MBA204: Top Skills for 2020
Jan 21, 2020
Show notes
LinkedIn’s list of the 15 most in-demand skills includes business analysis and many skills that are critical to your success.
Show Notes
Earlier this month, LinkedIn came out with their list of skills companies need most in 2020. The article lists the most in-demand soft and hard skills organizations will be looking for this year.
Not surprisingly, skills needed for success as a Business
Analyst topped the list and the hard skill of Business Analysis jumped forward
to the number 6 spot on the list.
Whether you’re looking for a new job or trying to boost your
career, having several of the skills on the list will help you succeed.
Let’s look at these skills that companies are looking for
this year.
Hard Skills
The LinkedIn article mentions the 10 hard skills that companies
are looking for most. Many of the top
skills are in the area of data-driven decision making.
Top Hard Skills for 2020:
Blockchain
Cloud Computing
Analytical Reasoning
Artificial Intelligence
UX Design
Business Analysis
Affiliate Marketing
Sales
Scientific Computing
Video Production
While some of these like Blockchain, Artificial
Intelligence, affiliate marketing, scientific computing, and video production
depend on your role and the type of company you work for, these are growing
areas and you may want to develop at least a passing knowledge about these
concepts.
Certainly some level of knowledge about cloud computing, AI,
and scientific computing are important because they all involve using and
maintaining information in a way that it can be used to perform processes or
make better decisions. Scientific
computing relates to data and machine learning, which many organizations are
using to drive better decision making. If
you’re working with an organization using or exploring these approaches, you’ll
need to build your skills and knowledge to be able to be effective regardless
of your role title.
Number three on the list is analytical reasoning. This skill includes strategic thinking and
using data to discover new insights.
This is a key skill for Business Analysts as we should base our
recommendations on data think strategically to see the big picture and all of
the moving parts.
At number five is UX design.
We’ve discussed the need for UX design and its value as a skill for
Business Analysts in prior episodes.
This skill gives us the tools to develop solutions that customers will
love. When we take a human-centric
approach, we discover the right problem to solve and then create a product that’s
easy to use and is the right fit for our customers.
As I mentioned earlier, the skill of business analysis jumped
up 10 spots to number 6 on the list. It
made the most significant leap of all of the skills and it’s a skill that
LinkedIn says is a skill all professionals should have. Good business analysis leads to better
decision making and when organizations make better decisions, they develop
better solutions and increase their revenues.
You can develop your business analysis skills through
training, joining a professional organization such as the IIBA, reading and
listening to podcasts, and by sharing ideas with others in your network. It’s a skill that’s valuable to everyone from
the individual software engineer up to C level executives.
There’s one more hard skill on the list that I didn’t
mention and that’s number eight, sales.
While your role might not be in sales, this skill is essential because
we all need to be able to sell. We sell
our ideas when we influence decision making.
We sell ourselves when we’re looking for a new job. Sales is all about presenting a compelling
offer, and that’s critical to persuade others to make the right decisions.
Soft Skills
In addition to the 10 hard skills, the LinkedIn article lists
five soft skills that are in-demand.
Like the hard skills, these soft skills are crucial for your success and
all of them are needed for Business Analysts.
The top five soft skills are:
Creativity
Persuasion
Collaboration
Adaptability
Emotional Intelligence
Creativity is important because it allow us to solve
problems more effectively and come up with novel solutions. Without creativity, there would be no
innovation and the flow of great products would be severely limited. Denise Jacobs discussed the importance of
creativity and how to unleash your creativity in episode 143.
Next up is persuasion.
We need this skill to be able to influence decision making and lead
lasting change in our organizations.
This skill involves effective communication and the ability to influence
without authority. It’s critical for all
change agents to have this skill.
The third soft skill is collaboration; our ability to work
well with others. To me, collaboration
goes beyond teamwork. It’s about forming
high functioning teams and aligning people toward a common goal. It requires facilitation, good listening
skills, and an understanding of your personal strengths and weaknesses.
