New Agile Blog for miahorri

Published by
Maria (Murphy) Horrigan
at 26 November, 2009 in Agile, Business needs, requirements and business analysis. 0 Comments

Yes I know i have been quite lately but in recent months. However i have been active again thsi year,  I have changed jobs and started a new blog with my BFF and project partner, Matt Hodgson. Our blog is called - ZenAgile. 

We started the blog as we found ourselves on a difficult project and started to intuitively use our IA user centred design methodologies to cope with a dynamic and changing requirements environment. We discovered later this was called “Agile”.

So what is ZenAgile? Well Zen Agile is a philosophical approach to leading projects and embracing the ever-present flow of changes to project environment.

I am finding that increasingly as an enterprise BA I am often working on large scale projects and because of my PM and business background, am often called upon to be the “Scrum Master” or “Product Champion” for my business client. Agile is a way for me to help manage the changing requirements and juggle the ever present tension between budgets and functionality. Agile helps me to prioritise features and work more closely with the business to achieve their strategic intent and obtain a win/win for all.

So BA rocks might be a bit quite for awhile, but check out my posts on ZenAgile :)

Mia

Women In information and Communication (WIC) Events 09/10

Published by
Maria (Murphy) Horrigan
at 30 August, 2009 in Women in ICT and inspire. 0 Comments

I have been involved in WIC for awhile and this year am Vice President of the Board so have a huge and challenging job ahead of me.

I am passionate about mentoring and i think that is why i love being involved in WIC. When i was starting out in ICT, there were few female role models for me to identify with or confide in. I found some fantastic male colleagues who were generous with their knowledge and helped me build and grow in this industry and through WIC, i hope to grow as a professional, inspire and mentor others (and not just my female colleagues).

There is a fantastic line up of speakers for this years breakfast series. The theme this year is “My Brilliant Career” and we have invited senior women with ICT in Canberra to come and tell their story. Details of the series are as follows:

2009-10 HOT Breakfast Series - Women in Leadership - My Brilliant Career

2009-10 HOT Breakfast Dates

  • Thursday 10 September 2009 – Ann Steward, Australian Government CIO

  • Thursday 15 October 2009 – Helen Austin, General Manager - Chief Solutions Architect SBR, The Treasury

  • Thursday 12 November 2009 – Narelle Dotta, CIO, Department of Veteran Affairs

  • Thursday 3 December 2009 – Kate Muir, Assistant Secretary, Department of Human Services

  • Thursday 11 February 2010 – Jenine Borowik, CIO, Australian Bureau of Statistics

  • Thursday 11 March 2010 – Julie Fursman, National Manager, Centrelink

  • Thursday 8 April 2010 – Nerida Gill, 2009 WICked Woman of the Year, Director of Admin Bandit

Each speaker’s story is very different so it should be an interesting series of talks.

WIC’s exceptionally popular annual HOT Breakfast look at the future of technology on all sorts of aspects of daily life, work and the environment..

For those of you not familiar with the HOT Breakfast Series, the aim is to enable you to:

  • Enjoy a HOT Breakfast, while you
  • Hear a HOT Speaker, talk about an
  • Exciting HOT topic.

WIC meetings are held at , The Hall, University House, ANU

7.15 for 7.30am start finishing at 8.30am.

I encourage you to register for the whole series if you can, but if not, come along to the session that seems most relevant to your career. Registration details are on the WIC events section of the website.

Business Analyst World 2009

Published by
Maria (Murphy) Horrigan
at 28 August, 2009 in User centred, Women in ICT, communication and business analysis. 0 Comments

This year I have been asked to give two presentations at BA World in Sydney (6 Jul), Melbourne (13 Jul), Canberra (21 Sep) and Brisbane (6 Oct). This is a great opportunity to talk about some exciting projects I have been involved in and also meet some of my BA colleagues.

The Sydney and Melbourne sessions have been fantastic and I am looking forward to Canberra in a few weeks.

I have put my presentations up on slideshare:

1. Communication and Connectedness in a Networked World and;

2. Capitalising on Female Strengths as a BA.

Hope to see you in Canberra or Brisbane.

