Delivering value to the organization and it’s end users is job #1 for all stakeholders and project team members. We know this, but we struggle to apply it. We get wrapped up in the day to day roller coaster of project life. We dart from meeting to meeting and we put out big fires. We don’t make time for strategic thinking.
Business analysts are called to create thinking opportunities for their stakeholders! Strategic thinking time drives value, which BAs deliver in daily doses via three primary skills:
- Elicitation: Facilitating the extraction of information with engaging, interactive techniques.
- Analysis: Integrating information (using lots of visuals), to connect dots and identify gaps.
- Collaboration: Fostering shared understanding through continuous dialog and interaction.
Great BAs use these skills to help stakeholders find and stay focused on value. Believe it or not, our stakeholders may not put much thought into analyzing what is valuable before they make requests. They may not have time or ability to see the real needs of the organization or end user. So, we need to help them!
It’s quite common that a majority of requests are not valuable or not high priority for the organization or the end user. When BAs facilitate this discovery process effectively (using strategic elicitation, analysis and collaboration skills), stakeholders appreciate NOT spending their money and time on the WRONG stuff. They appreciate the efficiency of their value mindset.
A few thought provoking questions:
- Do we understand organization and end user needs enough to guide our teams in the right direction?
- Are we spending time on the right stuff that really advances the strategy of the organization?
- Are we stepping into the role of helping leaders make decisions, priorities and trade offs?
Make time for strategic elicitation, analysis and collaboration and add a little value every day!