Mastering Business Analysis: Recent Episodes
Dave Saboe, Business Analyst | Agile Coach
The Mastering Business Analysis podcast is a program with the goal of elevating the role of the Business Analyst and enhancing the skills of Business Analysts everywhere. Episodes include interviews with leaders in the business analysis community, helpful techniques, and effective practices. Together we will explore the Business Analyst role and I'll share information you need to achieve mastery in your role and advance in your career as a Business Analyst and beyond.
Karl Wiegers shares his lessons on requirements, project management, design, quality and more. Karl’s advice can make you significantly better at what you do.Show NotesKarl Wiegers started programming in 1970 and has collected 60 lessons he has learned in several areas of software development including requirements, design, project management, culture, teamwork, quality, and process improvement. Each of these lessons bring insights that can help you to and your organization to become significantly better at creating high quality, valuable solutions to your customers.
The Need to Iterate
Almost everything we do takes more than a single shot and design is a good example. The first lesson in the design category of Karl’s book is “design demands iteration”. There’s always more than one design solution for a software problem and seldom a single best solution.
The first design approach you come up with is unlikely to be the best option. A good rule of thumb is that you’re not done with design until you’ve created at least three designs, discard them, and take the best ideas from those three and build something better.
The same holds true for requirements. It will take a few iterations to get it right. These are cyclical things that you have to plan in your project management approach. You’re going to have to build in some reviews, get some feedback, prototype, and do some modeling to make sure we’re on the right track.
Icebergs are always larger than they first appear; that means that there’s going to be growth in the project. There’s going to be new information and new ideas that come along. You have to build in that growth and include contingency buffers into your plans. The bigger the project, the more unknowns and ambiguity and the more likely it is to change.
Understanding Stakeholders and Customers
Usage-centric development (as opposed to user-centric) is more likely to satisfy customer needs than product or feature-centered development. We shouldn’t care about features as much as you care about knowing what people need to do with the product. That’s the difference between the usage-centric approach and the product-centric approach.
That begins by understanding your stakeholders. Stakeholders are individuals, groups, or even systems who can shape or influence the direction of a project or who are affected by the project. To be successful, you need to identify your various user classes and identify who’s going to be the literal voice of the customer. Keep in mind that the customer isn’t always right, but they always have a point. Many times, the customer may ask for a solution, which may or may not be the right thing. To provide valuable solutions, we need to understand the underlying problem. If the solution they propose is the answer, what is the question?
Listen to the full episode for more lessons and advice on stakeholders, quality, applying what you’ve learned, and more.
| YOUR HOMEWORKPick two areas you want to get better at and vow to spend some of your time on the project learning about those areas. Look for opportunities to apply that new learning on your project and perform in those areas better than you would have before your commitment to learn and develop your skill in that focus area. |
Links Mentioned in this Episode* Karl’s Personal Website – KarlWiegers.com * ProcessImpact.com – Karl’s business and book information * Information on Karl’s book, Software Development Pearls
Karl Wiegers
Karl Wiegers is an independent consultant, author, speaker, and thought leader in the project community. His books on software requirements are considered required reading for Business Analysts and Project Managers. As a consultant and trainer, Karl has worked with more than 100 companies and government organizations of all types, helping them improve the effectiveness and efficiency of their software development activities.
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TrendingMBA228: Software Development PearlsPopular Episodes* MBA228: Software Development Pearls * MBA227: The Minimum Viable Business * MBALC: Elon Musk’s 5-Step Design Process * MBA226: The FOCCCUS Formula * MBA225: The Value of Business Models * MBA224: Corkscrew Thinking The post MBA228: Software Development Pearls appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
Karl Wiegers shares his lessons on requirements, project management, design, quality and more. Karl's advice can make you significantly better at what you do.
Ian Reynolds discusses how to discover the right solutions for your customers and then deliver them quickly.
In this lightning cast, we explore the 5-step design process Elon Musk uses for SpaceX to innovate and get better results.
The Theory of Constraints is an approach to improving organizational performance by accelerating delivery. Author Clarke Ching shares his FOCCCUS Formula to address the system's bottleneck.
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In this episode, we revisit Theory of Constraints, an approach to improving organizational performance by accelerating delivery. Author Clarke Ching shares his FOCCCUS Formula to address the system's bottleneck.
Clarke Ching shares an innovative problem solving approach to help us solve tricky problems.
David Mantica helps us understand business models and helps us understand how to find new opportunities to create greater value.
David Mantica discusses the brain science behind some of the challenges knowledge workers face and helps you shift your mindset to enable you to thrive in a complex and chaotic environment
David Bland discusses the importance of testing your business ideas and shares ways to dramatically reduce the risk and increase the likelihood of success for your product, initiative, or project.
Adrian Reed discusses the importance of systems thinking and how it relates to business agility.
Author and thought leader Karl Wiegers shares principles and lessons he has learned from poor designs and what you can do to develop solutions that create a great user experience.
Kent McDonald shares his thoughts on what it takes to succeed as a Business Analyst in an Agile environment.
In this episode of the BA Toolbox, we explore the A3 report and it's use in problem solving.
