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Tag: Communication

Paint a Picture of Your Project Results

Written by Kupe Kupersmith on . Posted in Articles. 1 Comment on Paint a Picture of Your Project Results

You have heard over and over that you need a large toolbox so that you can grab the right tool for each situation. In addition, you need to be creative and use some of your tools that were intended for one purpose for a different one. For example, using a screw driver to open a paint can. Definitely not the inventor’s intention, but it works. Over the past few weeks a number of things have led me to thinking about how teams can do a better job helping their business stakeholders elevate the conversation from a solution to desired business outcomes. You need to help them get clarity around the problem or opportunity they are trying to solve and more importantly the outcomes or results they want. This is not always easy as you know. I thought of a tool normally used to help build a companies envisioned future. Why just used it at the highest level? Why not use it for every project?

A common scenario for many of you is your team is handed a solution from the business and they want you to implement it. As someone that has been practicing business analysis you know you need to understand their problem, needs, and desired outcomes. You have already implemented solutions that your stakeholder wanted just to find out it was not what they needed. I heard a speaker the other day joke about how he has built over $10,000,000 of “shelfware”! You know you have to get to the why. But, jumping in with both feet and asking why 5 times can end up putting the stakeholder on the defense or feeling frustrated with you for thinking they did not already have this idea fleshed out. Instead of jumping in with the “5 Whys” I try to put things back on me. To start the conversation I say something like “most likely we can deliver that. First help me understand how I know my team will be successful if we implement that solution.” I quickly get to questions that help answer what success looks like once implemented. I don’t jump in trying to get SMART goals/objectives yet. That is important and needed, just not yet. I want them to paint a picture for me of what life is like once we implement a solution. And this is where you can use a tool for its unattended purpose.

From the Jim Collin’s Vision Framework you could use the steps to helping define vivid descriptions of what a company’s future looks like. Over the past few years I have done work with helping define my company’s and other organizations’ vision using the Jim Collin’s Framework. Defining vivid descriptions is always my favorite part of the process because you have to be able to visualize the picture you are trying to paint. If you close your eyes you can actually see the vivid description come to life! And, all team members can see it too, helping to make sure everyone is headed for the same goal. Here is part of the definition that explains what it is.

Vivid Description. …an envisioned future needs what we call vivid description – that is, a vibrant, engaging, and specific description of what it will be like to achieve the BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal). Think of it as translating the vision from words into pictures, of creating an image that people can carry around in their heads. It is a question of painting a picture with your words. Picture painting is essential for making the 10-to-30-year BHAG tangible in people’s minds.

For an example, here is Sony’s Vivid Description in the 1950’s:

We will create products that become pervasive around the world.… We will be the first Japanese company to go into the U.S. market and distribute directly.… We will succeed with innovations that
U.S. companies have failed at – such as the transistor radio.… Fifty years from now, our brand name will be as well-known as any in the world…and will signify innovation and quality that rival the most innovative companies anywhere.… “Made in Japan” will mean something fine, not something shoddy.

When defining a vivid description for your project’s outcomes you should use the questions below that Jim Collin’s outlines in his framework:

To be a good vivid description you need to answer yes to these questions:

  1. Does the Vivid Description conjure up pictures and images of what it will be like to achieve your vision? If the vivid description does not create a clear picture in your mind’s eye, then it is not vivid enough.
  2. Does it use specific, concrete examples and analogies to bring the vision to life, rather than bland platitudes?
  3. Does it express passion, intensity, and emotion?
  4. When reading the vivid description, do you think, “Wow, it would be really fantastic to make all this happen. I would really want to be a part of that, and I’m willing to put out significant effort to realize this vision!”?

The last one is the one I like most. You need full engagement from the team to be successful. Just having an objective of increase sales by 20% is so blah and does not really get people excited. Now you do need to get to some measureable results. Just get there by discussing the vivid description of what success looks like.

All the best,
Kupe

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How Agile Thinking and Logistics Work Together

Written by Willie Pena on . Posted in Articles. 1 Comment on How Agile Thinking and Logistics Work Together

pena Apri1When coordinating procedures in a complicated supply chain, a manager can achieve the best success by turning to principles of agile thinking, a philosophy of production that was perfected and made famous by Toyota. Agility promotes lean operations, the use of fewer resources, quick customer responses, and adaptability.

