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REFLECTIONS
BA Conference Europe 2012


                                 BSG (UK) Business Analysts recently attended the
                                 Business Analysis Conference Europe 2012 . Shortly after
                                 the conference, the BSG delegates collectively identified a
                                 number of trends which cropped up across the conference
                                 topics.


 It is our vision that the       BAs should not be part of the IT function
           BA profession         If BAs are to be the key change facilitators within an organisation, it’s important that they are
becomes recognised as            positioned where they can drive change from a benefits perspective rather than a technology
   the agents of change          capability perspective. Just as it is recognised that software projects should be business led
  across the enterprise.         rather than technology led, so should the agents of change driving these projects (i.e. BAs).

                                 Admittedly, it’s not uncommon for BAs to have an IT bias. Many BAs began their careers within
                                 IT and the discipline itself was born out of designing software projects. As the profession
                                 matures, so should its ability to establish credibility within the organisation as a business
                                 change function rather than simply as part of the IT function.


                                 BAs should focus on outcomes, not products
                                 BAs have to be asking themselves “By producing this project product (e.g. document), am I
                                 really going to allow my stakeholder to meet their overall objective?” In order to do this, it’s
                                 crucial that we understand our customers’ “why” and how this project enables it.
                                          What is their strategic ambition?
                                          How does this project’s outcome enable that strategic ambition?
                                       How does this project product enable the project to deliver the project outcome?
                                 As BAs, we need to continuously check ourselves to ensure that the work we are doing speaks
                                 to this bigger picture. We need to be adding value, not merely adding words to a page.


                                 The Business Analysis skillset has inherent value
                                 The BA skillset allows organisations to repeatedly design and deliver meaningful change. This
                                 is not a function of being an expert in a particular industry or product, it is a function of having
                                 the skills and experience to drive change. By introducing a structured approach to problem
                                 solving and solution design, BAs are able to take transformative roles and drive change.

                                 Typically at BSG we try and use blended teams who have a mix of domain knowledge (often
                                 these team members are client stakeholders) and BA expertise. Domain knowledge is
                                 important, but core BA skills have a significant contribution to make in their own right.

                                 BAs need a meaningful elevator pitch
How do you respond to            The BA profession is slowly becoming more recognised but it remains difficult to explain to a
  the question “So tell          layman what we do. We need to be able to say, without hesitation, “A BA is someone who …”
                                 We need to be consistent in this messaging within our own organisations, across the
   me, what does a BA
                                 profession and outwardly to the business community. If we can’t consistently advocate the
            really do?”          benefits we deliver and how we deliver them, how will our customers put their faith in us to
                                 drive change across their business?



                     Business Systems Group (UK), Registered in England No. 6150570, 230 City Road, London, EC1V2TT
                                                         www.bsgdelivers.com // @bsguk

              This document can only be reproduced in its entirety. This document does constitute any form of advice from BSG (UK).
REFLECTIONS
  BA Conference Europe 2012

                                 The new ‘wave’ of design is people focused, not task or
                                 process focused

                                 The technique of “Design Thinking” was a hot topic at the BA Conference with a number of
                                 talks incorporating an aspect of this. Design thinking focuses on a creative process based
                                 around the building up of ideas through monitoring people in their day-to-day routines. The
                                 key message delivered was that no matter how great the solution you design, how many bells
                                 and whistles it has, or how technically sound it seems to be, if it doesn’t meet the need of the
                                 person who’s going to be using it, unfortunately it’s going to fall flat. BAs should not forget that
                                 the best solution is always the one that has the customer at its core.

                                 Documents are no longer good eno ugh
                                 The drive to move away from compiling thudware (large documents) toward using
                                 collaborative, interactive communication platforms is gaining momentum. Ideally these are
                                 online, intuitive to use and provide ready traceability across the design. A quick poll of the
                                 audience in attendance in a particular session highlighted that nearly half of the organisations
                                 were already using such technologies and seeing the benefit in their day-to-day work.

                                 BAs are more than just scribes
                                 It’s becoming more and more evident among other professions (our customers) of the value
                                 that a BA can add in effecting positive change within their organisation. After all, BAs identify
                                 meaningful requirements and enable solutions to be delivered. However, all too often the BA
                                 has historically been seen as someone who just “takes orders”, i.e. writes up someone else’s
                                 vision into a large document. The scribe role is not particularly value adding for the customer
                                 nor is it inspiring for the BA.

                                 The profession needs to continue to advocate that we are more than just scribes. More
                                 importantly, BA practitioners will only build this credibility through repeatedly delivering on
                                 our ambition of being proactive agents of change.



                                 In closing, a reflection
                                 It was inspiring to witness first-hand the optimism within the wider BA community about the
                                 future of our profession. A recurring theme observed in many presentations during the 3 day
                                 event – from keynote speakers to seasoned analysts – referred to the prominent rise of the BA
                                 in the ‘information age’. Even more encouraging was observing how the message seemed to
                                 resonate: delegates were consciously rallying together to take up the challenge with the
                                 knowledge that they would be key to success in the future and be seen as the leaders of
                                 change, guiding their respective companies through the turbulence that is inevitably part of
                                 the journey.

At BSG we are passionate         To reference conference material, please visit http://www.irmuk.co.uk/ba2012/.
about design and delivery
of change which makes a          David Reinhardt, a BSG (UK) Principal Consultant, delivered a session titled “Learn to Speak
                                 Analyst”. The talk focused on three “orders of Business Analysis” and how the analytical
difference for our               toolset allows BAs to progress from being merely a scribe to being a proactive agent of change.
customers and their              The presentation, with speaker notes can be found here http://bit.ly/learnspeakanalyst.
customers.