Melissa Boggs discusses how the Scrum Alliance transformed into customer-centric teams and how you can have a greater customer focus.
Understanding the different levels of Agile planning and your role at each level will help keep your team aligned and focused on the right outcomes.
Paul Niven helps us to understand Objectives and Key Results (OKRs), a goal-setting tool to set ambitious goals with measurable results.
Stop the wasted time and money from ineffective meetings by giving your next meeting a POWER Start.
David Hawks shares an approach to transformations, projects, and large change initiatives by starting with the business outcomes.
Roman Pichler discusses the challenges associated with leading in a Product Management role and what you can do to overcome those challenges.
Laura Brandenburg shares her framework for career development; the Business Analyst Success Path.
If you want to accelerate and deliver with greater speed and flexibility that's critical to serving your customers, combine Agile with Theory of Constraints.
Joshua Kerievsky shares the four principles of Modern Agile and how they can help you find better ways of working and achieve better business outcomes.
In this time of unrelenting change, we need leadership at all levels. Here's what you need to help your team succeed.
Communication is vital to success on teams and organizations. In this episode, Tommy Re shows us how to dramatically improve communication.
Grant Wright Shares simple Visual Thinking tools and practices to help your team get aligned and retain information.
Author Michael Levine helps us unleash the power of large, diverse groups of smart, experienced individuals to deliver positive business results.
Paul Pelletier helps us to understand the root causes of disrespectful behaviors at work and how to address them.
Jim Rushton helps us to understand why 80% of analytics projects fail and what you can do to make sure yours succeeds.
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Author Jim Rushton helps our analytics projects succeed by shifting away from a transactional mindset and ensuring some key pieces are in place before we start looking at data.
Building on last year's episode about BA performance goals, we discuss how to choose the right goals and achieve them.
Get value from data by developing enterprise core competence and culture needed to support collaborative data-informed decision making.
David Mantica shares ways to protect yourself from layoffs as well as prepare for career advancement.
In the style of the New York Sun editorial in which an 8 year old Virginia asks if there's a Santa Clause, grown up Virginia asks if there are Business Analysts in Agile.
Disney had issues with the launch of their Disney+ streaming service. Here's what you can do you help your organization reduce risk and uncover potential issues with a new product launch.
David Mantica helps overcome one of the biggest challenges facing organizations today - understanding value and building the right solution.
Richard Larson shares his experiences as an accidental Product Owner and provides tips and advice for others moving toward a role in Product Ownership.
Here's the best tips and advice from industry experts in over 200 episodes. Now take action!
Kevin Brennan discusses how the world of work is changing and how Business Analysts need to adapt.
Michael Roberts helps us understand what DevOps is and how it affects the role of Business Analysts.
Lora McCoy discusses how to shift the psychological response to change and help stakeholders adapt and adopt the change.
Vince Mirabelli shares some practical, how-to approaches to developing empathy, mapping the customer journey, and finding business process improvement opportunities along the way.
Kent McDonald shares his thoughts about what you need to know about Agile and how to use Example Mapping; a technique to create a shared understanding.
Adrian Reed shares his advice for successfully initiating projects and stakeholder management.
Ryland Leyton shares tips and advice from his new book to help you find the right job and grow in your career.
Has your organization experienced requirements rot? Like code rot, requirements also decay over time until they’re unusable. Here's how to avoid requirements rot.
Has your organization experienced requirements rot? Like code rot, requirements also decay over time until they’re unusable. Here's how to avoid requirements rot.
Product debt can slow the delivery, erode customer value, and make it difficult to innovate. Here are the different types of product debt and what you can do about it.
In this episode, we’ll discuss the different kinds of power you can use to get things done within your team or across your organization.
User Stories aren't the only technique you can use in an Agile context. Use Cases can also be used and they even help address some common problems with User Stories.
A Gartner study predicts that 80% of Project Management tasks will be performed by Artificial Intelligence by 2030. Will you lose your job to a machine?
Organizations need to make better decisions based on real data. Find out how you can bring value in the area of business data analytics.
Facilitation means more than running a meeting. Find out how you can facilitate the the value it brings to your organization.
BriElle Bryson shares her experience stepping into a Product Owner role and helps us understand how to prepare for product ownership.
Eliminate waste in a process and get a holistic view of end-to-end value using a simplified Value Stream Map.
Anu Smalley shares her 4Ps framework to address a major challenge organizations face today; how to build products customers want and love.
The post MBA188: The Four Ps of Product Ownership appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
Coach, consultant, and trainer Anu Smalley shares her 4Ps framework to address a major challenge organizations face today; how to build products customers want and love.
Are you suffering from Product Debt? Product Debt erodes customer value, stifles innovation, and increases the time and cost it takes to deliver new functionality.
Discover how to leverage your core Business Analyst skills in a different way and be successful as a Scrum Master.
Understand the importance of business agility and your role in helping your organization become more responsive to changing customer needs.
Coach and author Bob Galen shares some of the challenges Product Owners face and what you can do to overcome those challenges and take your skills to the next level.
How can you expect someone to fully grasp the context and content of an output without a conversation? In this episode, we discuss the common behavior of creating an output and throwing it over the wall to another team.
