Photographer: Garth Sackrison Photos

Often when I am working with clients on a strategic business analysis, planning or roadmap engagement, I look to see if they are teaming with success. I learned the importance of this from my time at working with clients across various industries. This was recently reaffirmed, not by a business engagement, but through working with a group of song writers and musicians. The engagement was to facilitate (share), document (write), integrate (edit), and present (perform) a song to be video recorded for an important sponsor (influencer). The outcome (song) was a tribute for a person and friend whose personal life struggles became a catalyst for people engagement, personal relationship creation and a reminder we all serve somebody.

Here are the 7 Reminders from an Unlikely Place – What Makes for Great Business Analysis

Never be the Lone Ranger: I am guilty of this one. I love my independence. As someone who is into senior business analysis-type work, it is easy to become a lone ranger; trying to do everything myself. The interesting thing you learn when hanging out with a group of musicians (who are sincere) is that everyone has different talents and a unique contribution to make. The best part is that you are not alone. So don’t be. There is always someone available to help. All you need to do is belong.

It Takes a Community:  It takes a community to be successful. That means a team. I learned this when I wrote my first book. You think I would have learned that in all the teams I worked with throughout my career. But no I did not. You see, in my mind, writing a book meant you went off somewhere, in isolation at some remote cabin and the book was magically created. Pouf! When you write a song or a book, you need a team to succeed. The requisites are the same for writing a requirements document. Within the Business Analysis career, we need to break down the barriers of work competition and start working together to create successful communities: teams.

Related Article: 5 Steps to Creating Partnership ‘LIKE’ Relationships in Business

‘Cheers’ Had an Important Message: Now, I don’t expect you to remember the TV show, Cheers. The opening song, Where Everybody Knows Your Name, by Gary Portnoy (https://youtu.be/h-mi0r0LpXo), serves as a good reminder for something we all secretly desire. Most people will recall Norm, one of the main characters. When he walked into the establishment everyone would yell “Norm!” In our profession there is an opportunity make everyone feel welcome. If you are a professional leader who facilitates sessions, you can create your own “Cheers” opportunities. I have seen this occur in other businesses and I have definitely experienced it myself.

Acknowledgement Goes a Long Way: During my experience with the group of musicians, the song, Pearl River, written by Ken j Warkentin, (on Facebook) was presented. I was asked for feedback. I had marked up the paper with the lyrics and chords on it and I reluctantly shared it with the group. To my surprise, my remarks were well-received. Several days later, at another event, the writer sat down beside me, leaned over and said he had incorporated my suggestions, which made the song better. I was shocked and humbly thankful. Sharing your thoughts can be intimidating. Maybe you are concerned about what people think of. In business analysis, we are leaders. It’s important to acknowledge people on your team for their contribution. Great communities share and acknowledge one another’s contributions.

Know What You are Working Towards: This is something I have learned to be extremely important. In business analysis we generally refer to having a clear definition of the problem or opportunity. Ideally, we get this from leadership. But that is not always the case. The ability to clearly articulate the challenge/opportunity in 150 words or less is not a gift or a skill most people have developed. My Dad had an expression: “I have more years behind me than in front of me.” He’s 95. He has been saying this for a long time. Something I noticed, though; everything he did was based on not knowing what tomorrow would bring. So he would work towards something. Business analysis needs to be focused the same way. It is important to treats things as if there is no tomorrow. So, you need to know what you are working towards, why you are doing that, and then get it done. It could be your last chance. Don’t have regrets.

Related Article:  4 Common Skills Needed to Embrace Strategic Thinking in Your Business

Believe in Yourself: In these last twelve months I had the opportunity to get to know and work with someone whose tag line must be “let’s do it.” We would be discussing an idea and if it made sense, he would say “Let’s do it.” When I am wearing my business analysis hat I can be critical, sceptical and candid. Not because I am a negative person but because I am engaged to question everything, be factual and present ideas for decision-making. There are times I do wonder if within business analysis we (you) can hide behind our (your) insecurities. While working with this musical group I was reminded that sometimes you need to just put yourself out there, to believe in yourself and allow others to support you. In management consulting, I used to have a sponsor who would say, “Do first and ask for forgiveness later.” Sometimes that is all we need to do. It was great lesson learned.

Communications is Key: Recently I was in a meeting with a sponsor of a large financial investment organization, which was about a senior business analysis contract opportunity. Like anyone else, I have to make a living. They asked me what makes a professional successful in business analysis. I told them the story about the former Australia Business Analysis Association which is now part of the IIBA. The Australia Association had this door lock diagram that I always liked. I still reference it in my business analysis training programs today. The diagram was of a lockset with all the tumblers around it. Each tumbler represented a skill set: facilitation, modelling, financials, decision making, etc. In the middle, where the key is placed to unlock the business analysis magic kingdom, was one word: communications. Whether verbal or written, formal or informal, the key to success is mastering your communications skills – something we can all do better.

