Over the past few years, there has been a growing trend within the business world that affects the Business Analysis community.  Quite simply, companies are attempting to reduce some overhead costs and reduce resource constraints by asking their Business Analysts to do more.  In the past, the majority of companies had the traditional Business Analysts responsible for business need identification, process refinement, requirement elicitation, documentation, and problem solving.  But now, Business Analysts are being asked to have a wider skill set in order to also perform functions of Project Management and Software Testing.  Since many Business Analysts don’t have experience or training in these additional areas, anxieties are on the rise.

Fear not, The BA Guide is here to help!  The mission of The BA Guide is to both break down the barriers to becoming a Business Analyst, as well as keeping your skills sharp with the latest techniques, tools, and best practices.  As this trend has emerged, I immediately began work on supplementing my core Business Analyst Fundamentals online training course with other courses to provide the knowledge necessary to allow BAs to also confidently perform Project Management and Software Testing.

In late July 2016, I launched Project Management for the Business Analyst.  This online self-paced course teaches you how to…

  • Initiate a project by creating a Business Case, understand the Business Objective, and create a Project Charter
  • Manage stakeholders by identifying, categorizing, mapping, and assigning them responsibilities
  • Appropriately plan for a project by creating a Project Schedule, Communication Plan, Quality Plan, and Go Live Plan
  • Keep the project progressing forward while also ensuring the project team and sponsor are up to speed on the project status and any risks
  • Properly elicit feedback and identify lessons learned to dictate changes on future projects

The immediate feedback I received from students was outstanding.  Here are some of the quotes from students:

  • “Stays on topic well. Has good insight between the BA and PM worlds.” -Mike H
  • “This was an excellent course. Content and presentation brilliant. I learnt a lot and will certainly be putting it into practice. Thanks!” -Dave S
  • “I am a student with no prior formal knowledge on Business Analysis. Course material and explanations are clear, well illustrated, enhanced with examples and professional choice of words. Instructor is easy to follow. Content digs deep enough into the topic to get me a good idea what to do when and how. Practical, comprehensive, highly recommend!” -Rob G

Now that I have the Project Management skill set accounted for, my focus transitions to the next one, Software Testing.  There is a tremendous amount of work I need to put in yet to keep up with these industry changes, but I feel good because I am making strides towards the finish line.  

With now understanding this trend is happening, what steps are you going to take to be prepared?

– Written by Jeremy Aschenbrenner,  The BA Guide