Course Description
This two-day course is for companies looking to further advance their Business Analyst and Requirements Engineering capabilities.
Many companies today are realizing the benefits of a streamlined and efficient Requirements Engineering process. Project problems have plagued companies worldwide for decades. Many projects are over budget, behind schedule and implemented with poor quality. As companies struggle to figure out why, many have discovered a consistent trend: Projects struggle or fail because of poorly defined and misunderstood requirements. As companies continue to improve their project delivery processes, many are focusing on improving Requirements Engineering activities and adding more Business Analysts.
Substitution & Cancellation Policy:
You may cancel or reschedule up to 21 days prior to the start date of the class at no penalty. For any cancellation or reschedule requests within 21 days, the full course tuition is still due and not eligible for refund. Any paid tuition will be credited towards a future class and must be used within 12 months.
*Partner delivered courses may be subject to different cancellation terms
Agenda
I. Business Analyst Center Of Excellence (BACOE) – What Is It?
A. What is a BACOE?
- Business and Technology alignment
- Enterprise Planning
- Program Planning
- Business relationship management
- Structure
- People
- Process
- Templates
- Checklists
- Process Improvement
- Mentoring
- Training
- Support
- Ongoing process improvement
- Quality Assurance
- Quality inspections
- Quality controls
B. BACOE vs. PMO (Project Management Office)
- Similarities
- Differences
- Interdependencies
II. Benefits of a Business Analyst Center of Excellence (BACOE)
A. Consistency in Requirements Engineering
- Process
- Templates
- Checklists
B. Repeatable Processes
- Efficient process
- Effective process
- Ongoing process improvement
C. Improved Performance
- Of the Business Analyst
- Of the Project Manager
- Of the Project Team
- Of the Business
- Of the Organization
D. Save Time, Reduce Costs, Improve Quality
- More realistic schedule estimates
- More realistic cost estimates
- Higher level of quality
- Improved stakeholder satisfaction
- Improved morale
- Higher quality work force
- More projects completed annually
- Project aligned with corporate goals and strategies
E. Sell the Value of Business Analysis to Your Organization
- Why requirements engineering is critical to project success
- Why a great Business Analyst could be your new best friend
- Why a project should progress only when the most critical requirements are clearly understood
III. Establishing a Business Analyst Center of Excellence (BACOE)
A. Roles
- BACOE Management
- Senior Business Analyst
- Business Analyst
- Process Analyst
- Documentation Specialist
B. Create Common Processes
- Requirements Development Processes
- Requirements Elicitation
- Requirements Analysis
- Requirements Specification Creation
- Requirements Validation
- Requirements Management Processes
- Requirements Change Management
- Requirements Traceability
- Requirements Tracking
C. Create Common Templates
- Requirements Traceability Matrix
- Requirements Change Request Form
- Requirements Responsibility chart (RACI)
- Requirements gathering tools
D. Create Checklists
- What is required
- What is recommended
E. Create Standards
- Requirements gathering strategy
- High Level
- Mid level
- Detail
- Use of KRAC
- Use of SMART
- Traceability
- Requirement Types
- Other standards
F. Create Communication Strategy
- Identify who needs what information
- Identify when information is needed
- Identify appropriate formats
G. Create Coaching (Mentoring) Strategy
- Identify coaching candidates
- Identify coaching requirements
- Communication skills and styles
- Problem solving skills
- Facilitation skills
- Questioning skills
- Documentation skills
- Working with people
- Managing stakeholder expectations
- The right way to say no
- Working with difficult customers
- Requirements tools
- Requirements processes
- Identify mentoring process
H. Create Training Strategy
- Identify training requirements
- Identify goals of training
- Identify source for training
- Create training schedule
I. Create Requirements Engineering Process Improvement Plan
- Identify methods for ongoing process improvement
J. Create Metrics for measuring success and Return on Investment.
- Determine metrics for Return on Investment (ROI)
- Establish benchmarks
- Determine measurement strategy
- Determine timeline to measure ROI
IV. Implementing a Business Analyst Center of Excellence (BACOE)
A. Establish target start date
- Consider operational calendar
- Consider holiday schedules
B. Establish Organizational Structure
- Identify Leadership Team
- Map available skill sets to required roles
- Create or update job descriptions
- Create Organization Structure
- Identify training requirements
- Complete training
C. Communicate to the Organization
- Identify affected areas
- Schedule appropriate communication mechanisms
- Distribute information and answer questions
D. Implement the BACOE rollout strategy
- Change management
- Understand the impact to the organization
- Establishing 'Change Agents'
- Manage Stakeholder Expectations
- Open communication
- Mentoring and support
- Ongoing lessons learned
- Becoming the 'Emotionless Business Analyst'
- Create Business Analyst 'All Stars'
- Problem solving
- Issues
- Questions
- Root cause analysis
- Commitment to ongoing process improvement
- Workgroups
- Rollout changes
V. Requirements Risk Management
A. Planning for Requirements Risk Management
B. Identifying Requirement Risks
C. Establishing Requirements Risk Probability and Impact
D. Creating Risk Response Plans
VI. Requirements Quality Assurance
A. Planning for Requirement Quality Management
- Confirm standards
- Develop Quality Checklists
- Determine frequency of Quality checks
B. Managing Requirements Quality
- Validate process
- Validate templates
- Validate checklists
VII. Measuring Success of a Business Analyst Center of Excellence (BACOE)
A. Gather metrics
B. Compare to benchmarks
C. Report on progress
VIII. Conclusion
A. Summarize important concepts
B. Next steps for you
C. Contact us
D. Evaluation
E. Thank you