This document provides low-cost methods for business analysts to improve their skills, competencies, and knowledge without management support or additional resources. It suggests regular brown bag lunches focused on specific practices, making learning materials available, and encouraging socialization across the BA team to share capabilities and collaborate. The goal is to plant seeds for new practices, better embed skills through self-directed learning, and build momentum for a self-improving team to lay the foundation for a formal BA center of excellence in the future. Outcomes may include greater appreciation of BAs internally, more knowledge sharing within the team, and more self-directed learning.

1. BA Uplift Fast, Cheap, Easy and without Management Support

2. Scope of the presentation Methods to improve the performance of a BA team where: Cost of the method (if any) can be put on an expense report No disruption to delivery or billable work No external consultants required No explicit mandate from IT management required No existing structure for BA Team exists

3. Target Audience Senior BAs looking to improve BA practice in their organisation where: Time or resources are very short IT Management views BA as low-values Billable hours/Utilisation is a constraint Training budgets are inadequate

4. Why Cheap? Why not Properly? Like a quick-win to build confidence Get Mgmt Buy-In to build the CoE later Self-improvement is self-sustaining Encourages bottom-up participation Sets the foundation for later (“proper”) process improvement Builds brand of BAs throughout organisation

5. Targeted areas Skills UML BPMN Data Modelling Etc Competencies Workshops Requirements Elicitation Technical Writing Knowledge Domain knowledge (Banking, Insurance, etc) Technical Knowledge (SAP, BI, etc) Skills Traditionally monolithic courses Try demonstrating examples, encouraging small use in projects. Follow up with support and review Competencies Notoriously difficult to train for War stories and post-review Knowledge Experience or deep training is required Mitigate lack of knowledge through encouraging support by other BAs.

6. Skills Uplift - Idea Concentrate on the basic theory, e.g. What is a requirement? What are the types of requirements? Creates a structure for self-directed learning Prescriptive training just takes too long

7. Skills Uplift - Practice Brown Bag lunches Concentrate on specific areas of practice Do not use examples from current projects Targeted help for those on high-value/high risk projects Do not attempt to imbue by doc review Get a good bookshelf going – actively lend books

8. Competency Uplift - Theory Improve Existing People Show patterns and anti-patterns Tools that encourage good behaviour Model good behaviour in shared spaces Hire Right People Behavioural interviewing Competencies more important than skills or knowledge Hire for personality, train for skills

9. Competency Uplift - Practice Rearrange seating to place BAs next to each other Include in coffee runs to catch gripes, and have others suggest solutions Do informal requirements planning in corridors Ask the questions “Why did we decide to do it this way?”

10. Competency Uplift - People Improve Interviewing techniques BAs interview BAs (Should be obvious, but often not the case) Interview – run a mini-req gathering session Ask some “Microsoft Questions” Keep some variety in team

11. When not to bother Large amount of outsourced or short-term contract BAs If the organisation is full of bad BAs with lots of experience You are a contractor or consultant If you’re a recent implant

12. Summary Regular Brown-Bags to plant seeds of new practices Provide material (online, books, etc) to better implant new practices BA socialisation across team to encourage capability sharing, collaboration Self-Improving teams to keep momentum Concentrate on hiring process to fill gaps

13. Outcomes Don’t expect miracles, but you can expect: Appreciation of BA as a profession inside and outside team Better knowledge sharing inside team More self-directed learning Build a platform for a proper BA CoE

14. Bookshelf <include list from consultnik here>