Tag: Strategic

The Art of Measurement and Business Architecture

Written by Daniel Lambert on March 14, 2017. Posted in Articles. 1 Comment on The Art of Measurement and Business Architecture

Building a Business Architecture model without measuring any of its key elements is a pure waste of time.

This article examines the need for strategic and tactical measurements, how to have effective measurements (KPIs) in place, presents various measurement diagram examples, and finally, names two sources of KPIs lists for various industries.

The Need for Measurement

Business Architecture will only contribute in driving Information Technology (“IT”) and Business Alignment if key business and IT stakeholders promote a “metrics-driven behavior (devising KPIs and incorporating them into the performance appraisal process).” Failure of Business Architecture initiatives and project is often the fact that C-level management hasn’t taken the time to set the Key Performance Indicators (“KPIs”) properly, as mentioned in Jason Bloomberg’s article .

KPIs can be defined at all levels of a business architecture model, including objectives/strategies, capabilities, value streams, organizations, initiatives, stakeholders, products/services, information, physical and IT assets, requirements and processes and especially all the actions and relationships that link the various parts of a business architecture together.

Some business strategies may truly be ill-advised and extremely risky. Showing the difference between strategies using chosen KPIs is what differentiates the best enterprise/business architects from others. Good business architecture will allow identifying the gaps between the current architecture and future state options by comparing architectures against KPIs and quantify the risks, using impact analyses and decision trees among others, as indicated in an article written by Tim O’Neill.

Measuring Effectively

The set of possible measurements for Business Architecture is very large since Business Architecture is the link between strategy and execution. Business Architecture measurements can be grouped into strategic, tactical and governance values.

Strategic Values

Business Architecture is the missing link between strategy and execution. KPIs for Strategic Values should stay focus on measuring some cohesive business goals, including business strategy execution progress measurements, business culture index(es), productivity, business communication effectiveness, business growth opportunities, and cost structure optimization.

Tactical Values

At a tactical level, the purpose of practicing Business Architecture is to improve the efficiency of your organization’s operations. Measurements of efficiency, costs, time will vary based on the nature of your organization’s business.

Governance Values

Governance is the other key area where Business Architecture can deliver value, by determining costs variances, examining detailed impact analyses and establishing balanced scorecards associated with risks.

Defining measurements/KPIs can be challenging. Good KPIs must have a target value and a way to be accurately measured and reported. Ideally, good KPIs should include the following characteristics, as mentioned by John Parker :

Aligned with the specific organization’s vision, strategy, and objectives.

Optimized—The KPIs should be focused on providing organization-wide strategic value rather than on non-critical local business outcomes. Selection of the wrong KPI can result in counterproductive behavior and sub-optimized results.

Measurable—Can be quantified.

Realistic—Must be cost effective, coherent with the organization’s culture and constraints and achievable within the given timeframe.

Attainable—Requires targets to be set that are observable, achievable, reasonable, and credible under expected conditions as well as independently validated.

Clear—Clear and focused on avoiding misinterpretation or ambiguity.

Understood—business and IT stakeholders and relevant organizational units should know how their behaviors and activities contribute to achieving the KPI.

Predictive—The KPI may be compared to historical data over a reasonably long time so that trends can be identified.

Agreed—All stakeholders should agree and share responsibility for achieving the KPI target.

Reported—Regular reports are made available to all stakeholders and contributors, so they know the current state of the business architecture model element and take corrective action if required.

There are numerous ways to design measurement/KPIs diagrams. In this article, you will find 5 diagrams, including the 2-dimensions pie and donut charts, the 2 or 3 dimensions bar chart, the 3 dimensions bubble chart and finally the 4-dimension radar chart.

