Are there senses of a BA? – Stuart Gomersall 0

So there are 5 special senses, we all know that. There are more subtle ‘senses’ like a sense of fear amongst others. But what are the senses of a Business Analyst? Someone who makes letters and numbers in a spreadsheet into a successful system or change initiative. Someone who makes the impossible possible. Someone who tames the wilderness.

Here are some thoughts on the emergent senses of the evolving BA.

> Common sense
Several of my contemporaries, notably @ukadrianreed, have highlighted how common sense is a thing missing from many BA’s armoury at the moment. I fear that BA’s get carried away in seeking to please and getting the validation of that coveted ‘sign-off’ which so blinds us all to the reality and practicality of making commitments on speculative requirements. I wholeheartedly believe that this is a key sensory talent that BA’s need more than ever and it will ensure their survival out in the project wilderness. And it is an unforgiving wilderness at the moment in the change space!

> Sense of clarity
Engaging with people of all kinds is complicated. When developers say the only problem with their system is the user, the BA should take heed. Users are the source of our requirements, they will make all requirements high priority (or Must Have – if you are a Muscovite) and they will bamboozle you with complex rules, spreadsheet models and bizarre user interface needs. It takes a smart BA to sense ambiguity, dissonance and omission of requirements from the user community. Ever had scope creep? Users are wild creatures, unpredictable. Never smile at a crocodile; and never forget a senior user’s requirement to login “just like Facebook”

> Sense of proportion of things
As I noted earlier, users tend to get requirements trigger happy – and all requirements tend to be must have’s. I guess it’s natural, if I ask you what you want tomorrow, it is unlikely you will settle for less than you have today will you? This is where the relative priority of requirements or features is a much better method than absolute requirement prioritisation. It forces users to rank requirements. No two requirements are equal, the jungle has a natural order and so do requirements.

> Sense of connectedness
As a caveat to the relative prioritisation of requirements above, I believe it is incredibly important to note that sometimes – depending on how you have completed your requirements, some requirements may be inextricably linked to one another. It means that a simple ranking process helps, but has exceptions. But where would we be without the odd exception to the rule?

Further to this, but linked to the sense of clarity, it is important to realise connectedness in relation to dissonance and omission. Dissonance may occur (and often does) where requirements contradict each other and sadly, yet predictably, we never notice this in the sessions when the users are relaying their needs and neither do they! But sometimes, things are not connected on the surface. A keen and experienced BA will sense the dissonance; gurus may even do so in the middle of a workshop. Omission is to requirements as the platypus is to land mammals – an entirely unexpected cousin.

> Sense of perspective
As an agent of change, BAs realise that sometimes it is more important to know enough to move ahead, than to know everything right now. The BA profession is not a career stepping stone to being psychic; requirements change over time, they evolve. Much like any king of the jungle, projects and requirements are emergent and as much as we try to manage change – the state of flux is natural. From change control to Agile, all we are try to do is manage the inevitable. It is perhaps better to have a strong sense of perspective, what do we need to know to move ahead: does this validate or invalidate the perceived project benefits? Am I comfortable living on the edge of certainty and uncertainty?

> Sense of style
A business analyst should be creative, imaginative and innovative. Your delivery should have a sense of style that inspires others, wants them to engage with you, your work and be energised by engaging the change that the BA is representing in the project. There is nothing less engaging that boring workshops, black and white models and lots of text. In order to get ahead in the jungle, fauna and flora need to attract others to their wares. Like bright flowers for pollination, BA’s need to attract stakeholders and users to their artefacts to improve the probability of project success through engagement and buy-in.

Looking back on my starting question: I think yes. There are ‘senses’ to a BA. Furthermore, we might even have specialised sensory tools to receive the stimuli that drive those senses…

But for now, as BA’s evolve, the project wilderness is what it is. Happy evolving.