Kathleen B. (Kitty) Hass

The Award Winning Author, Consultant, Facilitator, and Presenter


Home

About

Seminars & Workshops

Contact Us


Important Articles on the State of the Industry

 

 

To Plant the Seeds to Cultivate Mature BA/PM Practices

 

Authored by Kitty Hass, the leading expert in Assessments,

Managing Complex Projects, Using Business Analysis to Execute Strategy, and Improving IT Performance

 

 

Important articles on the current state of business analysis and project management are provided, as well as specialty areas such as managing complex projects, agile project management, failed and challenged projects, and the vital role of centers of excellence.

 

Business Analysis

The Business Analyst: The Pivotal IT Role of the Future (Link)

The talents, competencies and heroics of project managers and technologists alone cannot drive value into the organization. For business needs and goals to be converted into innovative solutions that truly bring wealth to the enterprise, a stronger bridge must be built between the business and the technical communities. Enter the business analyst.

 The Coming of Age of the Business Analyst (Link)

The dismal success of enterprise-wide IT projects is a matter of record. According to Meta Group Research (now a part of Gartner), “Communication challenges between business teams and technologists are chronic – we estimate that 60%-80% of project failure can be attributed directly to poor requirements gathering, analysis, and management.” Forrester Research concurs: “Poorly defined applications have led to a persistent miscommunication between business and IT that largely contributes to a 66% project failure rate for these applications, costing U.S. businesses at least $30B every year.” James Martin reports that “56% of defects can be attributed to requirements, and 82% of the effort to fix defects.” Standish estimates that nearly 70 percent of projects are late, over budget or  fail outright; Gartner reports that 50 percent of projects are rolled back out of production. Carnegie Mellon states that 25-40 percent of all spending on projects is wasted as a result of rework.  Those statistics are troubling. So, what exactly is the problem?

 Project managers are held accountable for getting projects completed on time and on budget. Technical managers are responsible for quality technological solutions. But no one has been accountable for keeping an eye on value as the implementation proceeds. That’s why the new position of business analyst (BA) is fast emerging to fill the gap. The BA’s task is to gather accurate requirements, analyze them and manage them properly throughout the project’s implementation to ensure a value-added outcome that improves an organization’s bottom line. Business requirements, derived from business goals, are the essential activities of the enterprise that must be supported by the system – so much so that at conferences, BA courseware and presentations have become hot topics, and cutting-edge companies are already hiring BAs or investing in professional development for internal candidates. 

 The Business Analyst as Strategist (Link)  

A recent survey conducted by Evans Data Corporation, The New Business Analyst: A Strategic Role in the Enterprise, found that business analysts are key players in making strategic decisions. "A clear line in the corporate sand has been drawn as to the importance of the business analyst. The BA plays an increasingly integral and strategic role in organizational success," said Evans Data Corporation President John Andrews. Business analysts are emerging as the central business competency of the future. Different from systems analysts or project managers, business analysts (BAs) not only manage project requirements, they also contribute vital information to strategic planning, goal setting and strategy execution. It is in this capacity that BAs can have the greatest impact on the long-term success of the enterprise.

 Harness the Power of the PM/BA Partnership (Link)

Projects play an essential role in the growth and survival of organizations today. It is through projects that we create value in the form of improved business processes and new products and services in response to changes in the business environment. Since data and information are the lifeblood of virtually all business practices, projects with significant IT components are often the key mechanism used to turn an organization’s vision and strategy into reality. Executives have their eye on the project portfolio to ensure that they: (1) invest in the right mix of projects, (2) optimize their resources, (3) develop expert capabilities to deliver flawlessly, and ultimately, (4) capture the expected added value to the business.  In the 21st century we are bombarded with constant change brought about by the Internet, the global economy and the prevalent use of technology. As a result, there appears to be a never-ending demand for new business solutions supported by IT products and services.  Executives across the spectrum are adopting the practices of superior project management and business analysis to increase the value projects bring to their organizations.

