Tag: Team

BEWARE: Analysis Kills Empathy

Written by Christina Lovelock on October 30, 2019. Posted in Articles.

‘When the analytic network is engaged, our ability to appreciate the human cost of our action is repressed.’ [1]

Neurological studies have shown that our brains have two completely separate networks that deal with ‘analytical thinking’ and ‘empathetic and social thinking’, and that these are mutually exclusive processes within the brain. To engage one, we must switch off the other.

Analysts often say things like:

“That decision doesn’t make sense…”, “But they are not being rational…”, There is no logic behind it…” and “If you look at it objectively…”. These are things that are important to us, and many of us believe it’s what we are being paid to do for our organisations, but are we missing something?

Knowing that we are biologically unable to engage problem solving and empathetic mental processes at the same time gives us a significant opportunity to ensure we switch perspectives and consider both the ‘logical’ and ‘human’ view-points.

BAs need to use tools as checklists to remind us to properly explore the human side of IT, digital transformation and organisational change. There are some useful techniques which allow us to do this is a structured way such as:

Empathy mapping
SARAH curve
POPIT™ Model
Persona analysis
User journey mapping
Impact mapping
Force field analysis.

Empathy mapping can be used to great effect, not just in the context of business change, customer experience or system implementation, but as a mental checklist in our day to day interactions with others.

Empathy is fundamental to building good working relationships, and to ensure the human impact of our analytical decisions is properly appreciated.

This adapted empathy model allows us to explore a particular person/ relationship in depth, and is especially useful for what we might label as our ‘difficult stakeholders’, where the relationship is not working well.

Sees & Hears

How does this situation appear to the other person? What are they hearing from me? (not the same as what I think I’m saying). Are they getting different messages from others? What do they hear about me/this situation from others? What outputs or deliverables do they see from me? What behaviour do they see from me? What is the impact of my actions on them?

Says & Does

What are their activities and deliverables? How do these relate to what I do? What do they say to me and about me? How do they behave towards me/towards others? Is there a difference? What do I observe in their body language, facial expression and tone?

Thinks & Feels

What might they be thinking about this situation/this relationship? Do they think it’s a difficult relationship? How might our relationship ‘difficulties’ be impacting them? What can I observe that helps me infer their feelings? How do they express their feelings? (choice of words, tone, volume, non-verbal cues, frequency of our interactions, methods of communication).

Pain & Gain

What are their priorities? What do they want to achieve? What are their frustrations and blockers? How am I contributing to these? How can I help them? What would be the benefits of a better relationship with me?

As is always the case with empathy mapping, there is a limit to what can be learned through observation and assumption. At some point we have to speak directly to the person we are trying to understand better, but asking ourselves these questions should help us to empathise and may improve a difficult relationship significantly.

Conclusion

Logical. Methodological. Problem solver.

Many BAs identify with these skills to the point that we see them as personality traits, but we need to understand the warning this research has given us. BAs need to hone our empathy skills to be able to truly understand and represent different perspectives, and to build our working relationships.

‘Empathy is like a muscle: It has to be trained and exercised to become stronger.’ [2]

When we have finished our logical analysis, we need to remember to switch on our empathetic analysis.

References

[1] Empathy represses analytic thought, and vice versa: Brain physiology limits simultaneous use of both networks.(2012)

[2] State of workplace empathy: Executive Summary (2018)

The Oppressive BA

Written by Brad Egeland on October 9, 2019. Posted in Articles.

Do you excel in your field? In everyone’s eyes or your own? Be careful how you answer that.

Seriously though – we want to excel, we are in the position we are in most likely because we are good at what we do. We excelled and made advances and gained leadership because we were good at leading. We were analytical, could document requirements, could lead teams into battle and translate things the customer said.

Are we still there? How do we solve the hard issues? Task management, ego clashes and conflict management, collaboration issues, communication breakdowns and missed dates… what’s the coverage and follow-up? Are we oppressive when the going gets tough?

What is oppressive? Here are some descriptions and definitions of “oppressive” …

Weighing heavily on the mind or spirits; causing depression or discomfort
Suggests causing mental as well as physical strain
Implies extreme harshness or severity in what is imposed

Is a great leader oppressive? Probably not – at least not in my opinion. Are you an oppressive business analyst? Or do you just lean that way when the pressure is high and the project or a deliverable is on the line? Do you really want to be that way – do you really want to go there? Probably not. Here are five ways to improve, avoid or at least mitigate that behavior (and if you’re a project manager or other project team member who is being oppressive, this is also for you!)