The fourth skill, adaptability, allows us to adapt to
change. That could mean seeking and
responding to customer or peer feedback as well as organizational and process
change. The more quickly we can sense
and respond, the better able we are to change in a positive way and deal with
stressful situations.
The last skill and new to the list is emotional
intelligence. This is the awareness of
and ability to manage your own emotions as well as the ability to sense the
emotions of others and respond appropriately.
This skill is closely tied to and boosts our collaboration,
adaptability, and persuasion skills.
Remember that soft skills are hard to develop. You can’t simply take a class or read a book
and expect everything to change. It
begins with an awareness and understanding of these skills and then development
through continuous practice and feedback.
Now’s the time for action.
Pick one of these in-demand skills and work on it. Once you feel you’d developed the skill to an
appropriate level and put it into practice, pick another skill. Never stop learning and developing.
Do you have these top skills companies are looking for?
To help you on your skill building journey, below are some episodes that provide information to support your skill development.
David Mantica shares ways to protect yourself from layoffs and prepare for career advancement opportunities.
Show Notes
The unfortunate reality is that many of us will experience unexpected (and undesired) career changes. Companies may merge, the economy may slow down, your organization may need to make budget cuts, or you just may be stuck in a toxic environment.
While some of these job losses are the result of performance issues, many may be unexpected, are out of our control, and may happen to even high performing individuals.
What You Can do to Protect Yourself
Early planning and preparation is the key. Often people are caught by surprise and haven’t prepared. Most of us don’t update our resumes until we need to. This prevents us from being able to quickly recover from an unexpected job loss or even take advantage of a new opportunity.
You can prepare for both positive and negative surprise career changes by building your network and talking to recruiters. Your network will work with you for who you are; your potential. Recruiters will work with you for what you’ve done.
The potential problem with recruiters is that you may end up in a similar role and face similar issues because they’re focusing on the work you’ve done and finding a good fit with a new organization.
Your network may be able to help you find new opportunities in different fields or different roles because they understand your potential and they understand that other skills can be taught.
From there, there are three elements of career insurance; insuring your current role, preparing for a future possible job loss, and insurance against negative carer changes (that doesn’t actually exist today).
Listen to the full episode to understand how to protect your current role through influence, impact, and likability as well as how to prepare for future career changes.
Career Insurance: Protect Your Career
YOUR HOMEWORK 1. Join a trade association or user group such as the IIBA or PMI. You can also look for meetup groups in your field. This allows you to build your network and develop your skills and knowledge. 2. Have a cadence to update your resume and think of it in terms of outcomes of the things you did. 3. Build your personal brand. Think of ways you can share your knowledge and be seen as an expert. Some potential ways are speaking at industry events or writing on topics related to your industry.
David Mantica is VP and General Manager at SoftEd, where they help organisations to adopt new ways of working for better business outcomes. David is also a frequent speaker at meetups, professional organizations, and conferences.
To get more valuable content to enhance your skills and advance your career, you can subscribe on iTunes and other podcatchers.
Also, reviews on iTunes are highly appreciated! I read each review and it helps keep me motivated to continue to bring you valuable content in each episode.
Yes, Virginia, There Are BAs in Agile
Dec 24, 2019
Show notes
Holiday Episode: In the style of the New York Sun editorial in which an 8 year old Virginia asks if there’s a Santa Clause, grown up Virginia asks if there are Business Analysts in Agile.
DEAR EDITOR: I am 30 years old. Some of my coworkers say there is no Business Analyst in Agile; especially with Scrum. My boss says, ‘If you hear it on Mastering Business Analysis, it’s so.’ Please tell me the truth; is there a Business Analyst in Agile?
VIRGINIA O’HANLON.
Virginia,
your coworkers are wrong. They have been affected by things they’ve heard about
Agile and Scrum without understanding the mindset, values, and principles
behind the practices. They do not believe except what they read about Scrum.
They think that nothing can be which is beyond the Scrum Guide. All minds,
Virginia, whether they be men’s, women’s or children’s, are not fixed. In many
organizations our knowledge is a mere speck, a crumb as compared with the
boundless and ever changing world around us as measured by the potential growth
of the growth mindset capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.
