A Guide to the Business Analysis: "Business Analysis Planning and Monitoring" - Part 3

How many tasks are included in the Business Analysis Planning and Monitoring?

The Business Analysis Planning and Monitoring knowledge area includes the following tasks:

1.  Plan Business Analysis Approach
2.  Plan Stakeholder Engagement
3.  Plan Business Analysis Governance
4.  Plan Business Analysis Information Management
5.  Identify Business Analysis Performance Improvement

3. Plan Stakeholder Engagement

3.1. Purpose

 The purpose of Plan Business Analysis Governance is to define how decisions are made about requirements and designs, including reviews, change control, approvals, and prioritization.

Business analysts ensure that a governance process is in place and clarify any ambiguities within in. A governance process identifies the decision makers, process and information required for decisions to be made. A governance process describes how approval and prioritization decisions are made for requirements and designs.

When planning the governance approach, business analysts identify:

•  how business analysis work will be approached and prioritized,
•  what he process for proposing a change to business analysis information is,
•  who has the authority and responsibility to propose changes and who should be involved in the change discussions,
•  who has responsibility for analyzing change requests,
•  who has the authority to approve changes, and
•  how changes will be documented and communicated.

3.2. Inputs

• Business Analysis Approach: incorporating the overall business analysis approach into the governance approach is necessary to ensure consistency across the approaches.
• Stakeholder Engagement Approach: identifying stakeholders and understanding their communication and collaboration needs is useful in determining their participation in the governance approach. The engagement approach may be updated based on the completion of the governance approach.

3.3. Elements

3.3.1. Decision Making

Decisions are made throughout the initiative. A stakeholder may serve in various roles in the decision-making process such as:

•  participant in decision-making discussions,
•  subject matter expert (SME) lending experience and knowledge to the decision-making process.
•  reviewer of information, and
•  approver of decisions.

The decision making process defines what happens when teams cannot reach consensus, by identifying escalation paths and key stakeholders who hold final decision-making authority.

3.3.2. Change Control Process

When business analysts develop a change control process, they:

• Determine the process for requesting changes: specify with requirements and designs the change control process covers and determine whether it applies to all changes or only to changes of a specific size, cost, or level of effort. This process details the steps for proposing a change, when changes can be proposed, who can propose changes and how change requests are communicated.
• Determine the elements of the change request: identify the information to be included in a proposal to support decision making and implementation iif it is approved. Possible components to consider on a change request are Cost and Time Estimation, Benefits, Risks, Priority, Course of Action.
• Determine how changes will be prioritized: the priority of the proposed change is established relative to other competing interests within the current initiative.
•  Determine how changes will be documented: configuration management and traceability standards establish product baselines and version control practices that identify which baseline is affected by the change.
• Determine how changes will be communicated: how proposed changes, changes under review, and approved, declined, or deferred changes will be communicated to stakeholders.
• Determine who will perform the impact analysis: specify who is responsible for performing and analysis of the impacts the proposed change will have across the initiative.
• Determine who will authorized changes: include a designation of who can approve changes and what business analysis information their authority covers.  

3.3.3. Plan Prioritization Approach

Timelines, expected value, dependencies, resource constraints, adopted methodologies, and other factors influence how requirements and designs are prioritized.

When planning the prioritization process, business analysts determine the:

•  formality and rigors of the prioritization process,
•  participants who will be involved in prioritization,
•  process for deciding how prioritization will occur, including which prioritization techniques will be utilized, and
•  criteria to be used for prioritization.

3.3.4. Plan for Approvals

An approval formalizes the agreement between all stakeholders that the content and presentation of the requirements and designs are accurate, adequate, and contain sufficient detail to allow for continued progress to be made.

The timing and frequency of approvals are dependent on the size and complexity of the change and associated risks of foregoing or delaying an approval. 

The business analyst must determine the type of requirements and designs to be approved, the timing for approvals, the process to follow to gain approval, and who will approve the requirements and designs. 

When planning the appropriate approval process, business analyst consider the organizational culture and type of information being approved.

Planning for approvals also includes the schedule of events where approvals will occur and how they will be tracked. Stakeholder availability, attitude, and willingness to engage determine the efficiency of the approval process and may significantly affect delivery timelines.

3.5. Guidelines and Tools

• Business Analysis Performance Assessment: provides  results of previous assessments that should be reviewed and incorporated into all planning approaches.
• Business Policies: define the limits within which decisions must be made. They may be described by regulations, contracts, agreements, warranties, certifications or other legal obligations.
• Current State Descriptions: provides the context within which the work needs to be completed. This information can help drive how to make better decisions.
• Legal / Regulatory Information: describes legislative rules or regulations that must be followed, and can be used to help develop a framework that ensures sound business decision making.