What makes a good business analyst

Published by
Maria (Murphy) Horrigan
at 24 August, 2009 in ABAA, Business analyst, communication and business analysis. 3 Comments

At our recent ABAA meeting here in Canberra, Phil Rich, a Senior BA, discussed what makes a good business analyst (presentation is now on slideshare). Phil’s presentation was particularly interesting given his journalism back ground. His key points on journalism and business anlaysis were that:

  • if you can’t interview you can’t get information
  • if you can’t write you can’t communicate
  • if you can’t write quickly, you are already in trouble……

When interviewing, it is important to know who you are interviewing. This is critical and as I discussed in a previous blog on social networking analysis, often we can become unstuck when we work into an interview without doing some background only to find that the this person was the key influencer and you find that you didn’t make teh most of teh  session as you didn’t know “who was who in the zoo”.I recently spoke at BAWorld in Sydney and Melbourne on Communication and Connectedness in our Networked World. I stressed that it is important to know who you are interviewing, not just by their formal position on the organisational chart, but also by style, personality and group role on the project. This helps you identify who are the influencers, gatekeepers, blockers and supporters.

Ultimately one of the keys to successful requirements gathering and interviewing, is to know your audience.

Social Networking Analysis

Published by
Maria (Murphy) Horrigan
at 11 December, 2008 in social computing, communication, requirements and business analysis. 2 Comments

We now live in a networked world and relationships are important to do business and do business well. In order for projects to be successful we must understand:

  • Stakeholder relationships 
  • How people are connected
  • How they communicate
  • Why they are connected

 BAs often need to identify stakeholders and entities, but often it is the social connectedness  and centrality of these stakeholders that is crucial as the relationship between stakeholders often reveals much about the organisations culture, politics and climate. Knowing these social networks can help you to identify who to involve and when to involve them during project activities.

I recently presented to the Australian Business Analysis Association and discussed social networking analysis and how this analysis can be used to help understand the degree, closeness and betweeness of users and stakeholders in order to elicit requirements and enhance project communication.

Social Networking Analysis

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: social media)

By knowing social network position and reltionships I can leverage champions and understand who may be the blockers or gatekeepers. This analysis can also reveal who is the “go to” person for a particular piece of the puzzle and who has great influence within the group and who is the one that others go to for advice and expertise. It also allows me to know who is the person who has the access to others and can help me to quickly disseminate information about the project.——

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Are BA skills in demand and recession proof?

Published by
Maria (Murphy) Horrigan
at 29 November, 2008 in Uncategorized. 2 Comments

With the economic downturn of recent months, the release of the Gershon Review into ICT and a general slowdown in government spending as part of the normal election and budget cycle, I started to think about what skills and capabilities will be needed in teh future and what does this mean for the BA professional.

Lawrence Shatkin recently published “150 Recession Proof Jobs” and suggested that “the best recession-proof jobs are those that are least sensitive to economic downturn, and which have the highest combined scores for pay, projected workforce growth, and number of openings”.

Health-care has traditionally been as a recession proof career and in recent times IT has been seen the same way - that is until there is a large scale burst of the bubble (i.e. the last dotcom crash). So it was a good sign that in this US based analysis, IT jobs take the first three spots. The good news for BAs is that system analyst was the highest ranked job in the list of 150, with data communications analyst  a close second. Shatkin’s top 10 jobs are listed below:

Job Category                                                                       % Growth

1. Computer Systems Analyst                                                      29 %

2. Network System and Data Communications Analyst             53%

3. Network and Computer System Administrators                     27%

4. Registered Nurse                                                                    23%

5. Teachers                                                                                 22%

6. Physical therapist                                                                    27%

7. Physicians and Surgeons                                                        14%

8. Dental Hygienists                                                                   30%

9. Pharmacists                                                                             21%

10. Medical and health Services Management                          16%

So why is it that System Analysts rank so high on the list?

Shatkin suggests that it is  really a question about how collaborative the work is. Business Systems Analysts and Business need to work with the people who produce the information and with the people who are going to use it. BAs need to work in a collaborative fashion, preferably be on-site with the team or  be someone who can communicate very easily with the people on-site. This communication and bridging skills is very pivotal in the project team and has a big impact on the overall success or failure of a project.

