Top The Ten Skills
your Mother forgot to
tell you that you needed
to be a Business Analyst
A founding member of the
Who is Kathleen Barret?
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Senior Business
Consultant,
Requirements
Management / Business
Analysis Centre of
Competency Lead,
BMO Financial Group
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President,
International Institute of
Business Analysis (IIBA)
Who is BMO Financial Group?
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Founded in 1817 as Canadas first chartered bank, BMO
Financial Group is one the largest financial services
providers in North America
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Assets $256 billion
Employees 34,000
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Information Technology 3,500
Services include:
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BMO Bank of Montreal - Personal & Commercial Banking (Canadian)
BMO Nesbitt Burns - Investment & Wealth Management (Canadian)
Harris Bank Financial Services (Mid-West US)
Harris Nesbitt Investment Bank (US)
Introduction
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you want to be a Business Analyst
What is a Business Analyst
Business Analysts are responsible for identifying the business needs of their
clients and stakeholders to help determine solutions to business problems.
The Business Analyst is responsible for requirements development and
requirements management. Specifically, the Business Analyst elicits,
analyzes, validates and documents business, organizational and/or
operational requirements. Solutions are not predetermined by the
Business Analyst, but are driven solely by the requirements of the
business. Solutions often include a systems development component, but
may also consist of process improvement or organizational change.
The Business Analyst is a key facilitator within an organization, acting as a
bridge between the client, stakeholders and the solution team.
Business analysis is distinct from financial analysis, project management,
quality assurance, organizational development, testing, training and
documentation development. However, depending on an organization, an
individual Business Analyst may perform some or all of these related
functions.
The 10 Skills
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Analyst
Facilitator
Negotiator
Artist / Architect
Planner
Communicator
Diplomat
Expert / Consultant
Strategist
Revolutionary
Describe each role
Identify the skill or activity
required
Provide an example of the type
of training available to support
its development
The Analyst
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Help determine solutions to business problems
The ultimate problem solver
The Analyst
Analytical & Systems Thinking
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Understand & make judgments about a situation by
breaking it apart into smaller pieces or by tracing the
implications of a situation in a step-by-step way
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Organize the problem, opportunity or situation in a systematic
way
Set priorities
Identify causal or If-Then relationships
Synthesize the component parts in the context of a whole system
Training
Problem Solving & Decision Making
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Provide participants with the skills and tools they
need to determine root issues and plan for
success
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Identify and find solutions to problems
Apply creative thinking skills, resulting in improved solutions
Apply decision-making methodology
Anticipate & plan for problems before they occur
Use a process tool to analyze situations, separate concerns,
establish priorities & initiate appropriate action
The Facilitator
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Key facilitator within an organization
Elicits requirements
Ensures positive, continuous discussion & progress
The Facilitator
Facilitation / Requirements Elicitation
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Facilitation
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Create a positive and constructive group environment
Maintain the group focus
Lead the discussion toward stated goals
Elicitation
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Use questioning techniques and other tools to discover process
and data from a group of users or stakeholders
Training
Facilitating Client Requirements
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Provide the methodology and skills needed to discover
client requirements in a meeting environment
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Elicit business & system requirements from stakeholders using
a variety of meeting management techniques bases on the
types of meeting (e.g., modeling, kick-off, status, etc.)
Use group management methods to ensure an productive
requirements gathering session
The Negotiator
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Act as a bridge between the client, stakeholders &
solution team
Maintain balance between potentially conflicting
needs of various stakeholders
The Negotiator
Consensus & Agreement Building
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Help others reach agreement around a project or a set of
ideas
Take on contentious issues or entrenched interests to
bring about a beneficial resolution
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Negotiation: Ensuring win-win solutions when two parties start
from different positions
Consensus and Agreement Building: Working together,
assisting others, to reach a common understanding and
commitment
Conflict Management: Bringing disagreements into the open to
help diffuse them
Training
Power Communications
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Communicate effectively with team members, manage
client expectations to reach consensus & to ensure
successful project outcomes
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Utilize influence and communication skills to manage client and peer
relationships
Manage difficult conversations & more effectively deal with conflict
Practice negotiation skills that result in consensus with your client and
stakeholders
Handle objections effectively
Understand Emotional Intelligence and how it applies to self
management and effective communication
The Artist / Architect
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Solutions often include a systems development
component but may also consist of process
improvement or organizational change
The BA contributes to the successful solution of the
problem
The Artist / Architect
Modeling
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Data Modeling
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Process Modeling
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Develop an accurate representation of the business
information needs
Develop an accurate representation of the business
processes
Functional / User-Centered Design
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Demonstrate and apply knowledge of usability factors and
techniques
Profile targeted user groups to understand who will be using
the product
Training
Business Process Modeling
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Describe the various methods of modeling business
processes
Create business models process based on case study
