Customer Discovery - business analyst roles and responsibilities

Question 1

what do business analysts do

Answer 1

facilitate collaboration between the business and technology teams of an organization

participate in all phases of the project to ensure successful delivery, ending with presenting and monitoring final deliverables

Question 2

skills business analysts need

Answer 2

soft skills
analysis of business needs - define business needs
eliciting requirements - gather input from stakeholders
writing business cases - what, why, how, who of project
reviewing requirements - document
creating flows, diagrams
wireframing (visually depict processes)
data analytics
problem solving

Question 3

what tasks do BAs do related to elicitation, documentation, and analysis of project requirements?

Answer 3

requirements gathering
document findings
analysis of requirements

Question 4

how do business analysts manage pain points?

Answer 4

Find solutions
facilitate testing in UAT phase, design use cases, obtain sign-off

Question 5

how do business analysts participate in project delivery?

Answer 5

handle communication with stakeholders
ensure on track with timeline, fulfill acceptance criteria

Question 6

Business Analyst Role in Analyze phase

Answer 6

Lead the analyze phase
Gather Requirements
Obtain Sign-off

Question 7

Business Analyst Role in Build Phase

Answer 7

clarify business requirements - user stories are clear
aiding in UAT - ensure bugs are fixed

Question 8

Business Analyst Role in Delivery Phase

Answer 8

solving issues related to user stories, facilitate meetings, keep teams aligned
manage project scope - keep it accurate and modifications won’t impact timeline

Question 9

Business Analyst Role in Operate Phase

Answer 9

review final deliverables with stakeholders
train users and gather feedback

Question 10

business analyst vs admin roles

Answer 10

BA more project management, admin more platform set up

Question 11

What are the technical skills a BA has to have a basic understanding of?

Answer 11

AppExchange
Automation
Collaboration
Data management
Reports and dashboards
CRM
Platform
Sales and Marketing

Question 12

key activities of BA

Answer 12

Communication
Elicitation
Document Requirements
analyze Information
Facilitate solutions
Implement solutions
Test

Question 13

4 misconceptions of BA

Answer 13

need to be super technical
shouldn’t configure on the platform
only needed after project kickoff
only focused on requirements

Question 14

BA Skill - Analysis of business needs

Answer 14

define business needs, have technical understanding to translate to tasks

Question 15

BA Skill - Business Case Definition

Answer 15

write business cases to provide reasoning for project

what, why , how and who of project

Question 16

BA Skill - Elicit Requirements

Answer 16

gather requirements from internal and external project stakeholders

Workshops, interviews, observation, brainstorming

Question 17

BA Skill - Requirements Review

Answer 17

After requirements gathered, document and review project requests to design work plan

Question 18

BA Skills - Flows and Diagrams

Answer 18

visual representations of processes

Question 19

BA skills - Wireframing

Answer 19

break down the processes to depict how processes fit into the business flow

Question 20

BA Skills - problem solving

Answer 20

variety of tools to solve problems identified in the requirements elicitation phase

Question 21

BA Best Practices when running a meeting

Answer 21

always have a presentation prepared

Question 22

BA - what to do when a stakeholder comes to the meeting already with a solution?

Answer 22

If you’re faced with a preemptive solution, encourage the stakeholders to think of what they want to accomplish in generic terms, not in the context of a specific product. Always guide them to think about why they need to do something differently, instead of how to do it differently.

Question 23

what are attention traps?

Answer 23

BA - when getting requirements, one person talks the loudest and is super responsive. You should make a effort to hear everyone out, so you can be sure to be prioritizing the most important item, not just the item the responsive person is saying.

Question 24

In requirements gathering, what should you do to measure success?

Answer 24

Establish benchmarkings! See current state, get measures you can see and compare at end of project