Do you find yourself investing a lot of effort in requirements only to be asked “why is this taking so long”? Maybe you are hearing “let’s skip that and just get the requirements”? Do you feel there is a tension between producing quality deliverables and meeting employer demands? Do your stakeholders skip meetings, bypass reviews, and otherwise make it difficult to do quality work? Business analysis, at its core, is about creating alignment and clarity to drive positive change in our organizations. If you are having the troubles above, it may be that your definition of successful business analysis and your employer’s perception of value are out of sync. After this presentation, you’ll be better prepared to frame your business analyst activities in value terms your stakeholders understand – and will act on. We’ll help you compare your principles of success to those of your employer and stakeholders. We will provide practical ways you can increase your perceived value of common BA practices such as templates, meetings, and reviews. Prepare for the session and leave comments here: http://www.bridging-the-gap.com/iiba-rochester-how-to-increase-your-perceived-value-as-a-ba/ Attendees will learn: • Models for evaluating how your organization and stakeholders perceive value and how to frame business analysis activities within that framework; • Techniques for increasing the value generated from your business analyst activities and, just as importantly, the perception of value by your organization; • Tactics for delivering on the core principles of business analysis when practices are challenged. Meet the speaker: Laura Brandenburg is a business analyst consultant, author, and mentor. She has 9 years of experience across technology leadership, analysis, project management, and QA. She volunteers for IIBA as Career Center Product Manager and VP, Marketing of the Denver Chapter. She hosts Bridging the Gap, a blog about business analyst practices. She authored How to Start a Business Analyst Career and Professional Development for Business Analysts. Visit her blog at http://www.bridging-the-gap.com.

1. INCREASING THE
PERCEIVED VALUE OF
BUSINESS ANALYSIS
ACTIVITIES
Laura Brandenburg

2. My 2012 Goal
We build our profession one BA at a time.
Check out our Registry:
http://www.bridging-the-gap.com/business-analyst-registry
Copyright © 2010 Laura Brandenburg

3. Key Learning Objectives
1. Models for evaluating how your organization and
stakeholders perceive value and how to frame
business analysis activities within that framework;
2. Techniques for increasing the actual value
generated from your business analyst activities;
3. Tactics for increasing your perceived value.
Copyright © 2010 Laura Brandenburg

4. Self-Reflect~
Copyright © 2010 Laura Brandenburg

5. “I deal with the customers!”
¨ The problem
Ø Focus
is on
“communication” and
“spec delivery”
¨ Surviving the dilemma
Read more and view the video at Ø What goes into
http://www.bridging-the-gap.com/ creating the spec?
friday-flips-i-deal-with-the-customers-
from-office-space/
Copyright © 2010 Laura Brandenburg

6. Self-Reflect~
Copyright © 2010 Laura Brandenburg

7. Being valued is a two-sided coin
Being Being Aware
Valuable of Our Value
Copyright © 2010 Laura Brandenburg

8. ROI Model
Increase Benefits
Reduce Costs
• Discover new
• Reduce Rework
needs Increased
• Reduce Scoping
• Leverage new
Costs
solutions
ROI
• Find cost-
• Prioritize by
effective solutions
value
Copyright © 2010 Laura Brandenburg

9. Reduce Rework
$45 billion was spent on rework due to poor
requirements in the United States in 2008, adding
up to $180K each for the 250,000 US business
analysts on LinkedIn.
Ø KathleenBarrett. “Evaluating BA Credibility”. BA
Connection. IIBA. April 2010. p2.
http://www.theiiba.org/AM/Template.cfm?
Section=Member_Newsletters&Template=/CM/
HTMLDisplay.cfm&ContentID=6618
Copyright © 2010 Laura Brandenburg

10. Reduce Costs to Scope Solution
Incomplete
understanding
of the
Forgotten
Rehashing problem
issues crop
old issues
up late
Ineffective Stakeholder Right people
meetings Time = $$$ not involved
Copyright © 2010 Laura Brandenburg

11. Discover More Cost-Effective Solutions
“I became a business analyst
when I no longer saw technology
as the only solution.”
-Steve Blais, Solutions Architect
Copyright © 2010 Laura Brandenburg

12. Discover new needs or requirements
“There are … unconscious and/or undreamed of
requirements, that may remain forgotten,
overlooked, or simply unimagined until stakeholders
start to use the system and experience the need–
unless a skilled business analyst is successful in
identifying them during the requirements process.”
Ø Adriana Beal, “Beyond gathering, eliciting and
trawling for requirements”
§ http://www.bridging-the-gap.com/beyond-gathering-eliciting-and-
trawling-for-requirements/
Copyright © 2010 Laura Brandenburg

13. Focus on the valuable requirements
ü Do you help the business
focus on benefits?
Wish list ü Do you prioritize early
Real
features and often?
business
needs
Gotta OR
haves
Do you invest time in
requirements that are
Most valuable set of never implemented? (EEK!)
requirements
Copyright © 2010 Laura Brandenburg

14. Stop projects that do not achieve ROI
Transform the ambiguous hole of muck
• Understand “why”
• Discover unknown requirements
Analyze the requirements
• Prioritize often
• Find alternative solutions
Unexpected project scope
• Does the project still have a positive
ROI?
Copyright © 2010 Laura Brandenburg

15. More fully leverage new solutions
IT implements Business doesn’t Business does
lacking value get it work-arounds
IT buys new
solution
BA understands IT implements Business trained
the possibilities valuable project on new system
Positive ROI
Copyright © 2010 Laura Brandenburg

16. Career Habit: Ask WHY?
And then…
Is there a better way to
accomplish this goal?
Copyright © 2010 Laura Brandenburg

17. Career Habit: Self-Confidence
“Be your own best friend and believe in
yourself. …Cheer yourself on. Write your
own pep talk. It works.”
Ø Ken Blanchard, Heart of a Leader (67)
Copyright © 2010 Laura Brandenburg

18. Career Habit: Toot Your Own Horn
Copyright © 2010 Laura Brandenburg

19. Q&A
Looking for more?
http://www.bridging-the-gap.com/free-resources
Copyright © 201 Laura Brandenburg