          A collection of BSG (UK) BA practitioner                                                          www.bsgdelivers.com // @bsguk
          insight can be found at                                                                                         +44 20 7390 8674
          http://bit.ly/bsgukinsight                                                                                    info@bsguk.co.uk


                      Business Systems Group (UK), Registered in England No. 6150570, 230 City Road, London, EC1V2TT

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2012 10 xx bsg uk reflections on ba conference europe version 1

  • 1. REFLECTIONS BA Conference Europe 2012 BSG (UK) Business Analysts recently attended the Business Analysis Conference Europe 2012 . Shortly after the conference, the BSG delegates collectively identified a number of trends which cropped up across the conference topics. It is our vision that the BAs should not be part of the IT function BA profession If BAs are to be the key change facilitators within an organisation, it’s important that they are becomes recognised as positioned where they can drive change from a benefits perspective rather than a technology the agents of change capability perspective. Just as it is recognised that software projects should be business led across the enterprise. rather than technology led, so should the agents of change driving these projects (i.e. BAs). Admittedly, it’s not uncommon for BAs to have an IT bias. Many BAs began their careers within IT and the discipline itself was born out of designing software projects. As the profession matures, so should its ability to establish credibility within the organisation as a business change function rather than simply as part of the IT function. BAs should focus on outcomes, not products BAs have to be asking themselves “By producing this project product (e.g. document), am I really going to allow my stakeholder to meet their overall objective?” In order to do this, it’s crucial that we understand our customers’ “why” and how this project enables it.  What is their strategic ambition?  How does this project’s outcome enable that strategic ambition?  How does this project product enable the project to deliver the project outcome? As BAs, we need to continuously check ourselves to ensure that the work we are doing speaks to this bigger picture. We need to be adding value, not merely adding words to a page. The Business Analysis skillset has inherent value The BA skillset allows organisations to repeatedly design and deliver meaningful change. This is not a function of being an expert in a particular industry or product, it is a function of having the skills and experience to drive change. By introducing a structured approach to problem solving and solution design, BAs are able to take transformative roles and drive change. Typically at BSG we try and use blended teams who have a mix of domain knowledge (often these team members are client stakeholders) and BA expertise. Domain knowledge is important, but core BA skills have a significant contribution to make in their own right. BAs need a meaningful elevator pitch How do you respond to The BA profession is slowly becoming more recognised but it remains difficult to explain to a the question “So tell layman what we do. We need to be able to say, without hesitation, “A BA is someone who …” We need to be consistent in this messaging within our own organisations, across the me, what does a BA profession and outwardly to the business community. If we can’t consistently advocate the really do?” benefits we deliver and how we deliver them, how will our customers put their faith in us to drive change across their business? Business Systems Group (UK), Registered in England No. 6150570, 230 City Road, London, EC1V2TT www.bsgdelivers.com // @bsguk This document can only be reproduced in its entirety. This document does constitute any form of advice from BSG (UK).
  • 2. REFLECTIONS BA Conference Europe 2012 The new ‘wave’ of design is people focused, not task or process focused The technique of “Design Thinking” was a hot topic at the BA Conference with a number of talks incorporating an aspect of this. Design thinking focuses on a creative process based around the building up of ideas through monitoring people in their day-to-day routines. The key message delivered was that no matter how great the solution you design, how many bells and whistles it has, or how technically sound it seems to be, if it doesn’t meet the need of the person who’s going to be using it, unfortunately it’s going to fall flat. BAs should not forget that the best solution is always the one that has the customer at its core. Documents are no longer good eno ugh The drive to move away from compiling thudware (large documents) toward using collaborative, interactive communication platforms is gaining momentum. Ideally these are online, intuitive to use and provide ready traceability across the design. A quick poll of the audience in attendance in a particular session highlighted that nearly half of the organisations were already using such technologies and seeing the benefit in their day-to-day work. BAs are more than just scribes It’s becoming more and more evident among other professions (our customers) of the value that a BA can add in effecting positive change within their organisation. After all, BAs identify meaningful requirements and enable solutions to be delivered. However, all too often the BA has historically been seen as someone who just “takes orders”, i.e. writes up someone else’s vision into a large document. The scribe role is not particularly value adding for the customer nor is it inspiring for the BA. The profession needs to continue to advocate that we are more than just scribes. More importantly, BA practitioners will only build this credibility through repeatedly delivering on our ambition of being proactive agents of change. In closing, a reflection It was inspiring to witness first-hand the optimism within the wider BA community about the future of our profession. A recurring theme observed in many presentations during the 3 day event – from keynote speakers to seasoned analysts – referred to the prominent rise of the BA in the ‘information age’. Even more encouraging was observing how the message seemed to resonate: delegates were consciously rallying together to take up the challenge with the knowledge that they would be key to success in the future and be seen as the leaders of change, guiding their respective companies through the turbulence that is inevitably part of the journey. At BSG we are passionate To reference conference material, please visit http://www.irmuk.co.uk/ba2012/. about design and delivery of change which makes a David Reinhardt, a BSG (UK) Principal Consultant, delivered a session titled “Learn to Speak Analyst”. The talk focused on three “orders of Business Analysis” and how the analytical difference for our toolset allows BAs to progress from being merely a scribe to being a proactive agent of change. customers and their The presentation, with speaker notes can be found here http://bit.ly/learnspeakanalyst. customers. A collection of BSG (UK) BA practitioner www.bsgdelivers.com // @bsguk insight can be found at +44 20 7390 8674 http://bit.ly/bsgukinsight info@bsguk.co.uk Business Systems Group (UK), Registered in England No. 6150570, 230 City Road, London, EC1V2TT