 Agile Project Management

The Critical Role of the Business Analyst in Agile Projects, It’s All About the Value (Link)

Great teams are the hallmark of Agile Project Management. What makes a winning team in sports, the military, medicine or the arts? What makes a great team in a project environment, especially using agile methods and principles? There are several almost mandatory components of winning teams no matter what the discipline: 

·      They are small but mighty

·      They are highly skilled, trained and practiced

·      They are expertly coached

·      They are co-located and dedicated full-time to the effort

·      They are diverse in mindset, expertise, skill set and perspective

 The Five Deadly Sins of Agile Project Management (Link)

Regardless of company size or market sector, businesses today invest in projects to sustain or advance competitive advantage. Many of the information technology projects are attempting to use Agile Project Management to reduce the risk of IT projects, and to deliver value to the business early. Even when using Agile project management practices, the reasons for project failures are usually predictable. There are five key causes contributing to projects collapsing before realizing their true potential. Break the cycle of challenged projects by focusing on these key areas.  The five deadly sins of Agile Project Management: 

1.    Failure to conduct pre-project business analysis and ongoing project evaluation

2.    Failure to conduct a formal project kick-off

3.    Failure to maintain the core team

4.    Failure to manage the project value throughout the project life cycle

5.    Failure to manage the project benefits

An Eye for Value: What the Business Analyst Brings to the Agile Team (Link)

There's no question about it: agile project management expedites the new product development process. It is a streamlined methodology, based on having only essential people work in tight knit teams for quick and efficient results. Of course, one very important member of the team is the business analyst. Why? Because if companies hope to achieve strategic goals, they need someone who is focused on the business value expected from the project outcomes to help provide guidance, not only during a project, but also before it is invested and after it is delivered.

The Blending of Traditional and Agile Project Management (Link)

Traditional project management involves very disciplined and deliberate planning and control methods. With this approach, distinct project life cycle phases are easily recognizable. Tasks are completed one after another in an orderly sequence, requiring a significant part of the project to be planned up front. For example, in a construction project, the team needs to determine requirements, design and plan for the entire building, and not just incremental components, in order to understand the full scope of the effort. Traditional project management assumes that events affecting the project are predictable and that tools and activities are well understood. In addition, with traditional project management, once a phase is complete, it is assumed that it will not be revisited. The strengths of this approach are that it lays out the steps for development and stresses the importance of requirements. The limitations are that projects rarely follow the sequential flow, and clients usually find it difficult to completely state all requirements early in the project. This model is often viewed as a waterfall.

 Managing Complex Projects

Living On The Edge, Managing Project Complexity (Link)   

Complexity is one of those words that are difficult to define. Some say complexity is the opposite of simplicity; others say complicated is the opposite of simple, while complex is the opposite of independent. A complex structure is said to use interwoven components that introduce mutual dependencies and produce more than a sum of their parts. In today’s systems, this is the difference between a myriad of connecting “stovepipes” and an effective set of “integrated” solutions (Lissack and Roos, 2002). A complex system can also be described as one in which there are multiple interactions between many different components (D. Rind, 1999). In the context of a design that is difficult to understand or implement, complexity is the quality of being intricate and compounded (IEEE, 2006).

 In the twenty-first century, business processes have become more complex – i.e., more interconnected, interdependent, and interrelated – than ever before. In addition, businesses today are rejecting traditional management structures to create complex organizational communities comprised of alliances with strategic suppliers, networks of customers, and partnerships with key political groups, regulatory entities, and even competitors. Through these alliances, organizations are addressing the pressures of unprecedented change, global competition, time-to-market compression, rapidly changing technologies, and yes, increasing complexity. As a result, business systems are significantly more complex than in the past; therefore, the projects that implement new business systems are more complex. Huge cost and schedule overruns have been commonplace in the past (New York Times, 11 July 2002). To reap the rewards of significant, large-scale change initiatives designed to not only keep organizations in the game but make them a major player, we must find new ways to manage project complexity.

Introducing the Project Complexity Model - A New Approach to Diagnosing and Managing Projects (Link)

Traditional project management techniques are based on a desire to decompose work into simple and easily managed components. Yet such a building block model just doesn’t capture the reality of projects in today’s complex and interconnected world. Until now, project management has lagged behind other corporate processes in its quest for simplicity while global entities have embraced complexity, even chaos. For example, enterprises have created complex organizational communities comprised of alliances with strategic suppliers, networks of customers and partnerships with key political groups, regulatory entities and even competitors. It is these alliances that allow them to address the pressures of unprecedented change.

Scientists studying complex systems from ant colonies to galaxies agree: Complexity and chaos are the very nature of the universe. Isn’t it time for project management to catch up to what ants have known all along?

