as a role requires higher level of thinking as well as attention to details to see the opportunities of improvement. Hence, they will need to be able to think strategically about the long-term goals of the organization and be able to develop plans to achieve those goals. They will need to be able to evaluate the potential impact of various business options and make recommendations based on data and best practices.

Adaptability: The ability to adapt to changes in their environment is a critical skill for success in a volatile economy. Business analysts will need to be able to quickly respond to changing conditions, be flexible to acquire skills to perform well in their approach to solving problems.

Cross-functional Collaboration: Business analysts are the change makers bringing positive changes to the organization thereby making the organization’s process faster and better. To achieve these objectives, they will need to be able to work effectively with teams from different departments, hierarchy, backgrounds, and be able to translate technical concepts and requirements into language that is accessible to a wide range of stakeholders.

Communication Skills: Business analysts are the ones who are required to influence stakeholders and users to come to agreement for the business decisions, and this requires being a great communicator. Effective communication is and will remain a critical skill for business analysts in 2023 and years to come. They will need to be able to clearly and effectively communicate complex ideas and data to stakeholders, and be able to negotiate and manage conflicting interests.

In conclusion, the skills that business analysts need to focus on in 2023 will continue to evolve, but the skills outlined above will likely be critical for success in a volatile economy. It’s important for business analysts to stay up-to-date about emerging trends and to continuously grow their skills and knowledge to stay ahead of the curve.

Deep Listening: Avoid Hearing What You Want To Hear

Written by Adrian Reed on February 16, 2023. Posted in Articles.

Elicitation is a key business analysis skill. Whether it’s one-on-one interviews, workshops, observation or one of the many other techniques, elicitation is a key source of information. As BAs, it’s easy to think that we are highly attuned listeners, carefully scouring the airwaves for tasty morsels of relevant information. Of course, this is probably true. However, have you ever reflected on how deeply you pay attention and listen? For example, have you ever:

Quickly checked your email in a meeting (where something critical could be mentioned, but you weren’t expecting it)
Been tired at the end of the day so tried to rush a conversation
Skim-read an email and missed a key detail
Missed a key piece of information in a document
By the time you interview the sixth person, you think you already know the answer so ‘tune out’ for part of the interview

If you haven’t, then you probably deserve a medal. I’m sure most of us have indulged in some—or all—of these behaviors at some point in our careers. While there might be good reasons to do so in some cases, doing so will affect the ability to listen deeply. Notably, by ‘listening’ here, I’m also referring to ‘reading’ of information, as I suspect we all spend a lot of time ‘listening’ to our colleagues through their emails and comments on documents etc.

Miscommunication Is Rife

It’s easy to miss the point when listening or reading. As an example, I was wandering around a large supermarket here in the UK, and I picked up a bottle of own-brand hand wash. I was looking on the back of it, and noticed the following statement in bold:

[Supermarket name] is against animal testing and funds alternatives

It struck me that this is a deliberate piece of misdirection. If you were scanning it quickly to look for information about whether the product is tested on animals, you might see that statement and think “oh, they’re against animal testing, so it’s fine”. This is similar to a case where a listener hears what they expect to hear, or what they want to hear! However, the statement taken at face value doesn’t confirm (or refute) whether the product was (or wasn’t) tested on animals. It just says the supermarket is against animal testing and funds alternatives. Yet many readers’ might inadvertently apply their own meaning to it.

Granted, you’re unlikely to be reading a statement on the back of a hand wash bottle at work, and it’s unlikely that folks will be deliberately trying to deceive. But it’s very easy to miss tiny nuances in verbal or written communication. Take these statements:

“I broadly agree with what is proposed” (what does broadly mean? Are there areas of disagreement? If so, what are they?)
“I agree with points 1 and 3”. (OK. Do you disagree with point 2?)
“This is a real pain point for us.” (What does ‘pain point’ mean? Does our definition of ‘pain point’ agree with theirs?)

These are just three specific examples, but I’m sure you get the point.

Curiosity Is A Prerequisite To Listening Deeply

Deep listening is hard, and a skill that one could probably work on for their entire life. I have heard it said multiple times that people tend to listen to respond; by the end of the speaker’s sentence the listener is tuned out thinking how to respond. As a BA, this might translate into thinking about the next question.

It is almost as if we are scared of silence. Like silence will be interpreted as some awful slight on our stakeholders. Yet in reality a (relatively short) amount of silence can be useful. In my experience, people will often pause, reflect, and add more insight when given a bit of breathing space. Of course, what is considered an appropriate length of silence varies, and certainly it shouldn’t be excessive!

A common thread throughout this is curiosity. If we are genuinely curious about the stakeholder, the subject-matter, their perspectives and so on then it’s easier to focus in and listen. If we lose curiosity or get distracted by the busy-work of organizational life it’s far too easy to tune out.

Here’s to remaining curious, and to listening deeply!

How to Safely Escape from the Assumption Trap in Requirement Analysis?

