More Related Content Similar to Building Organizational Business Analysis Excellence (20) 1. Building Organizational Business Analysis
Excellence: A Practitioner Guide
INTRODUCTION
Business analysis is an indispensable function in all business organizations, performed at myriad
forms and scales. It grows from purely a task to a management function with more defined roles,
responsibilities and capability requirements. Such growth contributes to the popularity of business
analysis qualifications such as Project Management Institute’s Professional in Business Analysis
(PMIPBA) and International Institute of Business Analysis's Certified Business Analysis
Professional (CBAP). They in turn help shape business analysis into a professional discipline similar
to project management.
Maintaining high quality of business analysis consistently is a challenge to many organizations.
Inconsistent business analysis output quality results in undesirable project outcomes, poor
decisions, operational disjoints and missed opportunities.
This article uses the actual case of a postallogistic company[1] to discuss how low quality business
analysis impacts an organization and what improvement initiatives the organization implemented to
address the problems.
POOR BUSINESS ANALYSIS QUALITY: CAUSES AND IMPACTS
While the adverse effects of poor business analysis output quality are easily noticed, identifying the
underlying causes of poor quality is more difficult because the poor quality may be the results of bad
business analysis practice, poor project management and governance, lack of support structures, or
a combination of them. Identifying what cause the problems is the key to any initiatives that aim at
improving organizational business analysis quality.
In this organization, identifying causes of poor quality was about answering “what characterized the
poor business analysis quality?” To understand the problem comprehensively and objectively, the
organization conducted a number of Voice of Customers (VOC) workshops to gather feedback from
key internal customers using the business analysis services, which mainly include programme and
project teams and business units.
Table 1 lists the main issues of poor business analysis quality that were identified from the VOC:
4. An important insight from the taskforce’s elicitation of the improvement options was that for any
business analysis quality improvement to be comprehensive, effective and sustainable, the following
areas must be catered for:
1. Ownership: Ownership focuses on defining Business Analysts’ roles and responsibilities across
different phases of project lifecycles. It also clarifies how Business Analysts’ roles differ from other
roles such as System Analysts, Data Analysts and Business Subject Matter Experts.
Clear ownership facilitates a consistent expectation within the organization on what Business
Analysts should focus on in terms of service delivery. From a capability development perspective,
clear ownership also enables the organization to build a clear development strategy to its group
of Business Analysts focusing on core business analysis skillsets and knowledge.
2. Capability: Capability is mainly concerned with equipping Business Analysts in the organization
with the business analysis competence most important to it. The competence included, for
example, core analytical skills like requirements elicitation and essential softskills for Business
Analysts like facilitation skills.
Such capability is essential in lifting the overall maturity of business analysis and facilitating a
culture of improvement. It is also important to review and refine the organization’s business
analysis capability ‘war chest’ periodically to ensure that it meets the organization’s evolving
needs. For example, the business analysis capability required for an organization that is going
through largescale transformation is very different from the capability required to drive post
implementation improvement.
3. Clarity: Clarity relates to endorsing standards on key business analysis processes, tools and
practice across the organization so that they become the mandates for Business Analysts to
follow. For example, a “business Analysis Toolbox” outlining all recommended tools for process
modeling and requirements elicitation. It enhances consistency on how business analysis
activities are carried out and deliverables are produced across different programmes and
projects.
4. Traceability: Traceability focuses on establishing robust processes to track business analysis
deliverables with programme and project outcomes and, ultimately, business benefits. Traceability
enables measurement on, for example, how fully business requirements are fulfilled by the
solutions designed, or how the products or services rolled out generate the benefits to business
as estimated. Strong endtoend traceability is a crucial measurement of high business analysis
standard in an organization.
5. Accessibility: Accessibility is concerned with having centralized and userfriendly access to the
organization’s business analysis governance materials such as standards, guidelines, tools and
templates. Not only does it enable Business Analysts within the organization to access such
materials easily, but it also allows project managers and business owners a clear expectation of
what business analysis materials are endorsed for use.
5. Diagram 3 shows how the shortlisted improvement options are categorized.
Diagram 3: Categorization of business analysis quality improvement options
Implementing the Improvements
A sound implementation strategy with support from key stakeholders is essential to ensure that the
improvement is rolled out with intended results and the resultant change is fully embedded within
the organization.
