Category: Business Analysis
General discussion of the business analyst role, key skills and tricks of the trade.
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Jabian Journal and Visual Communication
My employer, Jabian Consulting, produces a semi-annual publication of our consultants’ latest thinking on today’s most important business and technology issues. The Spring, 2014 issue just came out…
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Distinguishing between Business Rules and Software Requirements
Many BAs I coach make the mistake of mixing software capabilities with business rules, employee procedures, and operational guidelines when documenting requirements for an…
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Roughly Right, or Precisely Wrong?
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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6 Guidelines for Building a Reputation with Your New Employer
How can one who is relatively new to an organization build a reputation? Here are a few ideas to get you started.
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Why Stakeholders Don’t Tell You Everything
It’s not because they don’t want you to know, it’s because they do things automatically and don’t even think to tell you about it.
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Elicitation Tip: When the Stakeholder Asks for a Specific Implementation
Occasionally, an analyst will encounter a stakeholder who wants to prescribe the detailed solution on day one. What then? Here are a couple techniques…
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Get Rid of Missed Business Analysis Career Goals Once and for All
This article describes three categories of career activities and how they help and hinder you from achieving your career goals.
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A Business Analyst is a Communication Expert
Through communication expertise, a business analyst helps drive successful solution delivery.
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How Does Elicitation Feel to You?
There are a few essential questions we should always keep at top of mind during our discovery and solution definition efforts. I’d like to…
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Don’t Ask for Recognition, Earn it!
Reaching a point of credibility and influence requires working hard and producing quantifiable results.
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A Few Words on Mentoring
It’s national mentoring month in the United States, and a week ago we had national “Thank Your Mentor” day. In light of the occasion…
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Golden Questions for Elicitation and Discovery
I’ve found in early discovery sessions with stakeholders – regardless of the organization, industry, personalities, problems or other nuances – we’re striving to accomplish…
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Fred Brooks on the Criteria for Success
“If we perceive our role aright, we then see more clearly the proper criterion for success: a toolmaker succeeds as, and only as, the…
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Andrew Carnegie on Personal Development
“It marks a big step in your development when you come to realize that other people can help you do a better job…
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Tweets of the Week
I’m a professional book junkie. Couple my commute with an Audible account, and I cover quite a bit of ground in short order. In…