Yes, Virginia,
there are Business Analysts in Agile. They exist as certainly as critical thinking
and problem solving and communication exists, and you know that they abound and
give to your solutions its value and quality. Alas, how difficult would it be to
create valuable solutions if there were no Business Analysts? It would be as difficult
as if there were no Product Managers. There would be no clear communication
then, no customer-centric focus, no vision to make exceptional our teams. We
should have no alignment, except in micromanagement. The value with which our
products bring to our customers would be diminished.
No BAs in Agile!
You might as well not believe in collaboration! You might get your manager to draw
up an organizational chart showing Business Analysts an Agile teams, but even
if it does not list the title Business Analyst, what would that show? The power
of Business Analysis is not in the role title, but in the clarity, shared
understanding, and value they bring to teams, organizations, and customers. Most
significant things Business Analysts do are those that we cannot see, yet are
critical. Did you ever see a shared understanding or alignment? Of course not,
but these intangibles are there in great teams. Nobody can conceive or imagine
all the wonders great teams have yet to develop.
You may create
a process diagram or draw a value stream map, but there is a veil covering
today’s volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous world which not the smartest
person, nor even the united intelligence of all the smartest people that ever
lived, could draw. Only vision, innovation, experimentation, and analysis of
outcomes can push aside that curtain and picture the value and quality beyond.
Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else as real
and abiding.
No BAs in Agile! Thank God there are; and they may have different titles. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, the skill of business analysis will continue to help teams and organizations create high quality, valuable solutions.
Yes Virginia, there are Business Analysts in Agile.
Merry Christmas, happy Hanukkah, and happy holidays however you celebrate. I wish you a joyous and prosperous 2020.
Thank you for listening to the program
To get more valuable content to enhance your skills and advance your career, you can subscribe on iTunes and other podcatchers.
Also, reviews on iTunes are highly appreciated! I read each review and it helps keep me motivated to continue to bring you valuable content each week.
Lightning Cast: Failure to Launch (a new product)
Dec 17, 2019
Show notes
Find out what you can do to ensure a successful product launch.
Show Notes
Disney recently launched its Disney+ streaming service. Unfortunately, the launch was met with some
problems as many of their 10 million subscribers couldn’t log in or couldn’t
stream videos.
After the launch, I read an article about how Disney
representatives said the outages of their streaming service were due to the way
their engineers architected the application.
That got me thinking . . . Is it really an architecture
problem?
While the outages were a direct result of the tooling
choices and the inability of the architecture to handle 10 million people all
trying to log in at once, I think there’s a deeper root cause here. To me, the root cause is a failure to
accurately forecast demand and understand the limitations of the architecture.
This is where we as Business Analysts, project
professionals, and change agents can help our organizations discover some of
the risks with a product launch and take steps to make it successful.
Let’s first focus on understanding potential demand.
When I first heard about the outage, I immediately thought “Where
are the business analysts? What kind of
nonfunctional requirements did this initiative have? Was their business case? What assumptions did Disney make it as far as
volume?”
Disney must have made some type of forecast related to
demand and I suspect that their forecast was off. Disney has the money and
people skills to be able to develop a solution to meet the needs for 10 million
customers. The problem is if they only
predict 2 million customers, the architect the solution in a way to meet that
need instead of the true demand.
I want to note that this type of demand and this product is
new territory for Disney. There are a
lot of unknowns and I’m certainly not faulting Disney for the outages. I’m using this as a case study for how we
could help our organizations.
What could Disney have done to better understand the real
demand? There are a few approaches that
other organizations have used that may or may not apply to Disney’s context.
One thing I would recommend for any type of product launch
is to make your assumptions transparent. You can use an approach such as
assumptions mapping to understand what assumptions are making and then run
experiments to validate or invalidate those assumptions. I discussed assumptions
mapping with David Bland in episode 99.
Depending on the type of product, another approach would be
to use a beta launch or pre-sell. A beta
launch involves launching the product to a limited group or limited area. This approach allows you to better understand
demand and discover any issues prior to a full-scale launch.
