Training Services → BA and PM Advanced
Essentials of Business Analysis
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Course Overview
Essentials of Business Analysis describes the role of the Business Analyst and examines many of the most common Business Analysis practices. After reviewing core concepts, participants engage in several hands-on exercises in order to learn commonly used tools and techniques. Topics include techniques used to define a proposed solution; stakeholder identification; and project requirements development, validation, management and communication, and project business value optimization. The BA role in both waterfall and agile projects is discussed, including the use of agile techniques to reinforce the effectiveness of waterfall projects. Topics include:
- The value of Business Analysis
- Roles of the Business Analyst
- BA competencies
- Project definition
- Types of project requirements
- Planning for the requirements engagement
- Requirements Elicitation
- Analyzing and documenting requirements
- Verifying and Validating Requirements
- Requirements management
- Solution validation
- Post-Project Solution Assessment
- Project Business Value optimization
Who should attend
This course is of particular value to business analysts, project managers and other project staff with direct or indirect responsibility for requirements definition and analysis; Project Management Office staff; and managers of business analysts.
Prerequisites
This course assumes that participants have participated in some projects and have some understanding of one or more business analyst roles.
Course Outline
Section 1: Introduction to Business Analysis
- Nature of Business Analysis
- Reasons organizations perform projects
- Roles of the Business Analyst
- Value of Business Analysis
- Business Analysis supports project success
Section 2: The Business Analysis Professional
- IIBA®: BABOK Guide®
- PMI®: Business Analysis for Practitioners: A Practice Guide
- Certification programs
- BA competencies
Section 3: Solution Definition
- Defining business need
- Enterprise Analysis
- Problem identification
- Root cause analysis
- Develop a solution approach
- Vision and Scope Document
- Establishing scope boundaries
- Stakeholder identification and analysis
Section 4: The Importance of Requirements
- Poor requirements are a source of project failure
- Agile and waterfall project methodologies
- The problem with waterfall projects
- Preventing failure with better requirements
Section 5: Understanding Project Requirements
- Definition of requirement
- Four requirement types
- Business rules and data
- Source of requirements
- Format of documented requirements
- Requirements Lifecycle
Section 6: Requirements Planning
- The requirements context
- Plan First - Then Do
- Drivers of requirements planning
- Roles and responsibilities
- Elements of planning
- Business Analysis Plan
- Requirements Engagement Plan
- Benefits of planning
Section 7: Requirements Elicitation
- Requirements elicitation
- Stages of elicitation
- Elicitation techniques
- Requirements Versus Design
- Choose the best elicitation technique
- Document stakeholder requirements
Section 8: Analyzing Requirements
- Requirements analysis
- Requirements analysis activities
- Structure the requirements
- Requirements analysis models
- Review models with stakeholders
- Other aspects of analysis
Section 9: Documenting Requirements
- Requirements documentation options
- Methods for recording requirements
- Writing individual requirements
- Requirements quality characteristics
- Consequences of poor requirements quality
- Writing the requirements document
- Consequences of poor requirements document quality
Section 10: Managing Requirements
- Verifying and validating requirements
- Using Requirements Traceability
- Validating the requirements document
- Requirements package
- Requirements approval
- Managing changes in requirements
Section 11: Additional BA Functions
- Communication with stakeholders
- Participation in design
- Solution Validation
- BA role in testing
- Post-Project Solution Assessment
Final Review and Q&A
This course includes over 25 hands-on exercises that reinforce learning and retention.
Learning Approach
- A CBAP® certified instructor will use interactive lecture format, numerous hands-on exercises, team activities, group discussions, and other techniques to drive home the essential points of this material
- We will build on your prior experience in this topic, while providing you with a structure and vocabulary to use in all of your future projects.
- If you have modest understanding of the Business Analyst role, you will find that the clarity of the material and direct presentation style of the instructor will make the subject matter easy to understand.
- You will receive a Participant Guide which will help you follow the material, take notes and retain what you learned so that you can apply it on your job.
Why should I take this course?
- Experienced Business Analysts will acquire a broader understanding of the many roles possible in their profession.
- If you are new to Business Analysis, the exercises in this course will give insights into essential concepts and techniques.
- All participants take home a set of tools and techniques to help them deal with all aspects of Business Analysis.
- Take this course and learn how to avoid many of the problems that Business Analysts most often encounter.
Licensing
Use this courseware to teach your students! This course is available under license to qualified Training Providers. Courseware materials include:
- Instructor slides
- Instructor manual with timing guide
- Printed participant guide
- Train the Trainer instruction
- Written for classroom or virtual delivery
For more information, see
Courseware-On-Demand or Contact Us
Every course and workshop in our Project Training program is fully customizable. We offer virtual delivery of the training program you need. Call us: +1.919.495.7371.
All of our courses are fully compliant with the latest release of each relevant standards document such as the PMBOK® Guide, Standard for Portfolio Management, BABOK® Guide, and others.
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