You Will Learn How To
- Develop a work plan that successfully addresses the needs of a business analyst (BA)
- Define the goals and deliverables of the project and develop the project charter
- Organize, structure and schedule work using breakdown structures, network diagrams and bar charts
- Adopt common and effective techniques to estimate task work and duration that reflect project uncertainty
- Identify, analyze and manage project risks
- Keep the project on track and manage key project controls while meeting stakeholder expectations
Course Benefits
Whether starting from a project's inception or entering a project after it has been established, business analysts must seamlessly integrate their work into the project planning process. To do this successfully requires a well developed and executed work plan. In this course, you learn practical project management methods, tools and techniques to adapt a work plan to the needs of the project and its stakeholders.
Who Should Attend
Business analysts, those who perform the functions of a business analyst or those who may be required to contribute to or lead a project.
An evolving case study immerses you in an authentic project environment, providing practical experience in building a business analysis work plan. Activities include:
- Defining the traits of successful project contributors
- Developing a stakeholder communication plan
- Creating well-defined project tasks
- Calculating the critical path
- Estimating tasks within appropriate tolerances
- Securing resource commitments from stakeholders
- Assessing and communicating risks
- Communicating and presenting your work plan
- Creating a personal action plan for future use
Course 912 Content
The Role of the Business Analyst
Defining your role
- Comparing the BABOK® and PMBOK® Guide frameworks
- Pinpointing where you are in the product life cycle
- Establishing your relationship with the project manager
- Gathering information to get started quickly
Making a commitment to the project
- Uncovering the six traits of successful project contributors
- Determining the requirements for effective personal project management
The Planning Process
Key steps of planning
- Exploring the makeup of a solid BA plan
- Creating the stakeholder communication system
- Synchronizing your plan with the overall project plan
Jump-starting the process
- Formulating the right questions
- Eliciting project constraints
- Assessing impact on business
Influences on the planning process
- Juggling the triple constraint
- Development methodologies
- Stakeholder concerns
Communicating effectively
- Fostering relationships and trust
- Discovering your communication style
- Delivering your message for optimal results
Building the Work Plan
Initiating your project
- Conducting stakeholder analysis
- Determining objectives
- Defining the scope of work
- Creating a project charter for approval
Planning the tasks
- Generating a task list
- Developing the work and organizational breakdown structures
- Listing task attributes and characteristics
- Devising acceptance criteria
Constructing task dependencies
- Identifying the critical path and calculating slack with network diagrams
- Making resource and scheduling decisions using bar charts
Assigning resources
- Assessing resource requirements
- Utilizing a responsibility assignment matrix
Outcomes of the Planning Process
- Deriving the schedule using a Gantt Chart
- Calculating the budget
Creating Accurate Estimates
Estimating effort, duration and costs
- What constitutes a good estimate?
- Identifying standard estimating techniques
Key considerations that affect your project
- Collaborating to encourage ownership of the estimate
- Incorporating a WBS
- Accounting for time/cost trade-offs
Managing Risks
Increasing the probability of success
- Leveraging a Risk Analysis Questionnaire
- Communicating the results
Analyzing potential problems
- Brainstorming adverse risks
- Adding preventive and contingent actions into your plan
Mitigating risks
- Identifying opportunities and threats
- Conducting qualitative and quantitative analysis
- Planning for contingent actions
Executing the Plan
Managing stakeholder expectations
- Controlling scope creep
- Reporting progress
Addressing resistance to change
- Recognizing reasons behind resistance to change
- Defusing resistance
Keeping your piece of the project on track
- Resolving problems with a risk register
- Identifying standard techniques for tracking time and money
Applying Lessons Learned for Future Projects
- Evaluating project objectives
- Documenting methods for continued improvement
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