A pre-sell allows your customers to sign up for your service
or purchase your product before the actual launch. Services like Kickstarter help entrepreneurs
and organizations to understand customer preferences and demand.
Now let’s look at the other root cause; the need to
understand the limitations of the architecture.
Limitations in the architecture, tools, and skills within an
organization are all organizational constraints. Before we determine how we
will develop a solution, we need to understand those organizational
constraints.
We may be able to build a solution, but if we don’t have the
organizational capabilities to service that product, we won’t be successful.
As the launch of Disney plus was new territory for Disney,
it’s unclear whether they truly knew the limitations of their architecture. I’m
sure they load tested their software and performed many other checks.
As business analysts, product managers, and other
professionals, we need to understand our organizational capabilities and
limitations. We need to know how much volume our systems can handle. We need to
know how much volume our call center can handle. We need to understand all of the
constraints of our organization.
Making the constraints of the architecture visible and using
different techniques to understand the true demand may have helped Disney put
changes in place that would have avoided the outages. To Disney’s credit, they were able to quickly
adapt and change their application for the high volume of customers.
What are you doing in your organization to understand
constraints and validate your assumptions?
Launching a New Product
Thank you for listening to the program
To get more valuable content to enhance your skills and advance your career, you can subscribe on iTunes and other podcatchers.
Also, reviews on iTunes are highly appreciated! I read each review and it helps keep me motivated to continue to bring you valuable content each week.
MBA202: Business Value Analysis
Nov 12, 2019
Show notes
David Mantica helps us overcome one of the biggest challenges facing organizations today – understanding value and building the right solution.
Show Notes
We’re doing things . . . but are they the right things? This is a common challenge for many
organizations.
It all comes down to value such as business value or
customer value. The problem is that
value can be difficult to define.
When we discuss value, we’re really talking about utility. Utility is what you believe is important for
what you’re doing in your life. The
challenge comes when we can’t put ourselves in the position of the customer to
understand their utility.
We often have preconceived notions about the value of what
we’re building and we push that on to the customer.
Product Management is
the Key
To address this challenge, we need to shift our thinking to
a Product Management focus. When
designing a solution, we need to think in terms of value (utility), cost, and competition
or what’s happening in the marketplace.
Understanding your organization’s goals and capabilities is
another critical component. You may
dream up a fantastic solution, but it’s only a dream if your organization can’t
build or support it and it doesn’t align to your organization’s vision.
Ultimately, it comes down to one of two desired outcomes: those that lead to making money or those that lead to saving money. As change agents, we can help our organizations define the right outcomes that align to the organization’s capabilities and maximize utility.
Listen to the full episode to discover how to define value and outcomes to build the right solution.
Business Value Analysis
YOUR HOMEWORK First, start asking questions about why we need the solution, how it will perform better and help us/our customers to perform better. Ask the person using the system about what they value. Second, look into Product Management. Discover how product managers operate, identify value propositions, and validate ideas. Finally, learn more about the Lean Startup model and how it works.
David Mantica is VP and General Manager at SoftEd, where they help organisations to adopt new ways of working for better business outcomes. David is also a frequent speaker at meetups, professional organizations, and conferences.
To get more valuable content to enhance your skills and advance your career, you can subscribe on iTunes and other podcatchers.
Also, reviews on iTunes are highly appreciated! I read each review and it helps keep me motivated to continue to bring you valuable content in each episode.
MBA201: Tips From an Accidental Product Owner
Nov 05, 2019
Show notes
Richard Larson shares his experiences as an accidental Product Owner and provides tips and advice for others moving toward a role in Product Ownership.
Show Notes
It’s tough to play two roles at once. If you’re expected to perform your normal business
analysis activities and also function as a Product Owner, those two things
sometimes pull at each other.
If you’re forced to do both, make sure that you and others
are aware of the role you’re playing.
This leads to several other lessons learned including
focusing too much on the “how” and not on the “what” and how to avoid the curse
of knowledge.
Listen to the full episode to hear Richard’s story and get
tips and advice for moving into a Product Owner role.
