Business analysis for dummies / Alison Cox.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Cox, Ali, author.

Series:

--For dummies.

For dummies

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Strategic planning.

Business planning.

Business analysts.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (419 pages)

Edition:

Second edition.

Place of Publication:

Indianapolis, Indiana : John Wiley and Sons, [2023]

Summary:

When it comes to doing good business, change is a very good thing. And effective business analysts are at the heart of identifying opportunities for growth and implementing the solutions that can transform an organization's foundation--and ultimately increase its profitability. Whether you're an aspiring business analysis professional or a seasoned analyst looking for the latest techniques and approaches, Business Analysis For Dummies helps you discover the newest tips and tricks for turning knowledge into the changes that have a real and meaningful impact on business and drive your organization towards value delivery. Dummies makes the path to business success clear. Start here to turn your love of business analysis into the catalyst that makes a difference.

Contents:

Intro

Title Page

Copyright Page

Table of Contents

Introduction

About This Book

Foolish Assumptions

Icons Used in This Book

Beyond the Book

Where to Go from Here

Part 1 Getting Started with Business Analysis

Chapter 1 Business Analysis in a Nutshell

Defining Business Analysis

Knowing Your Role in the Basic Business Analysis Lifecycle

Looking at the Value of Business Analysis

Considering the Skills of a Successful BA

Outstanding communication

Detailed research, analysis, and recording

Time management and information organization

The ability to see the big picture

Customer-focused and value-driven perspective

A large BA toolkit

Flexibility

Business Analysis in an Agile Environment

What does agile mean?

An overview of business analysis from an agile perspective

How is your role different in agile?

Working at the strategic level

Working at the team level

Using agile frameworks to organize projects

Scrum

Lean Kanban

Getting to Know the IIBA BABOK

Pursuing Business Analysis Certification

Chapter 2 Breaking Down Different Levels of Business Analysis

Checking out an Overview of the Levels

Going to the Top: The Enterprise Level

Doing business analysis activities at the enterprise level

Overcoming challenges at the enterprise level

Moving to the Organizational Level

Fulfilling duties at the organizational level

Dealing with organizational-level obstacles

Drilling Down to the Operational Level

Knowing your tasks at the operational level

Taking on operational-level challenges

Getting a Handle on the Project Level

Tackling activities at the project level

Rising above project-level hurdles

Chapter 3 Identifying and Working with Stakeholders

Identifying the Participants

Objective characteristics.

Reviewing a who's who of potential project participants

Starting at the top with management

Seeking subject matter experts

Adding project support personnel

Turning to technical personnel

Identifying the Stakeholders in Your Project

Finding your stakeholders

Using the RACI matrix

Playing (and Communicating) Well with Others

Targeting your communication to the various stakeholders

Work with executive sponsors

Deal with domain SMEs

Confer with project support personnel

Talk to technical personnel

Using active listening to your advantage

Overcoming common barriers to effective communications

Dealing with communication in virtual or hybrid environments

Understanding and responding to verbal and nonverbal messages

Fostering Strong Relationships

Building trust and respect

Generating consensus/gaining buy-in

Dealing with conflict

Part 2 The BA Toolkit: Tools, Terms, and Techniques

Chapter 4 Talking about Tools of the Trade

Examining Communication Tools for Every Situation

Talking about your options

Choosing the right communication tool

Trying Collaboration Tools

Physical places

Electronic places

Investigating Innovation and Idea Capture Tools

Looking at the technology spectrum

Considering specific features

Listening tools

Tools that track and grow ideas

Application lifecycle management tools

Discovering Definition Tools

Textual definition tools

Modeling and diagramming tools

Prototyping and simulation tools

Reviewing Requirements Management Tools

Low- and mid-tech options

High-tech options

Picking the Right Tools for the Situation

Inventorying the situation you have now

Determining what situation you need later

Avoiding unnecessary tools and features

Money, money, money: Facing budget challenges.