Sources of KPIs

There are numerous sources of KPIs lists. It’s easy to get lost. In the Business Enterprise Architecture world, I will limit myself to two. First, there are the KPIs lists for each of the four IT Values Streams defined by the OPEN Group; especially the KPI list regarding the Strategy to Portfolio IT Value Stream . Second, there is the APQC’s Process Classification Framework that contains hundreds of processes , including detailed definitions and thousands of key measures for numerous industries. In particular, the APQC’s Process Classification Framework includes a section about developing and managing Business Capabilities

Definitions and Key Measures that can be very useful for Business Architecture . As for the latest version of BIZBOK, surprisingly it often mentions the necessity of measurements/KPIs but does not elaborate further than that.

Conclusion

This article has examined the need for strategic and tactical measurements, how to have effective measurements (KPIs) in place, presented various measurement diagram examples, and finally named two sources of KPIs lists for various industries.

Strategy Spotlight: 5 Design and Decision Thoughts that Impact Your Business Success

Written by Richard Lannon on March 8, 2017. Posted in Articles.

I believe you can design your business, career and life for your success. You and your business are the architects of your existence.

The total sum of all the decisions you have made. With that in mind, I think you have no choice but to accept or reject the present situation or state of your organization.

Related Article: 8 Things You Must Do to Make Better Decisions

From a business analysis perspective design is rational with explicit reason behind decisions for creating a system, a solution, an artifact. It is the augmented-base that is meant to be a collaborative process addressing problems and providing solutions.

Interestingly design happens in many ways, from what’s perceived to be haphazard, to the intentional. There are many design styles that we can apply to our business. The question, which one is being applied to your business.

Build It and They Will Come Design

Right from the movie Field of Dreams. This sometimes works. There is a vision of success, someone has a gut instinct, they build something and it sells, solves a problem or satisfies a dream. At one point in my career I spent five years within the entrepreneurial incubator space helping business leaders take ideas and determine the feasibility and success likelihood. I witnessed a lot of designs go nowhere. Some were brought to market only to discover that no-one wanted the product. One such business made a 500K error and it hurt. Most of these mistakes are made due to ego and with no one fact checking to see if there is a market for the product. Always check to see if the solution makes sense.

Feather on the Wind Design

This is another movie reference, this time from Forest Gump. We are like a feather in the wind, floating around, we might choose our destiny or maybe it’s a bit of both. I think this is like the unintentional design thinking. You build something or take some action without consideration of what will happen when people try your solution. This is a roll of the dice and maybe you get snake-eyes or things work out. It is all chance – like the feather on the wind. You just never know where you will end up.

It’s Mine NOT Yours Design

I consider this one selfish. You are working in your team and you create a database to track maintenance schedules. A bunch of low level decisions were made. Other teams could use it, but it’s yours and you won’t share. We see this with the endless amount of data that end up in spreadsheets. There are many systems in a business that were created out of a self design need. Generally they solve a perceived isolated problem that really exists with other teams. The key is to get a team using it to improve it.

Creative Innovative Design

I think this is something in business analysis that we seek to use a system to do. Part of business analysis is to answer the question where have we been. It is about documenting and analyzing the past to explore creative innovative solutions for the present and future. From my perspective, it is the fun. For example, in the short news feature, “A Deep Dive” a design company uses on-site observation to watch how people shop in a grocery store. Their purpose is to create an innovative new shopping cart design. An experienced team took on the task. The interesting lesson learned is it’s all about the process. A process that can be used step by step to create a solution based on a business problem to be solved and information from the business worlds’ stakeholders.

Tasks that People Do but No Activities for You Design

Years ago I taught a course in process and model development. The students always wanted to learn how to do a work flow diagram right away. Rarely did the learner know anything about where process modeling came from or process levels and the way systems connect in an organization from a structural perspective. In a basic 5 level organization structure you would learn that there are different process levels and maps used at each level that must link to create an organizational whole. The telecom industry’s business process framework, e-TOM explains this well. In level thinking there is a distinction that can be made between tasks and activities. A team should embrace an understanding of process levels and designs using a combination of models to ensure they are gaining important systems insight to make better decisions and designs.

