IIBA®’s salary survey has recently become available to members and today we’re sharing some of its most valuable insights on the business analyst role in 2018 and what to expect in 2019 and beyond. The majority of Australian business analysts have less than one year experience, with the second largest group having 3-5 years experience. Future career paths for business analysts include: Consultant Management Data Analytics Business Architecture Product Owner Project Manager Product Manager In terms of salary, IIBA® recorded…
Analysis – the other side of the fence to design
11/10/2016 |
By IRM Training
Analysis is an important part of life here at IRM and we like to help keep our readers up to date. Last month’s IRM newsletter featured an article focusing on the value-add a business analyst can provide by designing business solutions for their clients. But before you can design anything, you need to understand what the problem is. Whatever technique you might use – interviewing, observation, process decomposition, root cause analysis – you have to live up to the…
What do Business Analysts and Graphic Designers have in common?
16/03/2016 |
By IRM Training
This month’s article returns to a theme relevant to all business analysts – visual communication. I don’t mean putting text on PowerPoint slides, instead it’s about using diagrams and sketches to understand as-is systems and to explore to-be solutions. Here are just a few examples of how diagrams can kick-start a conversation: • Can you draw me a diagram of how you’re process currently works • Where are the bottlenecks? • What if we tried re-arranging the sequence of steps?…
How To Run A Walkthrough Meeting
16/09/2015 |
By IRM Training
Walkthrough meetings are one of the common business analysis techniques identified in the BABOK. They’re used to identify (but not necessarily correct) errors or inconsistencies in work products – for example a walkthrough of a requirements document might be used to verify the completeness of requirements. If you’re running a walkthrough meeting it can be a bit daunting. It’s all too easy to get off track or try to fix (rather than just identify) problems. Here’s a guide to help…
How Can I Add Business Value?
05/08/2015 |
By IRM Training
To answer this question we need to understand what business value actually is. As an employee, adding value can translate into improving processes, providing better customer service, reducing time to market, delivering better products/services. However to a shareholder or company owner there’s only one value metric – increased profits. This is achieved by selling more or spending less. It’s not for nothing that most CEOs have a sales or accounting background. That’s not to say that business analysts need sales…
User Stories & The Jungle Book
24/04/2015 |
By IRM Training
Back in 1902, a collection of stories and poems for children – the Just So Stories written by Rudyard Kipling – was published. For those of you struggling to place Rudyard Kipling, he was the author of The Jungle Book. Check out the Disney movie of the same name if you’re still not sure – or ask your children! Kipling knew a thing or two about the written language. Tucked away in one of the Just So Stories were a group of words which have…
How to Manage Client Expectations
29/07/2014 |
By IRM Training
It’s funny how often things we say can come back and bite us. Has this ever happened to you? We’re all guilty of sometimes hearing what we want to hear – but when it’s a client, is it their fault or ours? Now there’s not a lot you can do to change how other people interpret information, so let’s assume the onus is on us to make sure this doesn’t occur. We need to be crystal clear in our communications…
The BA’s Journey – From a Current to a Future State
01/12/2012 |
By IRM Training
Many words have been written about the process of business analysis and how it can be performed on different types of projects. There are a multitude of tools and techniques which can be used plus methodologies and frameworks to suit a wide variety of circumstances. This makes it all too easy to get absorbed in the day-to-day detail and forget about the real purpose of business analysis – to fix a problem or provide the organisation with a new capability….
How Clear is Your Writing?
03/08/2012 |
By IRM Training
As communicators, most business analysts will religiously use a spellchecker. After all nothing is less convincing than a misspelt document – it shows a lack of attention to detail. But there’s more to Microsoft Word than just spell-checking. How many people take any notice of the readability statistics? These statistics give an indication of how easy – or difficult – a piece of text is to read. The two Flesch figures at the bottom both measure readability, but in different…
Your Project Pitch
28/01/2012 |
By IRM Training
Sometimes a salesperson only has once chance to capture a prospect’s attention. That’s why the good ones always have an elevator pitch polished and ready to go. What about you? When your CIO gets into the lift and asks “So what are you working on?” forget about trying to sell your project and concentrate on selling yourself. After all, projects come and go but keeping – and promoting – good staff is what a CIO’s job entails. Putting your work…