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28 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Knowledge Areas |
- Business Analysis Planning and Monitoring - Elicitation and Collaboration - Requirements Life Cycle Management - Strategy Analysis - Requirements Analysis and Design Definition - Solution Evaluation |
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1.0. BUSINESS ANALYSIS PLANNING AND MONITORING |
The tasks in this knowledge area organize and coordinate the efforts of business analysts and stakeholders. |
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Tasks involved in Business Analysis Planning and Monitoring |
- Plan Business Analysis Approach - Plan Stakeholder Engagement - Plan Business Analysis Governance - Plan Business Analysis Information Management - Plan Business Analysis Performance Improvement |
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Core Concept Model in Business Analysis Planning and Monitoring |
Change: Responsible for determining how changes to business analysis results would be requested and authorized Need: choose a business analysis approach that provides adequate analysis for the change Solution: evaluate if a business analysis performance was key to the successful implementation of the solution Stakeholder: Perform stakeholder analysis to ensure planning and monitoring activities capture stakeholder needs and account for stakeholder's characteristics Value: Perform performance analysis to ensure business analysis activities continue to produce sufficient value to stakeholders Context: Ensure complete understanding of the context under analysis in order to develop an efficient business analysis approach |
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Plan Business Analysis Approach |
describes the planning of business analysis work from creation or selection of methodology to planning the individual activities, tasks and deliverables |
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Plan Business Analysis Approach should do the following: |
- align with the overall goals of the change - coordinate the business analysis tasks with the activities and deliverables of the overall change - include tasks to mitigate the risks that can reduce the quality of business analysis deliverables - leverage approaches and select techniques and tools based on historical knowledge. |
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Input to the Plan Business Analysis Approach |
Needs: the problem or opportunity faced by the organization |
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Elements of the Plan Business Analysis Approach Element 1 - Planning Approach |
1. Planning Approach a. Predictive Approaches: focuses on minimizing upfront uncertainty and ensuring that the solution is defined before implementation begins in order to maximize control and minimize risk. These approaches are preferred in situations where requirements can be defined ahead of implementation and where the risk of incorrect implementation is unacceptably high. b. Adaptive Approaches: focuses on rapid delivery of business value on short iterations in return for acceptance of a higher degree of uncertainty regarding the overall delivery of the solution. These approaches are preferred when taking an explorative approach to finding the best solution or for incremental improvement of an existing solution Regardless of the approach, planning is an essential task to ensure value is delivered to an organization. |
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Element 2 - Formality and Level of Detail of Business Analysis Deliverables |
When defining the business analysis approach, one needs to consider the level of formality that is appropriate for planning and approaching the initiative. Predictive Approaches - these typically call for formal documentation and representation. The specific format and content of business analysis information can vary depending on the organizational methodologies, processes and templates in use. Adaptive Approaches - favours defining requirements and designs through team interaction and gathering feedback on a working solution. - Mandatory requirements representations are usually limited to a prioritized requirements list. - Additional business analysis documentation may be created at the discretion of the team and generally consists of models to enhance the team's understanding of the specific problem. - Formal documentation is often produced after the solution is implemented to facilitate knowledge transfer. |
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Other considerations that might affect the adaptive approach |
- the change is complex and high risk - the organization is in, or interacts with heavily regulated - contracts or agreements necessitate formality - stakeholders are geographically distributed - resources are outsourced - staff turnover is high and team members could be inexperienced - requirements must be formally signed off - business analysis information must be maintained long-term or handed over for use on future initiatives. |
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Characteristics of Predictive and Adaptive Approach w.r.t Formality and Level of detail of business analysis deliverables |
Solution Definition Predictive Approach - Defined before implementation to maximise control and minimize risk Adaptive Approach - Defined in iterations to arrive at the best solution or improve an existing solution Level of Formality Predictive Approach - Formal - information is captured in standardized templates Adaptive Approach - Informal - information is gathered through team interaction and feedback Activities Predictive Approach - activities required to complete the deliverables are identified first and then divided into tasks Adaptive Approach - Activities are divided into iterations with deliverables first and then the associated tasks are identified. Timing Predictive Approach - Tasks are performed in specific phases Adaptive Approach - Tasks are performed iteratively |
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Element 3 - Business Analysis Activities |
Frequently, the organization's adopted methodologies influence the activities that are selected Integrating business analysis activities in the business analysis approach includes: - identifying the activities required to deliver each deliverable and breaking them down into tasks - dividing the work into iterations, identifying the deliverables for each iteration, and identifying the associated tasks and activities - using a previous similar initiative as an outline and applying the detailed tasks and activities unique to the current initiative. |
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Element 4 - Timing of Business Analysis Work |
