Many BAs I coach make the mistake of mixing software capabilities with business rules, employee procedures, and operational guidelines when documenting requirements for an information system or software application.
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John Maynard Keynes said, “It is better to be roughly right than precisely wrong.” This is certainly true in the business of solution delivery.
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Through communication expertise, a business analyst helps drive successful solution delivery.
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The problem is usually not that the stakeholders don’t want to engage, but that we make make communication way too hard for them.
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You may be a great facilitator, an excellent “elicitor” of requirements; your analytical skills may be second to none, but if you can’t package and present information in an easily usable form, then you’re not completing the job as a business analyst.
Read MoreWhen you wish to instruct, be brief; that men’s minds take in quickly what you say, learn its lesson, and retain it faithfully. Every word that is unnecessary only pours over the side of a brimming mind. – Marcus...
Read MoreVigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts. This...
Read MoreIt is the mark of an instructed mind to rest satisfied with the degree of precision which the nature of the subject admits and not to seek exactness when only an approximation of the truth is possible. –...
Read MoreWords and pictures are intricately linked in journalism, advertising and educational contexts. Words printed under a photograph, the caption, signal the importance of the common sense representations portrayed in the image....
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I recently read Barbara Carkenord’s book, Seven Steps to Mastering Business Analysis…
Read MoreIn addition to eliciting and specifying the requirements, an important part of the analyst’s value-add lies in helping business stakeholders and delivery teams identify and understand the constraints that will apply for the solution.
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The simple fact is, you can’t know all the details upfront. You can and should, however, be able to work with your stakeholders to identify the broader range of necessary capabilities and constraints, or “placeholders for conversations”.
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