Author Archives: Jeffrey

Skills for Success: Professional Development Day @ IIBA Minn / St. Paul

I will be giving a new version of my talk about Behavior Based Requirements at this year’s Professional Development Day in Minneapolis / St. Paul. I am excited because I have reworked the entire presentation to both show my passion and give attendees a chance to practice using the Given-When-Then requirements format. The conference title …

April 9, 2013 – 9:00 am | By Jeffrey | Posted in business analysis, presentations | Tagged , , , | Comments (1)

Mastering & Improving …

I am honored to be a guest contributor to ThoughtWorks Studios’ blog this week. This post coalesces some of my thinking about the effort Business Analysts should be putting forth to grow as individuals and as a profession. Please go check out and comment on Mastering and Continuously Improving Stories with Shu Ha Ri. It …

April 5, 2013 – 12:16 pm | By Jeffrey | Posted in business analysis | Comments (0)

Moderating: Core Competencies & Building the Better BA

The IIBA Dallas Chapter is hosting their inaugural Professional Development Day on Saturday, April 6. Here’s an information link for more details. I will be moderating a panel over lunch, discussing the keynote address, Core Competencies given by Dr. Joyce Statz. I hope to see you there!

April 5, 2013 – 12:05 pm | By Jeffrey | Posted in business analysis, presentations | Comments (0)

Be Like Aaron

A colleague of mine died on Friday and the internet is aflame with sorrow and anger. I pray his family sees the outpouring and feels within the lives he touched and love he generated. Aaron Swartz, a technical prodigy and activist was being prosecuted for allegedly stealing thousands of documents. A quick search will leads you to …

January 15, 2013 – 1:06 am | By Jeffrey | Posted in ThoughtWorks | Comments Off

Measuring the Analysis Process

I’ve previously written about measuring requirements and business analysts. I am concluding the series with my current thoughts on measuring the analysis process. This quote is a truism is because it’s how we work. Measurements help us identify areas we should focus on or improve. Measurements let us know when we succeeded, or not. I love the …

January 2, 2013 – 8:00 am | By Jeffrey | Posted in building teams, business analysis | Tagged , | Comments (2)

Measuring Business Analysts; Don’t KPI Me

Good managers often ask, “How do I know my team is performing well? How can I spot which folks need help? Who should I reward for a job well done?” In today’s busy world, where managers have significant responsibilities in addition to nurturing their team, measurements and metrics can be a a help. Unfortunately, it …

December 19, 2012 – 7:26 pm | By Jeffrey | Posted in business analysis | Tagged , | Comments (1)

Read “Discover to Deliver”

In Discover to Deliver: Agile Product Planning & Analysis, Ellen Gottesdiener (author of The Software Requirements Memory Jogger and Requirements by Collaboration) and Mary Gorman tackle one of the largest problems facing Agile and Scrum software projects, how to successfully integrate the ideas and tools made so popular over the last decade into working, valuable solutions.

November 27, 2012 – 8:20 pm | By Jeffrey | Posted in book review, business analysis | Tagged , , | Comments Off