Lead I – Business Analysis

About the job

Job DescriptionRole Proficiency:Analyse the business needs of a client in order to recommend and evaluate solutions to those needs with support from lead BA. Perform Business Analysis tasks with minimal support from the lead BA.

Outcomes

• Work with the right stakeholders to understand and define their needs and objectives in a way that can be understood resolved and actionable
• Consistently plan a business analysis approach for complex situations
• Design define and test project/product requirements
• Play multiple roles within activities prescribed by a methodology
• Proactively develop a meeting frequency to assess progress (e.g. weekly or biweekly)
• Engage all stakeholders and gain consensus in agreement on the results
• Create the software requirements artifacts and deliverables
• Communicate complex information in an easy-to-understand manner
• Consistently develop effective change control processes for complex requirements and designs.
• Determine the appropriate level of abstraction for business analysis information in complex environments
• align complex requirements with design with some support from Lead BA if available
• Understand BA knowledge areas appropriately to be able to use to solve a business problem
• Analyse business needs and solutions Facilitate stakeholder collaboration effectively and efficiently along with some guidance from Lead BA
• Validate and verify information to identify solution options that meet business needs
• identify and leverage the appropriate business analysis tools based on the requirements and purpose of the task
• Establish and implement effective requirement creation and management practices with required guidance from the Lead BA/Project Manager
• Define software quality attributes external interface constraints and other non-functional requirements with required support from the lead BA
• Perform complex impact assessments of changes to requirements and designs
• Ensure that the project team fully understands the project requirements and specifications and that testing results correspond to the business expectations/needs

Measures Of Outcomes

• Business value addition
• Communication effectiveness
• Customer feedback
• Business Analysis processes and tools
• Reusable artifacts/methodologies for use across the organization
• Trainings undertaken/given including certifications

Outputs ExpectedBusiness Value:

• Active identification of business problems constraints dependencies that lead to right solution pick

Stakeholder Engagement

• Lead written and verbal communication in and out of the client specific to the engagement
• Negotiation of various options Vs value delivered to stakeholders

Requirements Engineering

• Use of the right set of tools templates and/or processes for aligning requirements and design.
• Good expertise in using several business analysis tools to elicit documents and manage requirements

Solution Evaluation

• Evaluate and recommend appropriate solution options to business problems with a combination of metrics plus and strategic analysis

Process

• Drive processes established by the Lead BA/Project stakeholders as required by the engagement and ensure adherence by the team

BA Artefacts Maintenance

• Documentation of the process plus project artefacts owned by the Business Analyst
• Management and communication about project artifacts to the various stakeholder groups
• Develop and proactively drive the adoption of tools templates and processes to help others produce effective decision-making and approval processes

Team Management

• Mentor Junior Bas in the organization/Portfolio on a need basis

New Business

• Assist the organization/Unit with the identification of new business opportunities and solution recommendations on a need basis (when requested by manager/leadership)

Skill Examples

• Analytical organizational and problem-solving skills – Exhibit good experience in using Analytical thinking and problem-solving skills to analyze problems and opportunities effectively identify which changes may deliver the most value and work with stakeholders to understand the impact of those changes. Apply the right competencies like Creative Thinking Decision Making Learning Problem Solving Systems Thinking Conceptual Thinking and Visual Thinking
• Behavioural Characteristics – Use of right behavioral characteristics like Ethics Personal Accountability Organization Time Management and adapt to gain the trust and respect of stakeholders. Continuously and consistently exhibit practice and preach competencies like Ethics Personal Accountability Trustworthiness Organization Time Management Adaptability.
• Business Knowledge –Perform effectively within the Business Industry and Organization solution or methodology that the business analyst operates in. Demonstrate a good ability to recognize potential limitations and opportunities. Understand the risks involved in the area of work and make suitable decisions to manage risks. Demonstrate a very good understanding of Current trends market forces market drivers Key processes Services product definitions customer segments suppliers’ practices and regulations
• Communication Skills – an adaption of communication styles and techniques to the knowledge level and communication styles of recipients. Well versed ability to speak the language of the stakeholders Proficiency in the use of a variety of communication methods – verbal non-verbal physical and written along with exceptional listening skills. Assist conversations to reach productive conclusions
• Interaction skills – ability to relate cooperate and communicate with different kinds of people including executives sponsors colleagues team members developers vendors learning and development professionals end users customers and subject matter experts(SMEs). Facilitate stakeholder communication provide leadership encourage comprehension of solution value and promote stakeholder support of the proposed changes. Exceptional negotiation and conflict resolution
• Tools and Technology – Good working knowledge of various software applications and tools to support communication and collaboration. Create and maintain requirements artifacts model concepts track issues and increase overall productivity. Excellent knowledge of prototyping and simulation tools as well as specialized tools for modelling and diagramming. Requirements management technologies required to support requirements workflow approval baselining traceability change control and management. Well-versed in the use of required tools and technology including presentation software for communication and collaboration among the team and stakeholders.
• Business Analysis Techniques – Good knowledge of various BA techniques and the expertise to pick and use the right technique for carrying out the BA tasks as appropriate to the area of work. Listing down all of the techniques commonly used by Business Analysts to execute their tasks. a. Brainstorming. Business Cases. Document Analysise. Business Rules Analysise. Prototyping. Data Miningg. Estimation. Financial Analysis. Functional decomposition. Interviewsk. Item Trackingl. Lessons Learnedm. Process Analysis and Modellingn. Reviewso. Root Cause Analysisp. Risk Analysis and Managementq. Survey/Questionnairer. Workshopss. Mind mappingt. Scope Modellingu. Stakeholder mapsv. Metrics and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)w. Benchmarking & Market Analysisx. Interface Analysis. Data flow diagramsz. Use casesaa. User Storiesbb. Backlog Managementcc. Estimationdd. Prioritizationee. Acceptance and Evaluation criteriaff. Business Model Canvasgg. Concept Modellinghh. SWOT Analysisii. Organizational Modellingjj. Vendor Assessment