Tips and Advice for Accidental Product Owners
Your Homework Understand in your organization and on your team how far your authority goes. Are you authorized to make decisions? Do you make recommendations and help others decide? Also, be aware of the need to balance out the more detailed nature of being a Business Analyst versus the bigger picture, business oriented aspects of the Product Owner.
Richard Larson is a successful entrepreneur with over 30 years of experience in business analysis, project management, training, and consulting. He has presented workshops and seminars on BA and PM topics to over 10,000 participants on five different continents. He has contributed as a lead author to the BA Body of Knowledge version 2.0 and 3.0 and other publications and co-authored five books on business analysis.
Thank you for listening to the program
To get more valuable content to enhance your skills and advance your career, you can subscribe on iTunes and other podcatchers.
Also, reviews on iTunes are highly appreciated! I read each review and it helps keep me motivated to continue to bring you valuable content each week.
MBA200: Take Action! The Best Advice from Over 200 Episodes
Nov 03, 2019
Show notes
Here’s the best tips and advice from industry experts in over 200 episodes. Now take action!
Show Notes
As long-time
listeners know, I ask guests for one action that we can take to start seeing
some positive results. In this episode,
I have gathered the best advice from over 200 episodes (199 full length
episodes and 39 lightning casts).
THEME: Build the Right Thing
Episode 025: Advice from Gojko Adzic
Whenever you
receive a requirement that is actually a solution, inquire about the behavior
change that the solution is going to create. If we have a behavior change that
allows us to monitor progress in a meaningful way, we will get more rapid
feedback. Additionally, this helps guard against scope creep and makes sure we
are aligning to organizational goals.
Episode 071: Advice from Jonathan Babcock
When we
create something, be it a document or a visual, think of who is going to use it
as our customer. Focus on their needs
and afterwards, get their feedback on how you could have done better or how you
could have helped them to be more successful.
This kind of mindset builds trust and allows you to reach higher levels
of performance.
Episode 091: Advice from Elizabeth Larson
When you’re
provided with a solution to implement, practice asking the right kind of
questions to better understand the intent of the solution and the current
environment. Take the time to gather the
facts and statistics about the current state so that you’ll be better prepared
for conversations and make appropriate recommendations. Finally, don’t ask leading questions. Leading questions limit conversations and
present a solution. Eliminate the phrase
‘have you thought about’. That phrase
breaks trust.
Episode 185: Advice from James Robertson
Challenge
the next solution you’re presented with to make sure you’re solving the right
problem. Also, try to generate solutions
to address the real business problem.
THEME: Use a Hypothesis
Episode 042: Advice from Jim Benson
Take a few
User Stories (especially those that the team is doubtful about) and rewrite
them as hypotheses. Treat it like a
guess that you can prove or disprove and learn something.
Episode 081: Advice from David Hussman
When you
decide to take on a user story or requirement, understand how you’ll measure
the impact, not just how you’ll get it done.
Stories need to include analytics.
That helps you build less of the wrong thing by measuring the impact.
THEME: Iterate
Episode 130: Advice from Jerry Weinberg
Start
talking requirements seriously. Explore
options and impacts to understand your requirements. Finally, iterate on your requirements. You can’t know everything upfront.
Episode 133: Advice from Kent McDonald
In your
current role, look for ways to do your work iteratively and incrementally.
Ideally, get feedback after ever iteration and use that feedback to adjust not
only the product, but also your approach.
THEME: Talk To Customers
Episode 016: Advice from Jeff Patton
Go to where
your users are and talk to them. Also, stop
writing stories and start telling stories. Have conversations . . . get to the
whiteboard and start drawing pictures.
Episode 076: Advice from Roman Pichler
The single
most important action you can take to make sure your requirements, backlog, and
roadmap are aligned to user needs is to talk with your customers. Talking with customers gives you insights
into what your customer needs are, how they use your product, and features that
they don’t use. Use these insights to
adapt your roadmap and requirements.