 Managing Complex Projects Is Not a Simple Matter (Link)

Key practices of traditional project management are based on the concept of reductionism, which holds that complex entities may be better understood by reducing them to their simpler constituents. For instance, a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) decomposes a complex project into the deliverables that must be created to meet the project objectives.  Subsequently, the project team can determine the skill sets and resources needed for each deliverable and schedule the necessary tasks, and then focus on completing each deliverable to achieve project objectives. If only it were that simple! 

While a “reductionist” model such as this one may work in physics to describe the interactions of subatomic particles, and even in project management for very simple undertakings, it just does not work for complex projects.

 Introducing the Project Complexity Model  (Link)

This article describes the unique nature of complex projects and proposes an approach to manage project complexities. It presents the characteristics of highly complex projects and introduces the Project Complexity Model, an entirely new model. The model is used to diagnose the level of complexity in a particular project or projects within a program. Once the project complexity profile is determined, the project manager can then apply complex thinking to take management decisions such as: (1) selecting the appropriate project cycle, (2) assigning project leadership based on the project profile and (3) applying adaptive project management techniques to complement conventional approaches to manage the complexity dimensions.

 A 4-Part Series: Introducing the Project Complexity Model (Link)

This series describes the unique nature of complex projects and proposes an approach to manage project complexities. We describe the characteristics of highly complex projects.  A new model, the Project Complexity Model, is introduced. The model is used to diagnose the level of complexity of a particular project, or projects, within a program. Once the project complexity profile is determined, project leaders are urged to apply complexity thinking to make managerial decisions about the project.

 Centers of Excellence

Business Analysis Center of Excellence (Link)

The fiercely competitive twenty-first century business environment poses challenges at every turn. Both public and for-profit organizations must be flexible and adaptable to remain competitive. It is through successful projects that organizations manage change, deliver new business solutions, and ultimately, achieve their strategies. However, we continue to struggle to manage complex business change initiatives. Organizations around the globe are striving to improve their business analysis capabilities to: (1) drive changes from strategic goals; (2) invest in the most valuable projects – those that deliver the highest value at the lowest cost and risk; and (3) execute projects optimally to achieve business benefits from the new solutions as quickly as possible. This paper explores our disappointing project performance track record, the nature of twenty-first century projects, the need for a central focus on business analysis as a critical component of organizational transformation, and the role of a business analysis center of excellence in organizations.

 Business Analysis Center of Excellence, The Journey to Professional Excellence (Link)

The concept of centers of excellence (COE) is quickly maturing in twenty-first century organizations because of the need to collaboratively determine solutions to complex business issues. Project management offices (PMO), a type of COE, proliferated in the 1990s as a centralized approach to managing projects, in response to the challenges associated with complex projects in an environment with low levels of project management maturity and governance. Industry leaders are effectively using various types of COEs, and BACOEs are among them.

 The Business Analysis Center of Excellence, A Vital Strategic Asset (Link)

In the twenty-first century, business processes have become more complex; i.e., more interconnected, interdependent, and interrelated than ever before. Businesses today are rejecting traditional organizational structures to create complex communities comprised of alliances with strategic suppliers, outsourcing vendors, networks of customers, and partnerships with key political groups, regulatory entities, and even competitors. Through these alliances, organizations are addressing the pressures of unprecedented change, global competition, time-to-market compression, rapidly changing technologies, and increasing complexity at every turn. Since business systems are significantly more complex than ever, projects that implement new business systems are also more complex. To reap the rewards of significant, large-scale business transformation initiatives, designed to not only keep organizations in the game but make them a major player, we must be able to manage complex business transformation projects.

 Project Management

From Accidental Project Manager to Strategic Team Leader (Link)

Agencies are engaged in hundreds of ongoing projects of varying sizes, durations and levels of complexity. All too often, however, success is elusive. Sometimes work is incomplete, does not meet requirements, or does not deliver the benefits or returns on investment that the organization expected.  Worse yet, projects are late, over budget or never delivered at all.

The solution is to establish organizational capabilities that create and foster strong project leadership.  This is accomplished through many avenues, including coursework that focuses on team leadership and project discipline skills.