Knowledge ExamplesExpert level knowledge in various BA knowledge areas (recommended by IIBA or any other professional organization for Business Analysis)

• Business Analysis Approach· Consistently plan a business analysis approach for complex situations.
• Consistently uncover emotional drivers of stakeholders and develop Business analysis approach messaging accordingly.
• Play multiple roles within activities prescribed by a methodology.
• Apply insight and business acumen when connecting concepts as they relate to different aspects of the enterprise.
• Ask relevant questions to uncover and understand organizational needs to· Ensure that the planning activity covers enterprise breadth and depth.
• Stakeholder Engagement· Lead others with complex stakeholder engagement.
• Effectively manage difficult personalities on a team and resolve issues if they arise.
• Have been engaged by stakeholders with their open feedback and opinions.
• Clearly communicate concepts to relevant stakeholders and follow up to verify stakeholder understanding and approval.
• Business Analysis Information Management· Lead others in developing effective approaches for managing business analysis information.
• Determine the appropriate level of abstraction for business analysis information in complex environments.
• Consistently synthesize complex data from disparate sources and understand how they impact the enterprise or organization.
• Recognized internally as an authority in locating even hard-to-find information· Identify and leverage the appropriate business analysis tools based on the information and purpose of the task· Coach and guide others on the effective use of techniques and Business Analysis tools
• Business Analysis Performance Improvement
• Consistently identify and correct issues with business analysis work and independently plan improvement efforts—even for complex issues.
• Receptive to non-traditional ways of learning ideas.
• Use a structured approach for creative solutions to complex problems.
• Evaluate what worked what did not and what could be done differently next· Recognized by colleagues as an authority in analyzing performance and developing improvement plans
• Requirements Elicitation· Prepare for complex elicitation activities· Anticipate possible delays and proactively ask for assistance in reprioritizing.
• Work with large or multiple teams that span functions issues locations and time zones to coordinate roles responsibilities and interdependencies of all team members· Lead others in elicitation activities· uncover the emotional drivers of stakeholders and develop messaging accordingly.
• Take existing tools and techniques and apply them in new ways.
• Consistently use meeting management skills and tools to keep discussions focused and organized.
• Regularly present ideas or suggestions to stakeholders in persuasive terms according to known needs/wants/emotional drivers of the audience· Validate complex information in an easy-to-understand manner.
• Identify potential gaps in elicitation results that may require additional elicitation activities.
• Engage all stakeholders and gain consensus in agreement on the result· Demonstrate foresight to uncover and resolve issues before they arise and therefore rarely need to escalate them
• Communication and collaboration – provide relevant information to stakeholders in a timely manner. Effectively work with stakeholders to ensure delivery of required outcomes.
• communicate complex information in an easy-to-understand manner· Use a structured technique for enabling stakeholder-focused written communication and document profiles of each stakeholder then update them as new insight is obtained· Gain agreement on commitments with stakeholders· Support others in complex stakeholder collaboration situations· Establish stakeholder engagement monitoring practices
• Requirements Life Cycle Management· Align complex requirements with design independently· Recognized as an authority in several analysis methodologies and have been asked by leadership to spearhead change in methodologies· Coach others on traceability relationships and effective use of business analysis tools· Invite recommendations from others to conduct effective requirements traceability· Share requirements/designs to identify overlaps and trends with stakeholders.
• Share change and improvement strategies for existing and future projects with colleagues· Synthes complex data from disparate sources and understand how they impact the enterprise or organization· Provide relevant data to support recommended prioritization decisions.
• Ensure stakeholders’ understanding and acceptance of prioritization decisions.
• Demonstrate foresight to uncover and resolve issues before they arise and therefore rarely need to escalate them.
• Engage all stakeholders and gain consensus before pursuing a course of action· Help others understand the impact of prioritization on other business functions including strategy financial and legal· guide complex impact resolution activities.
• Perform complex impact assessments of changes to requirements and designs· Use supporting data to challenge any changes with negative impacts.