James Robertson shares some of the challenges associated with an Agile transformation and how Business Analysts can provide the most value to the organization.
Brian Rhea helps us use Jobs to be Done and customer interviews to discover unmet customer needs and create solutions people really want.
We often have an "us vs. them" mentality between business and technology. We need to break down those silos and realize that WE are the business.
In this episode, we discuss where a Business Analyst fits on a Scrum Team and what they can do to provide value to the team and the organization.
In this episode, we discuss the realities of being a Business Analyst in a non-technical field and how to apply your existing skills and competencies to other contexts.
In this episode, we discuss the certainty of missing requirements and what you can do to reduce the occurrence and impact of missed requirements.
Understanding the three Business Analyst archetypes can help you find the right job and advance your career.
Kent McDonald helps us uncover information and elicit requirements using an ancient questioning technique.
Creating annual performance goals for Business Analysts can be a challenge. Here are some tips and sample goals to help you achieve the right outcomes this year.
Jen Kalz shows you how to use prototypes to create a shared understanding and build the right things.
We take a closer look at LinkedIn's article, Most Promising Jobs for 2019, and explore how the skill of business analysis fits into these opportunities.
Product Backlog Refinement (grooming) is a key activity for any Agile team. Here are some tips and recommendations for successful refinement sessions.
Thought leaders share their predictions for 2019 and what you can do to be more successful in the new year.
In this poem adapted from Clement Clark Moore’s “A Visit from St. Nicholas”, we get the Business Analyst version and find out what happens when the BA visits a struggling project team.
Many organizations are calling upon Business Analysts to step into Product Owner and Product Manager roles. Will you be ready for this next step in your career?
Many organizations are calling upon Business Analysts to step into Product Owner and Product Manager roles. Will you be ready for this next step in your career? We'll explore the role of the Product Manager and understand how this can be the next evolution of the Business Analyst.
Product Management expert Melissa Perri helps us to avoid some on the pitfalls of solution development and create products customers will love.
The next generation business competencies are the capabilities you need to help everyone in the organization make faster, better decisions. Kupe will help us focus on approaches that will help you learn quickly, make good decisions, and manage risk.
In this episode, I answer questions submitted from listeners. Questions about Agile, DevOps, and remote elicitation are answered.
Author Mary Lynn Manns shares techniques to influence others and get buy-in for your ideas.
Which works better? A stage gate process with a big design up front or breaking work down into smaller increments.
Ken Fulmer shares eight competencies that are critical for success when working as a digital Business Analyst.
Adrian Reed helps us explore the BA career path, career growth options, and actions you can take to grow in your career as a Business Analyst.
Want to communicate in a compelling, memorable way? Storytelling allows you to connect with your audience at an emotional level and helps your ideas stick.
I'll be unable to post the next episode for a bit. Unfortunately, I'm in the hospital with some issues with my leg.
The post Special Message appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
Last week, the world lost a luminary. Jerry Weinberg passed away at the age of 84. Here are some of the most important lessons from Jerry in his own words.
IIBA President Ken Fulmer discusses the IIBA's Agile Analysis certification; What it means for your organization and to your career.
Speaker and trainer Vince Mirabelli discusses a real differentiator for you and your role, Lean Six Sigma. Lean Six Sigma is a methodology that you can use to improve performance by removing waste and reducing variation.
Glenn Brule discusses the Business Analyst role, its real value proposition, and what you can do to increase the value you provide to your organization.
What's the next step in the evolution of the role of the Business Analyst? Does Agile spell the end of the BA role?
Understand what you can do to increase the value of products and solutions developed by your organization by using Dude's Law.
Alyce Reopelle challenges some of the practices and assumptions about requirements elicitation.
Discover what you can do to help your organization achieve business agility, the ability to quickly adapt to changes and rapidly deliver value.
In this episode, you'll discover how to use hypotheses and experiments to identify the sight solutions to customer needs.
In this episode, we'll explore Agile requirements and answer the question "Are User Stories requirements?"
Ali Cox joins us to help us understand the importance of data analysis and what it means to you and your role.
Are you successful? Explore what it looks like to be successful as a Business Analyst or Project Manager.
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Want to take your skills and your career to the next level? A mentoring relationship can do just that. Discover how to find the right mentor and create an effective mentoring relationship.
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Are you a hiring manager looking for great BA and PM candidates? Find out how to find the best candidates for your organization. Job seekers will discover how to best prepare for a job search.
The post MBA155: Hiring BAs and PMs appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
Implementing change in an organization goes beyond requirements and change management. You need Change Leadership to help people adjust to the change. Here's how!
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Find out what a Business Analyst does on a Scrum team and how you can use your BA skills in a different way to help the team.
The post Lightning Cast: BA on a Scrum Team appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
Elizabeth Larson talks about current trends in the Business Analysis field and how they will affect you.
The post MBA153: Trends in Business Analysis appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
Powerful questions are a way to challenge our thinking, stimulating deeper conversations, and uncovering hidden truths. Here's how to ask more powerful questions.
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Richard Larson shares five techniques you can use to discover the underlying problem or opportunity to solve create the right solution.