Communicating requirements to different stakeholders

Published by
Maria (Murphy) Horrigan
at 15 November, 2008 in Business analyst, communication and requirements. 0 Comments

We have all worked in project teams with vastly different stakeholders. This is challenging as we all think, act, make decisions, listen and want information differently. We therefore need to understand how our stakeholders want to communicate in order to ensure our requirements analysis is effective. This means that as BAs we need to recognise the different styles of behaviour and adapt our style to the audience we are communicating with.

There are many behavioural styles models and most stem from a sales focus to help salespeople better understand customer needs. Most of these types of behavioural models are very generalised and try to explain a very complex thing (behaviour) in an easily digestible form .

I have been using Ron Willingham’s Integrity Selling Behaviour Style Model recently as it is an easy way for me to remember to adjust my style to suit my stakeholder and by knowing my own style or behavioural preference, i can make sure that i compliment rather than clash with my audience or team members.

Like all of these types of models are very generalised and try to explain a very complex thing (behaviour) in an easily digestible form. Essentially this behavioural style model looks at a person’s orientation towards process vs results and their need for recognition vs need for security. This divides behaviour into four main styles:

  • Talker - outgoing, friendly and easy to approach. They are process orientated and need recognition therefore may find making decisions difficult as they don’t want to disappoint anyone.
  • Doer - people who get it done, are action orientated and decisive. They are often pressed for time and make quick decision once they have a grasp of the key facts as they are achievement orientated.
  • Supporter - easygoing, steady and dependable. They are often slow to make decisions as they are detailed minded and want predictability and security. They are risk adverse
  • Controller - Very logical and may appear reserved. They crave facts and information and are very analytical and organised. They will make decisions only after careful consideration as need to get it right is more important than the need to be quick.

Many of my stakeholders have a very different style to me.  I am a “Doer” and a “Controller” so I can be very analytical and results focused so I need to be mindful of bring people along with me rather than trying to push to hard as this is not going to work with my largely “Supporter” risk adverse audience.

It is important to know your own style and use the strengths of this style to communicate to your audience and adapt your style to the different stakeholders you will encounter on a project. When I am working with other Doers, it is great, however it is important to have a mix on a project team so diversity ensures we don’t end up with “group think“. There is no particular style that is better than the other nor one that as BAs we need to adopt in order to be successful. The style to adopt will be contextual and situational so be flexible and think about your audience so that your communication will be effective.

Gershon Review into ICT

Published by
Maria (Murphy) Horrigan
at 10 November, 2008 in Gershon Review, ICT and Impact of technology. 1 Comment

Canberra has been abuzz in ICT circles ever since the Gerson Report into ICT in the federal government arena was announced.  Sir Peter Gershon in 2003 conducted a review into teh UK Public Sector so many in Australia eagerly awaited his review of ICT.

The perception going into the review was that there is massive decentralisation of ICT in government, poor ICT outcomes and the need to strengthen whole of government management of ICT to improve efficiencies and services. However it is important to note that the review was conducted prior to the current economic and financial crisis and the ICT market in Canberra is in the midst of a slow cyclical period. As reported by Intermedium:

“Even before the economy slowed, Government ICT spending slowed as agencies took a conservative approach to procurement in the lead-up to the Federal election. Earlier this year, the impact of a number of Government measures, especially the blunt application of a 2% efficiency dividend on agency spending, began to bite in the ICT market.

The current downturn in ICT spending by the Federal Government does not reflect the economic downturn, but rather the coincidence of three cycles that uniquely affect the public sector: a change of Government (the political cycle); the first year after an election (the electoral cycle); and seasonal spending patterns (the budget cycle). However, what is worrying is that this has occurred as Australia begins to face the full force of the global financial crisis”.

The Gershon Report has been released (Oct 2008) prior to formal comment or acceptance by Cabinet. Many in the industry are trying to unpack the implications of these recommendations for their business to work out whether this is good or bad news. Has the Grinch just stolen Christmas or are there many opportunities to be found under the ICT tree in the post Gershon Review phase?

