Business Analysis Rules Of Thumb

My Own Business Analysis Rules Of Thumb

Anywhere, here are my own business analysis rules of thumb to start the discussion:

Learn The Language

It is your responsibility to understand the business domain.

It is not unreasonable that you don’t understand the business domain but it needs to be recognised and planned for at the outset of the project, potentially with the assistance of the subject matter experts (SME).

You need to ensure you get up to speed as quickly as possible and using the minimum of stakeholders’ time.

Active Listening

Listen to the client and replay what you have heard, constantly. Repeat it in different ways to the client and other stakeholders. Ask questions around the subject to ensure you understand all the variations and the nuances.

‘Reframing’ is an effective technique to confirm understanding and drive out detail, issues, assumptions and increase understanding.

Challenge All Assumptions

Be determined and risk being unpopular (in the short term) for the project good.

If you don’t understand why an assumption has been made or why it is justified, challenge it!

If you don’t understand it, there is a good chance someone else doesn’t either.

Understand Everything

Ensure you understand everything. If you don’t understand it then there is a risk it is wrong or unnecessary, all of which will contribute to problems or further cost later in the project.

You don’t need to understand the technical solution but you do need to understand all the requirements and be clear on their rationale and the benefit they provide. If you can’t say this with all honesty, you need to be asking questions.

Be A Guardian

You need to protect all of the following:

• Objectives, requirements and sponsor’s budget;

• All stakeholders’ interests;

You must ensure the objectives are documented, agreed and understood and requirements contribute to those objectives. This ties in with protecting the sponsor’s budget to ensure project time is invested in what has been agreed and is not hijacked by local stakeholder interests.

However, you do need to ensure stakeholders are heard and their interests are protected.

You also need to ensure that when you take up stakeholders’ valuable time, there is a good reason for it. For example, it will move the project forward faster (i.e. when bringing stakeholders together in a workshop) or a subject matter expert needs to be consulted and there is no other source of advice available (i.e. reading existing project or industry documentation).