3.6. Techniques

•  Brainstorming: used to generate an initial list of potential stakeholder names who may need approval roles in the defined governance process.
•  Document Analysis: used to evaluate existing governance processes or templates.
•  Interviews: used to identify possible decision-making, change control, approval, or prioritization approaches and participants with an individual or small group.
•  Item Tracking: used to track any issues that arise when planning a governance approach.
•  Lessons Learned: used to find if past initiative have identified valuable experiences with governance that can be leveraged on current or future initiative.
•  Lesson Learned: used to find if past initiatives have identified valuable experiences with governance that can be leveraged on current or future initiative.
•  Organizational Modelling: used to understand roles/responsibilities within the organization in an effort to define a governance approach that involves the right stakeholders.
•  Process Modelling: used to document the process or method for governing business analysis.
•  Reviews: used to review the proposed governance plan with key stakeholders.
•  Survey or Questionnaire: used to identify possible decision-making, change control, approval, or prioritization approaches and participants.
•  Workshops: used to identify possible decision making, change control, approval, or prioritization approaches and participants within a team setting. 

3.7. Stakeholders

• Domain Subject Matter Expert: may be a possible source of a requested change or may be identified as need to be involved in change discussions.
• Project Manager:  works with the business analyst to ensure that overall project governance aligns with the business analysis governance approach.
• Regulator:  may impose rules or regulations that need to be considered when determining the business analysis governance plan.
• Sponsor:  can impose their own requirements for how business analysis information should be managed. Participates in change discussions and approves proposed changes.
  
  

3.8. Outputs

" Governance Approach identifies the stakeholders who will have the responsibility and authority to make decisions about business analysis work including who will be responsible for setting priorities and who will approve changes to business analysis information. It also defines the process that will be utilized to manage requirement and design changes across the initiative. " 

Appendix: Plan Business Analysis Governance Input / Output Diagram

A Guide to the Business Analysis: "Business Analysis Planning and Monitoring" - Part 2

How many tasks are included in the Business Analysis Planning and Monitoring?

The Business Analysis Planning and Monitoring knowledge area includes the following tasks:

1.  Plan Business Analysis Approach
2.  Plan Stakeholder Engagement
3.  Plan Business Analysis Governance
4.  Plan Business Analysis Information Management
5.  Identify Business Analysis Performance Improvement

2. Plan Stakeholder Engagement

2.1. Purpose

The purpose of Plan Stakeholder Engagement is to plan an approach for establishing and maintaining effective working relationships with stakeholders.

Plan Stakeholder Engagement involves conducting a thorough stakeholder analysis to identify all of the involved stakeholders and analyze their characteristics. The results of the analysis are then utilized to define the best collaboration and communication approaches for the initiative and to appropriately plan for stakeholder risks.

2.2. Inputs

• Needs: understanding the business need and the parts of the enterprise that it affects helps in the identification of stakeholders. The need may evolve as stakeholder analysis is performed.
• Business Analysis Approach: incorporating the overall business analysis approach into the stakeholder analysis, collaboration, and communication approaches is necessary to ensure consistency across the approaches.

2.3. Elements

2.3.1 Perform Stakeholder Analysis

Stakeholder analysis involves identifying the stakeholder (who will be directly or indirectly impacted by the change) and their characteristics, as well as analyzing the information once collected. Stakeholder analysis is performed repeatedly as business analysis activities continue.

A thorough and detailed stakeholder list ensures that stakeholders are not overlooked. Understanding who the stakeholders are, the impact of proposed changes on them, and the influence they may have on the change is vital to understanding what needs, wants, and expectations must be satisfied by a solution. If stakeholders are not identified, the business analyst may miss uncovering critical needs. Stakeholder needs uncovered late will often require a revision to business analysis tasks that are either in progress or are completed. This can result in increased costs and decreased stakeholders satisfaction. 

Business analysts identify stakeholder roles in order to understand where and how the stakeholders will contribute to the initiative. It is important that the business analyst is aware of the various roles a stakeholder is responsible for within the organization.

Attitude of Stakeholders can positively or negatively impact a change. Business Analysts identify stakeholder attitudes in order to fully understand what may impact a stakeholder's actions and behaviors. Knowing how a stakeholder perceives the initiative allows an opportunity for the business analyst to specifically plan their collaboration and engagement with that stakeholder.

Business analyst analyze stakeholder attitudes about:

•  business goals, objectives of the initiative, and any proposed solutions
•  business analysis in general
•  the level of interest in the change
•  the sponsor
•  team members and other stakeholders, and
•  collaboration and a team-based approach.

