BAB607: Business Analysis Theory and Practice
Objectives
The objectives of the workshop are to introduce skills, concepts and strategies to:
• Introduce participants to the roles and responsibilities of business analysts with a focus on project requirements definition
• Provide training that is consistent with the BABOK
• Build the capabilities of participants so that they can successfully develop and manage project requirements and be a productive and contributing member of project teams
• Engage participants in interactive exercises designed to build their skills and confidence
• Familiarize participants with best practices in business analysis and requirements definition
• Provide a base of knowledge for additional business analysis learning, either self-directed or otherwise
• Provide participants with an opportunity to apply the skills they have learned to a realistic project exercise
Outline
Day 1:
• Module 1: Introduction to the workshop
This module introduces the subject, describes the course layout, and allows participants to get to know one another.
• Module 2: The IIBA and the role of the business analyst
This module describes the emergence of the IIBA and its role in professionalizing the profession and describes the appropriate role for business analysts in critical projects.
• Module 3: The definition of requirements and the challenges of requirements management
This module describes the technical and non-technical challenges of identifying and managing requirements and describes the elements of “good” requirements. It also identifies the differences between business and system requirements and engages participants in requirements definition exercises.
• Module 4: The link between requirements definition and management and project management
Because business analysts work within the framework of a project and because they manage a project themselves--the elicitation and management of requirements—this module introduces participants to the critical processes of project management with a focus on project initiation, project scope definition, and project risk management.
• Module 5: Conflict management for business analysts
This module describes old and new models of conflict management and the role that conflict plays in requirements processes. A model for effective conflict resolution is introduced—the principled negotiations model—and participants are provided an opportunity to deploy that model.
• Module 6: Creative communications for business analysts
This module describes the critical role of communications throughout the requirements process. It examines techniques for effective listening, making presentations and managing meetings. It also explores three new strategies for competing for the attention of stakeholders—crafting “sticky” messages, changing minds, and making use of informal communication networks. Participants are provided the opportunity to use the new skills they have learned.
Day 2:
• Module 7: The requirements cycle
This module presents the IIBA’s requirements cycle and the major activities the business analyst engages in for each of the six processes in that cycle.
• Module 8: Enterprise analysis
This module describes the activities engaged in by business analysts to create and manage the business architecture of the enterprise to include project prioritization, feasibility studies, the preparation of business cases, and process improvement.
• Module 9: Requirements planning and management
This module describes the activities necessary for the business analyst to plan for and deploy an effective requirements elicitation and management process. Participants are challenged to create a requirements plan.
• Module 10: Requirements elicitation
This module describes the challenges and purposes of requirements elicitation and presents the major requirements elicitation methods. Participants are provided the opportunity to deploy several of those methods.
Day 3:
• Module 11: Requirements analysis and documentation
In this module, participants are provided an overview of the role of requirements documentation and analysis, and the three major types of analytic methods are described.
• Module 12: Data and behavior models
In this module, participants are given an overview of the seven data and behavior models presented by the IIBA, including business rules, class diagrams, and entity relationship diagrams, and are given the opportunity for hands-on application.
• Module 13: Process flow models
In this module, participants are given an overview of the seven process flow models presented by the IIBA, including data flow diagrams, activity flow diagrams, state diagrams, and flowcharts, and given an opportunity for hands-on application.
• Module 14: Usage models
In this module, participants are given an overview of the seven usage models, including use cases, use case diagrams, and prototypes, and given the opportunity for hands-on application.
Day 4:
• Module 15: Requirements communication
In this module, participants are shown the importance of effective communications within the requirements cycle and introduced to the challenge of selecting, preparing, and presenting the requirements package to stakeholders.
• Module 16: Solution assessment and verification
In this module, participants will explore the roles of the business analyst in ensuring that delivered products and services meet the defined requirements, tracing requirements to functions and tests, and interacting with users to make implementation as smooth as possible.
• Module 17: Importance and challenges of user acceptance testing
In this module, participants will be given an introduction to the importance and challenges of good user acceptance testing.
Day 5:
• Module 18: Capstone exercise
This module requires participants to apply the skills they have learned by creating a requirements plan, identifying requirements elicitation strategies, creating user and supplementary requirements, analyzing and documenting requirements using several methods, creating a requirements package and presenting it.
• Module 19: Workshop wrap-up
This module wraps up the workshop, gives participants a chance to ask remaining questions, and allows them to evaluate the workshop.
Professional Development Units (PDUs)
35 PDUs