BA Audit Overview
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These slides provide an overview of Equinox' Business Analysis Audit service. www.equinox.co.nz
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BA Audit Overview
- 1. Business Analysis Team Audit Finding out how your Business Analysis team can work smarter, cheaper and better.
- 2. Building effective teams “Teamwork is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results” Andrew Carnegie
- 3. Summary Why Business Analysts matter What the BA Team Audit does Risks of Self Audit
- 4. Why Business Analysts are so important “Communication challenges between business teams and technologists are chronic” Meta Group Research
- 5. “60-80% of project failures can be attributed to poor requirements gathering, analysis, and management” Meta Group Research
- 6. BA influence on project success CHAOS report, Standish Group
- 7. Summary Why Business Analysts matter What the BA Team Audit does Risks of Self Audit
- 8. Address issues by creating road-map for change
- 9. Take a 360 view of a BA’s world Senior stakeholder Business stakeholder Project management BA Team Business operations Architects Development
- 10. Start with the end in mind clear well-founded effective real Objectives Potential Service Business value underpin enables delivers
- 11. Mind the gap Means Ends Business value Potential Organisation & processes Project effectiveness clear effective Objectives Leadership & culture Service Output quality Capabilities & skills Team productivity Benchmark Actual Gap
- 12. Quick turnaround, smart and fast to deliver Define benchmark Engage with stakeholders Collate factsheet One-to-one surveys Analyse findings Review action plan Present to stakeholders Benchmark Actual Action plan
- 13. Detailed, practical steps toward improvement Summary Current Target Action plan
- 15. A clear roadmap for the future Set training and development programme Monitor your team’s performance Implement ‘Quick Wins’ Implement longer term recommendations
- 16. Summary Why Business Analysts matter What the BA Team Audit does Risks of Self Audit
- 17. You can’t be the doctor and the patient
- 18. The Risk of Misdiagnosis
- 19. The Risk of Analysis Paralysis
- 20. The Risk of Subjectivity
Editor's Notes
- Here to talk about how organisations are using the Equinox BA Team Audit to find out how their Business Analysis teams canwork smarter, cut costs, and be more successful. Let’s start with thinking about the challenges we face today
- In their 2001 publication ‘Human Capital Management: A Guide to the Market and Software Solutions’, the Aberdeen Group had this to say... That is: motivated, satisfied employees are dramatically more productive … so if your team is performing to its potential (being the best that they can be) you are going to get more out of them collectively and they are more likely to stay with your company … and when a team is working effectively together, they prove the saying that “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.” -------------------------------------------------------------------------------So having the right people and keeping your team together, not only saves costs … it also creates a more productive/effective environment for success
- Meta Group Research (now part of Gartner) reported that:“Communication challenges between business teams and technologists are chronic”which is why the role of business analyst was created in the first place! They went on further to say:
- “60%-80% of project failures can be attributed to poor requirements gathering, analysis, and management”The bread and butter of business analysis, so clearly there’s room for improvement! So how do business analysts contribute to project success
- We looked at all the factors that influence project success and failure, from the CHAOS report, and interpreted what this means for a team of business analysts.This all starts from:delivering a quality service: requirements, scope, case; for which they need to be: well organised: supported with the right process and tools – and aligned with their key stakeholders, well led and professional: have the right leadership and practices to operate appropriate to their organisation, and well resourced: have sufficient resources and the right knowledge and skills to do the work; which needs to be underpinned by:clear objectives: why are they undertaking this work -- to deliver a good service (i.e. to enable effective business change)
- Too often:we start our journey without understanding what we want the destination to be (maybe tinkering with the process or sending someone on a training course)end-markeror without really knowing where we’re starting from (and then you cannot measure improvements)start-markeror we get so focused on a ‘destination’ and struggle to reach it without a roadmap (always just out of reach)routeQuick Start gives you a broader view – where you are….where you need to be and how you are going to get there. BA Team Audit gives you the information that enables you to develop a roadmap for change. 360 view
- It’s important to factor in the views of everyone else involved with the BA practice – who rely on the services of the BA team. Too often reviews of this kind only focus on one area … We take a much broader view within the context of your organisation. Technical delivery colleagues (architects, designers, testers, developers, etc.)Project and programme managementBusiness stakeholders (i.e. line managers and operational staff)Senior stakeholders (i.e. board members) Start with the end in mind
- Equinox Audit starts with the end in mind: Looking at how well you currently meet your organisation’s expectations of delivering real business valuethen the areas that directly affect service qualityProviding an effective service helps deliver real business valueWell-founded potential enables effective service Clear objectives underpin well-founded potential Let’s look at what we mean by ‘potential’
- Business Analysis Audit works by working with you to: Benchmark how you want to meet your objectives – your intended or ideal levels of performanceMeasuring your current levels of performanceAnalysing the gap to determine strengths, opportunities, and barriers to improvement And it all takes just two weeks
- Benchmark: Determine the ideal level of BA teamWorkshop: (for all stakeholders) explain what it is and their involvement – start them thinkingFactsheet: a range of straight forward factors – such as # BAs, # projects, total wage bill, etc. Survey: one-to-one’s with all stakeholdersAnalysefindings: findings, conclusions, and recommendations. Review action plan: check conclusions & recommendationsFinal workshop: present feedback to those involved. End-to-end, should be 2 to 3 weeks elapsed, and low impact So, what do you get out of it?
- The Audit report provides a snapshot of where your team is today and a road map of where it should be and an outline of how to get there, including: Summary – showing your current performance mapped against your target, , then against current performance for your sector and nationallyDetailed findings – for each of the eight elements (three shown here for illustrations)Recommendations – including with:*Quick Wins through to longer term recommendations, and * Benchmarks that you can then use to assess your progress towards change* Schedule suggested for working through the actions Once you’ve got this …
- Implement ‘Quick Win’ recommendations from the AuditFormulate a training and development programme for your teamContinue to benchmark your team’s performance and deliveryUndertake more in-depth investigation and/or longer-term actions So, to summarise ...
- All clients report that they would have struggled to so this audit themselves- you can’t be the doctor and the patient at the same time. Some other risks of internally performed audits are
- The Risk of MisdiagnosisMistaking symptoms for causes by not performing root-cause analysis‘Cherry picking’ fun/easy issues Selecting the wrong problem to fix is often linked to the next risk:
- analysis paralysisDrowning in data – failing to follow the 80/20 rulesTrying to decide between conflicting opinions of Bas
- The risk of subjectivity- Difficulty in getting honest opinions due to lack of anonymity and suspicion of motives- Difficulty in forming an unbiased view removed from office politics and personal egos