THEME: Build Relationship and Trust
Episode 080: Advice from Fay Thompson
Learn to say
“I don’t know enough yet”. While we want
to move projects forward quickly, get comfortable with the need to go back and
investigate more to ensure you have a solid understanding of the problem you’re
solving and the intended value. Also, adopt
a servant leadership mindset and put the team’s and organization’s needs first.
Episode 019: Advice from Steve Shedletsky
Trust is the
human currency. It takes time to build
and an instant to break. We develop
trust when we feel that someone else has our best interest in mind – that they
are there to serve us instead of their own self-service. So what can we do to increase trust?
Show up to
serve. If you want to feel more engaged
in the projects that you’re working on, figure out how you can help the people
around you feel more engaged. In turn,
you will feel more engaged. Above all,
don’t forget to show up to commit and serve others.
Episode 079: Advice from Paula Bell
Start
building relationships. Whether it’s a
coffee break, lunch, or a walk around the building with someone, take time to
learn about the people on your team.
Building relationships creates a better understanding and increases
collaboration.
Episode 037: Advice from Jim Tamm
Focus on
better understanding your own defensiveness.
Identify your own signs of defensiveness and start looking out for those
signs. By creating this awareness, you
can take action to shift back to the green zone and improve collaboration.
BONUS ADVICE
Episode 139: Advice from Adrian Reed
We need to
work to left shift and get involved earlier in projects. When a BA is involved early in projects, we
not only smooth the way forward for the project, we may discover that there’s
not even a viable project at all and we can focus our effort elsewhere.
HONORABLE MENTION: The advice below was not
included in this episode
Episode 030 – Linda Rising
Remember
that none of us make rational decisions. There are many biases that we carry
around with us that get in the way of making rational decisions. Call up the
fact that we have biases and combat those biases by slowing things down by
counting from 10 to one. If in a meeting that requires a critical, contentious
decision, consider taking a break to slow things down.
Episode 087 – Kupe Kupersmith
Think of
your company’s initiatives as a set of decisions to be made and facilitate that
decision making. Decisions are: What
problem should we go after? What are
some solution options? What features
should we start with? What should we
prioritize? Who needs to be involved? This helps you get to the point of just
enough analysis. That’s because
facilitating decision making helps is understand what work needs to be done
(and what shouldn’t be done) and helps you get decisions quickly and move on.
Episode 098 – David Mantica
Know
yourself: Reflect to better understand your strengths and weaknesses and your
hot buttons to develop better self-awareness.
Accept Others: Work on getting comfortable with who people are and their
strengths/weaknesses. Be open to new
ideas and opinions. Offer solutions:
Think through problems and offer solutions without the need for your solution
to be accepted. These three actions will
help you become a trusted advisor and influence positive change.
Episode 153 – Elizabeth Larson
To be a
Trusted Advisor, you need to be knowledgeable about industry trends. Invest some time reading and learning about
these trends so that you stay informed and can use the information to advise
your organization.
Episode 156 – Doug Goldberg
Start
looking within your organization and in professional organizations for people
with the skills and experience that can help you grow. Once you find someone in your network, ask
for mentoring support from that person. To
prepare for your personal development or mentoring and to focus your
conversations, perform a personal SWOT analysis on yourself.
The best tips and advice from over 200 episodes
Thank you for listening to the program
To get more valuable content to enhance your skills and advance your career, you can subscribe on iTunes and other podcatchers.
Also, reviews on iTunes are highly appreciated! I read each review and it helps keep me motivated to continue to bring you valuable content each week.
MBA199: The Future of the BA Profession
Oct 15, 2019
Show notes
In this episode, Kevin Brennan discusses how the world of work is changing and how Business Analysts need to adapt.
Shot Notes
With changes in working environments from Agile and digital transformations, Business Analysts need to adapt to stay relevant.
With this change. business analysis professionals are going to diverge into two major roles; product management and value stream management. What this means is that business analysis skills will still be critical, but will apply with a more management level approach.
Business analysis professionals will be responsible for real business outcomes and bottom line results.
Listen to the full episode to understand what the future holds for Business Analysts and how you can thrive in the new world of work.
