Comments for Practical Analyst

Comment on Business Analysts, Be Kind to your Stakeholders! by daniel fender

daniel fender — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 11:25:00 +0000

I’ve found that, particularly on larger projects, some of the stakeholders required to provide review/feedback only have some sections of the document that are relevant to them. When that’s the case I will inform each stakeholder exactly which section they should reivew. It may sound like a no-brainer but it has certainly helped get review and subsequent approval on some of the larger docs.

Comment on Business Analyst Job Description by Grant Hendriks

Grant Hendriks — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 11:34:00 +0000

Your BA postings are fantastic, thanks.

We are implementing a support team in our Asset Management business and your articles are very helpful.

Thanks
Grant

Comment on Business Analyst Job Description by Karumurimouli

Karumurimouli — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 09:32:00 +0000

dear ,

Presently i am working under Insurance operations and i did my MBA and B.Sc Electronics. I have been working in insurance from 2 years. I am interested to learn this course. Can you update is it compulsory to know the compute languages. how much it is use full for BA and which institution is best for this?

karumurimouli@gmail.com

Comment on I want to be a great business analyst. Help! by Jonathan Babcock

Jonathan Babcock — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 01:34:00 +0000

Nice insights, guys! Thanks for the comments!

Comment on Business Analyst Job Description by Susharaj

Susharaj — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 15:44:00 +0000

Thanks for the description
Susharaj

Comment on So, what do you do, exactly? by Mostafa Abd Elnasser

Mostafa Abd Elnasser — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 11:56:00 +0000

I love it ,
This who i am but before i read this article i don’t know my job title

Comment on I want to be a great business analyst. Help! by Scott Sehlhorst

Scott Sehlhorst — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 15:13:00 +0000

Thanks, Inga!

I think you’ve called out another characteristic of a great BA – for a great BA, it is _always_ a work in progress.

“The more I know, the more I realize I don’t know.” I first heard it from someone in college. Thanks to Google, I know she co-opted it from Einstein. Still great tho.

On hammers and wrenches – I approach it by trying to understand the strengths and weaknesses of each tool, and then marry them to the goals of the job at hand. My secret tip: use more than one, for any non-trivial job. As an example: Use a state chart _and_ a process flow diagram, to understand how something needs to work (say, placing an order online, as an example). When you combine the “what can happen to the thing?” view with “how does the system that affects the thing flow?” view, you are much less likely to overlook something (like how to deal with cancelled orders before/after the order has been sent to the warehouse for fulfillment).

Fun conversation, thanks, Jonathan!

Comment on My Business Analyst Code of Conduct by Jim

Jim — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 20:09:52 +0000

I really dig this. I’d like to think that my work/time on a project embodies a lot of these concepts, but I’ve yet to actually write them down. Thanks for the idea and I really love your personal code.

Comment on I want to be a great business analyst. Help! by Inga Nwagbu

Inga Nwagbu — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 18:34:21 +0000

Scott, I agree with you very strongly there. I’m just a year and 6 months into my “official” BA career in that I actually have the title AND am employing a lot of the BA skills and activities described in the BABoK and that I was trained for (more or less…). However, having the opportunity to apply those skills only made me a somewhat competent Jr. BA, whereas in the org I work for, it’s become very clear that they need far more than someone who can pick up the “hammer” so to speak, but can also anticipate fairly quickly whether a “wrench” would be more appropriate, and moreover, figure out the best way to utilise the “wrench” effectively even when everyone else around them seems set on treating the problem like a nail.

So far it’s been a work in progress for me. But similar to when a new driver develops more of an instintual feel for driving with practice and experience; the more I apply those skills and lessons I’ve learned with each project, as well as remain open to learning more about the various approaches, ideas and expertise of other BAs & SMEs out there, the more tools I’ll be able to add to my own “belt”, in addition to the savvy required to discern which tool could bring about the kind of value and results that others on this blog have raised.

Or more succinctly , if you want to be “great” anything, never stop listening, reading, networking and overall learning from your own mistakes and from the knowledge and experience (or mistakes), of others.

Comment on I want to be a great business analyst. Help! by Carlotta Duran

Carlotta Duran — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 14:03:17 +0000

A great BA listens to what the stakeholder(s) are trying to accomplish by paying attention to the objectives outlined by the projects. You can implement a great solution, but if the culture is not ready for it you wasted a tremendous amount of resources.