Count to 10… seriously.

I realize this one sounds simple but thinking before we react – while it sounds easy is not really an easy thing to do. I know, I’ve got 6 little ones aged 5 through 11 and after 10 minutes of what seems like silence I can walk into the next room where they are playing and find anything from them all playing together nicely to 2 inches of water to curtains pulled down from the rods above the windows. How did they do that so quietly? Everything can be dried up, washed, and fixed… but that initial reaction is one I’m not often good at… and certainly not as good as my wife is at it! When the going gets tough on the project and there are issues to deal with, staying calm and organized in your response and action can be very difficult… but it is critical for leadership, respect and project success. Becoming frustrated, reacting oppressively, pointing fingers and assigning blame is no way to move forward as a team to right size the project ship.

Put yourself in their place.

Yes, transpose yourself to the project team or the team member with issues. See things from their point of view. Were you clear in your initial direction? The actual fault in any issue may be your own communication skills. Communication is Job One for every project leader – project manager, business analyst, team lead, etc. Poor communication, miscommunication, lack of follow-up to ensure understanding, poor listening, and unclear directions are the key ingredients to a communication issue bringing down a project. Is that what happened? Also, is your oppressive behavior going to be received well and responded to or will it further delay appropriate forward and productive action and response? Will it get the project or task back on track or will it only cause further derailment? Usually it will be the latter.

Constructively consider the available options at the moment.

Take a deep breathe during times of stress and issues on the project. Don’t react to the moment, respond to the problem. Look for ways to mitigate and avoid, not over react, oppress and point fingers. Many mutinies have begun over leaders over-exerting powers and directing blame, punishment and humiliation in a public way. This shouldn’t even be done in private. It does no good. Collect the group, brainstorm solutions and workarounds and decisions with your team to present to the project client so as a delivery team you can – collaboratively together, get the off the rails project back on the rails.

Reach out for leadership assistance.

Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Lots of bullying and oppressive behavior is merely a result of not knowing what to do or say or the best way to react. The CEO or the guy to your left may have never gone through what you and your team are going through. But the guy to your right may have. In today’s real time communication possibilities there is no excuse for not trying to reach out for assistance somewhere – even outside your organization.

Sit down and do a roundtable discussion.

Great way to avoid being an over oppressive micromanaging jerk? Hold roundtable discussions with the team, with stakeholders… even involve the customer if the situation calls for it. You might get away with being oppressive with a team member or two but when you grab everyone involved and gather them to help work through a problem or issue that whole group isn’t likely going to let you get away with wasting their day with your demanding me-centric behavior. The first step in getting help is knowing you need help!

Summary / call for input

So – are you an oppressive BA? Probably not. But we all have those moments of control issues. If you find you have lots of those moments though, you might be an oppressive business analyst. Stop, take a very deep breath and then go take a nap and come back refreshed. Or don’t come back. Your team needs a leader, not a dictator. These steps or actions above will help you to stop, think, reach out to others and avoid a very negative reaction when leading a team. I realize there are more ways to calm down and avoid oppressive behavior – but it’s a start.

Leadership Lessons from a Grade School Teacher

Written by Richard Larson on September 25, 2019. Posted in Articles.

Would you like to be a better leader? A more effective mentor?

If so, you can probably benefit from reflecting on past mentors of yours who have influenced you. For me it was a favorite teacher of mine back in 6th grade when I was 11 years old. Mr. Fernholz was a young and engaging teacher. He was to me the embodiment of what a good teacher should be.

Mr. Fernholz stands out to me not so much for any specific things he did. Rather it is because of how he approached his job and how he made his students feel. Well, I’m not sure about how others felt, but I hold him in high regard to this day.

1. Genuine Encouragement.

For one thing, he did not talk down to us or demean us like some of the previous teachers I had (oh the stories I could tell.) He genuinely respected his students and wanted to bring out the best in us. There was nothing obvious about it as much as his attitude. It took me years of reflection to realize how much he respected us.

One personal example was his encouragement of me. I wasn’t the best student at that time and did not work as hard as I should have. My 6th grade friends were not the best students either and there were strong social pressures to slack off. My grades were OK but not great. Mr. Fernholz frequently remarked that I was not working up to my potential.

Mr. Fernholz could have just accepted my under-achievement like my other teachers had. Instead, on many occasions I remember him saying “if you don’t go to college, I will hound you until you do.” HIs quiet encouragement was a constant motivation and not only through college, but during stressful times throughout my career. Thanks, Mr. F!