Written by Sumi Prasad on February 1, 2023. Posted in Articles.

There is a saying “Assumption is the mother of misunderstandings”. With that being said, it is common for business analysts to make assumptions to move forward with the requirements analysis. Because assumptions can help improve the efficiency and effectiveness of requirement analysis, reduce uncertainty, and identify potential risks, if not properly managed and communicated, It can become a double-edged sword.

Let’s evaluate,

What are assumptions in business analysis?

Assumptions are statements without evidence or verification that are accepted to be true.

For instance, assuming that the new software will be compatible with existing hardware and operating systems. Or assuming that the user will find the new feature easy to use or assuming that the product will meet non-functional requirements, such as security and accessibility.

Based on the business, context, time, customer, process, etc. assumptions can vary. Some examples include the following:

Assumptions about the customer: their needs, motivations, preferences, market segments.
Assumptions about the requirements/problem: nature, impact, pain points, tasks involved.
Assumptions about internal resources: culture, technical capabilities, time, budget, availability.
Assumptions about the solution: ease of use, UI design, technical constraints, functional and non-functional aspects.

What are the advantages of making assumptions in requirement analysis?

Enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of requirement analysis by focusing on the most critical and relevant aspects.
Ensure that scope is confined and complexity is avoided.
Provide better insight into the customer’s requirements. Considering different scenarios and making educated guesses can help in gaining a deeper understanding of the customer’s needs.
Create flexibility in the process of gathering requirements. As such, ability to adapt to changing circumstances and respond better to unexpected challenges and opportunities that may arise during the development process.
By documenting and communicating assumptions, stakeholders and team members can ensure that everyone is on the same page, making informed decisions.
Identify potential risks during the discovery phase and avoid surprises at the last minute.
Reduce uncertainty by allowing analysis to continue even if you don’t have a complete picture

What are the downsides of making assumptions in requirement analysis?

If assumptions are not clearly stated or communicated, it can lead to misunderstandings among stakeholders and team members. This can result in misaligned expectations and rework.
If assumptions are made with biases for example the business analyst assumes that the stakeholder has a certain level of knowledge or understanding, they may use technical language or make assumptions about the stakeholder’s needs without verifying them, which can cause misunderstandings of the requirements.
If assumptions are not clearly documented or communicated can lead to confusion and a lack of clarity about the requirements. This can make it more difficult for the product team to accurately plan and execute the project.
If assumptions are not properly addressed, it can result in incomplete requirements, which can lead to issues during the development phase. For example, if a key assumption is not considered, it could result in the development team building a solution that does not fully meet the needs of the users.
If assumptions are not properly managed, it can increase the risk of project failure. For example, if an assumption about the availability of resources turns out to be incorrect, it could lead to delays or other issues that impact the schedule and budget.

The above list of downsides is presented using an “If” statement intentionally in order to emphasize that making assumptions is not a pitfall but rather an important part of requirements analysis and gathering. It becomes a problem if not effectively managed and communicated with the stakeholders.

Business analysts should be explicit about their assumptions and verify them with relevant stakeholders. Various techniques can be used to accomplish this, such as asking questions, using user stories to describe requirements in detail, and involving the customers in the requirement gathering process.

Some tips for effectively managing the assumptions that you are making during the requirement analysis.

Spend time and critically evaluate the assumptions that you are making as you progress with the analysis.
Write down the assumptions that you are making in a concise manner at all stages. This will help to ensure that they are easily understood by others and can be referred back to later.
Make sure to communicate the assumptions that you have documented with the relevant stakeholders.
Review the assumptions that you have made to ensure that they are still valid. If any assumptions turn out to be incorrect, be sure to update them and communicate the changes with stakeholders.
Mention date when documenting the assumptions, which will help to review and validate the assumptions at later stage (E.g.: As of <date>, At the time of writing <date>, As at the <date>, At the <date> of writing/drafting/reporting).
It is important to be proactive in asking questions and verifying understanding, and to be aware of one’s own biases and seek out diverse perspectives.
There are times when assumptions are made unknowingly or by overlooking certain factors. It is possible to uncover such hidden elements through careful analysis and attention to detail. No matter how obvious and straightforward something seems, it still needs to be mentioned. In some cases, simple statements and questions can reveal hidden assumptions.
Make realistic assumptions. For example, assuming that the new product will be 100% efficient with no waste or errors is unrealistic.

To summarize, taking assumptions into account is an essential element of business analysis because it simplifies problems and accelerates analysis. Nevertheless, it is imperative to understand the pitfalls of assumptions and carefully consider their validity. Explicitly acknowledging, managing, communicating, and reviewing assumptions helps businesses minimize the risk of making inaccurate decisions.

Bad Bosses for BA’s

Written by Christina Lovelock on January 11, 2023. Posted in Articles.

Our relationship with our manager has a massive impact on our work, health and happiness. What makes a good leader for BAs and what can we learn from bad bosses?