Overall, the pro-agility mindset favors cutting out the superfluous and the unnecessary to achieve lower costs without compromising quality. This usually results in happy customers and a leg up on the competition. Since logistics is really about supplying the demands of customers in the most efficient and rational way possible, agile thinking is a natural fit for any supply chain management. Many managers shy away from adopting and using this supply chain philosophy, however, because they don’t know how to make the shift. Below are tips.

INSTITUTING AGILE THINKING IN YOUR COMPANY

Identify defects in production:

High quality production is the hallmark of agile thinking. With a focus on customer satisfaction, agility managers must first assess where any deficiencies in the products lie. Sources may include poor materials, fake materials, old equipment, outdated technology, poor workmanship, insufficient training, improper section management, or the absence of a quality control system. The product should go beyond the standards listed in government industry regulations and satisfy customer requirements for values such as sustainability or fair trade concerns. No additional work on agility can be done until logistics experts make refine production so that it can deliver blemish free products.

Halt overproduction

To eliminate excess, agility managers insist on only producing what is demanded by the customers. This can mean a number of things. Some supply chain management experts use research to get a realistic picture of what particular wares are in demand by specific audiences in specific locations. Others do not start production until they have customer requests and orders in hand. They do not try to shape the tastes of customers by making products and hoping there will be customer demand. Agile thinking and lean production do not require customization, but customization is definitely a trend encouraged by many logistics managers. Many companies try to be flexible and adapt their products to the styles and features that customers request. This may delay delivery but it the quality is top-notch, customers will not mind.

Create an efficient system for inventory

Logistics managers should maintain a small amount of inventory, generating more products only when needed. This requires an inventory system that can provide real-time data about what orders are on hand and what products are on hand.

Manage manpower through space design

A key to achieving agility is ensuring employees do not waste time and effort by moving throughout the plant too much. Equipment that needs to be used in sequence should be clustered together. Workers should have assignments that keep them in one general location. The general design of the plant should be tailored to the product niche; don’t move into a plant and adapt to the original environment.

Make transportation more efficient

The logistics of getting products to vendors should be refined. Supply chain management experts should deliver products in small batches, agree to drop off locations that are near the production site and communicate with vendors prior to delivery with notices that identify contents and time of delivery.

Reduce wait time

To ensure lean use of time, supply chain management should synchronize procedures. Create a rhythm where one process harmonizes with another process and is always completed at regular intervals.

Understanding the culture of agility is the job of everyone in the supply chain; managers at each level should use agile thinking and have authority to make changes to create a faster and more streamlined system.

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Effective Communication Versus Noise

Written by Alsie Borromeo-Salvador on . Posted in Articles.

alsi Apr1How would you respond to a stakeholder who avoids voicing out concerns plainly because he is afraid to create noise?

In an IT solutions organization stakeholders span a broad range: from business analysts, project managers, and customer service support personnel to quality assurance engineers. Depending on the organizational structure, one stakeholder may wear different hats. Reality bites – silos block communication channels between key players.

It is never wrong to share one’s ideas. Voicing out one’s stand does not mean that he tells everyone that what he thinks is the best way to go. In fact, the act of speaking up takes a lot of effort. It entails research, rational thinking, and courage! Therefore, it is not fair regard the act of collaborating as creating “noise”.

As a Business Analyst, it can be beyond our role to break walls. It is a leap of faith to share a piece of the stage for the sake of delivering a “quality” product. Over the years, it has been evident that sharing ideas, imparting the solutions from top of head and providing answers to questions sharpen the saw of an individual.

Healthy discussion(s) that facilitates team collaboration results to the following:

  1. Deeper understanding of functionality
  2. Beefing up of communication skills
  3. Increases confidence
  4. Establishment of good working relationship (infinite benefit which will definitely be a savior during crunch time)

Inspired by the following:

Foster a collaborating environment and smack down the thinking – “I’ll just create noise when I say this”.

This article communicates personal views of the author and has nothing to do with the organization to which she belongs.