People on our teams and those we lead or mentor need encouragement like my 6th grade self did. It needs to be genuine, though, and not patronizing. People sense the difference and your interactions will be less effective.

2. Fairness.

A good leader/mentor is also fair, so when praise is warranted, they will give it. But when guidance is needed, (s)he will provide that too in a fair way. An incident in my 6th grade class illustrates this point.

Towards the end of my 6th grade term, the class took a major test. It was difficult, but I had studied for it (likely after some encouragement from Mr. Fernholz). Sometime during the exam, I accidently kicked some books out of the shelf below my seat. This was not surprising since I was a fidgety kid. I ignored the books so as not to appear like I was looking up answers in them.

When we got our exam results back the next day, I scored well, higher than any other exams I completed that year. It was astonishing, then, when Mr. F wanted to talk to me after class. He told me another student said she saw me cheating on the exam by looking up answers from the book that had fallen. My better-than-ever results probably added to the credibility of the accusation. Still, I was dumbfounded and hurt that someone would accuse me of something so untrue.

To this day I believe that my teacher had somehow perceived I was telling the truth. Maybe he was able to read my body language and other non-verbals to make his determination. He may have also factored in my past behavior, which if not exemplary, was at least free of any issues. He probably also took the context into account—such as some previous awkward interactions between “my accuser” and me. Maybe Mr. Fernholz understood it, but I’ll never know.

3. Set boundaries.

A final significant memory of 6th grade has to do with discipline. Our class had a disruptive kid who I recall was named Mike (it was a lot of years ago). Mike was a classic problem child, and today might be given special counseling or medication. Mike frequently acted out his feelings and disrupted the class on many occasions.

Partway through the school year, Mr. Fernholz set aside a corner of the classroom with masking tape that would be “Mike’s Area.” When class was in session, Mike was not supposed to leave his area, which reduced his disruption a great deal. It really did improve the classroom dynamics. In today’s world I fear that kind of treatment would likely get a teacher reprimanded if not suspended.

What I can now reflect on is that Mr. Fernholz’s treatment of Mike was pretty fair. The kid wasn’t ostracized since he stayed in the classroom. He could participate in discussions and was expected to do al his normal work. What “Mike’s Area” did for him was to set boundaries that he seemed to need. (Some kids today are said to have “boundary issues” when they overly pester others.) That certainly described Mike, and my teacher’s handling of it was appropriate and effective.

We need to be able to set boundaries with people on our team and with whom we mentor. The boundaries might be the amount of time they take up. They might be the kind of advice a mentee seeks. Over the years, people who I have mentored will easily stray from career advice to asking for consulting help for solving work problems. Every mentor’s boundary line is different, and my advice is to be aware of yours and set expectations up front.

To summarize, I have come to realize Mr. Fernholz was my first mentor. He was also an early example for me of a good leader. He may or may not have viewed these things as his role, but he was effective in them. We can improve our own leadership by thinking about and modeling the way effective mentors have helped us. You probably have good role models in your life that you can reflect on how they helped you and how they made you feel. Please share your tips for how your mentors have helped you.

Your Agile Might be Fake

Written by Paul Oppong on July 3, 2019. Posted in Articles.

“Agile” is a term commonly used in organisations of all shapes and sizes these days.

When I go into organisations, I hear leaders saying, “We use agile”, yet digging deeper, I find things aren’t quite, well, agile, in fact sometimes not at all. A fake idea of agile implementation is commonplace, and managers say the agile words without really understanding the principles and concepts behind them. This means that the team is not truly agile at all, and not reaping the rewards of being agile either. But what does fake agile look like, and how can this be diagnosed in an organisation?

Symptoms and Signs of “Fake Agile”

There are numerous signs and symptoms that an organisation is not being genuinely agile. One of the most common is perhaps the idea that a team can take the elements of agile that they like and use only these, discarding the rest. People who have implemented this approach will make comments saying that they use agile techniques while then going on to say, “Well, it’s not quite agile, we used what we liked from a few different models.”

Another common challenge is not really understanding the core concepts of agile, while still believing the team is working within them. For example, agile is fast, meetings should be fairly quick, while covering the activities of yesterday and today, and discussing barriers. The idea of a daily Stand-up meeting for instance in a Scrum or Kanban agile implementation is to keep it concise and to the point. Some teams find they are having stand-ups that last multiple hours. This indicates the agile implementation might be what it is meant to be and not really working. It might mean that the meeting probably has too many attendees, and in which case it might be possible to work in smaller groups instead. Alternatively it can mean the team is working in a hierarchical manner, which is not the point of agile.