The taskforce adopted a “wave” (i.e. phased) implementation strategy to roll out the improvement
measures to the organization. The strategy was based on a “starting small, growing big” principle
that initially focused on rolling out the improvement in smaller, more defined business units and
projects to generate results, before expanding the rollout to larger, more complex business units
and programmes and projects.
When determining what strategy would best suit the organization, the taskforce examined a number
of factors including the organization’s structure, strategic priorities and complexity of programmes
and projects. The “waves” implementation strategy was selected because it had several
advantages:
1. Effective change management: The “wave” strategy allowed the taskforce’s change
management, such as training and support, to be carried out more effectively. In particular, this
approach enabled the team to design change management activities in a more granular way that
catered for the needs of stakeholders at different scales.
2. Success showcase at an early stage: By focusing on smaller business units and projects at
early stages of the implementation, the taskforce motivated those small business units and
6. projects to be the change advocates, thereby developing a stronger showcase on how the
improvement could benefit the organisation. It in turn increased the likelihood of success.
3. Continuous improvement: The strategy allowed the taskforce to refine improvement and
governance structures to cater for stakeholders at different scale at the implementation occurred.
For example, while full business analysis standards were formulated for large, complex
programmes, a condensed version of the standards were refined to fit the needs of smallerscale
projects.
4. Minimize resistance to change: The adaptive implementation cycle helped showcase results of
improvement throughout the implementation period. It kept the momentum and maintained
business interests and focus on the subject. It also helped reduce resistance from stakeholders
caused by the lack of visible benefits.
A CULTURE OF BUSINESS ANALYSIS EXCELLENCE
Benefits from the implementation of the “Business Analysis Excellence” initiative were gradually
observed at a local scale, for example, within individual business units and projects. The scale of
benefits truly took off across the organization about six to nine months after the initiative was
completely implemented.
A culture of business analysis excellence was gradually formed in the organization. The culture was
characterized by better consistency, stronger traceability and increased reusability:
1. Better consistency: Consistency on the application of standard business analysis methods and
endorsed tools was improved. For example, processes were modeled in a more consistent
manner, enabling crossfunctional process catalogues to be established. Use of standard
business analysis templates, such as user stories, was more widespread. Better consistency
facilitated an endtoend visibility to be established across programmes and projects.
2. Stronger traceability: It became the norm among the organization’s Business Analysts that
traceability components were covered on their business analysis planning. Traceability tools were
also included on key business analysis templates and standards such as requirement elicitation.
The change facilitated traceability of business analysis deliverables, both upstream (for example,
between business requirements and project benefits) and downstream (for example, between
business requirements and product/service solutions).
3. Increased reusability: Reusing business analysis outputs across business units and projects
became more common at the later stage of implementation. It was because (i) the outputs were
produced based on consistent methodologies, standard tools and templates; (ii) the formation of
document repositories such as a process catalogue library made it easier to visualize what
outputs were in place and access them. Also, increased reusability of business analysis outputs
improved the efficiency of project activities, for example, by simplifying the needs of current state
analysis in projects, thereby yielding direct benefits to programmes and projects.
7. The organization’s experience revealed that time was a passive but important factor in driving these
improvements. Many of these improvements were possible owing to the favourable conditions
nurtured by other improvements. For example, the benefits of increased reusability of business
analysis outputs were possible only after programmes and projects produced consistent quality of
business analysis deliverables over a period of time. They forming an organizational knowledge
base that generated a favourable condition for reusing the outputs. Timing is therefore critical in
building a culture of business analysis excellence.
CONCLUSION
Business analysis excellence is important but not many organizations are paying enough attention
to it. A lot of organizations have established Project Management Offices or similar structures to
improve the standards of their project management efforts. Comparatively, fewer organizations
dedicate resources to drive similar improvement in the business analysis areas.
Through an actual case study of an organization, this article illustrates how an organization could
raise its standard of business analysis. The challenges facing each organization in are unique;
identifying issues most critical to them and designing targeted improvement strategies that address
these challenges is the key to success.