Facilitated Focus Group Design

In my 3 Day Gathering and Documenting Requirements course I cover some common important skills for the business analyst (Facilitation, Documentation, Integration and Presentation). I spend time on the different methods of gaining insight into the stakeholder’s perspective. Stakeholder focused groups are a great way to generate discussions and a lot of great primary research information for user-based design. I like the terms used in the Atlantic Systems Guild’s Volere Template that addresses the importance of understanding the goals, needs and contexts of the stakeholders (users) to drive design decisions. During a group session you might discover that people use a system to routinely review other’s work to determine how they might do their work. Recently I experienced this myself. I was asked to provide a program outline for a new client using their outline requirements. I needed to see someone else’s work and outline to deliver what they needed. Unfortunately the client did not make it easy since the information was not readily available. During a focus group the issue was raised and we were able to address an improvement we could make. A new function within the system was created from the input of the users.

Final Thoughts

Design and decision making are entangled. You literally can’t have one without the other. I do believe there are different levels of design and the way that items get integrated into the fabric of an organization. I have stopped counting the number of bottom-up projects that I have been involved in where a user created something for their use and over a course of a decade it ended up on the strategic or tactical agenda of the organization. I do think there is a better way to design and make decisions but I also know that people and culture are a big part of the system, the process. Finding standards that work in your team and your organization goes a long way to helping you solve business problems and coming up with great design solutions. If you can identify the design approach that is being taken by an individual, team or organization maybe you can help slide the organization along the continuum of creating better designs and decisions.

Good luck.

Remember; do you best, invest in the success of others and make your journey count, Richard

Where There are People, There is Conflict

Written by Usama Shamma on March 1, 2017. Posted in Articles. 1 Comment on Where There are People, There is Conflict

Conflict is a mental struggle resulting from incompatible or opposing needs, drives, wishes, and external or internal demands.

Where there are people, there is conflict. Conflicts are seen as negative. However, this is inaccurate as conflicts are necessary for healthy relationships.

Conflict should not be perceived as a problem. It is a chance for growth and can be useful in opening yourself up to groups or other individuals. When conflict begins to suppress or disrupt productivity and gives way to more conflicts, conflict management is needed to address the dispute. There are many types of conflict, but here are three typical examples:

1. Intragroup Conflict

Intragroup conflict occurs among individuals within a team. The incompatibilities and misunderstandings between team members can lead to intragroup conflict. It starts from interpersonal disagreements like team members have different personalities which may lead to tension or differences in views and ideas.

Within a team, conflict can be helpful in coming up with decisions, which will eventually allow them to achieve their objectives as a team. However, if the degree of conflict disrupts harmony among the members, then some serious guidance from a different party will be needed for it to be settled.

2. Interpersonal Conflict

Interpersonal conflict means a conflict between two individuals. Conflict occurs because of differences between individuals. We all have varied personalities which can lead to incompatible choices and opinions. So, it is a natural occurrence which can eventually help in personal growth or develop our relationships with others.

Interpersonal conflict among individuals at work has been shown to be one of the most frequently noted stressors for employees. This type of conflict is associated with the broader concept of workplace harassment. It relates to other stressors that might co-occur, such as role conflict, role ambiguity, and workload. It also relates to strains such as anxiety, depression, physical symptoms, and low levels of job satisfaction. Disputes between peers as well as supervisor and subordinate conflicts fall into this category.

3. Intergroup Conflict

Intergroup conflict occurs when a misunderstanding arises among different teams or groups within an organization.

Horizontal strain intergroup conflict typically can occur between the marketing & sales departments who are looking to increase the organizational sales. Varied sets of goals, objectives, and interests of these groups can cause conflict. Competition between the groups also amplifies intergroup conflict as each organizational team is trying to outperform each other in reaching their set of goals and objectives. These factors may include a rivalry in resources or the boundaries of responsibilities.

Another type is Vertical strain conflict which involves competition between hierarchical levels such as a union versus company management, or a struggle between a group of employees and management.