• Foster a collaborative approach to obtain feedback opinions and acceptance during assessments of changes to requirements and design· Resolve complex issues and conflicts independently and lead others in this task
• Strategy Analysis – Analyse the current state to understand the reasons for change and the impact of the change· Apply insight and business acumen when connecting concepts as they relate to different aspects of the enterprise· Research analyze and synthesize data to support the rationale for change· Help others see the value of the change with actions such as customizing the explanation/justification according to the emotional drivers of the stakeholder(s)Future State definition· Ensure the elements of future state support one another meet business goals and objectives and integrate with the future state of the enterprise· Use a structured approach for creative solutions to complex problems· recognized by colleagues as an authority in determining the conditions to meet the business need risk Assessment· Define and mitigate undesirable consequences while transitioning to a final future state· Leverage historical data to assess the impact and likelihood of risks occurring for the current change.
• Foster a collaborative approach to gain feedback and acceptance to assess manage and mitigate risks.
• Consistently apply risk models that are suitable to the situation.
• Use a structured approach for creative solutions to complex problems Strategy· Develop effective change strategies even for complex situations· Engage all stakeholders and gain consensus before pursuing a course of action· Recognized by colleagues as an authority in developing effective change strategies
• Analysis and Design – analyze synthesize and refine elicitation results into requirements and designs.
• recognized by colleagues as an authority in modelling requirements and designs· Lead and coach others on how to analyze synthesize and refine elicitation results into requirements and designs.
• Coach others on how to prepare and deliver written customer-focused communication.
• Meet regularly with peers and counterparts to discuss methods of ensuring design quality.
• Play multiple roles within activities prescribed by a methodology· Coach others how to use the input from all stakeholders to make the most informed decisions· Clearly communicate concepts to relevant stakeholders and follow up to verify their understanding and approval· Have been recognized as an authority in several analysis methodologies· Have been recognized by colleagues as an authority in aligning requirements and designs to business requirements· Maintain and continuously enhance communications channels with stakeholders to ensure that issues surface and are managed in a timely fashion· Consistently ensure complex requirements support one another.
• Regularly solicit requirement viewpoints from relevant stakeholders· Convert complex ideas into easy concepts· Be engaged as an authority to develop requirements architecture· Consistently develop effective designs with complex requirements· Recognized by colleagues as an authority in developing design options that achieve the desired future state· Have been frequently engaged by peers for advice and support on analyzing potential value and recommending solutions
• Solution Evaluation – define performance measures and assess the data collected to evaluate solution effectiveness· Take existing evaluation methods and apply them in new ways to address solution evaluation· Monitor historical data to identify systemic issues and best practices.
• Apply insight and business acumen when connecting concepts as they relate to different aspects of the enterprise.
• Focus learning on using business acumen.
• Help others understand the solution’s impact on business-related metrics such as operating costs revenues and customer profit margins· Propose alternative solutions to problems or opportunities and informed recommendations based on evaluation of the solutions’ merits.
• Consistently identify opportunities to contribute to the solution’s value.
• Utilize proven methodologies for problem-solving and critical thinking· Apply business acumen when exploring the root cause for underperforming and ineffective solutions and components· Recognized by colleagues as an authority in determining the internal factors that restrict the full realization of the solution’s value
• Experience in developing process flow diagrams use case current/future state diagrams functional and technical requirements in the form of user stories/as indicated by the customer
• Good understanding of Software development life cycle and methodologies
• Develop an innovative approach for using new tools templates and processes that: explain the rationale for the adoption
• Develop a network of Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) inside the organization
• Practice innovative ways of performing various BA tasks using common techniques

Additional comments

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