Losing is a learning experience. It teaches you humility. It teaches you to work harder. It's also a powerful motivator. Yogi Berra Share on X

Final Thoughts: No doubt the musicians applied the hard and soft skills of business analysis; the facilitation, documenting, integrating, and presenting requirements with a final outcome: the video recorded song (Pearl River http://bit.ly/2nwgjZ3). In this case, a tribute to an important sponsor; someone who is a connector of people and who influenced the lives of many people professionally and personally, and knows how to get things done. A dream sponsor.

It is easy to talk or write about tools and techniques that you can use in business analysis. It is harder to communicate those professional and life experiences that make you abetter at what you do. I love the business analysis career where you get to define and solve problems, develop people and work on diverse initiatives. Working with a group of creative people from all walks of life and professions reminded me of the things that make teams great and great business analysis.

When you know what you are doing and why you are doing it, there is an endless opportunity to build your skills. You just never know when you are going to learn something that you can apply to your business, career and life to serve others. In the end, I think that’s what it is all about.

Remember, do your best, invest in the success of others and make your journey count. Richard.

Today’s article is brought to you by the letter E.

When traveling on business I make it a point to meet with business leaders and get their thoughts on a topic. I was in eastern Canada and had the opportunity to have dinner with the CEO of Junior Achievement in Newfoundland and Labrador, Sandra Patterson. This particular CEO is very supportive of the business community, business analysis, strategic planning and professional development. She recognizes the importance of investing in the success of people and the economic environment.

During our conversation I mentioned that I was thinking about writing an article on the “E” words of business analysis and professional development. So I asked, “If you could only use ‘E’ words to determine the needs of your organization and the expected outcomes, what words would you use?”

Here this CEO’s Response to My Question with my thoughts added (of course I added a few things):

Exploration: You need to investigate and analyze your findings to determine the needs of the organization, especially when you are considering any solution or kind of change. There are areas where business analysis should be used to determine decision impacts, especially where people and culture are important.

Expedient: The ability to plan and propose a desired objective and outcome is an important part of the process. It means that you need to ensure it’s appropriate under the present and potential circumstances. Knowing what you want to achieve, the outcomes needed to be successful is what it is all about, a means to an end, if you wish.

Engagement: We all hear this word a lot. In creating change and transition or providing education (another E word) it is a matter of getting people involved. The most successful programs begin before they start. In business analysis that means knowing your pre-program and have people participate. Connect people early and you have a chance at greater success. This is part of the whole engagement process often gets missed.

Related Article:  What Do Your Words Say
About Your Business Direction?

Educate: This is a word we must include here. It is at the heart of many things we all do. This holds true whether it is to educate ourselves or others. It is a matter of providing training for professionals and leaders to build business brainpower so everyone succeeds. A good Business Analyst learns, understands and uses the principles of adult learning in their work. They do so to positively impact change and achieve outcomes.

Enthusiasm: Living your passion in a topic is contagious. If you have ever been around someone who is enthusiastic in their work you feel it. It rubs off on you. So make yourself contagious in a good way. People will notice and become more engaged.

Customers will never love a company until the employees love it first. @simonsinek Share on X

Experience: People like to feel something when they are engaging with you whether it is through one on one contact, in a meeting, or a group workshop. For example, in requirement gathering workshops don’t be afraid to get people into experiential requirements generation, especially diverse groups. There are many tactics that will allow you to do this.

Experiment: This covers a lot of territory from formal testing to creative thinking. As a Business Analyst, it is important that you try new things and new methods to get people engaged from the beginning to the end. This even applies to testing for quality or for reviewing implementation success. It should be all right to experiment a bit with solutions within certain parameters and guidelines. In change events where training is involved getting people to creatively test a new procedure or system makes a big difference. So find ways to experiment for better solutions.

Entertainment: This one comes from the entertaining model of learning. This is one of those items considered debatable. When you are working with people in a workshop or training session do you provide entertainment. It is important for people to have fun when working through their plans, generating requirements, learning something new or making a change. I have occasionally met someone who said that there’s too much fun during a session and never understood that comment. Often engagement, enthusiasm and entertainment go together. It is fine art of being practical while providing an experience to generate solutions and results.

Related Article:  6 Strategic Insight Terms
You Should Know to Help You Focus

Excellence: Where would we be without this word in the mix? It is the fact of creating something of quality that can be articulated or measured. It is like Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure brought to you in a performance package, service excellence. Every business leader or team wants excellence as part of the mix. It is the outcome of creating a fact or state where excelling in superiority is required. In Business Analysis it’s a must to strive for excellence. It is just part of providing solutions to business problems or finding opportunities. But it is also part of developing the people around you when you step into facilitation, training and development and transition programming.

Final Thought

This article came from the input of a CEO who is out in the world working with business leaders and professionals to build a better and successful economy. When asked, this CEO provided incredible insight. In this case, we had a discussion of words and how they apply to business, business analysis, training & development and community economic growth. Any good professional and leadership team knows that investing in people pays dividends when it comes to improving the organization. The next time you are involved in an initiative pull out an ‘E’ word and use it. You never know where it will take you. Good luck.