When a team is truly agile it will continuously deliver value to customers. This is a critical underpinning principle of agile. The reason for introducing this concept to agile, was that in the past, developers would work on a project for months, deliver it to the end customer, and by the time it was delivered, requirements would have moved on, or it would not do quite what the customer needed. This means that there is a need to understand customer needs throughout the development process. This is an idea that agile is built around, and hence the principle of continuously delivering value. This leads to the ability to pinpoint other clear indicators of fake agile. It follows that if teams are not securing feedback from customers regularly, and looking at it quickly, then they are not continuously delivering value to them. Feedback is a regular and integral part of agile. What is more, if no time or money is budgeted for change to the project then the team is probably not agile. This is because continuously providing value will invariably require looking at ways to change the development, so it more closely aligns with customer needs, once feedback is received.

Three Key Questions to Diagnose “Fake Agile”

There are some questions that can be posed to those leading so-called agile programs to determine if they really are embracing agile concepts. You might ask, “Do real users see iterative working version of the product, and if so, how often?” If the answer is no, agile is not in place. It is also a problem if customers only see iterations every few months. This is not agile project management either. The end users should be seeing and feeding back on iterations with regularity.

Another question that you could ask is, “How frequently is feedback from users converted into work activities for teams?” If the answer is never, the team is clearly not agile. If the leader responds that this happens within time frames of less than one month, then it is possible that agile is operating as it should. After all, as we have seen above, agile operating is all about meeting customer requirements by taking on board feedback and incorporating it into the project.

A third key question to ask is about team empowerment. You may ask, “What level of empowerment do team members have? Can they change processes and requirements based on user feedback and on what they learn?” Empowerment of team members is a core principle of agile operating. Leaders that say any answer that includes, “Yes they are empowered but…” are probably not following agile methodology. Any indication of hierarchical, top-down decision making goes against the agile way of working.

Summary

Many business leaders think they are being agile. They also like to say it, because agile is a popular buzz word. That does not mean they actually are agile. Any so-called “agile” approach that just takes the parts of agile the leader likes and ignores the rest is not truly agile. Underlying agile is fast, iterative development, with feedback taken on board along the way, to continuously deliver value to customers. Where an “agile” solution does not do this – beware! It is almost certainly going to be fake agile.

Yet another enquiry to make is whether the whole project operation is agile. This will help pick out those leaders that think they have got the best of both worlds by using some agile principles combined with other more traditional forms of project management because these are more palatable with their idea of control and command. If the answer is no, then the team is not working in an agile manner. In fact, if the answer is “Partly”, this is also still true. When agile teams work in an agile way to start with, and then use bureaucracy later on in the process, this is not agile operating. The only correct answer to this type of question is, “Yes” without any caveats being applied.

Approaching The Unapproachable

Written by Emily Doidge on June 13, 2019. Posted in Articles.

Whether we’re eliciting requirements, growing our product knowledge or attempting to understand a process, our minds are inevitably filled with a variety of questions.

As Business Analysts, we rely heavily on other people’s expertise to help answer those questions. Have you ever found yourself faced with a stakeholder, customer or colleague that’s defensive, irritable or unapproachable? If so, read on!

I had been with my company for over 10 years when we identified an organizational need for a new position, a ‘hybrid’ BA. I was excited to fill the role and was quickly brought in to help on a variety of projects. It quickly became evident that I had a lot to learn about our internal processes and procedures, not to mention what it would take to be an effective BA.

I found myself feeling overwhelmed and ineffective, which effectively drove me into research and discovery mode. As I gained knowledge and understanding, the questions formulating in my mind grew exponentially. I found myself asking, “But why?” with the frequency of a toddler. I knew who could help answer my questions, but I was continually met with resistance in the form of defensive responses, irritable tones and body language that was screaming, “DON’T YOU DARE THINK ABOUT ASKING ME ONE MORE QUESTION!”

I was desperate for answers, but faced with “the unapproachable.” After a few tense interactions that left me feeling disconcerted, I suddenly realized that I was going about these conversations in the wrong way. I knew that if I didn’t take the initiative to address the underlying issues, we would both suffer.

With that in mind, I found my courage and pulled her aside for a conversation. I shared with her the purpose of my position, why I had so many questions, what I was working on and how my questions directly impacted her. In addition, I apologized for neglecting to provide her with context up front.