The post MBA152: Finding the Right Project appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
A clear, well-ordered backlog leads to more focus, less time in refinement, and delivering the most important items first. Here's how to order your backlog.
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Author and consultant Karl Wiegers shares his tips and advice on getting started with consulting.
The post MBA151: Your Consulting Practice – with Karl Wiegers appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
Which communications channel should you use? The right communications medium depends on your message. We'll explore different forms of communication and which to use in different contexts.
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Tomette Kirk shares what she calls the high five; five essential tasks that we need to focus on as Business Analysts to be successful.
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In this episode, I share common problems Business Analysts face and what you can do about them.
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Author and speaker Jen Shirkani helps us to understand the importance of Emotional Intelligence and shares with us techniques to boost your EQ.
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Discover a different way of thinking about your role and go from Analyst to Alchemist to achieve extraordinary outcomes for your organization.
The post Lightning Cast: The Business Alchemist appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
Paula Maychruk helps us uncover the key concepts that allow us to be successful with Agile approaches.
The post MBA148: 7 Keys to Succeeding with Agile appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
Trust increases the speed to deliver projects and reduces cost. Here's how to develop and maintain trust on your team.
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Ron Ross explains the Business Agility Manifesto and helps us to understand the role business knowledge plays in enhancing business agility.
The post MBA147: The Business Agility Manifesto appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
What does it take to become a Full-Stack Business Analyst? Similar to a Full-Stack Developer, a Business Analyst can broaden their skills to reduce waste and contribute more value to the organization.
The post MBA146: The Full Stack Business Analyst appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
Six thought leaders in the fields of business analysis, project management, and Agile share their predictions for 2018 and what you should do to be successful.
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Perfectionism leads to procrastination and fear. Here's how to overcome perfectionism.
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Discover 12 approaches that lead to shorter time to market, increased customer value, and innovation.
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Discover what it takes to transition to a Product Owner role and be successful.
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Author and renown speaker Denise Jacobs helps you to overcome Imposter Syndrome and silence your inner critic to unleash your creativity.
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We explore two common root cause analysis approaches, Fishbone Diagrams and 5 Whys, to help you understand when to use each technique.
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Discover the value of competency models and how they can help you grow in your career.
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Find out how to apply Lean Startup approaches so that you can build solutions customers will love.
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Kevin Brennan helps us to understand the impact of digital transformations and what you need to do to adapt to this shift.
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Corrine Thomas shares techniques from Neuro-linguistic Programming (NLP) that can help you build relationships and influence better.
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Improve your communication and collaboration by adapting your approach using the DiSC model.
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Adrian Reed helps us avoid developing solutions that don't address the real opportunity through thin slicing problem analysis.
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In this Lightning Cast, we explore the many applications of a SIPOC and how it can help you on your next project.
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Randy Radic shares his process and tips for building a realistic business case to make sure your organization is moving forward with the right initiatives.
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Should business stakeholders and technology teams stay on their own lanes and not cross over to other areas?
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Author, trainer, and Agile thought leader Mike Cohn helps us to overcome the challenges with successfully applying User Stories.
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New initiatives from the International Institute for Business Analysis (IIBA) can help you develop your skills and grow in your career.
The post MBA136: What the IIBA Can Do for You – Part2 appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
CEO and President of the International Institute for Business Analysis (IIBA), Ken Fulmer joins us to discuss some new initiatives at the IIBA and how the IIBA can help you advance your skills and grow in your career.
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Ryland Leyton helps us to flip the script during a job search to be in the right mindset and find the right opportunity.
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Ryland Leyton shows us how to distinguish ourselves in interviews and in our career.
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Brainstorming doesn't work - at least not the way you're doing it. Here's a better way.
The post Lightning Cast: Brainstorming – You’re Doing It Wrong! appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
Dispel the myths and find out what you need to know about working in an Agile environment.
The post MBA133: What BAs Need to Know About Agile appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
Requirements quality - What is it and how you can increase the quality of your requirements.
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In this episode, Kupe Kupersmith shares a new competency framework for the next generation of professionals in the project field.
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What's the mindset shift needed to be successful as a Business Analyst in an Agile environment?
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Laura Brandenburg shares tips and advice for acing your next interview for a Business Analyst position.
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What is the Business Analyst career path and how do you grow your career?
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Jerry Weinberg shares his thoughts on the challenges with software requirements and why we need to take requirements seriously.
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Brent Severson shares how he has successfully integrated Design Thinking, User Experience Design, and Agile into his BA practice to make himself valuable to teams working in the digital space.
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Lora McCoy shares her views on where business analysts should reside in an organization to enable better collaboration, growth, and prevent solution bias.
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We conclude our discussion with Steve Blais as he shares with us his 11 principles of the business analyst, which provides guidance as to what a business analyst should do to achieve success.
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Author and consultant Steve Blais shares with us his 11 principles of the business analyst, which provides guidance as to what a business analyst should do to achieve success.
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Ian Huke helps us to become the conscience of the business by doing the right thing, building a following, and becoming a trusted advisor.
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In this episode, author Lynda Girvan discusses how BAs can succeed in Agile environments by applying a lean and adaptive approach.