Do Your Best, Invest in the Success of Others, and Make Your Journey Count.

Richard

There are many definitions, tools, and techniques that can be applied to strategy analysis. If you do an internet search you will find all sorts of options available. The
challenge is selecting the best approach, tools, and techniques to use given the business problem or opportunity.

Another part of the challenge is understanding what strategy analysis means since there can be many definitions. This can make it confusing. It is best to simply say that strategy analysis is an approach to facilitating, researching, analyzing, and mapping an organization’s abilities to achieve a future envisioned state based on present reality and often with consideration of the organization’s processes, technologies, business development and people capabilities. Part of that whole process is the ability to bridge gaps that exist between the strategic, tactical, and operational aspects of the organization. This requires a look at the present state, the future state, risk and financials and the creation of change requirements to achieve the desired outcomes.

Even though the definition of strategy analysis varies, there is common thinking on the key planning requirements.

• Preparation for planning through the identification and review of information relevant for strategy analysis
• Performing high-level environmental scan looking at the internal and external business environment with consideration for mission, vision, stakeholders, structure, existing plans, people profiles, and question responses.
• Applying a choice of different tools and techniques to analyze the present state of a business environment and mapping out its future.

Some of the more common analysis tools and techniques include:

VMOST: This stands for Vision, Mission, Objectives, Strategy, and Tactical.

Success in an organization happens with top-down or bottom-up alignment. I was recently reminded of is when working with a client who stated that their tactical is not connected to the strategy. VMOST analysis is meant to help make that connection.

SWOT: The standard analysis tool, defined as Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats.

Strengths and weaknesses are internal to the organization, opportunities and threats are external. SWOT requires you to be candid and provide an honest assessment of the state of things. It forces you to create a dialogue with stakeholders to get different viewpoints. Eventually, you focus in on the key issues.

PEST: This is a great tool to use in tandem with SWOT. The acronym stands for Political, Economic, Social and Technology.

PEST reveals opportunities and threats better than SWOT, the direction of business change, projects that will fail beyond your control, and country, region and market issues through helping you create an objective view.

SOAR: This stands for Strengths, Opportunities, Aspirations, and Results. This is a great tool if you have a strategic plan completed, and you need to focus on a specific impact zone.

I used SOAR to help a business that needed to focus on their business development requirements due to an external market change. The organization needed to discuss how they would recapture lost sales by $1 million per month to ensure they maintained their profitably. Given that they had already done everything they could to cut costs and operate a lean business, the SOAR was critical in helping define the focus for the next 12 to 24 months.

Related Article: 8 Common Strategic Planning Mistakes You’re Making

Boston Matrix (product and service portfolio): This tool requires you to analyze your business product or service and determine if it is a cash cow, sick dog, questionable, or a flying star.

I have applied this tool to product and service reviews with to help make product decisions with consideration for market share and market growth. But it has no predictive value, does not consider the environment, and you need to be careful with your assumptions. It does force discussions on your present offering and whether it makes sense to maintain or enhance those offerings. For example, maybe you are holding onto a business product that you love but is really a sick dog and maybe there is a cash cow in your business that you are not optimizing. A decision has to be made.

Porter’s Five Forces: This tool helps you understand where your business power lies in terms of present competitiveness and future positioning strength. It forces you to analyze the bargaining power of suppliers and customers, the threats to new entrants and substitutes, and competitive rivalry in your marketplace. Using this tool helps you understand the balance of power and to identify areas of potential profitability. According to Porter, this model should be used at the line of business level.

Maturity Models: There are many maturity models that can be applied to a business. From the evolution model, the technology model, to the team model. The idea is that every business or department goes through a maturity cycle. The standard cycle is chaotic, reactive, proactive, service, and value. If you were looking at processes in a department, you would look to see where that process is on the continuum. Then you would determine where you need to be and what it would take to get to that point of maturity. This is a simple explanation. When using a maturity model, it is important that you have a clear problem definition and solution context.

Related Article: 10 Steps to Go from Strategic Plan to Action Roadmap (an approach and plan you can implement)

Root Cause Analysis: This is important, as there are times in the strategy analysis process you need to dig deeper into a problem. This is where RCA is used. The key is that you need to identify and specify the problem correctly, analyze the root cause using a systematic approach, verify the causes, and determine the corrective actions. Implementation of the corrective action is extremely important.

Final Thoughts: There are many definitions, tools, and techniques that could be addressed. The ones mentioned here are only the tip of the iceberg for strategy analysis and become a foundational part of the strategy analysis toolkit. In a short blog, there is no way to mention them all. But you could create a tool checklist that you could use in your next planning and analysis engagement to help you and your team define the present, future, risk and change state that you need to succeed.

Until next time, be your best, invest in the success of others and make your journey count.

Richard