The Top 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?

Senior Business President,

1 Consultant, 2 International Institute of
Requirements Business Analysis (IIBA)
Management / Business
Analysis Centre of
Competency Lead,
BMO Financial Group
Who is BMO Financial Group?
 Founded in 1817 as Canada’s first chartered bank, BMO
Financial Group is one the largest financial services
providers in North America
 Assets – $256 billion
 Employees – 34,000
 Information Technology – 3,500
 Services include:
 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
 So 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”
 Analyst
 Facilitator
 Negotiator
 Artist / Architect
 Planner
 Describe each role
 Communicator  Identify the skill or activity
 Diplomat required
 Provide an example of the type
 Expert / Consultant of training available to support
 Strategist its development
 Revolutionary
The Analyst
 “Help determine
solutions to business
problems”
 The ultimate problem
solver
The Analyst
Analytical & Systems Thinking
 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
 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
 Provide participants with the skills and tools they
need to determine root issues and plan for
success
 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
 “Key facilitator within an
organization”
 “Elicits… requirements”
 Ensures positive,
continuous discussion
& progress
The Facilitator
Facilitation / Requirements Elicitation
 Facilitation
 Create a positive and constructive group environment
 Maintain the group focus
 Lead the discussion toward stated goals
 Elicitation
 Use questioning techniques and other tools to discover process
and data from a group of users or stakeholders
Training
Facilitating Client Requirements
 Provide the methodology and skills needed to discover
client requirements in a meeting environment
 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
 “Act as a bridge
between the client,
stakeholders & solution
team”
 Maintain balance
between potentially
conflicting needs of
various stakeholders
The Negotiator
Consensus & Agreement Building
 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
 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
 Communicate effectively with team members, manage
client expectations to reach consensus & to ensure
successful project outcomes
 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
 “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
 Data Modeling
 Develop an accurate representation of the business’
information needs
 Process Modeling
 Develop an accurate representation of the business’
processes
 Functional / User-Centered Design
 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
 Describe the various methods of modeling business
processes
 Create business process models based on case study
examples
 Analyze the process models for gaps, process
improvements, and strategic significance
Training
User Centered Design
 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
 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
 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
 Assure the client’s requirements for products or systems
are accurately identified, captured, and tracked
throughout the project life cycle
 Planning
 Define, organize and schedule requirements management
activities in a way that is consistent with the organization’s
culture and standards
 Manage
 Execute planned requirements management activities while
remaining flexible to changing requirements and project
deadlines
Training
Project Management Fundamentals
 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
 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
 Verbal communication
 Use discussion, conversations and interviews to further
understanding
 Speak clearly
 Actively listen
 Written communication
 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
 Describe the process, methods, steps & questions to use when
employing a Use-Case driven approach to gathering and
defining requirements
Writing Detail Requirements Specifications
 Describe how to decompose the features & functions from the
High Level Requirements Document into a Detailed
Requirements Specification
The Diplomat
 Combination of other
roles
 Facilitator
 Negotiator
 Planner
 Artist / Architect
 The BA ensures the
client is satisfied with
the solution
The Diplomat
Client Relationship Management
 Establish & maintain a positive working relationship with
the client
 Consider or anticipate the needs of the client throughout the
requirements process
 Have insight and appreciation of client needs, priorities, goals &
competitive advantage
Training
 A synthesis of the training provided for the other
roles contributes to the development of this skill
 Facilitating Client Requirements
 Power Communications
 Project Management
 Modeling
 This role develops with maturity
The Expert / Consultant
 “To help determine
solutions to business
problems”
 The BA needs to
understand the:
 Business
 Industry
 Competition
The Expert / Consultant
Professional Knowledge
 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
 Think outside of the
“box”
 See both the “forest” &
the “trees”
The Strategist
Strategic Business Planning
 Develop, link and communicate long-range visions, goals
or plans to support achievement of business goals
 Translate visions & strategies into tactical plans
 Align Current Actions with organization’s 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
 By contributing to a
solution, the BA
introduces change
 The BA helps manage
the impact of the
change
The Revolutionary
Organizational Change Management
 Discover & define areas for change
 Conduct impact analyses
 Actively champion the cause for change
Training
Organizational Change Management
 Provides an understanding of organizational change
management within system project lifecycle by
 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 Level 1
 Eliciting Client Requirements (web-based)
• Class room Simulation
 Facilitating Client Requirements • Process Assessment
 Data Gathering Techniques (web-based)
 Power Communications
 Problem Solving and Decision Making Level 2
 Understanding Information Security • Knowledge Assessment
 Detailed Requirements Specification
 Data Modeling
 Process Modeling
 User Centered Design (web-based) Level 3
 Writing Effective Use Cases
• Simulation
 Organizational Change Management • Accreditation
So remember what your
Mother said…
 Analyst
 Facilitator
 Negotiator
 Artist / Architect
 Planner
 Communicator
 Diplomat
 Expert / Consultant
 Strategist
 Revolutionary