Business Analysis for Project Success: Enhance Essential Knowledge, Ideas and Methodologies

Introduction

Business Analysis is recognised in the modern world as an important prerequisite to the successful solution of business problems and enhanced return on capital investment.  Bigger challenges, bigger investments, higher risks of business projects are combined with overwhelmingly complex economic conditions, high uncertainty and increasingly demanding stakeholders. The key to success in this environment is the need to understand the business need in the first place and to translate it to a clear set of requirements.

The Business Analysis for Project Success training programme covers the knowledge necessary to conduct a comprehensive analysis of business needs and definition of project requirements that are clearly linked to the creation of measurable organisational value.  The training programme is focused on the enhancement of essential knowledge and skills and equips participants with a toolbox of ideas and methodologies for effective elicitation and analysis of business requirements.

Participants Business Analysis for Project Success training programme will develop the following competencies:

• Project definition and scoping
• Critical thinking, strategic analysis and management decision making
• Business needs analysis
• Stakeholder management
• Requirements elicitation techniques
• Option analysis
• Requirements prioritization and documentation
• Scope management planning and control

Objectives

The Business Analysis for Project Success training program aims to expand participants’ knowledge of business analysis methodologies to help distinguish the real business value from general wishful thinking. It provides a productive environment to develop hands-on skills and practice-specific diagnostic tools and techniques.  As a result of attending this training program, the participants will be able to:

• Define the nature of business problems and link it to business directions
• Apply strategic thinking and leadership to business needs analysis
• Recognize and actively manage divergent stakeholder expectations
• Elicit and analyze pertinent business information from a wide range of sources
• Use proven diagnostic and analytical tools to organize, verify, validate and prioritize requirements
• Document and justify clear, concise and effective project requirements

PROGRAMME SUMMARY

The Business Analysis for Project Success training program is structured to equip participants with the essential business analysis knowledge and skills. This stimulating learning experience provides participants with opportunities to practice practical problem-solving in specific business situations.

Participants will take away a comprehensive set of reference materials about essential tools, methodologies, and “tricks of the trade” often used by business analysts, including templates and checklists that they will be able to adapt for their business to assist in formulating and communicating business decisions.

Training Methodology

This is an interactive course. There will be open question and answer sessions, regular group exercises and activities, videos, case studies, and presentations on best practices. Participants will have the opportunity to share with the facilitator and other participants on what works well and not so well for them, as well as work on issues from their own organizations. The online course is conducted online using MS-Teams/ClickMeeting.

Who Should Attend?

The Business Analysis for Project Success training program will benefit professionals who are involved in project initiation and would like to be able to effectively understand business requirements, define their projects, and convince stakeholders to support them. The program will equally appeal to decision-makers and those who support them in the private, public, and not-for-profit sectors.

Course Outline

Day 1: Introduction and Key Concepts

• Projects in the modern world
• Business Analysis as a key to project success. Lessons for an accidental profession
• Projects, programs, endeavors
• Project lifecycle 

Strategic Thinking and Leadership in Business Analysis

• Business analysis and strategic thinking
• Understanding business context and direction
• Strategic analysis tools, formulation of objectives
• Managing project stakeholders, understanding perspectives 

Project Initiation

• The key questions at project initiation
• Definition of project requirements

Day 2: Collecting and Organizing Project Requirements 

• Requirements elicitation and knowledge types
• Business needs analysis
• Elicitation techniques: sampling, interviewing, stakeholder consultations, programs, prototyping, scenarios, observation, data analysis
• Interview techniques
• Use of questionnaires and surveys 

Advanced Elicitation Techniques

• Managing divergent expectations
• Effective facilitation of stakeholder programs; establishing effective group decision processes
• Facilitation tools and techniques that counter typical errors, biases, and inefficiencies
• Techniques for building agreement
• Nominal group technique and affinity diagram
• Process analysis tools

Day 3: Prioritizing Requirements

• Requirements prioritization techniques
• Managing stakeholder differences 

Evaluating Options

• Formulating and considering alternative solutions
• Decision criteria and option analysis 

Documenting Requirements

• Persona analysis
• Modeling
• Use case
• Verification and validation of requirements
• Creating a project scope statement
• Defining project priorities
• Ensuring the requirements are actionable and practical, avoiding the traps
• Implementation planning, stakeholder alignment, and change management considerations

Day 4: Planning the Delivery of Project Requirements 

• Project requirements and Work Breakdown Structure
• Requirements traceability
• Using the Critical Path Method to manage deadline requirements
• Managing budget and resource requirements
• Identifying and mitigating project risks 

Achieving Project Success through Effective Control 

• Fundamentals of effective project monitoring and control
• Defining project requirements and managing variations
• Managing project creeps

Day 5: Benefit Realization

• Managing change
• Managing project completion
• End-of-project processes and lessons learned
• Benefit realization reviews 

Advanced Topics in Business Analysis

• Summary of business analysis tools
• Case study application