This episode is a live recording of a presentation I gave at an IIBA chapter meeting in November.  I edited out portions of the recording for time including sections that involved audience interaction and exercises.  This is part 1 of the presentation and part 2 will air next week.

The world of work is changing faster than ever.  To be successful, we need to change too.

As more and more organizations transition to an Agile way of working, many organizations are changing the way they see the Business Analyst role.

In some cases, those organizations are eliminating the BA role.  It’s important to note that several of those organizations are hiring back BAs because they realize the need for the Business Analysis skill set.

In other organizations, Business Analysts are being asked to take on the responsibilities of Product Ownership.  This presents a great opportunity for Business Analysts to take the next step in their career.

Business Analysts have many skills and competencies that are transferable to other roles.  Skills such as communication, facilitation, critical thinking, problem solving, and the ability to break down a large effort into smaller pieces are all valuable in the role of Product Owner.

Shift Left

The major difference between a BA and a PO is decision making.  As a Business Analyst, you help people make the right decisions.  As a Product Owner, you are the decision maker.

As we shift left from Business Analyst to Product Owner (or Product Manager), we need to shift our mindset from tactical to strategic.  We need to change our focus . . .

From

To

  Project

  Product

  Delivery

  Discovery

  Requirements

  Experiments

  Doing things right

  Doing the right things

  Team

  Customer

  Customer needs

  Business value

  Influence

  Decision making

  Short time frame

  Longer horizon

A Product Owner Must Be . . .

To be successful as a Product Owner and support the delivery team, a PO must be available, knowledgeable, empowered, and accountable.

Being available means that the Product Owner is accessible to the team when needed.  When the PO isn’t available, questions go unanswered and delivery is delayed.

The Product Owner must also be knowledgeable about the product and its customers.  Without knowledge of the product or customers, the Product Owner will make bad decisions or need to consult with others, causing delays.

Finally, a Product Owner must be empowered to make decisions and accountable for those decisions.  Without empowerment or accountability, there will be delays in decision making and bad decisions will likely be made.

Listen to the full episode to discover new tools, techniques, and skills that will allow you to provide value to your organization in new ways.  

http://traffic.libsyn.com/masteringbusinessanalysis/MBA174.mp3

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The post MBA174: Product Management is the New Business Analysis appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.