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Bride of BA-elzebub’s Glossary

Written by Marcos Ferrer on . Posted in Articles. 1 Comment on Bride of BA-elzebub’s Glossary

Ah, the infinite potential of words. To communicate effectively, remember that words don’t mean what they mean. Doubt it? Explain what “analysis” is, and why synthesis might be a better word for what great business analysts accomplish.

Agenda: A private, secret, goal distinct from the purposes of the meeting.

Agile: Quick enough to dodge reading, duck writing, stick to binary ‘rithmetic.

Analytics: The idea that increasing the amount of “garbage in” will – what exactly?

Baseline: A method of slowing progress down to fit communal bandwidth.

Consensus: A formal misunderstanding adopted by all for the common good.

Constraint: A choice denied. E.g., “No building above high tide.” See Kerneled.

Disagreement: An informal misunderstanding adopted by all for the common good.

Emotional Intelligence: A skill allowing one to lead (or follow) lemmings off a cliff.

Feasible: As possible as the fees available for saying yes.

Fire Hose: An information dense stakeholder conversation without a mop in sight.

Generalist: Kibitzer able to interfere with anyone’s work. Formal: Business Analyst.

Gold: Maker of rules, business and otherwise. See Feasibility.

Historical Data: Inaccessible data, nostalgized in the present, then re-abandoned.

Innovation: Changes for the common good, just not for you in particular.

Justification: A rationalization increasing the feasibility in the eyes of the sponsor.

Kerneled: Screwed by the choice of operating system. See Constraint.

Laziness: Job expertise, e.g., “Their code never breaks, they lay around all day!”

Manacled: Constrained to a pier after questioning a constraint. See Constraint.

Mentor: Disturbed, e.g., “That guy is mentor – he ripped out his own dentor work.

Null: Non-zero data that is not blank, nor empty, means nothing but isn’t. Got IT?

Odiferous: Just a funny word. Stakeholder, on system delivery: “Oh dis for us?”

Prescience: Proceeding without science.

Quixotic: Quality useful to Quality Assurance.

Regulator: Stakeholder in writing worth reading.

Supercomputer: The one you don’t have.

TANSTAAFL: There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch. Who knows the origin? 

Understanding: A goal pursued when neither consensus nor disagreement will do.

Vocative: A word only a grammar could love. Kudos to anyone who explains it 

Wise Guy: See X-pert. Also manacled.

X-pert: An unemployed self-employed consultant.

Zero: Not null, nor nothing, yet naught. Got IT?

Love hearing from readers, what words did you have to define today?

And remember, “Glossary” is a technique, a verb not just a noun (BABOK chapter 9).

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Solid Foundations

Written by Paul Mattiske on . Posted in Articles.

We all have moments when we realise how we can improve our business analysis effectiveness and we wish that we had thought of it earlier. Here’s a selection of Aha! moments that have occurred over the course of a business analyst career and will hopefully resonate with you.

Analytical Skills

For starters, as business analysts we need to have good analytical and problem solving skills. This is one of the foundations upon which our success is built. People with these skills tend to be attracted to business analysis but there are always new things to learn. Stay open to improving these skills throughout your career.

What Problem?

It is important to understand the problem completely before moving into solution mode. We all like to come up with a neat solution but unless we get to the bottom of the problem we may solve a problem that doesn’t exist or provide a partial solution. Resist the temptation to formulate solutions too early. This sounds simple but is a recurring trap.

Ask Lots of Questions

There can be a tendency for business analysts to expect that they have to be the expert and know all the answers. Unless you are also the subject matter expert, one of the keys to business analysis is asking lots of questions. Questions are a key to success because a) problems in the work place are often ambiguous and ill-defined b) people may not provide the relevant information unless prompted by questions and c) compromises between conflicting requirements may need to be negotiated.

To make it easier for stakeholders we need to carefully formulate questions based on the limited information that we have been given. Gather questions into subject areas and cover a lot of ground in one session to provide focus and maximise time efficiency for time-poor stakeholders. Ask follow-up questions to ensure that the subject is crystal clear. There is always room for asking basic questions. If something is not clear to you then it is probably not clear to others so seek clarification.