Equally important is building a collaborative group culture to support such initiatives. The success of
the case reveals that engaging with appropriate stakeholders was the key to having their buyin,
contributions and ongoing support throughout the improvement cycle. One common cause of
failure in embedding quality improvement is that stakeholders are detracted to other priorities.
Designing the improvement with them, rather than for them, help engage with the stakeholders and
keep it in a reasonable priority on their business agenda.
Driving business analysis excellence in any organization is a continuous effort. An improvement
initiative may have a completion date, but the culture of improvement does not. Business analysis
needs change as an organization’s goals, strategies, structures and markets evolve; the group of
Business Analysts within the organization must be able to be adaptive and resilient to support the
change, combining strong business sense and solid analytical expertise.
Author: Franco Pang, Lead Business Analyst
Franco is a business analysis and improvement professional. He is currently a Lead, Business
Analysis at Unitec, a prominent tertiary institution in New Zealand. His expertise is to lead portfolios
of improvement initiatives to achieve strategic goals and drive business process maturity at an
organizational level.
8. Originally from Hong Kong, Franco has built an international career profile with working experience
in China, India, the Middle East, the UK and, now, New Zealand. His expertise has a strong supply
chain focus across distribution, transportation and retailing. He has also worked with some of the
best performing and most innovative organisations in the sector, such as WalMart, the world’s
largest retailer, and Qatar Airways, regularly awarded as the World’s Best Airline.
Franco graduated from the University of Hong Kong with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Geography
(First Class Honours) and obtained a Master of Science degree in Information Systems
Management from the Hong Kong University of Science & Technology.
As a business professional, Franco believes in collaboration, respect and integrity with his business
partners as the key ingredients of success in driving real business improvements.
References
International Institute of Business Analysis, A Guide to the Business Analysis Body of Knowledge
Version 3, 2015, Toronto, International Institute of Business Analysis
Project Management Institute, Business Analysis for Practitioners: A Practice Guide, 2015,
Philadelphia, Project Management Institute
References/footnotes:
1. The company is the largest player in the industry in the country it is based on. It had a turnover of
approximately US$1,124 million in FY2014/15.
2. The taskforce consisted of representatives from the organization’s Business Analyst community,
Enterprise Project Management Office (EPMO), Technical Analyst and Architect groups and key
projects business units which are customers of business analysis services.
posted @ Tuesday, August 23, 2016 12:22 AM by Transform VA
![Building Organizational Business Analysis
Excellence: A Practitioner Guide
INTRODUCTION
Business analysis is an indispensable function in all business organizations, performed at myriad
forms and scales. It grows from purely a task to a management function with more defined roles,
responsibilities and capability requirements. Such growth contributes to the popularity of business
analysis qualifications such as Project Management Institute’s Professional in Business Analysis
(PMIPBA) and International Institute of Business Analysis's Certified Business Analysis
Professional (CBAP). They in turn help shape business analysis into a professional discipline similar
to project management.
Maintaining high quality of business analysis consistently is a challenge to many organizations.
Inconsistent business analysis output quality results in undesirable project outcomes, poor
decisions, operational disjoints and missed opportunities.
This article uses the actual case of a postallogistic company[1] to discuss how low quality business
analysis impacts an organization and what improvement initiatives the organization implemented to
address the problems.
POOR BUSINESS ANALYSIS QUALITY: CAUSES AND IMPACTS
While the adverse effects of poor business analysis output quality are easily noticed, identifying the
underlying causes of poor quality is more difficult because the poor quality may be the results of bad
business analysis practice, poor project management and governance, lack of support structures, or
a combination of them. Identifying what cause the problems is the key to any initiatives that aim at
improving organizational business analysis quality.
In this organization, identifying causes of poor quality was about answering “what characterized the
poor business analysis quality?” To understand the problem comprehensively and objectively, the
organization conducted a number of Voice of Customers (VOC) workshops to gather feedback from
key internal customers using the business analysis services, which mainly include programme and
project teams and business units.
Table 1 lists the main issues of poor business analysis quality that were identified from the VOC:](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/buildingorganizationalbaexcellence-160830004244/85/Building-Organizational-Business-Analysis-Excellence-1-320.jpg)