Project Managers

PMs are often attracted to their role because they are skilled at delivery. It is very difficult to balance the competing demands of meeting delivery milestones with nurturing and developing individual team members. Having the combined roles of line-manager and delivery-manager puts project managers in an unenviable position, and if the performance evaluation of the PM is primarily concerned with project delivery, it is clear which role will take precedence.

Some of the worst examples of PMs managing BAs include:

Treating the BA as deputy PM
Assuming the BA wants to become a PM
‘Hoarding’ the BA on their project, despite requests to expand horizons and develop
Vetoing analysis tools and techniques the BA wants to apply
Preventing the BA from speaking/presenting to senior stakeholders, reducing the visibility of the BA and unintentionally (or intentionally) taking credit.

If the person doing these things is also your line manager – how can you address the behaviours or find appropriate support?

Learning points

Where a BA is line managed by their PM, there needs to be recognition that there are two different relationships at play. The ‘best’ outcome for the project (BA assigned 100% of the time, forever) is unlikely to be the best outcome for the individual BA. PMs will sometimes have to put the needs of the individual above the project, or risk losing them from the organization entirely.

BAs may want to partition meetings or request separate ‘line management catch-ups’ which have more emphasis on personal development and wellbeing and less on project delivery.

The PM/BA relationship works best when they are a professional partnership. The roles have different skills and approaches, but are working towards the same delivery goals. This can be severely compromised if the PM is the only ‘boss’ for the BA.

Product Specialists

Product managers and product owners sometimes find themselves managing BAs. They may also want to ‘hold on to’ their BA indefinitely. They often value product knowledge over the BA skillset and expect BAs to become subject matter experts. If the only training and development opportunities they can imagine for the BA is ‘more product knowledge’, then BAs are not getting the support and encouragement they need from their boss. They may not understand the breadth of the BA role and skill set, and subsequently only allow the BA to operate in a very narrow role with a constrained set of tools, techniques and relationships.

Learning points

Refer to job descriptions to keep both BA and boss focused on the wide remit of the role, not narrow product knowledge. The BA should build strong relationships with business stakeholders and relevant teams, so they have easy access to business knowledge, but don’t become the keeper of this knowledge. Encouraging regular discussion of succession planning and rotation and re-assignment normalises the idea that a BA will not stay with a particular product for the long term, and what we are providing is a business analysis skills-based service, not a product knowledge-based service.

The Absent Executive

Whilst it may be appealing on paper for a BA to report directly into a CIO or other senior executive, it comes at a price. It can be very difficult to get their time, leading to an inattentive and shallow line management relationship. The BA is often faced with the choice of a distant relationship, with irregular catch-ups and never knowing if something more important may overwrite one-to-one time OR attempting to become the right-hand-man of the exec, picking up a range of problems and projects, but is subject to rapidly changing priorities. Neither of these are particularly appealing situations and neither provides considerate and consistent line management support for the BA.

Learning Points

Reporting into a senior executive requires a high level of autonomy and independence. Some BAs enjoy working in this way so this can work well. However, everyone deserves to have a positive and supportive relationship with their boss and not see themselves as the lowest priority item on a very long to-do list. Investing in other meaningful relationships with more accessible colleagues may help to address the gap if a management void occurs. This could include a mentor, coach or trusted and supportive peer. Developing the community of business analysts helps to provide support and direction if there is an absence of management.

General Manager

There has been a rise in the belief that ‘a good manager can manage anything’. The problem is, this is not actually true and multiple studies spanning many sectors find that:

A manager who has skills and experience of a function leads to a higher performing function
People whose boss has skills in their discipline are happier and are better at their jobs!

A manager who does not understand or value business analysis is the worst possible boss for a BA.

Learning Points

BAs can help managers to understand the role and remit of business analysts and can champion the application of repeatable, rigorous analysis to aid decision making, understand customers, avoid risks, identify opportunities and improve services. It is always worth investing the effort to raise the profile and highlight the impact of good business analysis.

Organizations with sufficient numbers of BAs (5+) should be investing in a BA leadership role such as:

Head of Business Analysis
BA Manager
BA Team leader
BA Chapter lead
Head of profession for business analysis

Having individual BAs reporting to a range of roles and scattered throughout the organization does not allow the consistent application of business analysis, the opportunity to continuously improve or appropriate development and support of BAs.

Successful BA leaders are skilled and experienced in business analysis. They understand how to recruit and develop BAs and enable appropriate utilization and retention of BAs, saving the organization time, effort and money.

Conclusion

While there will be many examples of successful line management relationships from all of these roles, it is important to recognise the potential pitfalls and how they can be addressed. Not everyone is cut out to be a manager of people. Having a boss who cares about us as an individual, is interested in providing support and offering development and values the contribution we make should be the minimum we expect from our line managers.

Having a bad boss is bad for your health and career, so if you can’t change you manager, change your manager.

Tag: Communication