The Future of the Business Analysis Profession
Your Homework Get out into the world and see what real people are trying to do with your product. No matter how well you think you know the space, you’ll find things that are different than you expected. Once you have that knowledge, improve your product to meet that need.
Kevin Brennan is an executive and business analysis consultant who helps companies create new business models, develop new products and services, and improve their business processes. Kevin helped to launch IIBA and the Canadian Federation of Library Associations (CFLA-FCAB), led the creation and development of the Guide to the Business Analysis Body of Knowledge and has written and spoken about business analysis on every continent (except Antarctica).
Thank you for listening to the program
To get more valuable content to enhance your skills and advance your career, you can subscribe on iTunes and other podcatchers.
Also, reviews on iTunes are highly appreciated! I read each review and it helps keep me motivated to continue to bring you valuable content each week.
MBA198: DevOps – What it Means for BAs
Oct 08, 2019
Show notes
Michael Roberts helps us understand what DevOps is and how it affects the role of Business Analysts.
Show Notes
Many organizations are using DevOps to benefit their
customers. But what is DevOps and what
role do Business Analysts play? Is DevOps
a tool set, a practice, or a way of working?
With DevOps, you try to work with smaller batches of
software that can be deployed more frequently with less effort by people
working together. As much as it is a
technology shift, it’s about people working better together.
If you’re already operating in an Agile environment, DevOps
doesn’t change a lot of the things you’re doing. The core business analysis skills, core
capabilities, and practices still apply.
What may change is your stakeholders and your interaction with them.
DevOps helps teams deliver value quickly, so it’s important
to interact with and listen to stakeholders from downstream environments.
There’s often a conflict in DevOps between the development
team and the operations team.
The development team’s job is to create change by delivering
new code. For the operations team,
change is bad in that it will disrupt their system and processes. The operations team wants stability.
Business Analysts need to understand those opposing desires
and how to navigate the resulting conflict.
Listen to the full episode to understand what you need to
know about DevOps and why BAs play a critical role.
What DevOps Means for Business Analysts
Your Homework Read up on DevOps practices. Some book recommendations are: • The Phoenix Project • Leading the Transformation • Continuous Delivery You can also explore an internal Center of Excellence for DevOps in your organization that will allow you to learn the tools.
Michael Roberts is an IT industry professional with more than 20 years of experience in project management. Michael speaks publicly at many events and user groups on subjects including organizational change management, project management, Agile development process, and DevOps transformations.
Thank you for listening to the program
To get more valuable content to enhance your skills and advance your career, you can subscribe on iTunes and other podcatchers.
Also, reviews on iTunes are highly appreciated! I read each review and it helps keep me motivated to continue to bring you valuable content each week.
Lora McCoy discusses how to shift the psychological response to change and help stakeholders adapt and adopt the change.
Show Notes
When it comes to change, often the only one who isn’t afraid is the person driving the change. Sometimes a person’s response to change seems irrational.
That response is driven by a fear of the unknown. We fear what we don’t understand.
Standard practices of implementing change fail because they
don’t address this underlying fear and the psychology of change.
We can move people out of the fear based fight or flight
response by involving them in the change and even making it fun.
When we try to take people from fear to acceptance using
logic, it frequently doesn’t work because you’re taking them from a negative
limbic brain focus to the front of the brain where logic resides. It’s much easier to move people from the
fight or flight response to excitement or fun and then into logic.
Listen to the full episode to understand techniques you can
use to make change more fun.
How to overcome fear of change with fun and excitement
Your Homework Before your next change initiative, check out the Kübler-Ross change curve. That will allow you to connect with the emotional and psychological experience people go through during change. That will help you understand where people are in the change process and know how to respond with the way you communicate and the techniques you use. Also, go to GameStorming.com and explore exercises such as Flip It to help people adapt to change.
Lora McCoy is a Certified Business Analysis Professional with over 20 years of experience performing Business Analysis activities as well as Quality Assurance, and Project Management. She currently engages daily in BA consulting efforts, educates for IIBA certification internationally and serves as the Director of Americas Central Region for the IIBA where she applies that passion through mentorship and knowledge sharing.
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