Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Business Analysis Communication and Collaboration

The Business Analyst's role is pivotal and he is required to maintain a high level of coordination with the business and technical teams on a continuous basis during the solution life cycle.

Communicate and Collaborate:
Yes, the key aspect of the communication goal must be to forge collaborative relationships as the active participation of stakeholders is a must in order to create a successful solution. Based on this primary goal, the Business Analyst can set-up the agenda for communication. Here are a few guidelines to achieve the same:

Code of Conduct: 

Establish a code of conduct at the very outset. This will provide guidelines and create a set of expectations for everyone. This also helps avoid unnecessary confusion.

The code of conduct must be communicated to key stakeholders and, if required, their agreement must be obtained after incorporating any feedback.

Create an Environment of Trust and Respect: 
An environment of trust is created through consistent, clear and focused communication that is timely and updated at regular intervals.

Creating an environment of trust and respect is the key to the success of a project. For that, the Business Analyst must take the lead in communicating information correctly and consistently about the plan, outcome of proposed goals and their foreseeable benefits to stakeholders and organization.

Setting the correct tone, fulfilling promises, obtaining feedback and incorporating them while building the solution, providing regular feedback on stakeholder contribution and creating an atmosphere of transparency, all go a long way in ensuring success of the proposed solution.

Reduced email communication and encouraging more interaction over the phone or interpersonal meetings not only help improve understanding but also aid in avoiding unnecessary work.

Time Zones: 
Be sensitive to the time zones while setting-up meetings or even sending out emails to recipients.

Understand Stakeholders: 
Organize meetings for the entire team to understand everyone's needs, concerns and skills. This data will also help to build the base to design the best possible solution.

Understanding the stakeholder background such as his educational and professional experience, and cultural background, help minimizes confusion and conflict. If a stakeholder is new to the organization’s culture, either explain the same to him in detail or provide him with the communication policy to bring him on the same page.

Addressing concerns helps in bringing out the stakeholder’s attitude towards the proposed solution and in what way he can contribute to the proposed solution. This information will support the Business Analyst in planning his strategy throughout the business analysis life cycle.

Focus on Goals and Managing Expectations: 
Communication should always be focused on the goal while discussing issues, risks, plans or anything else during meetings. These goals must be part of the opening discussion of the meeting/workshop to remind everyone about their respective areas of focus.

Face Conflict: 
Conflict may arise due to various factors and the Business Analyst must plan his strategy to both confront and defuse the situation. Regular discussions and feedback from individual and team meetings effectively help to deal with conflicts.

Manage Technology: 
Technological interventions are required to manage in-person or virtual meetings. They may include audio-visual set-ups, telephones, projectors, and other connectivity. These need to be planned well in advance.

More about Business Analysis, The way you can understand all... over 200 questions and elaborated answers.

In India Order link 
https://www.amazon.in/dp/B074PRQQ5V or Global Order link https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074PRQQ5V
Business Analysis: The Question And Answer Book

References:


http://www.forbes.com/sites/mikemyatt/2012/04/04/10-communication-secrets-of-great-leaders/


http://www.forbes.com/sites/theyec/2013/06/07/five-ways-to-build-an-effective-team/


Communication Strategies for Virtual Teams by Debbie DuFrene & Carol M Lehman, (pp.31-35) Business Expert Press LLC, 2011, ISBN: 13-978-160649-260-4


http://www.forbes.com/sites/iese/2013/06/20/managing-virtual-teams-ten-tips/


Effective Communication in the Organization by Michael Fielding, Juta & Co. (Pty Ltd), 2005, ISBN 0 7021 6650 2


Copyright (C) Sandhya Jane

#BusinessAnalysis, #BusinessAnalysisTraining #Businessanalyst #Training #certification #ANISAN #ANISANtechnologies #SandhyaJane #communication #collaboration #howtolauchbusinessanalystcareer #businessanalysiscourse #career #businessanalysiscareer #BusinessAnalysis #career #BusinessAnalysiscourse #BusinessAnalyst #Chennai #Delhi #Bangalore #Gurgaon #HongKong #Hyderabad #Mumbai #Pune #SandhyaJane #ANISAN #technologies #BusinessAnalysisTraining #certification #Dubai #sydney #London #Tokyo #Shanghai #Beijing #careerpath #businessnalaysiscareer #BA Sandhya Jane, San Francisco, Bangalore, Beijing, Chennai, Delhi, Dubai, Hong Kong, Johannesburg, Kuala Lumpur, London, Mumbai, Hong Kong, New York City, Shanghai, Delhi, Dubai, Sydney, Tokyo, UK, USA, India, China, Australia, Business analysis consulting, consulting services


1 comment:

  1. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for your feedback!
Please do not add any promotional link or website or products as they will be removed. If you wish to create an advt to promote your products, services and company on my blog, please write to me at - sandhya@anisans.com