When I started out in business analysis (more than 20 years ago!), my role was all about “process improvement”. Essentially, I was tasked with finding ways to slash operating costs through headcount reductions. While it wasn’t generally stated in such bald terms, the clues – having to state the likely FTE saving of each proposed… Read More »The many flavours of “process improvement”
Data analysis is a core competency within the wider world of business analysis. Sound business decisions rely on evidence, insights, and predictions built on data. Having data can be a bit of a ‘comfort blanket’. If we have spreadsheets and graphs and numbers, it feels like we’ve been rigorous, and therefore our conclusions and choices… Read More »Avoiding data pitfalls
I was due to attend a BA event this week that was withdrawn due to lack of bookings. This was gutting on several levels. Firstly, I was really looking forward to it myself; the content sounded really interesting, the line-up looked great, and it was a chance to catch up with some BA buddies. Secondly,… Read More »Use it or lose it
Last week, I was lucky enough to attend BA Conference Europe 2024 in London. This is the third year in a row that I’ve attended, and the turnout this year was brilliant (almost 600 BA professionals!). Conference is a pretty full-on experience, with a vast range of workshops, presentations, and activities on offer, and the… Read More »BA Conference Europe 2024
Struggling business operations are prime candidates for “improvement projects”. The organisation wants to raise quality, be more productive, reduce costs, have more satisfied staff, and reduce risk. If operations are “running hot” all the time, with people and processes under strain, there will be plenty of dysfunction, poor customer outcomes, and no small amount of… Read More »Chill out! (the perils of making changes while “running hot”)
Every experienced business analyst will have plenty of scars and stories from working on projects and initiatives that should never have been pursued in the first place. These include ideas that were never going to deliver real benefits, projects that couldn’t be successfully completed with the available resources, and initiatives that made things much worse… Read More »10 awkward questions
Business analysis is practised in liminal spaces, at the boundaries between worlds. Business analysts serve many functions at the edges of things: as seers, revealing truths; as guardians, controlling what passes from the past to the future; as historians, connecting what was to what will be; as midwives, facilitating the birth of the new. In… Read More »Life on the edge
Better Business Analysis had its 4th birthday yesterday, and (as well as adopting a new colour scheme) I’ve been doing some belated spring-cleaning on this site. As part of that, I’ve updated the page that talks about my values, and I’ve also added a new item to my Resources page. It’s a guide called ‘Better… Read More »Better benefits
This post is going to stretch a metaphor, possibly past breaking point! Stick with it… Daffodils are out. Trees are dressed in blossom. Spring is gradually springing. The promise of new growth and brighter days always has me feeling optimistic, and this year it has triggered some thinking about business analysis professionals and the wider… Read More »Be the whole BA garden
For a business analyst, defining reporting requirements can be a true test of our professionalism. No BA wants to simply take down requests as if stakeholders were ordering a meal. But when it comes to “reports”, it can be difficult to really dig into the underlying need behind any request, and the path of least… Read More »Better reporting requirements