Course Overview
Business Analysts are crucial practitioners that enable strategically aligned change to happen in organisations. When carrying out our role, we will act as a liaison between a whole range of stakeholders—including those that have significant power and influence. In order to ensure that our projects enable the delivery of business value, it’s crucial that we understand our stakeholders’ perspectives and exercise leadership to ensure that tricky issues are dealt with head on, and that pre-conceived perceptions are tactfully challenged. We must keep the business and project objectives clearly in mind, and do everything we can to ensure that our business colleagues have the information they need to make objective and informed decisions about which course of action to take.
Yet, in the heat of a project, we might find that we are under pressure to cut corners or revert to the role of a ‘scribe’. We might find that some stakeholders don’t yet fully appreciate the value that a BA can bring, and therefore cannot understand why we are asking difficult (but important) questions.
This practical, hands-on workshop, focusses on the leadership skills that we need to work collaboratively with our colleagues, enabling us to ensure the best business outcomes are achieved on our projects and initiatives.
Course Duration: 1 day
Course Content
| 1. Introduction |
| Business Analysis –Breadth and Depth: Overview of the breadth of business analysis. What is a “T-Shaped” professional, and how does this relate to business analysis? |
| 2. The Role of Leadership in Business Analysis |
| Management vs Leadership: Exploration of the differences between management and leadership. Discussion of different types of leadership (Leading self, leading others, leading in the outside world). Applicability to business analysis. Leadership Styles: Examination of four leadership styles examining where they are commonly found in projects. |
| 3. Key Skills for Building Upon our Credibility and “Challenging the Norm” |
| Establishing the BA Identity: How do we establish—and build—understanding of the BA role with our stakeholders? The Need For Respectful Challenge: Spotting when challenge may be necessary/useful. Discussion on how to frame challenging questions, whilst retaining rapport. Importance of carrying out background research and coming prepared, and of being familiar with the project and business objectives. Understanding Stakeholder Positions: The ‘iceberg’ model: Our stakeholders may have additional concerns/agendas, above and beyond what is immediately obvious. Negotiating: Overview of two negotiation frameworks, and their applicability in business analysis. Resilience: The importance of ‘managing one’s self’ and staying calm under fire. |
| 4. Building the BA Brand |
| Credibility Through Delivery: Building individual and team credibility through successful delivery. Shouting About Success: Mechanisms for creating positive (internal) PR about the work that BAs have done. Mutual Support: How, as BAs, we can support our peers within a BA practice. |
| 5. Reflection and Action Planning |
| Creating a Personal Action Plan: Opportunity for each delegate to reflect and create a personal ‘action plan’ on what they intend to do differently, setting out clear milestones |
Inclusive Material
Each delegate receives a copy of the Blackmetric Course Manual which contains a concise summary of the course.
Course Endorsement
This course is endorsed by IIBA®.
Next Steps
Want to run the course for your team?
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