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Kitty Hass explains the evolution of the Business Analyst role and what you need to do to be successful in the 21st century.
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Alaeddin Hallak shows us ways to deliver real business value through our business analysis approach.
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Geoff Watts helps us to better understand the Product Owner role and takes us from good to great product ownership.
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Alan Klement shows us how Jobs to be Done can help you design better products and spur innovation. Jobs to be Done (JTBD) is a mixture of design thinking, lean startup, and agile to help you make great products that people will love.
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In this episode, we discuss the different types of items that may make up a product backlog (Hint: It's more than just User Stories)
The post MBA119: What’s in Your Backlog? appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
Dr. Penny Pullan shares strategies for working on virtual project teams and helps us get the most out of virtual teams and virtual work.
The post MBA118: Virtual Leadership appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
Jared Wiese shares an approach for focusing on value to help you not just elicit requirements, but to get requirements right.
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Matt Adams helps us understand what to do when we're given a solution to implement. His approach leads us to become trusted advisors.
The post MBA116: Implementing Solutions vs Problem Solving appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
Paula Bell shares her tips and advice to break through the red tape and bureaucracy of office politics that holds many projects back.
The post MBA115: Political Martial Arts – Navigating Office Politics appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
David Olson discusses the evolution of the Business Analyst role and its true value proposition.
The post MBA114: Value Proposition of the BA Role appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
Learn a problem solving approach that takes you through incovering the right problem, finding the right solution, and putting the right plan into action.
The post MBA113: Problem Solving – The RIGHT Stuff appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
Caleb Carroll helps us deliver better business value through a User Centered Design approach.
The post MBA112: User Centered Design appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
Explore the tools of Design Thinking and find out how it helps ensure you build valuable solutions.
The post MBA111: Design Thinking IS Good Business Analysis appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
Scott Stribrny shares four techniques to identify and address ambiguous requirements.
The post MBA110: Managing Ambiguous Requirements appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
Get back to basics and establish a strong foundation for your business analysis skills and techniques.
The post MBA109: Foundations in Business Analysis appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
Learn how to find the minimum viable product and use it to identify work that you should deliver first.
The post MBA108: Prioritizing with the MVP appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
Richard Dolman helps us take backlog refinement from an underutilized meeting that doesn't get the respect it deserves to a powerful forum for collaborative discovery.
The post MBA107: Backlog Refinement – From Misunderstanding to Collaborative Discovery appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
Scott Killen shares an approach for quickly eliciting a majority of project requirements with very little prep work.
The post MBA106: Rapid Requirements Gathering appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
Thought leaders in Business Analysis share the best advice they ever received.
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What does the future hold for Business Analysis? Here are my predictions for 2017.
The post MBA104: Predictions for 2017 appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
Hear the holiday tale of Mr. Finch as he tries to sabotage the project, read in the style of the popular children's author, Dr. Seuss.
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Rich Mironov helps us to better understand the Product Manager role and what we can do to make sure we build a solution that drives success for our organization.
The post MBA102: Product Management – Build the Right Thing appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
Chris Sims shares four techniques to split your user stories to make them smaller, more manageable, and to help draw out details.
The post MBA101: Split Your Stories! appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
Eight business analysis leaders share personal stories of their biggest mistakes and what they learned along the way so you don't make the same mistakes.
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David Bland shares an exercise from LeanUX for gaining clarity in times of uncertainty and developing a deep understanding of customer needs.
The post MBA099: Assumptions Mapping appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
David Mantica talks to us about influence and how to successfully navigate any organization to move projects to execution. He also shares several approaches and techniques to improve your ability to influence.
The post MBA098: The Art and Science of Influence appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
Author and consultant Cheryl Lee helps us to improve the collaboration and partnership between Business Analysts and Project Managers.
The post MBA097: Partnership Between the PM and BA appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
David Bieg, Business Analysis & Requirements Program Manager for the PMI, tells us about PMI's development of a foundational standard in Business Analysis.
The post MBA096: The Standard for Business Analysis appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
Author and international speaker Jason Little helps us to understand how to use Lean Change Management to create change that sticks.
The post MBA095: Lean Change Management appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
Peter Leftrov helps us to understand how the BA Perspectives can help you choose which techniques and tasks are applicable to your specific project.
The post MBA094: Perspectives in Business Analysis appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
Look beyond typical in-project risks and adopt a systems thinking approach by identifying organizational risks that may come up as a result of your project.
The post MBA093: Beyond Project Risk appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
Roxanne Miller shares six ways to help reduce the risk of missing non-functional requirements (NFRs).
The post MBA092: Reducing the Risk of Missing Non-Functional Requirements appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
Elizabeth Larson helps us along the path going from order taker to trusted advisor and helps us to avoid some of the common pitfalls.
The post MBA091: Going from Order Taker to Trusted Advisor appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
Richard Larson helps us to understand what's changed in version 3 of the BABOK Guide and how it can help you and your career.
The post MBA090: BABOK 3.0 with Richard Larson appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
What do the principles behind the Agile Manifesto mean in the context of Business Analysis? Same skills as traditional approaches, but applied differently.