 Harness the Power of the PM/BA Partnership (Link)

Projects play an essential role in the growth and survival of organizations today. It is through projects that we create value in the form of improved business processes and new products and services in response to changes in the business environment. Since data and information are the lifeblood of virtually all business practices, projects with significant IT components are often the key mechanism used to turn an organization’s vision and strategy into reality. Executives have their eye on the project portfolio to ensure that they: (1) invest in the right mix of projects, (2) optimize their resources, (3) develop expert capabilities to deliver flawlessly, and ultimately, (4) capture the expected added value to the business.  In the 21st century we are bombarded with constant change brought about by the Internet, the global economy and the prevalent use of technology. As a result, there appears to be a never-ending demand for new business solutions supported by IT products and services.  Executives across the spectrum are adopting the practices of superior project management and business analysis to increase the value projects bring to their organizations.

 Virtual Teams Connect Far-Flung Project Managers (Link)

 Today’s complex information requirements demand that organizations work on multiple projects in disparate locations with project personnel connected by virtual teams. Project managers are challenged by the need to ensure all teams have adequate resources and skill sets available at the right time, in any time zone.  These circumstances often affect the timeliness of decisions, reviews and sign-offs. Above all, distant teams must be aware of the potential for significant miscommunications and misunderstandings. Not surprisingly, the rules for managing multiple projects in diverse locations are complicated but when the right steps are followed, virtual teams can complete projects as successfully as any traditional brick-and-mortar team.

Enterprise Portfolio Management, An Investment That Pays Off (Link)

The emergence of project management as a critical business practice is resulting in a transition from the traditional function-centric workplace structures to the project-centric workplace. Work has been transformed from multiple workers performing a single task to teams performing multiple activities for multiple projects. Rather than undertaking only a small number of projects, organizations today are engaged in virtually hundreds of ongoing projects of varying sizes, durations, and levels of complexity. Organizations in both the public and private sectors are struggling to manage their large portfolio of projects. As with any management practice, there are critical success factors that can lead to a stable, continually improving portfolio management process—if they are followed. However, without understanding and using these guidelines, the ability to achieve strategies through projects may be at risk.

 Failed and Challenged Projects

Reducing the Trend of Failed Business Transformation Projects (Link)   

Change is the norm; fierce competition is the driver, and lean thinking is the latest call to action. Organizations in both the public and private sectors are struggling to not only react to the velocity of changes in the economic, political and global landscape, but also to proactively stay ahead of the curve. Organizations bring about change through programs and supporting projects. Projects play an essential role in the growth and survival of organizations today, for it is through projects that we create value in the form of improved business processes, and new products and services as a response to changes in the business environment.  To manage change effectively, organizations need to be good at: (1) establishing business strategies and goals, (2) identifying new business opportunities, (3) determining solutions to business problems, and (4) selecting, prioritizing and funding projects to implement major change initiatives, and thus meet business needs and achieve strategic goals.

 To Make IT Projects Succeed, Understand Why They Fail (Link)

Gaps in technology, techniques and tools are not the fundamental reasons why so many information technology projects fail. Rather, project failure most often stems from a lack of leadership. Too often, there's a breakdown in communication between those with the business knowledge of what's needed and those responsible for implementing this vision with a software solution.

 When Failure Is Not an Option: Project Management Training at the CIA (Link)  

At the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency), where projects are vital to national security, project managers must simply deliver. These managers handle projects ranging from short, urgent, schedule-driven initiatives to large, long, and complex programs. The nature of projects underway at any given time ranges from development of collection and operational support systems to information technology initiatives supporting a worldwide communications network.

 The Five Deadly Sins of Project Start-Ups (Link)

Information technology (IT) projects foster organizational productivity and growth by improving business processes and enabling the development of new products and services. Surprisingly, given the diversity of project types, most project failures have common causes that can be attributed to inadequate planning. We have identified five "deadly sins" that increase the likelihood of an IT project collapsing before it bears mature fruit. Fortunately, these causes of failure can be avoided by holding a facilitated project kickoff workshop that's designed to keep projects aligned and organizational goals supported.

 The 21st Century Perfect Storm (Link)

Since its emergence in the early 1970s, IT has been built from the bottom up. Applications to support the business were deployed as the need arose to increase efficiency and support growth. Because systems were not architected from the top down, the result has been a legacy of inconsistency, redundancy and the type of complexity that makes change difficult without destabilizing the whole system. As organizations compete in the global economy, they need systems that are agile, easy to change and responsive to new business needs.