BA Life
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What does it mean to be a Mentor?
Today, 27th October 2023, is National Mentoring Day, which begs the question ‘What does it mean to be a Mentor?’ Having mentored many BAs in my time I wanted to find a great definition of what mentoring was …but very few of the definitions I came across resonated with me. They were factually correct however they didn’t get across the bond that a mentor and mentee create over time. And then I found this definition from the University of Southampton: Mentoring is a protected relationship which supports learning and experimentation and helps individuals develop their potential. A mentoring relationship is one where both mentor and mentee recognise the need for…
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Five Jumps for Charity – Julia’s Jumps
Intermission! We interrupt the exciting ongoing series of ‘Ladies in Lanzarote’ to bring you this new exclusive… (rest assured, your ‘favourite’ blog series will return new week!) Extraordinary Women I’m lucky enough to be surrounded by some extraordinary women; friends and sisters, who themselves are fighting their own battles daily. Whether it be looking after and worrying about family, contending with work, struggling with ill health, or supporting and caring for sick partners and loved ones. …and yet they still make time to reach out a helping hand to others when it is needed. One such friend stood out this Easter with her monumental effort for charity, my wonderful friend…
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Wow! Crazy, amazing, busy, frantic, inspiring, fantastic …oh and gin!
All of this and much more describe a crazy few weeks back in May/June! I am of course talking about a few wonderful weeks that incorporate BALIFE2022 and the National Start-Up Awards… Oh, and there was the small matter of running in the Edinburgh Half Marathon. BALIFE – Your BA Festival in a Day BALIFE2022 took place on the 26th May this year …and what a day it was! A true festival of all things Business Analysis related, direct from the world-famous home of the festival, Edinburgh. Don’t just take my word for it check out some of these quotes: “The meaty content was delivered in a very engaging way.…
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BA Life on International Women’s Day
This weekend I was fortunate enough to spend some time in the company of these two special women… From left to right – not including the dogs! – This is Julia Newell and Sally Rogan If you have been following my blog, you will know I wrote about them on International Woman’s Day last year. Borrowing from that blog post… Sally Rogan – UX, User Researcher, Content Designer Having spent the best part of 2 years working with Sally, I’ve learned so much from her calm and perceptive nature. She has a fantastic ability to empathise with a customer and instinctively know when to say the right thing and when…
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Get ready for BALIFE2022!
Happy New Year to everyone …and what a great year it’s going to be with BALIFE2022 just five short months away. By 26th May 2022, the sun will be shinning… (well, hopefully! We do live in Scotland and in the month of May the sun is never guaranteed) …the nights will be lighter, and we’ll be full of enthusiasm for a day full of expectation, learning and innovation. The success of BALIFE 2021 Last year, 2021, saw us complete our first BALIFE event and, despite having to ‘go virtual’ thanks to Covid, it was a great success. And don’t just take my word for it, here is what some of…
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Being a Business Analyst …and a witch!
A quick heads up for something coming soon… Last night, my BALIFE colleague and good friend Julia Newell and I got together for a little bit of Halloween silliness! All in a good cause mind you! The silliness had a business purpose! …we were preparing for a little something we have under our hats for Global Business Analysis day on 1st November 2021. Watch this space! Here’s a sneak peek of what’s to come… We’re certain you’ll enjoy the BALIFE content we’ll share that day, so make sure you put Global Business Analysis Day in your diary now. See you on 1st November 2021!
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What have you done lately?
I think it’s fair to say, I’ve been a little busy recently… The other day I looked out at my poor old garden and thought “I must plant something, add some colour. Now spring (or summer) has finally reached Scotland, it’s time”… Well… that had to wait a little longer because if I was going to be in any fit state for the next day, I needed to rest. Having worked the previous 3 weekends, I needed to put my feet up. After all, those feet of mine were going to be important for the events of the next day… The Edinburgh Half Marathon On Sunday 30th May, I woke…
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Guest Post: Two BAs and a camera!
This week I have a guest blog from my good friend and fellow BALIFE committee member Julia Newell. This follows on from my recent blog charting our BALIFE journey together… but is a little more fun, see what you think… From Julia… How do you prepare for being interviewed and filmed? What do you wear? How do you calm the nerves? Have I practised enough? How bad will the stuttering be? What will people think when they see it? All of these questions and more were going through my head as I got ready one Saturday morning to be filmed for my interview presentation for BALIFE2021 on 3rd June. The…
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The clock is ticking down to BALIFE2021!
So here we are 43 days, 21 hours, 59 minutes and so many seconds away from launching our first-ever “Business Analysis Learning and Innovation Festival Edinburgh” …aka BALIFE. By the time you read this blog, who knows, maybe it’ll be 40 days or even 35 days and so many hours and minutes! It’s as if time has started to accelerate! As I write this a group of volunteers, with full-time jobs of our own, are currently up to our necks in extra work. To get this, our very first BA learning festival in a day, off the ground. And we couldn’t be happier, because today all our hard work starts…
