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People Focused Business Analysis

5 Day Course
Code QAPFBA

Book Now - 1 Delivery Method Available:

Scheduled Online Onsite

Overview

Of all specialists involved in the development of an IT system, the Business Analyst is arguably the most client-facing. They are required to define the required system but, in order to do so, they must also interact with people. Requirements capture, prototyping, negotiation, stakeholder management, presentation of business options – all have a significant human dimension requiring a facility equally in interpersonal and analytical skills.

This course shows how to work within a business strategy, use proven techniques to analyse the business area, and identify changes to business processes needed to meet specific internal and external challenges. It offers the opportunity to develop the skills needed to work with senior business and IT staff to analyse and model business activities. Delegates will learn how to investigate business problems and how to identify and recommend appropriate creative solutions.

From the interpersonal direction, a powerful psychometric tool is investigated – Strength Deployment Inventory (SDI) – which acts as a force multiplier when combined with the other skills covered on the course, such as interviewing and negotiation.

This is an intensive five-day course with a combination of lectures, in-class exercises, and case studies.

Objectives

Upon completion students will be able to:

  • Describe a range of project frameworks
  • Use interviewing techniques
  • Explain techniques to document an organisation's business systems
  • Describe an approach to improving business systems
  • Explain the importance of stakeholder management and use a stakeholder analysis technique
  • Use techniques for the analysis and modelling of business systems
  • Describe how recommendations for business improvement may be identified
  • Describe the contents of a rigorous business case for the development and implementation of business changes
  • Explain the derivation of IT requirements from the definitions of business improvements
  • Analyse the data requirements of a business system
  • Document the business rules constraining the use of business processes
  • Apply a range of creative thinking techniques to a process improvement task
  • Facilitate meetings intended to generate ideas and project products
  • Present the findings of a business analysis to a sponsor and other interested parties
View detailed Course Modules

Modules

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Business Process Frameworks (1 topic)

  • Demonstrate an understanding of why we need frameworks to underpin process success; a typical project route map; reasons for a project initiation phase; drivers for projects; aims of initiation; Terms of Reference (TOR); stakeholders; project risk; a typical business case format

Requirements Gathering (1 topic)

  • The requirements engineering (RE) process; the hierarchy of requirements; categorising requirements; CMM and RE; problems surrounding documentation of requirements; the impact of poorly-crafted requirements; identifying the symptoms of poor RE; using prototyping in RE; requirements stakeholders

Requirements Management (1 topic)

  • The principles of Requirements Management (RM); the four pillars of RM; baseline mechanism; the Change Control Board; tools to manage requirements

Interviewing for Results (1 topic)

  • Planning, preparing, conducting and following-up an interview; determining a suitable venue; creating a TOR for the interview; coverage matrix; determining a suitable questioning strategy

Strength Deployment Inventory (1 topic)

  • The meaning and use of the SDI tool; the meaning of "normal"; understanding your own motivation; completing a SDI diagram; interpreting a SDI diagram; understanding the motivation of others; understanding and dealing with conflict

Work Association (1 topic)

  • The three phases of association; joining and belonging; role and control; sharing and caring

Negotiation and Influencing (1 topic)

  • The Johari window; influencing styles; power and influence; choosing a style of your own; the partner chart and resistance; using negotiation and agreement; manipulation and co-operation; coercion; catharsis/encounter; taking a tactical approach

Effective Presentations (1 topic)

  • Reasons for using presentations; getting the message right; focussing on the objectives; audience research; controlling the flow and timing; the anatomy of a presentation; handling a hostile audience; ensuring that the message is understood; controlling nerves; ensuring success

Business Process Modelling (1 topic)

  • The relationship between business and automated systems; the purpose of modelling business processes; modelling notations; identifying business processes; events and triggering business processes; stakeholders and business processes; transitioning from business modelling to system requirement specification; IT support of business processes; scoping the IT development effort; documenting IT system requirements; integrating process modelling, requirements definition and systems development; quality assurance of processes; linking processes back to requirements

Storyboarding (1 topic)

  • The rationale behind storyboarding; storyboard propositions; kicker statements; the process of creating a storyboard; a walkthrough of a typical storyboard

Creative Thinking (1 topic)

  • Five creative thinking methods; brainstorming; a practical methodology for brainstorming; idea generating questions - the journalistic six; historical examination; blocking and block busting; evaluating a creative solution

Process Analysis And Evaluation (1 topic)

  • The reasons why most process improvement initiatives fail; misconceptions about people and processes; evaluating current process problems; using problem analysis techniques; mind mapping and its uses; critical reviews

Stakeholder Management (1 topic)

  • The benefits of stakeholder management; stakeholder power/interest matrix; understanding your key stakeholders

Modelling Business Data (1 topic)

  • Why do we model business data?; the nature of a business entity; tracing entities back to use cases; guidelines for finding entities; attributes; associations; resolving n:n associations; CRUD matrix; testing associations

Facilitated Workshops (1 topic)

  • The benefits of a facilitated workshop; roles; the workshop process

Modelling Business Rules (1 topic)

  • Definition of a business rule; three types of rule; superstates; action events; conditional transitions; traceability; building a simple state chart

Prerequisites

Those wishing to acquire the skill set required for analysing and addressing business problems through interaction with the client community.

Business Development Training Courses
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