Welcome to the BACoE. Let’s take a look inside.
Watch this video for a detailed overview then take a look at the tips below
How to use the BACoE to Scope your BA Activities
Start by understanding how the organisation works or how the project is to be be delivered (Agile, Waterfall, Hybrid). Then select the delivery framework that matches.
Then look to understand where in the framework the initiative is at (Discover, Design, Develop, Deliver, or Feedback) by understanding which activities have and have not been completed by the project against the recommendations in the framework. You can then use the remainder of the framework to plan out the steps, activities, and deliverables that can go into your approach. This can be negotiated with your team/manager to ensure each step is necessary.
The number of business functions being impacted will likely affect the number of stakeholders. You can use the APQC to look at the business functions impacted by the project, and marry this against your organisational chart to complete your early stakeholder identification.
Once these are in place – and remember for Agile and Hybrid each of the steps for design – deploy will repeat iteratively – you can commence the estimation. Look at the Service Delivery Specification in Service and Quality for an effective BA scoping tool.
How to use the BACoE to Estimate your BA Activities
BA estimation is determined by the outputs, activities to deliver those outputs, and the number of business functions affected and stakeholders involved.
For instance if working in Agile Design – The aim is to take the highest priority items from the product back log and complete the necessary analysis (model and specification) to ensure the story is ready for iteration planning.
So for estimating this analysis, you would look at the activities and the outputs. The activities would be modelling and specification and the output would be the user story and any supporting models (outputs are listed as templates in the frameworks) – so how much time in the iteration time boxed period would be allocated to that activity, and what might need to occur in that time-box to support that activity – (workshops or meetings etc with stakeholders to uncover the answers to rules, and acceptance criteria for instance). Then this is followed by estimation of the story. Remember also that your iteration window would be split with develop and deploy activities. So then for the work planning and estimation, what else would need to be done in the iteration time frame?
You would look at the framework again to identify the activities that need to occur in both Design and Development and estimate these. So the modelling and specification mentioned above, plus scoping out the iteration plan and the delivery plan. Then also preparing for and completing the product showcase, preparing for and completing the retrospective.
The number of stakeholders will impact the number of sessions. So in the estimates, is it one, two, or three workshops/interviews to elicit the details for the user story. These will need to be scheduled, and organised (invites, agendas, rooms and resources, set-up, completion, follow-up etc). Planning down to a task level enables more reliable estimates and produces better results.
Look at the Work Plan in Service and Quality for an effective BA planning and estimation tool. Also, look at the Templates section for a wide variety of outputs.
Using the Forum
Using the Forum is a must. Sitting behind the BACoE is over 500 years (and growing) of experience in Business Analysis, and no one bites. Select the Forum section relevant to your question, enter your Topic title, introduce yourself and ask away. You can also search the forum for specific information. If you can’t find what you are looking for, use the forum to ask. Topics and replies are sent to email addresses linked to your account. You must be logged in to respond.
Education - Short Courses
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Explore and Connect
This is just a snippet of what the BACoE has to offer. Take a good look around to familiarise yourself with the content, and if you ever feel lost, you can reach out via the Forum for help and guidance.
