Do you find your team writing the same types of requirements repeatedly, like login processes or audit logging, from scratch on every project?

In this episode of Business Analysis Simplified, Michael and Emily explore the power of reusing requirements to save time, reduce rework, and maintain consistency across your projects. They explain how reusing requirements isn’t lazy—it’s strategic.

You’ll learn:

• What types of requirements are ideal for reuse.

• How to capture, store, and manage reusable requirements effectively.

• How to adapt reusable requirements to fit specific project contexts.

• A real-world example of how reusing requirements accelerated delivery while ensuring compliance.

If you’re a BA, product owner, or delivery lead, this episode will help you work smarter, not harder, while maintaining quality.

Projects often fail to meet expectations because quality attributes like performance, usability, and security are vague or undefined. “Fast,” “secure,” and “easy to use” mean different things to different people.

In this episode of Business Analysis Simplified, Michael and Emily discuss how to specify and manage quality attributes clearly so you can build solutions that truly meet user and business expectations.

You’ll learn:

• What quality attributes are and why they’re essential.

• How to turn vague terms like “fast” into measurable, testable requirements.

• How to balance quality expectations with project constraints.

• A real-world example showing how clear quality attributes prevented rework.

If you’re a BA, product owner, or project lead, this episode will help you define “good enough” in a way your team can design, build, and test with confidence.

Many teams jump straight into feature lists without understanding what users truly need to accomplish with the solution. This often leads to bloated products and missed user needs.

In this episode of Business Analysis Simplified, Michael and Emily discuss how shifting from a “feature request” mindset to a task and workflow focus can transform your requirements gathering and solution design.

You’ll learn:

• Why asking “What do you need to do?” is more powerful than “What features do you want?”

• A structured way to uncover real user workflows and pain points.

• How to validate that your planned solution actually supports user tasks.

• A real-world example of how focusing on user actions saved a project from unnecessary features.

If you’re a BA, product owner, or UX designer, this episode will help you build solutions that align with real user needs, not just wish lists.

Projects often stall when it’s unclear who has the authority to make decisions. Endless discussions and indecision waste time, delay delivery, and frustrate teams.

In this episode of Business Analysis Simplified, Michael and Emily explore why it’s essential to identify empowered decision-makers early in your project. They share how clear ownership accelerates progress and ensures alignment when priorities or requirements need clarification.

You’ll learn:

• The difference between gathering input and making decisions.

• A practical method to identify decision-makers for different areas of your project.

• How to handle situations where stakeholders avoid taking ownership.

• A real-world example of how clear decision authority kept a project on track.

If you’re a BA, product owner, or team lead, this episode will help you remove bottlenecks and keep your project moving confidently.

Many projects get delayed or miss the mark simply because teams don’t involve the right stakeholders early enough.

In this episode of Business Analysis Simplified, Michael and Emily discuss why identifying and understanding your stakeholders is critical to delivering successful outcomes. They explore how missing or misunderstanding stakeholder needs leads to rework, hidden constraints, and misaligned expectations.

You’ll learn:

• Who counts as a stakeholder (beyond just end users).

• A clear approach to identify, analyze, and engage stakeholders.

• How to handle stakeholder conflicts and hidden influencers.

• A real-world example showing how stakeholder discovery prevented delivery issues.

If you’re a BA, product owner, or project manager, this episode will help you avoid surprises by getting the right voices involved early.

Scope creep, missed expectations, and stakeholder frustration often happen because teams don’t define clear boundaries for their solutions.

In this episode of Business Analysis Simplified, Michael and Emily explore how to define and communicate solution boundaries before you start building. They discuss why it’s essential to clarify what’s in scope—and just as importantly, what’s out of scope—to protect your timelines, budget, and team focus.

You’ll learn:

• Why solution boundaries matter for delivery success.

• A simple, practical framework for defining scope clearly.

• How to communicate boundaries with stakeholders without conflict.

• A real-world example of how defining scope early prevented rework.

If you’re a BA, product owner, or team lead, this episode will help you manage stakeholder expectations and prevent unnecessary chaos.

It’s easy to get caught up in building features and solutions without pausing to ask the critical question: “Why are we building this in the first place?”

In this episode of Business Analysis Simplified, Michael and Emily unpack the importance of defining clear business objectives before starting delivery. They explore how unclear objectives lead to wasted effort and misaligned features—and what you can do to prevent it.

You’ll learn:

• How to identify the real business objectives behind requests.

• A simple framework to clarify objectives and measure success.

• The difference between stakeholder excitement and measurable outcomes.

• A practical example of aligning delivery with objectives to avoid rework.

If you’re a BA, product owner, or team lead, this episode will help you connect your work to meaningful business outcomes.

Jumping into solutions without fully understanding the problem is a common trap for teams—and it leads to wasted time, money, and missed value. In this episode of Business Analysis Simplified, Michael and Emily explore how to step back and clarify the real business problem before building anything.

You’ll learn:

• Why “requests” often hide deeper problems.

• Simple questions to uncover the actual pain points.

• How to write clear problem statements that align your team and stakeholders.

• A practical example of how clarifying the problem saved a project from unnecessary work.

Whether you’re a business analyst, product manager, or project lead, this episode will help you avoid rework and ensure your efforts truly add value.

Welcome to Business Analysis Simplified, where we explore key business analysis concepts through fun, real-world storytelling.

In this episode, we dive into the Business Process Management (BPM) Perspective—how business analysts help organizations improve how work gets done. Join Michael and Emily as they follow a group of students—Emma, Jack, Sophia, and Liam—who transform the chaos of their school’s Fundraising Carnival into a smooth, well-run event using BPM principles.

Through this playful yet practical example, you’ll learn how business analysts identify broken processes, map out steps, fix bottlenecks, and introduce changes that lead to better outcomes—whether in schools, startups, or large enterprises.

Welcome to Business Analysis Simplified, where we decode business analysis through simple, relatable storytelling.

In this episode, we explore the Business Architecture Perspective—the big-picture thinking that helps organizations understand how everything fits together to deliver value. Join Michael, a seasoned business analyst, and Emily, our curious newcomer, as they guide fictional students Emma, Jack, Sophia, and Liam through designing a Greenfield Elementary Adventure Park.