The post MBA089: Agile Manifesto – What it Means to Business Analysts appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
Lora McCoy shares her five step process for running effective and engaging requirements workshops and discovering requirements quickly.
The post MBA088: Effective Requirements Workshops appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
The post MBA087: Replaced by a Robot – Interview with Kupe Kupersmith appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
The post MBA086: DocOps – Keep Your Documentation Agile appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
The post MBA084: Agile Modeling with Scott Ambler appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
The post MBA083: The BA Core Concept Model appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
The post MBA082: Addressing Bottlenecks with Theory of Constraints appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
The post MBA081: User Story Mapping with David Hussman appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
The post MBA079: Effective Collaboration appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
The post MBA077: Preparing for the Future of Business Analysis appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
What's different about requirements in an agile environment vs. requirements in waterfall? Success with agile requirements requires a shift in mindset from big design upfront to continuous small, valuable pieces as well as an understanding of when to dive into the details and when to keep the information at a high level.
The post MBA073: Agile Requirements – What’s Different appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
The post MBA072: Improve Your Facilitation appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
The post MBA071: The Essence of Business Analysis appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
The post MBA070: Better BA and PM Collaboration appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
The post MBA069: Business Rules – What You Need to Know appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
The post MBA068: Realities of Being a Product Owner appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
The post MBA067: All About the PMI-PBA Certification appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
The post MBA066: Starting a BA Community of Practice appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
The post MBA065: The Value of Business Analysis appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
The post MBA064: Transitioning to a Product Owner Role appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
The post MBA063: Starting a Career in Business Analysis appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
The post MBA062: Peer Reviews for Better Requirements appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
The post MBA061: Overcoming Roadblocks to Success on Complex Projects appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
The post MBA060: Business Architecture and Business Analysis appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
The post MBA059: Problem Solving for Business Analysts appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
The post MBA058: Reusable Discovery Testing appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
The post MBA057: The 6 Stakeholders You’ll Meet in Project Hell appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
The post MBA056: Design Thinking for Better Business Analysis appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
Ryland Leyton, author of The Agile Business Analyst: Moving from Waterfall to Agile, joins us to talk about what it means to be an agile business analyst and how to be successful in an agile environment.
The post MBA055: The Agile BA – Interview with Ryland Leyton appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
The post MBA054: Strategy and its Role in Business Analysis appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
The father of Use Cases, Dr. Ivar Jacobson, joins us to discuss how he came up with the idea for Use Cases, how to use them in an agile environment, and what lies beyond Use Cases.
The post MBA053: Use Cases and Beyond – with Ivar Jacobson appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
The post MBA052: Portfolio Management & The Agile Extension appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
The post MBA051: A Visit From the Business Analyst appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
The post MBA050: The T-Shaped Business Analyst appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
Hans Eckman helps us to understand how the Business Analyst is perfectly suited to be the first line of defense in preventing security breaches. Hans also shares some approaches and advice for handling security related requirements.
The post MBA049: The First Line of Defense Against a Security Breach appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
The post MBA048: Finding the Minimum Viable Product appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
The post MBA047: The DNA of a Great Agile Business Analyst appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
The post MBA046: The Product Owner / Business Analyst Relationship appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
The post MBA045: The Agile BA – Myths and Misconceptions appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
The post MBA044: Business Process Automation appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
The post MBA043: Abuser Stories – Think Like a Bad Guy appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
The post MBA042: Stop Using User Stories – Interview with Jim Benson appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
James Robertson helps us decompose user stories into smaller, more manageable pieces and look critically at stories so that they don't specify a solution.
The post MBA041: What’s the Second Best User Story? appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
The post MBA040: User Stories – Are You Ready? appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
The post MBA039: The Big Deal with Big Data appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
The post MBA038: Use Cases, CX, and UX: Putting it all together appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
Jim Tamm shares some essential skills for effective collaboration and practical tools designed to help you manage your own defensiveness, build trust, reduce conflict and create a more collaborative working environment.
The post MBA037: The Key to Better Collaboration appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
Leadership and performance coach Cillín Hearns helps us explore what it means to be a leader and will show you how to advance your leadership skills regardless of your current role or level.
The post MBA036: Psychology of Leadership – Interview with Cillín Hearns appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
What is the single most important skill needed by every business analyst, product owner, and project manager? It's a skill that allows you to build trust and ensure an accurate, shared understanding. That skill is active listening.
