In this course, students will learn how to perform stakeholder analysis, how to effectively elicit the needs of these stakeholders and how to translate their needs into solution requirements. They will learn what is means for a requirement to be well-written, correct and precise and will practice adhering to these standards throughout the course.
PERFORM STAKEHOLDER ANALYSIS
Foundations of Business Analysis
FOUNDATIONS OF BUSINESS ANALYSIS
Translate stakeholders needs into solution requirements
Audience: This course is intended for business analysts, from beginner to intermediate, who are looking to improve their skills by learning best practices and techniques for eliciting, analyzing, documenting, validating and communicating requirements. Course Duration: 4 days
Prerequisites: There are no prerequisites for this course.
LEARN BEST PRACTICES
Course Objectives:
Obtain an understanding of the business analyst’s core responsibilities
Understand the main professional associations and standards supporting business analysts in the industry
Discuss and explore each domain of the business analyst’s work
Recognize the importance of properly defining the business need prior to engaging in requirements activities
Understand the concepts that comprise strategy analysis
Obtain knowledge of and experience in stakeholder analysis
Decipher between project and product scope and successfully use models to communicate scope
Understand and be able to identify the various requirements categories and recognize requirements of various types
Develop interviewing skills and explore different ways to plan and structure interviews
Examine different forms of requirements documentation
Explore elements of communication, conflict and issue management
Know the concepts and activities involved in solution evaluation
Obtain hands-on experience with several business analysis techniques for eliciting, analyzing and modeling requirements
LEARN BEST PRACTICES
Course Outline:
- What is Business Analysis?
- Benefiting from Business Analysis
- Business Analysis and Project Success
- Challenges of Business Analysis
- Discussion: Application to Your Organization
- Definition of Business Analyst
- Responsibilities of a Business Analyst
- The Business Analyst and Project Manager
- PMI, IIBA and The Goals of a Professional Association
- The Purpose of a BA Standard
- IIBA’s BABOK® Guide and PMI’s Practice Guide in Business Analysis
- Business Analysis Core Concepts
- Business Analysis Perspectives
- IIBA and PMI Certifications for Business Analysts
- Lab – Introduction to Case Study
- Define Strategy Analysis
- When to Perform Strategy Analysis
- Business Models
- Defining the Business Need
- Root Cause Analysis
- The Five Whys
- Fishbone Diagram
- Defining Business Requirements
- Discussion: Application to Your Organization
- Lab – Model, Define, Diagram, Write
- Define Change Strategy
- Gap Analysis
- Determining Solution Options
- Enterprise Readiness
- Cultural Fit
- Operational and Functional Analysis
- Impact Analysis
- Transitioning to the Future State
- What is a Stakeholder?
- The Importance of Stakeholder Analysis
- Stakeholder Identification
- Stakeholder Types
- Identifying and Analyzing Stakeholders
- Keeping Track of Stakeholders
- Lab – Identify Stakeholders
- Defining Solution Scope
- Techniques to Use
- Project Scope versus Product Scope
- Finding Solution Boundaries
- What is a Feature?
- Identifying Key Features
- Discussion – Identifying Solution Scope
- Lab – Draw a Context Diagram and Define Scope
- Project Roles Involved in Requirement Activities
- Requirement Types
- Assumptions and Constraints
- Business Rules
- Decision Tables and Inference Rules
- Requirements verses Business Rules
- Requirements verses Specifications
- Discussion – Requirements and Business Rules
- Lab – Define a Business Rule and Write Requirements
- Why Do We Model Processes?
- What is Business Process Management?
- Using a Modeling Notation
- “As Is” verses “To Be” Modeling
- Why Use BPMN?
- Basic BPM Notation
- Developing a Business Process Model
- Using a Facilitated Session
- Case Study – Business Process Modeling
- Developing a Business Process Model
- Lab – Create a Business Process Model
- Types of Elicitation Techniques
- Interviewing – What and Why?
- Preparing for an Effective Interview
- Selecting the Right Interviewees
- Types of Questions to Ask
- Sequencing of Questions
- Discussion – Elicitation Techniques You Have Used
- Lab – Planning for an Interview
- Conduct the Interview
- Establishing Rapport with Stakeholders
- Active Listening and Listening Styles
- Workshops and Getting the Right People
- The Role of the Facilitator
- The Brainstorming Technique
- Decision Rules and Reaching Consensus
- Avoiding Groupthink
- Encouraging Participation
- Managing Meetings and Conflict
- Lab – Conduct an Interview
- Defining Requirements Analysis
- Prioritizing Requirements (MoSCoW, Timeboxing, Voting, etc.)
- Documenting Requirements
- Other Uses for Specifications and Models
- Unified Modeling Language (UML)
- Explaining User Stories
- The Traceability Matrix
- Communicating Requirements
- Lab – Analyzing, Identifying, Tracing
- What Is an Actor?
- Types of Actors
- Defining Actors
- Locating Use Cases
- Use Case Diagrams
- Use Case Tips
- Defining and Identifying Scenarios
- Parts of a Use Case
- Defining Primary/Secondary Actors and Pre/Post Conditions
- Best Practices for Writing Use Cases
- Use Case Specification Template
- Lab – Use Case Diagram and Main Success Scenario
- Scenarios and Flows
- Alternate and Exception Flows
- Alternate Scenario Post Conditions
- Guidelines for Alternate Flows
- Examples of Alternate and Exception Flows
- Lab – Writing Alternate and Exception Flows
- How Requirements Relate to Use Cases
- Writing Non-Functional requirements
- User Interface Requirements
- Reporting Requirements
- Data Requirements
- Data Accessibility Requirements
- Business Requirements Document (BRD)
- BRD versus the Functional Requirements
- Verifying Requirements
- Quality Attributes
- Purpose of the Requirements Package
- Business Analysis Deliverables Across Domains
- Planning Business Analysis Deliverables
- Lab – Develop a User Interface and Verifying Requirements
- Business Analysis Communication
- Business Analyst’s Role in Communication
- Forms of Communication
- Seven Cs of Communication
- Symptoms of Information Overload
- Information Mapping
- Presentation and Common Elements
- Requirements Walkthroughs
- Conflict and Issue Management
- Conflict Resolution Techniques
- Understanding Solution Evaluation
- Verification versus Validation
- Timing of Solution Evaluation
- Planning Solution Evaluation
- Performing Solution Evaluation
- Using Existing Metrics
- Evaluating Long-Term Performance
- Qualitative versus Quantitative measures
- Tools and Techniques Used in Solution Evaluation
- Comparing Expected versus Actuals
- When Variances Occur
- Proposing Recommendations to Address Variances
- Communicating Evaluation Results