In AssistKD’s 2024 BA Brew Christmas message the Crew discuss what they are most looking forward to about Christmas and share some very cheesy jokes. Lisa and Kerry are excited about Christmas Day; Mike (or is it Santa?) is going to parkrun, Pete does not need any more socks, and Jo is looking forward to playing Cards Against Humanity with her 90-year-old Grandad! #merrychristmas #BABrew #businessanalysis #businessanalyst #servicedesign #businesschange

Do we need a rebrand of the business analyst role? Experts in the field Debra Paul, Jamie Toyne and Michelle Shakesheff put their heads together to discuss the current BA market, and the ongoing implications for BAs.

Topic discussed include: the current demand for BAs; recruitment challenges; the need for a broad BA skillset; rebranding the BA role; changing the narrative; role clarity; the need for BAs to keep learning; and more!

If you enjoyed this BA Brew, you may find the following resources of interest.

ARTICLES

Filling the Business Analysis Skills Gap

BA Recruitment and Retention: A Multi-Faceted Approach

BA BREWS

Bravery in Business Analysis

BA Skills and How to Develop Them

#businessanalysis #userstories #requirements #BA #BArecruitment #businessanalyst #theBAmarket

The Double Diamond approach is a popular (and fun) design thinking technique designed to help you generate ideas; problem solve; challenge and even reverse assumptions. Our latest BA Brew with Jonathan Hunsley, Lisa Hudson and special guest Liza Laya introduces the framework – discussing its uses, benefits and some real-world applications.

Liza Laya is Head of Technology and Digital Reform at a state government agency in Melbourne, Australia. She has almost 25 years of local and international experience and currently oversees teams responsible for delivering technology and data reforms. 

FURTHER RESOURCES 

This podcast includes mention of the Service Design Consultancy Framework, covered in this article by Jonathan Hunsley: Winging It Doesn’t Work: We Need Professional Service Design | Assist Knowledge Development (assistkd.com) [PLEASE MAKE THIS AN INTERNAL LINK]

Find more useful videos on Service Design in AssistKD’s Service Design playlist. Service Design Playlist Introduction (youtube.com)

Visit AssistKD’s Learning Zone for more Service Design learning resources. You can search by topic in our articles and BA Manager Forum sections. Learning Zone | Information and Articles | Assist Knowledge Development (assistkd.com)

#businesschange #doublediamondframework #servicedesign #service designer #doublediamond #designthinking #cx #customerexperience

Have you heard of Character Crafting and how it can be used to build resilience and leadership skills? In this enlightening chat our special guest, Helen Holder, discusses the positive character traits and behaviours central to the BA role… and how we can develop and maintain them.

Topics discussed include: the Personal Strength inventory; character vs. the cult of personality; identifying your character strengths and weaknesses; developing through practice; and the power of theT Lego persona.

Helen Holder has over 10 years’ experience working as a BA for public sector organisations. Passionate about elevating the BA profession, she volunteers with the @IIBA UK Midlands chapter.

You may find the related articles, blogs and videos of interest

Who Do You Think You Are? Business Analysts and Impostor Syndrome | Assist Knowledge Development

Business Analysts and the Feedback Mindset | Assist Knowledge Development

BOOK REVIEW: Mindset by Carol Dweck | Assist Knowledge Development

BA Brew 76: The Human Element (Feat. Helen Holder) | Assist Knowledge Development

AssistKD’s Team Leadership course covers positive communication, time management, leading a team through change, and more. Team Leadership Training Courses | Business Analysis | Assist Knowledge Development

#businessanalysis #businessanalysis #personalstrengthinventory #BAcompetency #characterstrengths #personaldevelopment #growthmindset

Do you love a success story? BA Apprentice of the Year 2024 Lorna Mylett is this week’s special BA Brew guest. She shares her experience of the Business Analyst Apprenticeship supported by her employers DWP, and AssistKD.

Topics discussed include: learning and applying new skills and understanding; the value of learning as part of a group and having a mentor; and what it’s like to be thrown at the deep end at the IRM UK BA Conference Europe.

If you enjoyed this BA Brew, you may find the following resources of interest.

ARTICLES

Meet Lorna Mylett, Business Analyst Apprentice of the Year 2024

The Business Case for Apprenticeships

My Experience of the Business Analysis Apprenticeship

VIDEOS

BA Brew 27: The BA Apprenticeship

AssistKD’s Business Analyst (Level 4) Apprenticeship Scheme

#BAapprenticeship #apprenticeships #businessanalysis #businessanalyst #talentpipeline

Tricky business problem? Get those (creative) thinking caps on! In this week’s BA Brew the Crew discuss how creative thinking can help business change professionals challenge the status quo, think expansively and come up with effective solutions.

Questions addressed include:

• What is creative thinking?

• How can you create an environment for creative thinking?

• What are the potential barriers?

• What are your top 3 creative thinking techniques?