The post MBA035: Active Listening – The Most Important Skill appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
In this episode, author Ian Spence introduces us to a different way to utilize Use Cases in agile environments – Use Cases 2.0. After listening to this episode, you will understand: The advantages of using use cases How to use cases can be used in an agile environment Why and how to create thin slices of use cases Show Notes […]
The post MBA034: Use Case 2.0 – Interview with Ian Spence appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
In this episode, consultant and blogger Alex Papworth shares his advice for starting a career as a Business Analyst – how to get and succeed in your first role as a BA. After listening to this episode, you will know: How to find opportunities to advance your BA skills and experience How to target your job search […]
The post MBA033: Landing and Succeeding in Your First BA Role – Interview with Alex Papworth appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
In this episode, consultant and author Paula Bell shares her approach to Systems Thinking – a holistic analysis approach to understanding how the parts of an organizational system interrelate. After listening to this episode, you will understand: What Systems Think is and why it’s important How to begin How you can better understand your customers and build […]
The post MBA032: Systems Thinking – Interview with Paula Bell appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
In this episode, User Experience designer and researcher Neil Turner will share his thoughts on how and when to interact with UX professionals in your company as well as give you some practical tips and tools you can use to create a better experience for your customers. After listening to this episode, you will understand: What […]
The post MBA031: UX – Are you Experienced? Interview with Neil Turner appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
In this episode, author, speaker, and consultant Linda Rising helps us to better understand resistance to change and some of the myths and patterns associated with leading organizational change. After listening to this episode, you will understand: The myths of organizational change that lead us down the wrong path Why simply stating facts doesn’t persuade people How […]
The post MBA030: Myths and Patterns of Organizational Change – Interview with Linda Rising appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
In this episode, Business Process Consultant Brian Hunt shares with us his approach to starting a business process improvement initiative and some simple tools you can use to get started. After listening to this episode, you will understand: How to start a business improvement initiative The right people to talk to to discover improvement opportunities Simple […]
The post MBA029: Business Process Improvement – Keep it Simple – Interview with Brian Hunt appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
In this episode, Melissa Marshall will help us to understand how to bridge the gap between technical terms and business terms and present information in a meaningful way. After listening to this episode, you will understand: Why it’s critical to be able to communicate complex information to a general audience How to use an audience […]
The post MBA028: Talking Techie and Presenting Complex Ideas with Melissa Marshall appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
In this episode, Ellen Grove speaks with us about how to use Legos (the building blocks for kids) to elicit user requirements. This requirements elicitation technique quickly surfaces areas where there is not a shared understanding and identifies gaps missed by other approaches.
The post MBA027: Elicit User Requirements with Legos – Interview with Ellen Grove appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
Scope creep isn’t just the nickname of that weird guy with chronic bad breath down the hall. It also refers to uncontrolled changes or the continuous growth in a project’s scope. Often, this addition to scope comes without corresponding changes to the budget, resources, and schedule. Scope creep is also known as requirements creep and can occur when the project scope is poorly defined and as a result, requirements are added that do not align with the objective of the project.
The post MBA026: Guarding Against Scope Creep appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
In this episode, Gojko Adzic speaks with us about how to deliver solutions that the business truly needs to achieve their goals and avoid creating shelfware. He’ll also introduce us to a tool that he uses called Impact Mapping. After listening to this episode, you will understand: How to focus on creating an impact for your […]
The post MBA025: Don’t Just Make Software, Make an Impact – Interview with Gojko Adzic appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
In this episode, we’re joined by Heather Mylan-Mains. Heather is going to share with us how to motivate and inspire as a leader based on her presentation entitled “BA Jedi Master Leadership Academy – Learn How to Lead with the BA Force”. After listening to this episode, you will understand: How Business Analysts can lead […]
The post MBA024: Lead with the Power of a Jedi – Interview with Heather Mylan-Mains appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
In this episode, we’re joined by Jeffrey Davidson. Jeffrey will help us to better understand how to get better at user stories and how behavior driven development (BDD) helps create a shared understanding. We also discuss how to create the nirvana state of living requirements. Jeffrey Davidson is the past president of the IIBA Dallas […]
The post MBA023: Using Behavior Driven Development for Better User Stories – Interview with Jeffrey Davidson appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
In this episode, we’re joined by Chris Matts. Chris will introduce us to the Cynefin framework and how he uses it to understand where to focus business analysis activities and where the focus should be more product management driven. Chris also discusses Real Options, which is a decision-making process for managing uncertainty and risk that he developed. […]
The post MBA022: How to Know Where to Focus Your Efforts – Interview with Chris Matts appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
“Let’s get rid of Business Analysts and ScrumMasters.” In this episode, we’re joined by John Sextro. John recently gave a provocative lightening talk at a conference about removing Business Analysts and ScrumMasters from agile teams. We’ll discuss what this would mean for the BA role. John Sextro has been in the software industry for 21 years and […]
The post MBA021: Is the Business Analyst Role Just Overhead? Interview with John Sextro appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
In this episode, David Mantica, President of ASPE-SDLC, shares his views on the value of professional certifications – both to the individual and to the organization. David Mantica is president of the American Society of Professional Education Inc. (ASPE-SDLC) and has two decades of experience as a business leader in the training industry. David has participated […]
The post MBA020: The Value of Certifications – Interview with David Mantica appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
In this episode, leadership speaker and Start With Why facilitator Stephen Shedletzky helps us understand how to apply the Start With Why concept to our role to help our organizations work on the right things and deliver value to customers. He’ll also share his thoughts on how to inspire others to take action. After listening […]
