The PMI Guide to Business Analysis for Managing Product and Project Requirements with Joyce Brown and Thomas McCabe
What You Will Learn
Upon completion of this training, learners will be able to:
- Identify the evolving roles and skill sets of the business analyst in a range of contexts: product, project, program and portfolio management.
- Demonstrate the art and science of requirements elicitation and elaboration, along with tailoring of the development approach: predictive, hybrid (iterative or incremental), and adaptive.
- Lead stakeholders in developing a strategic plan, needs assessment and gap analysis, resulting in business case, benefits management plan and project charter.
Description
Every business analyst has experienced that sinking feeling when a major requirement pops up late in the project, often impacting scope, schedule and cost. The PMI Guide to Business Analysis provides a structured approach to identifying the business need and confirming its strategic value in the context of product, portfolio, program, and project management. This PMI standard provides an important deep dive into the critical competencies to help a business analyst work with stakeholders to elicit, model, prioritize, verify, validate and monitor requirements.
The training will begin with discussion of the evolving role of the business analyst and their sphere of influence. The relationships among the standard’s six Knowledge Areas and six Process Groups will then be explored, with tailoring activities to adapt the business analysis processes to specific life cycles (predictive to agile). The training emphasizes the critical first step in business analysis—a needs assessment—conducted to ensure that portfolio components, products, programs, and projects can provide the expected business value. A case study will walk the group through the needs assessment process, ending in the development of the business case, benefits management plan, and charter. Following these critical pre-initiating and initiating activities, participants will discuss the business analysis planning activities that are required and agreed upon.
The importance of establishing business metrics and measurements will be stressed. Instruction will move to techniques for defining, elaborating, verifying, and prioritizing requirements and developing a traceability and monitoring approach. The group will prepare a SWOT analysis for a case study product in order to identify and analyze risks. Throughout the training, techniques for establishing and maintaining stakeholder engagement will also be emphasized, with a review of tools for analyzing stakeholders, facilitating consensus, and communicating requirements status.
Instruction will be supplemented with case studies, hands-on team exercises, group sharing, games, and other activities that are intended to engage learners and provide them with tangible takeaways. Attendees will work in teams to create key business analysis artifacts.
AGENDA
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- Introductions
- Projects, Programs, Portfolios, and Products
- Importance of Requirements Management for Business Value Creation
- Changing Role of the Business Analyst and Their Sphere of Influence
- Business Analyst Versus Project Manager
- Business Analysis Process Groups and Knowledge Areas From the Standard
- Stakeholder Identification and Needs Assessment Overview
- Identify Problem or Opportunity
- Assess Current State
- Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT/TOWS)
- Case Studies, Discussions, Examples, and Games
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- Needs Assessment Overview (Continued)
- Determine Future State
- Determine Viable Options and Provide Recommendations
- Develop Business Case, Benefits Management Plan, and Project Charter
- Stakeholder Analysis Models and Stakeholder Register
- Tailor Business Analysis Planning for Predictive, Iterative, Adaptive, and Incremental Projects
- Case Studies, Discussions, Examples, and Games
- Needs Assessment Overview (Continued)
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- Agile Scope Is Flexible
- Product Vision
- Feature Roadmaps, Releases, Product Backlogs, and User Stories
- Determine Elicitation Approach and Prepare and Conduct Elicitation
- Five Categories of Analysis Models
- Case Studies
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- Define and Elaborate Requirements and Associated Acceptance Criteria
- Validate Versus Verify Requirements
- Prioritize Requirements – General Tools and Techniques
- Agile Prioritization Schemes
- Risk Management Processes
- Assess Product Design Options
- Select, Approve, and Baseline Requirements
- Manage Changes to Requirements
- Wrap-Up and Next Steps
PDU Allocation Table
Ways of Working | Power Skills | Business Acumen | Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|
CAPM® / PMI-CP™ / PMP® / PgMP® | 8 | 10 | 10 | 28.00 |
PMI-ACP® / Agile* | 0 | 10 | 10 | 20.00 |
PMI-SP® | 0 | 10 | 10 | 20.00 |
PMI-RMP® | 0 | 10 | 10 | 20.00 |
PfMP® | 2 | 10 | 10 | 22.00 |
PMI-PBA® | 6 | 10 | 10 | 26.00 |