Blog
Discover a new approachAnalyst or Therapist? BAs Need to Stir Up the Animals!
Do you ever feel more like a psychoanalyst than a business analyst? It can be tough to get into the minds of our stakeholders to get the...
Don’t Skip the Analysis When Moving to Shorter Iterations!
In most organizations, the days of multi-year, single release, all-or-nothing waterfall projects have come to an end. Instead, teams...
Lean Requirements Practices = More Value, Less Waste
With increased focus on customer value and intense pressure to get products to market faster, leaders are always looking for ways to trim...
User Stories: You Don’t Have to be Agile to Use Them!
In past articles, I’ve spent lots of time asking you to find common ground between waterfall and agile. Not to discount either...
What’s a Business Model Canvas?
Did you know BABOK v3 includes 15 new techniques for business analysis? I have been introducing the new techniques at various conferences...
Why Are We Still Talking About the Role of the BA and PM on Agile Projects?
It seems like we have been talking about this for 10+ years! We probably will continue the discussion for another 10! Titles cause...
Can You Develop Standards That Embrace Both Agile and Traditional Approaches?
In recent years, we’ve seen even the most conservative, tightly-structured organizations begin to experiment with agile and hybrid...
Struggling project? Maybe it’s your user stories!
Are you on a sinking ship? If your agile project is struggling to stay above water, it's possible you have holes in your user stories! Do...
Good Meetings Create Shared Understanding, Not BRDs!
Deliverables and artifacts were a focal point of BA work during the early part of my career. If I look back, it seemed the primary purpose...
Better Brainstorming and Agile Requirements Learning Circles
Big Congrats to IIBA! IIBA released version 3 of their Business Analysis Body of Knowledge (BABOK) on Wednesday, April 15. BA-Squared CEO...
Get Your Requirements off to the Right Start With These 5 Steps!
It’s project kick-off time--the time when organizations transition from planning to action. New initiatives have been prioritized, dollars...
Evolution of the Requirements Mindset!
I have a mission! I want to change the way we "do" requirements! Instead of gathering and documenting requirements, let's help our project...
We’re Agile, You’re Agile, Why are We Struggling?
So, here’s the scenario: Your organization wants to purchase packaged software to support a key business function. Your team thoroughly...
Bad Meetings and Bad Dates Look the Same!
Have you ever witnessed a bad date in progress? While I was out and about this Valentine's week, I noticed a couple who spent their entire...
Virtual Requirements Meetings: Painful or Practical?
Painful! Definitely! The idea of sitting through a requirement workshop via teleconference seems like torture. Virtual requirements...
Don’t Forget the A in BA – Make Time for Analysis!
As I move forward into each new year, I start thinking about goals--questioning the things I want to do better or differently. This...