Essential Skills for Business Analysis
Overview

4 day course: The business analyst role requires an extensive inventory of tools and techniques to identify the best solution for the real business need. This skill set includes real-world problem solving skills, requirements analysis, interviewing techniques and critical thinking skills. As we continue with iterative projects and move toward more agile approaches, these skills become even more critical. Through education and practice, business analysts will develop and enhance their analytical skills and provide significant value to projects and the business enterprise.



Intended audience

This course is designed for business analysts, systems analysts or any other project team member involved with requirements. New business analysts will learn the tasks they are expected to perform and why each task is important. Experienced business analysts will learn new techniques and more structured approaches to improve their requirements gathering activities. This course may also be appropriate for individuals who manage business analysts or those who work with the business requirements document and need a more in-depth understanding of the process and documentation.

Prerequisites

None.

Earn

28 IIBA CDUs and PMI PDUs



Course Outcomes

In this course students will learn to:

  • Scope the business area of analysis by utilising the project charter to further identify the level and complexity of the business analysis effort.
  • Support requirements and change management by identifying areas of impact.
  • Elicit critical requirements using various tools and techniques.
  • Analyse and structure requirements.
  • Ask the right questions through the use of interviewing templates developed specifically for business analysis.
  • Identify five core components necessary to complete a requirements package.
  • Recognise and document “excellent” requirements.
  • Plan an approach for documenting, categorising and packaging requirements.
  • Identify which techniques and documentation options are appropriate for each methodology and project type (COTS - commercial-off-the-shelf software, maintenance, business process improvement, new development, etc).
  • Verify that requirements are testable and generate testing objectives.
  • Conduct an effective requirements review to improve the quality of the requirements package.
  • Use elicitation techniques to facilitate requirements gathering and work toward consensus.