Preparing Team Members for Change

Change management in a traditional environment

Change management in an agile environment

Chapter 5 Understanding What Requirements Truly Entail

Defining Needs

Business needs

Stakeholder needs

Defining Requirements

Business requirements

Stakeholder requirements

Using stakeholder analysis to identify stakeholder requirements

When requirements collide: Addressing conflict between stakeholder requirements

Solution requirements

Using a vision statement to define the solution

Breaking your solution requirements into categories

Transition requirements

Technology requirements

Technology (technical) requirements for the solution

Technology requirements for the business

Making Your Requirements Excellent

Complete

Correct

Unambiguous

Verifiable

Necessary

Feasible

Prioritized

Focusing on the Four Core Components

Data

Entities

Attributes

Relationships

Process (use cases)

External agents and actors

Business rules

Facing the special challenges of discovering business rules

Considering cardinality for business rules

Chapter 6 Hunting for the Right Information, Part 1: The Process

Elicit, Don't Gather: Developing the Right Questions

Identifying the type of question you want to ask

"What" questions

"Who" questions

"Why" questions

"Where" questions

"When" questions

"How" questions

Identifying appropriate sources of information

Choosing an Approach

Using Clear, Consistent Language

Choosing terms consistently

Using language that's consistent with the company's language

Framing questions that clearly reveal core needs

Planning Your Elicitation Sessions

Elicitation in an Agile Team

Chapter 7 Hunting for the Right Information, Part 2: The Techniques.

Understanding Research-Based Techniques

Starting with document analysis

Understanding the benefits of document analysis

Perusing examples of documents you can review

Distributing surveys

Dressing for the occasion: Types of surveys

Maximizing the chances of getting a response

Compiling and using the data

Doing interface analysis

Reverse engineering

Choosing competitive analysis

Mining for data

Understanding Collaborative Techniques

Conducting interviews

Preparing for the interview

Interviewing the stakeholder

Documenting the interview

Brainstorming techniques

Crazy 8s

Mind mapping

Reverse brainstorming

Edward de Bono's Six Thinking Hats

Getting to know requirements workshops

Identifying the participants

Scheduling a workshop

Managing the session

Considering focus groups

Using personas for empathy

Walking through the customer journey

Employing collaborative games

Understanding Experimental Techniques

Looking out for observation

Knowing when to use observation

Choosing your observation method and completing the process

Prototyping

Throwaway prototypes

Evolutionary prototypes

Simulation prototypes

Chapter 8 Uncovering and Analyzing Needs

Investigating the Needs

Discovering a company's specific business needs

Breaking down obstacles

Asking performance-related questions

Searching out stakeholder needs

Identifying what stakeholders need

Understanding how stakeholders work together

Uncovering the Root Cause

Evaluating the Problem

Choosing a good problem to solve

Figuring out whether the problem matters

Determining the impact of the problem

Establishing the costs and benefits

Creating the Problem Statement

Creating the Solution Position Statement

Knowing When You Have the Right Solution.

Validating the value of the solution

Taking your audience into consideration

Setting Your Solution Up For Success: Getting Clear Objectives

Eliciting and articulating clear objectives

Getting clear with SMART objectives

Part 3 Selling the Plan and Keeping It on Track

Chapter 9 Making the (Business) Case

Before You Dive In: Breaking Down Business Case Basics

Looking at the benefits of writing a business case

Playing to the crowd: Knowing your audience

Following basic business case structure

Defining and Presenting the Opportunity

Executive summary

Mission statement

Setting SMART objectives

Using key performance indicators

Description of the approach used

Justifying the Recommendation

Identifying and prioritizing alternative solutions

Including a cost/benefit analysis

Understanding financial terminology and metrics

Estimating techniques

Quantifying ongoing/operating costs and benefits

Quantifying implementation costs

The Devil Is in the Details: Providing Supporting Materials

Addressing supporting documentation

Noting your assumptions

Documenting risk

Presenting the Business Case

Chapter 10 Creating and Maintaining Scope

Making Sure You're Scoping the Right Solution

Recognizing Relevant Stakeholders

Uncovering stakeholders by asking project-specific questions

Discovering key stakeholders in different parts of the organization

Ensuring that the Scope Aligns with Key Business Drivers

Identifying Interfaces that Are Part of the Project

User interfaces

System interfaces

Hardware interfaces

Defining Scope with a Data Flow Diagram

Identifying parties and systems that will be impacted by the project

Identifying information (data) flows among the parties or systems

Gaining consensus on the scope for the project.

Giving the project a descriptive name.

Notes:

Previous ed.: published as by Paul Mulvey, Kate McGoey and Kupe Kupersmith. Hoboken: Wiley, 2013

Includes index

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

1-119-91249-0

OCLC:

1371442009