BAs determine when the business analysis tasks need to be performed and if the level of business analysis effort will need to vary over time. The timing of business analysis activities can also be affected by: - availability of resources - priority and/or urgency of the initiative - other concurrent initiatives - constraints like contract terms or regulatory deadlines |
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Element 5: Complexity and Risk |
The complexity and size of the change and the overall risk of the effort to the organization are considered when determining the business analysis approach. |
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Factors that impact Complexity |
1. Number of stakeholders or business analysis resources involved in the initiative 2. Size of the change 3. Number of business areas or systems affected 4. Geographical and cultural considerations 5. Technological complexities 6. Any risks that could impede the business analysis activities |
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Factors that affect the risk level of a business analysis effort |
1. Experience level of the business analyst 2. Extent of domain knowledge held by the business analyst 3. Level of experience stakeholders have in communicating their needs 4. Stakeholder attitudes about the change and business analysis in general 5. Amount of time allocated by stakeholders to the business analysis activities 6. Any pre-selected framework, methodology, tools/techniques imposed by organizational policies and practices 7. cultural norms of the organization |
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Element 6: Acceptance |
- The business analysis approach is reviewed and agreed upon by stakeholders. - Stakeholders also play a role in reviewing and accepting changes to the approach as alterations are made to accommodate changing conditions across the initiative |
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Plan Stakeholder Engagement |
describes understanding what stakeholders are relevant to the change, what business analysts need from them, what they need from business analysts, and the best way to collaborate |
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Plan Business Analysis Governance |
defines the components of business analysis that are used to support the governance function of the organization. It helps to ensure that decisions are made properly and consistently and follows a process that ensures decision-makers have all the information they need. |
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Plan Business Analysis Information Management |
defines how information developed by business analysts (including requirements and design) is captured, stored, and integrated with other information for long term use. |
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Identify Business Analysis Performance Improvements |
describes managing and monitoring how business analysis work is performed to ensure that commitments are met and continuous learning and improvement opportunities are realized. |
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GUIDELINES AND TOOLS |
1. Business Analysis Performance Assessment: provides the results of previous assessments that should be reviewed and incorporated in all planning activities. 2. Business Policies: define the limits within which decisions must be made. They may be described by regulations, contracts, agreements, deals, warranties, certifications or other legal obligations. 3. Expert Judgement: used to determine the optimal business analysis approach. Expertise may be obtained from a wide range of sources like stakeholders on the initiative, organizational centres of excellence, consultants, or associations and industry group. Prior experiences of the business analyst and other stakeholders should be considered when selecting or modifying an approach. 3. Methodologies and Frameworks: shape the approach that will be used by providing methods, techniques, procedures, working concepts and rules. 4. Stakeholder Engagement Approach: Understanding stakeholders and their concerns and interests may influence decisions when determining the business analysis approach. |
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TECHNIQUES |
1. Brainstorming 2. Business Cases 3. Document Analysis 4. Estimation 5. Financial Analysis - used to access how different approaches would affect the value delivered. 6. Functional Decomposition - used to break down complex business analysis processes into more feasible components 7. Interviews 8. Item Tracking - used to track any issues raised during planning activities with stakeholders. 9. Lessons Learnt 10. Process Modelling - used to define and document the business analysis approach 11. Reviews 12. Risk Analysis and Management 13. Scope Modelling: used to determine the boundaries of the solution as an input to planning and estimating 14. Survey or Questionnaire 15. Workshops |
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STAKEHOLDERS |
1. Domain Subject Matter Expert 2. Project Manager 3. Regulator 4. Sponsor |
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OUTPUT |
Business Analysis Approach - identifies the business analysis approach and activities that will be performed across an initiative including who will perform the activities, the timing and sequencing of the work, the deliverables that will be produced and the business analysis techniques that may be utilized. |
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2.0. PLAN STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT |
Purpose: To plan an approach for establishing and maintaining effective working relationships with the stakeholders. Description: Involves conducting a thorough stakeholder analysis to identify all the involved stakeholders and analyze their characteristics. The results of the analysis are then used to define the best collaboration and communication approaches for the initiative and to plan appropriately for stakeholder risks. Degree of complexity increases as the number of stakeholders involved in the business analysis activities increases. |
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Inputs to Plan Stakeholder Engagement |
a. Needs: Understanding the business need and part of the enterprise it affects helps to identify stakeholders. b. Business Analysis Approach: Incorporating the overall business analysis approach into the stakeholder analysis, communication and collaboration approaches is necessary to ensure consistency across the approaches. |
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Elements to Plan Stakeholder Engagement Engagement 1: Perform Stakeholder Analysis |
Involves identifying the stakeholders (who will be directly or indirectly impacted by the change), their characteristics, and analyzing the information once collected. Stakeholder analysis is performed repeatedly as business analysis activities continues. |