Stakeholders with positive attitudes may be strong champions and great contributors. Other stakeholders may not see value in the work, may misunderstand the value being provided, or may be concerned about the effect the change will have on them.

Also, business analysts have to identify the authority level a stakeholder possesses over business analyst activities, deliverables, and changes to business analysis work.

Understanding authority levels upfront eliminates confusion during the business analysis effort and ensures the business analyst collaborates with proper stakeholders when looking for a decision to be made or seeking approvals. In additional, understanding the nature of influence and the influence structures and channels within an organization can prove invaluable when seeking to build relationships and trust. Understanding the influence and attitude each stakeholder may can help develop strategies for obtaining buy-in and collaboration. If there is a mismatch between the influence is needed to implement a change compared to the amount of influence and key stakeholders can bring.

2.3.2 Define Stakeholder Collaboration

To be ensuring effective collaboration with stakeholders is essential for maintain their engagement in business analysis activities. Collaboration can be a spontaneous event. However, much collaboration is deliberated and planned, with specific activities and outcomes determined ahead of time during planning activities. 

The business analyst may plan different collaboration approaches for internal and external stakeholders, and approaches may differ by business analysis activity.

The objective is to select the approaches that work best to meet the needs of each stakeholder group and ensure their interest and involvement is maintained across the initiative. Some considerations when planning collaboration include:

•  timing and frequency of collaboration,
•  location,
•  available tools such as "wikis" and online communities,
•  delivery method such as in-person or virtual, and
•  preference of the stakeholders.

2.3.3 Stakeholder Communication Needs

The business analyst evaluates:

•  what needs to be communicated,
•  what is the appropriate delivery method (written or verbal),
•  who the appropriate audience is,
•  when communication should occur
•  frequency of communication,
•  level of detail appropriate for the communication and stakeholder, and
•  level of formality of communications.

2.4 Guidelines and Tools

- Business Analysis Performance Assessment: provides results of previous assessments that should be reviewed and incorporated.

- Change Strategy: used for improved assessment of stakeholder impact and development of more effective stakeholder engagement strategies.

- Current State Description: provides the context within which the work needs to be completed. This information will lead to more effective stakeholder analysis and better understanding of the impact of the desired change.

 2.5 Techniques

- Brainstorming: used to produce the stakeholder list and identify stakeholder roles and responsibilities.

- Business Rules Analysis: used to identify stakeholders who were the source of the business rules.

- Document Analysis: used to review existing organizational assets that might assist in planning stakeholder engagement.

- Interviews: used to interact with specific stakeholders to gain more information or knowledge about stakeholder groups.

- Lesson Learned: used to identify an enterprise's previous experience (both successes and challenge) with planning stakeholder engagement.

- Mind Mapping: used to identify potential stakeholders and help understand the relationships between them.

- Organizational Modelling: used to determine if the organizational units or people listed have any unique needs and interests that should be considered. Organizational models describe the roles and functions in the organization and the ways in which stakeholders interact which can help to identify stakeholders who will be affected by a change.

- Process Modelling: used to categorize stakeholders by the systems that support their business processes.

- Risk Analysis and Management: used to identify risks to the initiative resulting from stakeholder attitudes or the inability of key stakeholders to participate in the initiative.

- Scope Modelling: used to develop scope models to show stakeholders that fall outside the scope of the solution but still interact wit it in some way.

- Stakeholder List, Map, or Personas: used to depict the relationship of stakeholders to the solution and to one another.

- Survey or Questionnaire: used to identify shared characteristics of a stakeholder group.

- Workshop: used to interact with groups of stakeholders to gain more information about stakeholder groups.

 2.6 Stakeholders

Stakeholders in this section include:

- Customers: a source of external stakeholders.

- Domain Subject Matter Expert: may help to identify stakeholders and may themselves be identified to fulfill one or more roles on the initiative.

- End User: a source of internal stakeholders.

- Project Manager: may be able to identify and recommend stakeholders. Responsibility for stakeholder identification and management may be shared with the business analyst.

- Regulator: may require that specific stakeholder representatives or groups be involved in the business analysis activities.

- Sponsor: may request that specific stakeholders be involved in the business analysis activities.

- Suppliers: a source of external stakeholders.

 2.7 Outputs

Stakeholder Engagement Approach contains a list of the stakeholders, their characteristic which were analyzed, and a listing of roles and responsibilities for the change. It also identifies the collaboration and communication approaches the business analyst will utilize during the initiative. 

Appendix: Plan Stakeholder Engagement Input / Output Diagram