Well since I’m a Business Analyst and starting to putting myself out in the world, where better to start than giving you my ‘take’ on what Business Analysis actually is? Well in truth, the inspiration for this post came from a conversation I was recently a part of, a colleague of mine was telling me about his passion for Business Analytics. It was a fascinating conversation, but it became abundantly clear that he had no idea what Business Analysis was, least of all because he persisted on using the incorrect noun. I began to wonder, how I would define Business Analysis, if asked the question. So that’s what I did.
It would have been much easier for me to repurpose one of the many available definitions, but for me, it’s quite simple, Business Analysis is the art of bringing about effective, meaningful, organisational change.
Fair enough, but what does that actually mean?
Business Analysis is the art of bringing about effective, meaningful organisational change
the Urban analyst
Organisational Change
Have you read a book called ‘Who Moved My Cheese?’? It’s a short read/listen, but if you haven’t, the basic premise is that things change. If you continue to do things the way you always have and expect it to work the way, it always did; you’ll get left behind. Therefore, as an organisation, you have to adapt and make necessary change.
What that change looks like depends on a number of factors, but essentially, it will hinge on the size and nature of the initiating drivers for the change. For example, has there been a huge technological change in your industry that has shifted the way in which you interact with your core customer base? Has there been a global incident which has meant you have to shift your focus or ways of working at the drop of a hat? (Sorry had to get that one in there).
The drivers for change can be both internal and external, either way, you need to be able to identify them, and a shift accordingly.
Effective
All change, if it’s to have any chance of accomplishing the reason for it being initiated, must be the product of a sufficient level of planning.
We’ve all heard the famous Benjamin Franklin quote “if you fail to plan, you are planning to fail”. Fewer quotes are less applicable than when thinking about organisational change.
In order for it to be effective, sufficient thought, process and planning is necessary, irrespective of the methodology used; Agile, Waterfall or Hybrid.
A lot more can be said, and most likely will be said about what this planning looks like, whether that’s around alignment, defining the change, designing the change or engineering requirements, but the point here is that the effectiveness of your organisational change will hinge on the quality of the thought, process and planning around it.
And for the Agile enthusiasts who’ll be sure to quote:
“Individuals and interactions over processes and tools”
Yes, it does say that in the Agile manifesto, but no, that doesn’t suddenly do away with the need for the appropriate level of process required to make the change effective.
Meaningful
If you’re going to invest the necessary time to understand requirements, validate them and ensure you have the appropriate people involved, then it’d be a good thing for you to make sure that what you’re doing is inherently valuable.
Now this could be meaningful to you as an individual, but more often than not it is meaningful to business. And if you have both, well then, you’re in luck. No, but in reality, there’s something to be said for the work you do being meaningful to you also.
Art
Why have I included art in this definition?
Well maybe I’ll write a blog about the details another time, but essentially when you’ve been given a possibly life altering diagnosis, it causes you to re-evaluate things pretty quickly. It makes you think about your priorities and how you’ve spent and how you’re planning to spend your time.
Apparently, over the course of a lifetime, the average UK worker will spend 3,515 full days in work (or 84,365 hours). And so, why would you spend all that time, and not be passionate about what you’re doing, or at least be happy with it? Doesn’t sound like a good ROI (return on investment) to me!
Not a scientific definition, but art is beautiful; it’s the result of the artists passion, and I believe that your work should be the result of your passion, it shouldn’t just be something you do to put food on the table or pay your bills.
And so art made it in.
And so that’s my 2 pennies worth on what Business Analysis is. But what is a Business Analyst? Well, that’s the person doing the thing, or to extend the definition, that’s the artist at the heart of the change.
If you want a book on the subject, you can’t go too far wrong with having a read of ‘Business Analysis’ by Debra Paul et al, probably not bedtime reading, but certainly worth keeping on your desk.
Until next time…