These basic questions may seem trivial but they are valuable for revealing hidden assumptions that can cause problems later.

Tackle the issues

Part of the role of the business analyst is to identify and resolve content issues. Content issues are related to requirement definition and solution feasibility and are different to project management issues which deal with time, cost and resources.

Issues that we know about are good. It is the issues that we don’t know about yet that are bad! Keep a watchful lookout for content issues. When people hesitate or give vague answers to questions it is an indication that there are underlying issues that need to be surfaced.

Most issues can be resolved fairly quickly once you find the person with the right information but then there are some issues that refuse to go away. These are the tough ones that are most likely to cause problems and rework later. Pursue issue resolution relentlessly but professionally. It is easy to get so involved in analysing requirements, formulating solutions and meeting deadlines that issues end up in the too-hard basket. However we cannot afford to let issues go. Find out who might have the answers and explain the issue. Give people a target date for resolution. Issues can be managed by entering them into a contents issue log, sharing it with all stakeholders and reviewing progress regularly.

Consult widely

Talk things over thoroughly and actively seek advice before taking action. Talk requirements and solutions over with all the stakeholders and team members to get everyone on the same page and avoid unwanted surprises. By seeking many viewpoints, especially from the stakeholders that differ from the majority, we ensure that our solutions are robust and meet all the agreed requirements.

Choose the communication medium that suits each stakeholder to increase participation. Don’t assume that everyone learns the same way. For example, diagrams mean very little to some people and do not increase their understanding. In this case it may be necessary to talk through the content and prepare a written description.

Balance Detail with the Big Picture

To produce a complete and robust solution to a business problem the detail needs to be understood. Those of us who have had to revise solutions late in a project know that “the devil is in the detail”. However if we start with details we will be overwhelmed so the first priority is to form a big picture overview. The trick is to move from the big picture to the detail at the right time and to the right degree. If it’s done too soon we may lose sight of important parts of the problem. If it’s done too late then we risk unwanted surprises during implementation. How do we manage the transition from big picture to detail? Move into the detail first on the areas that are ranked highest by the business. Come back up periodically to check that the broader landscape hasn’t changed. Alternate between the big picture and the detail to keep a balance and get maximum benefit from your efforts.

If you are one of those people who tend to get absorbed in the detail then there are a couple of ways to keep perspective. Firstly, keep a to-do list and prioritise the items. This avoids losing sight of other things that need to be done. It makes solving problems more enjoyable because it removes the feeling that there’s something else more important that you should be doing. There is also a great sense of satisfaction when an item can be ticked off the list. Secondly, find time during the work day to have a break. This gives an opportunity for other priorities to come to mind. It may even generate good ideas for solving something – all without apparently trying.

Value your contribution

Be ready to speak about the contribution you are making. Write down your main achievements each month. Don’t wait until the yearly performance review to try and remember the highlights of what has been achieved. Recording achievements during the year facilitates preparation for performance reviews and helps to make a good case.

Seek Simplicity

Look for neat simple solutions that are fit for purpose. The complexity should be in the problem, not the solution. If you can see a simple solution then back your judgement and work hard to explain it to others.

Work closely with your Project Manager

The support of a good project manager is vital to your success. It is an important prerequisite for enabling us to do what we do best – analysing problems and designing solutions.

Look for a project manager who is on the side of the team and protects the team from external pressures. This will be someone who provides the necessary resources to the team and appreciates the team’s efforts. Avoid project managers who commit to targets without consulting the team and then put pressure on the team when unrealistic targets are not met.

Unless you are politically savvy, let the project manager deal with the politics as much as possible. However this doesn’t mean you can ignore the politics. Be aware of the politics so that you know when to comment and when to keep silent. This way you don’t burn any bridges – you may need that person’s co-operation in the future.

Clients usually have unrealistic expectations of what can be done and tend to underestimate the complexity of what we do. Project managers can assist us to push back on these unrealistic expectations. Refer questions from stakeholders that deal with project management matters. For example, I was once pressured by a senior client to give an estimate of delivery date and cost for some deliverables when the project manager was not present. After a brief comment about past bad experiences I said “Once bitten, twice shy” and referred them to the project manager.

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