examples
Analyze the process models for gaps, process
improvements, and strategic significance
Training
User Centered Design
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Define user-centered design
Explain the eight steps to web-design & the rules for
good design
Define effective web navigation and page layout
Describe web accessibility
List the key elements of usability testing
Training
Data Modeling
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Describe data modeling & when to use it
Identify different data modeling deliverables & how they
fit into the process
Define high-level data definition & detail data
specification
The Planner
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Or Requirements Manager
The BA is the project manager of the requirements
activities
The BA needs to plan & manage his/her activities to
ensure a successful outcome within the identified
project constraints
The Planner
Requirements Planning & Management
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Assure the clients requirements for products or systems
are accurately identified, captured, and tracked
throughout the project life cycle
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Planning
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Define, organize and schedule requirements management
activities in a way that is consistent with the organizations
culture and standards
Manage
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Execute planned requirements management activities while
remaining flexible to changing requirements and project
deadlines
Training
Project Management Fundamentals
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Define requirements scope & objectives
Describe tasks & activities required to meet the
objectives
Estimate resources required to complete tasks
Schedule tasks & activities
Monitor & modify plan as required
The Communicator
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Or Translator
The BA draws out the needs of the various
stakeholders, captures them in the form of a
document & feeds it back for validation & agreement
The Communicator
Verbal & Written Communications
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Verbal communication
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Use discussion, conversations and interviews to further
understanding
Speak clearly
Actively listen
Written communication
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Create clear, complete and useable documentation to support
the requirements management process and to report findings to
other stakeholders
Training
A few courses contribute to the development of this
role
Writing Effective Use Cases
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Describe the process, methods, steps & questions to use when
employing a Use-Case driven approach to gathering and
defining requirements
Writing Detail Requirements Specifications
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Describe how to decompose the features & functions from the
High Level Requirements Document into a Detailed
Requirements Specification
The Diplomat
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Combination of other roles
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Facilitator
Negotiator
Planner
Artist / Architect
The BA ensures the client is satisfied with the
solution
The Diplomat
Client Relationship Management
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Establish & maintain a positive working relationship with
the client
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Consider or anticipate the needs of the client throughout the
requirements process
Have insight and appreciation of client needs, priorities, goals &
competitive advantage
Training
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A synthesis of the training provided for the other
roles contributes to the development of this skill
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Facilitating Client Requirements
Power Communications
Project Management
Modeling
This role develops with maturity
The Expert / Consultant
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To help determine solutions to business problems
The BA needs to understand the:
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Business
Industry
Competition
The Expert / Consultant
Professional Knowledge
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Understand key business fundamentals, industry levers
& the drivers of the financial health and viability
Demonstrate working knowledge of the
business/organization & of software and application
development best practices
Training
This role develops with experience, maturity & an
increased understanding of the industry
Formalized training would be industry specific
The Strategist
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Think outside of the box
See both the forest & the trees
The Strategist
Strategic Business Planning
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Develop, link and communicate long-range visions, goals
or plans to support achievement of business goals
Translate visions & strategies into tactical plans
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Align Current Actions with organizations strategic goals
Think in future-oriented terms
Understand external impact on internal strategy
Plan actions to fit strategy & handle external events
Training
As with the Consultant or Expert role, the
Strategist develops with experience, maturity &
an increased understanding of the industry
Revolutionary
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By contributing to a solution, the BA introduces
change
The BA helps manage the impact of the change
The Revolutionary
Organizational Change Management
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Discover & define areas for change
Conduct impact analyses
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Actively champion the cause for change
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Training
Organizational Change Management
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Provides an understanding of organizational change
management within system project lifecycle by
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Building an understanding of the change process
Examining the factors critical to successful implementation of
the change
Identifying historical barriers that may impact this change
Identifying the resistance to change & determine the causes of
the resistance
Developing an effective strategy to deal with resistance
The BMO Financial Group
Curriculum
Orientation to Requirements Management
Specifying Client Requirements
Eliciting Client Requirements (web-based)
Facilitating Client Requirements
Data Gathering Techniques (web-based)
Power Communications
Problem Solving and Decision Making
Understanding Information Security
Detailed Requirements Specification
Data Modeling
Process Modeling
User Centered Design (web-based)
Writing Effective Use Cases
Organizational Change Management
Level 1
Class room Simulation
Process Assessment
Level 2
Knowledge Assessment
Level 3
Simulation
Accreditation
So remember what your
Mother said
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Analyst
Facilitator
Negotiator
Artist / Architect
Planner
Communicator
Diplomat
Expert / Consultant
Strategist
Revolutionary