Conflict Resolution Management Techniques

There are five strategies for managing stressful situations. None of them is a “one-size-fits-all” answer. Choosing the best conflict management technique depends on a variety of factors, including an appraisal of the intensity of the conflict and environmental factors. Here are the five types of conflict resolution management:

Collaborating − win/win
Compromising − win some/lose some
Accommodating − lose/win
Competing − win/lose
Avoiding − no winners/no losers

Collaborating Technique

This technique follows the rule “I win, you win.” Collaborating means working together by integrating ideas set out by multiple people. The objective here is to find a creative solution acceptable to everyone. It calls for a significant time commitment. Collaborating can lead to “I will win all costs” or the Competing technique below. Each group must be committed to the win/win outcome and have trust with each other for collaborating to be successful. The collaborating approach gives longer lasting and more meaningful agreements. Participants that collaborate are significantly more likely not to feel negative about the outcome.

Compromising Technique

This method follows the rule “You bend, I bend.” Compromising means adjusting with each other’s opinions and ideas, and thinking of a solution where both points of view are part of the solution outcome. Similarly, both the parties need to give up on some of their ideas and should agree with the other. Values and long-term objectives can be derailed using this technique. This process may not work if initial demands are high and if there is no commitment to honor the compromised solutions or outcomes. Comprise is best in tough situations where collaboration will not work. The results are less likely to be sustainable and mutually valued as both sides feel slightly negative about the experience.

Accommodating Technique

This method follows the rule “I lose, you win.” Accommodating means giving up on ideas and thoughts so that the other party wins and the conflict ends. However, using this technique, one’s own ideas do not get attention, ensures lost credibility, and influence is lost. The approach of “I will just do what you say” deflates the morale of one side of the conflict. Accommodating gives a lack of caring, concern, and commitment to the solution outcome by one side of the conflict. It is having one side of the conflict jumping ship and saying “It is your problem now.” Leaving both sides of the conflict feeling negative about the experience and untrusting of each other regarding the solution outcome.

Competing Technique

This method follows the rule “I win, you lose.” Competition means when there is a dispute a person or a group is not willing to collaborate or adjust, but it simply wants the opposite party to lose. This technique can further escalate conflict or losers may retaliate. This “It is my way or the highway” leads to stronger emotions and greater conflict. Many conflicts start as competing but then move into other collaboration types.

Avoiding Technique

This method follows the rule “No winners, no losers.” Avoiding means the ideas suggested by both the parties are rejected. Both parties are then lead undermine each other, ignoring each other’s ideas and creates a greater wedge between the two parties to reach a conclusion in the future.

Top 6 Critical BA Skills for the Future (and today!) – Part 2

Written by Angela Wick on February 1, 2017. Posted in Articles.

When I wrote part one of this article series, I wanted to go deeper and have heard from many that deeper is where part 2 needs to go!

You’ll see the original six critical BA skills below with additional details and questions to help your team think about how to apply these valuable skills.

1. Data Insights: Analyzing Data to Identify Customer Behavior Patterns

What does this look like for BAs in practice? It’s about BAs getting comfortable analyzing and applying customer/user data throughout the project lifecycle. Data insight skills include a continuous process of modifying system behavior based on an understanding of what is valuable to the user.

BAs with great data insight skills understand how customer behavior data can be used to boost the customer’s experience. Here are a few questions you can ask yourself or your team to develop new data insights:

How can you use customer data to drive and prioritize your backlog items?
What insights does the data give to prioritizing sprints and release goals?
What does customer behavior data teach us about how the system should respond to users?
What system data can we use to use to adapt (in real time) to user experiences?
What data is too large in numbers and complexity for the human brain to process and how can we simplify it for our customers?
What value is the customer hoping to receive from the system and which data provides this value? (Are you providing more data than needed to provide user value?)

2. Requirements Anthropology: Observing and Empathizing to Boost Value and Improve the Life of the User

Data insights are critical, but it can be difficult to elicit user/customer behavior data from our typical stakeholders. The difficulty comes because customer needs change faster than we can write a requirements document!

