It’s the Season 2 finale! In this episode the crew discuss Resilience with an expert on the subject, Corrine Thomas. Corrine talks about how BA tools can help build resilience at work and in our personal lives, for example the ‘Sarah Curve’ as a framework for dealing with emotions during times of change.

Jonathan comes up with the term ‘Resilience well’, which Debbie thinks should be patented immediately. The team share their ways of dealing with difficulty including talking to trusted friends, box sets during lockdown, NLP techniques, having something to look forward to, running, meditation and even bee keeping.

Participants: AssistKD’s Debra Paul, Jonathan Hunsley and Mike Williams. With Corrine Thomas, Leadership, Careers and Resilience coach and mentor.

You can watch our BA Manager’s Forum webinar on Understanding and Building Resilience here, and download the handout accompanying the forum with useful reference materials here.

For support in dealing with difficulty and mental health challenges at work, find free resources from Mind by clicking here. 

Click here to buy Business Analysis Techniques: 123 essential tools for success.

The crew are in fine form, celebrating the brand new edition of Business Analysis Techniques. With 123 tools and techniques for the BA to choose from, the skill is in knowing which to use in different contexts.

MoSCoW, POPIT™, CATWOE, Johari Window and more… Debbie, Jonathan and Andrew share their favourites and those they think are underrated. They go on to discuss why some techniques are controversial and how the best can be applied to our day to day as well as our work lives.

Andrew Kell ends the podcast with an exceptionally cheesy joke, which may (or may not) be worth listening to the end for.

Click here to buy Business Analysis Techniques: 123 essential tools for success.

Participants: AssistKD’s Debra Paul, Jonathan Hunsley and Andrew Kell.

Are you happy at work? It makes all the difference. Today the crew talk about the impact of workplace culture on our happiness and productivity. James Robertson – author, problem-solver and requirements engineering guru – is our expert guest. We discuss the differences between positive and toxic cultures; how measuring performance can be counter-productive; the importance of a supportive and confident team; Belbin’s team roles (https://www.belbin.com/about/belbin-team-roles) and more… including the cathartic benefits of a good old moan.

Click here to buy James Robertson’s book: Happy to Work Here: Understanding and Improving the Culture at Work.

Participants: AssistKD’s Debra Paul and Mike Williams with James Robertson, consultant, author and principal of the Atlantic Systems Guild (https://systemsguild.eu/) think tank.

The best BAs are passionate about the subject and their specialisms, constantly updating their skills and techniques ‘toolkit’ and growing their understanding throughout their careers.
Our guest on this BA Brew is the ever inspiring Sam Merrick, who talks to the crew about how he developed a hunger for learning, taking ownership of his career and self-funding many of the courses he has taken.
Topics discussed include: the ‘virtuous circle’ of sharing learning; motivation and rewards; how to learn from life experiences; the importance of developing self-awareness and the importance of a great mentor. 

Participants: AssistKD’s Mike Williams and Jonathan Hunsley with Sam Merrick, Lead Business Analyst at Shell Energy and Director at IIBA UK.

We’re joined by Lynda Girvan for a thought-provoking chat about what ‘Organisational Agility’ really means. The popular buzz-phrase ‘has been well and truly put to the test in the last 18 months, as businesses have adapted (or not) to changes brought about by the global pandemic. We discuss how business leaders have had to ‘walk the walk’ and how the Business Analysis toolkit can be used to challenge assumptions, change mind-sets and achieve successful outcomes.  

Participants: AssistKD’s Debra Paul, Jonathan Hunsley with Lynda Girvan, Head of Business Analysis at CMC Partnership Consultancy. 

The crew are joined by Karl Wiegers, who challenges us to think more purposefully about good and bad design. Indeed there is so much poor design to be found in the everyday that Karl has published a book on the subject. Lots to consider for any BA who is serious about championing the user and customer experience, and a wake up call for all requirements engineers.  

Buy Karl Wiegers' new book The Thoughtless Design of Everyday Things here.  

Participants: AssistKD’s Mike Williams and Jonathan Hunsley with software consultant and author Karl Wiegers.

Move over Game of Thrones, in this episode of the BA Brew we discuss the sometimes dynastic struggle between the Business Analyst and Product Owner roles. Who will be King (or Queen) and will BAs truly rule the world one day? Listen in to find out. 

Participants: AssistKD’s Debra Paul and Mike Williams with Geertje Appel, Business Analyst and Trainer at Le Blanc Advies.

The BA Brew crew get to grips with the tricky question of the necessity of requirements. They argue that, when engineered appropriately for the working context, requirements should stand the test of time and not be thrown out with the waterfall bathwater. Listen out for Jonathan’s mini-rant (pattern emerging here) and Debbie’s Use Case Diagram confession. One not to be missed! 

Participants: AssistKD’s Debra Paul, Jonathan Hunsley and Mike Williams.

Who better to discuss the key aspects of leadership with than the 2020 BA of the Year? No need then to shell out on a pile of leadership books (unless you want to impress with your Zoom background). ‘Hollow leadership’ is rightly called out and a simple word count will tell you just how important passion, empathy, trust and transparency are, particularly in troubled times. 

Participants: AssistKD’s Debra Paul and Jonathan Hunsley with Tazeem Wafa, Business Analyst Manager at the Bank of England and BA of the Year 2020.

The BA Brew crew tackle the age old dilemma of delivering immediate vs. longer term outcomes. If you think MVP is the ‘go to’ acronym of the day, you might want to think again. Prepare yourself for OMBO and for the very switched on cookies amongst you, OMBOC (Optimal Mutually Beneficial Outcome in Context) might become your new mantra. Listen on! 

Participants: AssistKD’s Debra Paul, Jonathan Hunsley and Mike Williams.