Events
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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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A celebration of Business Analysts for Global BA Day
Let’s start with a quote from this year’s European Business Analyst of the Year… What I enjoy most about being a Business Analyst; I could really talk at length on this topic! To keep it short and sweet, every day I encounter new challenges and get to work alongside great people, helping to solve problems and make improvements. There is something very gratifying about this – particularly when I get to see the impact I have had! Rebecca Richmond-Smith – European Business Analyst of the Year 2021 (Click to visit Rebecca’s LinkedIn profile) The makeup of a Business Analyst Well, if you can’t celebrate being a Business Analyst on Global…
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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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To BA or not to BA? …that is the question
In mid-September, my colleague Gary Cockburn and I will be running an interactive workshop at the European BA Conference called “Virtual Pace, Virtual Space”. Creating this talk has inevitably lead to the age-old discussion which can be best characterised by a question like ‘Is there still a place for a Business Analyst in this new seemingly more technical world of virtual development, online companies and in some cases online products?’ Naturally, as a BA my answer is going to be a resounding YES! FACT: Remote working and the new virtual world is increasing the distance between the customer (end-user) and the business. This means getting closer to your customer and…
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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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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…
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Webinar: Do Business Analysts add value?
Once again, very proud to be asked to join BCS for another business analysis panel webinar on Wednesday 25th November 2020. This time the subject is about how BAs add value and the esteemed panel is: Click HERE and register now for the follow-up to our last very well received expert panel discussion. See you there!
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The T-Shaped BA
Almost a year ago, in November 2019, I took part in a panel discussion looking at the multi-skilled BA. My mini presentation focused on a topic we are all beginning to know well, the T-Shaped BA. Mercilessly re-using (well, I am a BA!) some artifacts from my presentation on “No BA is an Island” I pulled together a few colourful slides to get the message across. You can grab a copy from the download section.