Here’s an example: I signed up for a Spotify account so I could listen to music while working out. On day two, after carrying my phone from machine to machine, I hopped on the treadmill and discovered an immediate NEED: A treadmill with Spotify login capabilities! I wanted the treadmill at the gym to let me access my Spotify running playlist, rather than carrying my phone. A week ago I would not have had that requirements, and now it is something I want bad! I would prioritize it over many other ideas for the gym.

That’s where requirements anthropology skills come into play. BAs borrow the mindset of an anthropologist to keep pace with the changing needs and behaviors of their end users.

Data gathered from customer observations six months ago is out of date. Requirements anthropology encourages real time observations and continuous delivery to meet those changing needs.

How can we observe and evaluate the customer experience AND deliver changes in days? For some BAs, this is easier with agile cadences that include continuous delivery prioritized by end user value. If observations generate system or process change requests with higher end user value than current backlog/roadmap items, they move to the top of the “to-do” list.

For all BAs, agile or not, requirements anthropology calls you to act on what you see when observing users and customers, especially when you can add immediate value. On a recent project, I observed users for 10 minutes and found four quick fixes that were not logged as defects. Once fixed, these simple changes dramatically improved user experience and business operation metrics.

3. Visualization: Using images to explore and learn.

I am not a visual genius and it is pretty hard to find those with the rare talent. But we don’t need perfect, formal, elaborate visuals. Get up from that chair in meetings and sketch on the whiteboard! Draw concepts and connect the dots. In virtual meetings, use that virtual whiteboard! Use basic shapes like stick figures, boxes, circles, arrows, etc.

Visuals create deep, shared understanding that’s more effective than detailed requirements documents; creativity and engagement skyrocket as well. Experiment with various high level models and diagrams and tools connect concepts or data visually.

Did you know the brain engages deeper for the person doing the drawing? Give other people ownership by handing off the marker (or the screen control) and encourage them to add or modify. There is something magical about creating visuals that cannot be duplicated by pure dialog. Our brains crave visuals to enhance the verbal part of the conversation.

4. Forensic Thinking: Evaluating Assumptions and Perceptions to Uncover Facts

Forensic thinking encourages BAs to expand their definition of elicitation and explore techniques beyond stakeholder interviews and requirements workshops. An elicitation approach that includes both collaborative and research-oriented techniques helps BAs fill gaps and connect dots that are not obvious with a single technique.

Use techniques like collaborative games and create workshops that use multiple techniques in the workshop to gather insights. Then, use the questions that come out of these workshops to research, analyze and prioritize the next steps in your requirements approach. Also, use experiments with users, data and/or rules to test out assumptions rather than simply listing assumptions at the end of a document.

5. Data Security: Balancing Risk and Value

This is where our favorite non-functional requirements pop up! Unlike the past, BAs use value to analyze and prioritize non-functional requirements like data security. The primary goal is to get the right level of quality without compromising value, and it is so tough! The trade-offs between user experience and data security risks usually creates uncomfortable dialog.

If you’re ready to start the conversation, here are a few tips:

Challenge yourself and the team to really think about how data security impacts the user and the business.
Find the balance between fear and user experience impact. This may mean doing some A/B testing and seeing the difference in user behavior on two different security models.
Respect data security needs while also embracing the reality that less security can improve the user experience in ways that might outweigh the risk.
Debate where to draw the line. Where are you comfortable trading data security for user experience?

6. UX – User Experience: Collaborating in Short, Informal Iterations to Build an Integrated Experience

Let go of the concept of a UX “phase” with distinct start and end dates. Don’t jump into screen updates and formal mock ups. Instead, encourage your team to let UX evolve as the team collaborates and learns.

Start with quick hand drawn screens.
Build, and iterate, and iterate more to get to the right balance and experience for the user.
Approach UX with an integrated mindset. Look at the user experience and all of the screens as a whole rather than perfecting a single screen.
Map screens to user-focused process models. Identify the critical parts of the process that impact the value the user gets.
Walk the walk of the user, in real time in a team meeting, rather perfecting a document.

Are these skills on your radar in 2017? I would love to know how your team is integrating value, customer behavior and visuals into your daily routines. Please leave your comments below.