Here is a snapshot of the recommendations:

  1. Strengthen Pan-Government Governance - establishment of a ministerial committee on ICT
  2. Strengthen Agency Governance - improve agency capability
  3. Tighten Management of ICT Business as Usual (BAU)  Funding - increase development funding compared to BAU
  4. Enhance Management of Australian Public Service (APS) ICT skills base - create career structure including training and development
  5. Develop Data Centre Strategy
  6. Improve Efficiency and Effectiveness of ICT Market place
  7. Develop Whole of Government Sustainability Plan

So is this good news or bad news for the ICT industry? Well it depends. All change is good change so the focus on streamlining process and a whole of government approach may be viewed as a positive step towards making it easier to do business with government. Also the funding of development projects and building capability in ICT is certainly welcome. The question is, how long will it take to have approval for these recommendations and what will be the priorities of the federal government? •

Agile is “so hot right now”

Published by
Maria (Murphy) Horrigan
at 6 November, 2008 in Agile, User centred, Business needs, Business analyst and requirements. 0 Comments

To paraphrase a Zoolander quote, Agile is “so hot right now”. When you ask business areas and IT managers what they are interested in, they respond that they want to be more agile in order to adapt in a changing environment. What is it that everyone wants to be agile? Agile is not new, but it has had a resurgence of late and this is probably due to the fact that in a fast paced world where change is a constant, the word agile seems reassuring and positive, but are we all talking about the same thing?

I asked a BA user group meeting recently what they thought agile meant and they proposed it was about “flexibility”, “adaptability”, “iterations”, “prototyping”,”light weight documentation”, “adapting to change” and “saving time and money”.

There are many Agile Methodologies (AM) including Extreme programming (XP), Feature Driven Development (FDD) and Scrum. Each has its basis in the engineering or project management disciplines and lean more towards one or the other.

XP has its basis from the engineering discipline and focuses on the critical activities required to build the software and requires with developers to be directly involved with project stakeholders who need to actively participate in the process. Scrum tends to come from more a project management focus and it was originally intended for management of software development projects but is now used as a way to run software teams and break the development into sprint cycles to development increments of the software. FDD sits some where between the two and includes explicit modelling activities that is driven from a client valued functionality (feature) perspective. The common themes and threads across all three seem to be user orientation, need for user involvement and the need to resolve uncertainty regarding requirements.

What these AMs have in common is that these agile methods can help streamline your modelling and documentation efforts as they are an enabling technique for evolutionary development. There is a danger that  some may use “agile” as an excuse to having no requirements or no documentation and to just go ahead an build whatever they want without thought to the user or system purpose. This is not in the true spirit of agile.

Agile has become more a philosophy rather than a methodology in the strict sense of the word and that may explain why agile means different things to different people. So whilst it is not easy to tell what agile is, agile is now what we all should subscribe to be.

Communicating requirements is vital

Published by
Maria (Murphy) Horrigan
at 3 November, 2008 in Business Process Modeling, Business analyst and communication. 0 Comments

As BAs, our requirements analysis is not done by simply sitting down at our desk and developing requirements based on a template we used previously. It can only be done by getting out and talking to users about what they require the system to do and then building systems that satisfy these requirements.

Ultimately our requirements analysis results in a specification which clearly describes what needs to be built. The communication of this specification to users and developers is where it gets tricky as there are many different ways that requirements can be specified. There are models, business process maps, use cases, prototypes and simulations. There is no one right path and we need to use the tools and techniques most appropriate to our audience and context.

If the users or the business do not understand what we are specifying in the requirements, then how can they sign off on the specification? Equally, our developers need to use the requirements specification to build the system  and need to be able to understand what the implemented system will look like.

Whilst I like Use Cases, as this was the foundation for me when first learning how to do requirements specifications, I have found more recently, that business process modelling notation (BPMN) is perhaps a better way to communicate to my business user audience. So its not about me and how I like to write requirements, its about my audience (business users and developers) and finding a tool or technique that communicates the requirements in a clear manner and decreases ambiguity.

The communication of the requirements specification in this BPMN visual form is suited to the business user as it is business orientated. Whilst this notation is readily understandable by business users, it also speaks to the technical developers and can help to bridge the gap between business process design and process implementation.

As a communication tool, BPMN clearly shows the end to end process, where the user interacts with the system and how the process may change from the current “as is” process. More and more, the business area is being asked to take an active interest in the development of their business systems so we as BAs need to ensure our tools facilitate communication about requirements.