The post MBA019: Why Start with Why? Interview with Stephen Shedletzky appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
What makes a great leader? In this episode, Scott Stribrny begins to answer this question by presenting a business analyst relevant five-rule framework to apply in real life. Scott will discuss principles that guide effective leaders and will explore the short-term orientation of leadership with examples for day-to-day action as well as the long-term orientation […]
The post MBA018: Step Up to Leadership with the Five-Rule Framework – Interview with Scott Stribrny appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
In this episode, David Barrett speaks with us about what I feel is the most important skill for a Business analyst . . . communication. David is the National Program Director for the Centers of Excellence in Project Management and Business Analysis at the Schulich School of Business and is one of the founders of […]
The post MBA017: Does Your Communications Engine Need a Tune-Up? Interview with David Barrett appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
In this episode consultant, author, and agile thought leader Jeff Patton shows us how to use Story Maps to create a shared understanding of a feature and create thin slices that relate to the minimum viable product and additional releases. Jeff also shares his thoughts on the proper way to use User Stories and how to avoid […]
The post MBA016: User Story Mapping with Jeff Patton appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
In this episode, Dr. Mark Burgess, creator of CFEngine, explains how he uses concepts from physics to explain how complex systems work. He uses his Promise Theory to not only develop better computer systems, but also to give us a better framework for individual and team interactions. After listening to this episode, you will understand: How we can use […]
The post MBA015: Promise Theory for Team Cooperation – Interview with Mark Burgess appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
In this episode, David Mantica, President of ASPE, shares his views on the future of the business analyst role and how we can open up new opportunities for career growth and drive valuable change in our organizations. After listening to this episode, you will understand: How different organizations are structured to manage business analysis activities The […]
The post MBA014: The Future of Business Analysis – Interview with David Mantica appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
In this episode, Nan Russell shares with us how to build trust and the effect increased trust (or the lack of trust) can have on your team and the organization. She’ll also help us to understand how the little things we do can hurt the bigger things we want to do and how to use […]
The post MBA013: Trust is the New Workplace Currency – Interview with Nan Russell appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
In this episode, Kent McDonald shares his thoughts on requirements analysis in an agile environment and will give you tips on how to make your agile projects more successful. After listening to this episode, you will understand: The role of the agile analyst and how it differs from analysis on traditional projects The mindset and underlying […]
The post MBA012: Beyond Requirements – Interview with Kent McDonald appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
In this episode, we discuss practices from agile that you can implement in your traditional (waterfall) projects that will allow you to reduce risk, adapt to change, and accelerate project delivery. In this episode, you will understand: How to use some of the values, principles, and practices of agile to adapt to change and speed up […]
The post MBA011: Make Your Waterfall Projects More Agile appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
In this episode, we’re joined by Angela Wick of BA-Squared. Angela shares her tips and techniques for making virtual meetings more effective. You’ll learn the signs that people are multitasking and understand how to use virtual collaboration tools to keep people engaged and run a successful virtual meeting. In this episode, Angela shares with us: The […]
The post MBA010: Make Virtual Meetings More Effective – Interview with Angela Wick appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
In this episode, we’re joined by Mary Gorman, co-author of Discover to Deliver. Mary will take us on a deep dive into a holistic framework to discover product requirements, the 7 Product Dimensions. She will also share with us models to use as you move through the 7 Product Dimensions that will allow you to […]
The post MBA009: Exploring the 7 Product Dimensions for Better Requirements Discovery – Interview with Mary Gorman appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
In this episode, Ellen Gottesdiener shares an effective approach to discovering product requirements. You will understand how to break out of being an order taker and become a product co-creator. Ellen’s holistic approach to requirements discovery includes a mindset shift that needs to take place to recast stakeholders as product partners, how to get everyone […]
The post MBA008: How to Discover Product Requirements – Interview with Ellen Gottesdiener appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
Want to be the go-to person on projects, in high demand and highly regarded? In this episode, you’ll discover how to do exactly that. Bob Prentiss is the Founder and Principal Consultant at Bob the BA, Inc. He’s a trainer, mentor, consultant, major nerd, and all around badass Business Analyst. Become a badass BA and […]
The post MBA007: How to be a Badass Business Analyst – Interview with Bob Prentiss appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
Where do I go from here and what are the career opportunities for a Business Analyst? David DeWitt, President of the Chicagoland chapter of the IIBA and IT Leadership Practice Director at NueVista Group, discusses the Business Analyst career path. In this episode, David shares with us: Career opportunities for a new Business […]
The post MBA006: The Business Analyst Career Path – Interview with David DeWitt appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
Today, author and agile coach Len Lagestee helps us to discover how a Business Analyst can bring value to an agile team. Len also discusses where a BA fits on an agile team and how to become a catalyst for positive change. In this episode, Len shares with us: What a Business Analyst can […]
The post MBA005: Interview with Len Lagestee – How can a BA deliver value to an Agile Team? appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
In this episode, consultant and author Ken Howard shares with us how to discover the right method to work with and communicate requirements to project team members. He also dispels some myths about introverts and helps us to understand how introverts can benefit agile teams. In this episode, Ken shares with us: A method for […]
The post MBA003: How can introverts work well on agile teams – Interview with Ken Howard appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.
Today’s episode is a quick introduction to the podcast. I will share with you what this podcast is all about and why I created it. Have a question about Business Analysis or a suggestion for an upcoming episode? Leave me a voice mail using the widget at the side of the screen or send […]
The post MBA001: Introduction to the Mastering Business Analysis Podcast appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.