You may find the following articles, course, free learning and BA Brews useful:

ARTICLES

Zombie Penguin Business Analysts: Creativity Techniques and Divergent Thinking

Creative Thinking/Divergent Thinking

COURSE

Design Thinking Course

FREE LEARNING

NEW Free Learning Course - Creative Problem Solving

BA BREWS

BA Brew 21: Design Thinking (Feat. Kay Hardy)

BA Brew 82: The Double Diamond (feat. Liza Laya)

#servicedesign #divergentthinking #creativityinbusiness #businessanalysis #businessanalyst

If you have ever wanted to know more about psychological safety this brew is a one not to be missed. Jonathan Hunsley and Philippa Thomas are joined by Emma Lee (Chief Psychologist at Matthew Syed Consulting and registered psychologist) to discuss this important topic.

Collectively they explore questions such as:

▶️What is psychological safety?

▶️Why is psychological safety important?

▶️How does psychological safety impact individuals and teams?

▶️How might an absence of psychological safety impact creativity and organisational learning?

▶️How might we develop a culture of psychological safety?

FURTHER RESOURCES

The following BA Brews may be of interest:

BA Brew 80 - Bravery in Business Analysis (feat. Kay Hardy & Charlie Payne)

BA Brew 76: The Human Element (feat. Helen Holder)

BA Brew Episode 60: Imposter Syndrome: Are you an imposter in BA clothing? (feat. Jo Fahy)

BA Brew 49: Mental Health (feat. Petra Velzeboer)

BA Brew 30: Confidence (feat. Philippa Thomas)

BA Brew 20: Resilience (feat. Corrine Thomas)

Books Radical Candor: How to Get What You Want by Saying What You Mean – Kim Scott

Rebel Ideas - Matthew Syed

The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness – Stephen R Covey

#businessanalysis #businessanalyst #baprofessional #psychologicalsafety #MatthewSyed

In this special BA Conference Europe BA Brew, AssistKD CEO Debra Paul is joined by three BA Conference legends: Shane McGlynn, Rachel Levermore, and James Archer (who started the ball rolling in the first place!)

The BA Conference Europe is Europe’s foremost Business Analysis conference, which has evolved over the past 16 years to over 500 attendees and 6 streams of talks.

This BA Brew celebrates:

• the dedication and enthusiasm of the Advisory Board who tune in to the latest thinking and different perspectives

• everyone behind the scenes who helps to make this wonderful conference happen

• the bravery of new speakers, stepping up for their first ever BA Conference presentations

• and most of all, the amazing BA community

Topics discussed include: how the conference has grown, kept current and pushed boundaries; inspirational speakers over the years; memorable moments… and more.

#BA2024 #ProfessionalGrowth #BASkills #Networking #BusinessConference #BAConferenceEurope #businessanalyst #servicedesign #servicedesigner #BA

Are you an Activist, a Theorist, a Pragmatist or a Reflector? Our latest BA Brew could help you find out and get the most from your learning.

The Brew Crew are joined by former Apprentice and now BA at the Environment Agency Cat Warren to talk about some of the different learning models (Kolb, Bloom and Honey and Mumford).

They look at how the different learning approaches work with training courses, course manuals and eLearning and explore how understanding other people’s different learning styles helps with facilitation and stakeholder engagement.

The following resources are relevant to the learning models mentioned in this podcast:

Kolb’s Learning Styles

The Honey and Mumford Learning Model

Bloom’s Taxonomy of Learning

You can find quick overviews of how to use Mind Maps and Rich pictures in the Bitesize Videos section of the AssistKD Learning Zone.

#learningstyles #elearning #businesstrainingcourses #businessanalysis #servicedesign #kolb #honeyandmumford #bloomstaxonomy #learning #training #businesstraining

This BA Brew is AssistKD’s second BA Question Time. Many of the questions focus on role clarity, a hot topic for BAs. Mike Williams is host, with expert panellists Jo Frances and Jonathan Hunsley providing the answers and insights.

This week’s questions are:

❓What is the difference between a Business Analyst and a Business Architect?

❓What is the difference between a Business Analyst and a Service Designer?

❓How can a growth mindset support change professionals in general?

❓ What are the overlaps between a Business Analyst and a Functional Analyst?

Do you have a question our the next BA Question Time? If so, please email us on [email protected] or post on our wall on Instagram, Facebook or LinkedIn.

The following BA Brews and articles are relevant to the topics discussed:

This article on Business Analysis and Business Architecture is based on the workshop run by Victoria Banner and Jonathan Hunsley at the BA Manager Forum in June 2024.

This is an interesting BA Brew on Business Architecture.

BA Brew 22: Business Architecture (Feat. Wouter Nieuwenburg)

This article compares the BA Service Framework and the Service Design Service Framework and addressed the ‘grey area’ between the roles.

This book review is relevant to the growth mindset.

This output from the BA Manager Forum provides some useful information on the growth mindset.

#businessanalysis #businessanalyst #baqt #growthmindset #businessarchitecture #businessarchitect #servicedesign #servicedesigner #functionalanalyst #dataarchitecture #roleclarity