Her body language changed almost immediately and that prompted an engaging dialogue that instantly changed our relationship. The conversation unveiled areas where we could both do things differently and brought a level of awareness that I hadn’t anticipated. As I left the conference room, I found myself feeling empowered with a renewed sense of confidence and self-awareness.

The best part? We have such a healthy relationship now that I asked for her input on this article.

In the midst of our conflict, I identified a few key areas that I could improve on. If you’re struggling to communicate effectively with a stakeholder, customer or colleague, consider these suggestions:

Provide Context

We identified that a lack of context was the root cause of our conflict. I repeatedly made assumptions that she knew why I was asking questions and how they fit into a bigger picture. I wasn’t providing context and instead, peppered her with questions and assumed she could connect the dots. Needless to say, my elicitation technique needed some refining.

I neglected to use Stephen Covey’s insightful words, “Begin with the end in mind.” If we can’t articulate why we need the information, how we intend to use it or where it fits in the bigger picture, then maybe we aren’t ready to ask the question. She wanted me to explain where we were going or what the goal was, but I was so focused on my need for output that I didn’t realize I was missing a crucial step.

I like to think of context as an opportunity to collaborate. We have a chance to share our viewpoints and listen to theirs. Many times, their perspective can help us form connections and associations that we would otherwise overlook.

Context and collaboration combine beautifully; use this as an opportunity to learn from one another!

Convey Confidence

I found myself starting conversations by saying, “I’m sorry, I’ve got a question for you.” By starting with an apology, I was discrediting myself and the validity of my questions.

In her book, “The Power of an Apology,” Beverly Engel says that over-apologizing can actually send the message that you lack confidence. Resist the temptation to feed into the other person’s behavior and instead, convey confidence (even if you don’t feel it). This sets the tone for the rest of the conversation; it says that you have a purpose and that you believe in the value you bring.

If you don’t believe in yourself or your mission, why should they?

Practice Empathy

In the midst of our conflict, I found myself mirroring her defensive behavior. Even though it’s a common self-preservation technique, it wasn’t constructive. I felt the need to be on-point so that I could have a response ready, but that meant I wasn’t really listening.

One of my favorite quotes is, “Listen with the intent to understand, not respond.” This is really what practicing empathy is all about. If we listen intently, we move toward a place of understanding, where we have the opportunity to experience the other person’s thoughts and feelings. Take the time to validate their emotions. Validation doesn’t necessarily mean agreement; it’s acknowledging that they’re entitled to their feelings.

If you aren’t sure where to begin, consider starting by asking clear, open-ended questions and then listen with purpose as they share their perspective. If you’re unable to fully grasp or feel what they’re experiencing, request clarification. If you feel like you’re starting to understand, summarize what they said in your own words to ensure you’re on the right track. As a hands-on learner, I also find that asking the other person to show me, coach me through the process or help me draw out the scenario can be incredibly helpful. Many times, the act of doing helps drive our understanding.

Empathy is all about relating on a deeper level – beyond job descriptions, positions and output – it’s about embracing our humanity!

Express Gratitude

By the time our intense conversations were wrapping up, I was usually so discombobulated and frustrated that I wouldn’t put emphasis on showing her the respect and gratitude she deserved. Instead, I would throw an aloof ‘thanks’ out before scurrying back to my desk like Gollum with his “precious.”

When someone is willing to share their knowledge, experiences, and perspectives with us, it’s a gift and we need to treat it like one.

While expressing gratitude may sound like a breeze, I’ve found that it also takes practice. Thank the other person for their time and tell them what your biggest takeaway was from the conversation. I’m notorious for getting outwardly giddy when I finally connect dots that seemingly had no connection. Share that contagious excitement with the other person because ultimately, it’s likely their information that helped you get there.

From there, consider taking gratitude one step further by following up with them, not because you need something, but so you can share how their information helped advance the project.

Build a rapport beyond “what can you do for me?” Build a meaningful relationship.

As someone who thrives on interacting with others and building relationships, I was taken aback by how quickly I became focused on what I needed to accomplish instead of cherishing the opportunity to engage with others. I love to learn but I also love to teach, challenge and witness growth in others; however, I lost sight of the relationship and instead put emphasis on the transaction.

Learn from my mistakes and consider reframing how you view your relationships. We have no control over how other people behave or respond to us. Focus less on what other people are or aren’t doing and more on what you can do to positively change your interactions. Be the change! You might be surprised how quickly people notice the shift you’ve made and respond in kind.

And maybe, like me, your unapproachable person will turn into one of the most reliable, considerate and authentic people you have the privilege to work with. What have you got to lose?