The Tenant of Self Control

One of my passions along with leadership and business analysis is strengthening at all times are interpersonal skills, which a lot of individuals are not interested in sharpening because they believe they have mastered them or individuals tend to just put the on the back burner and focus only on the hard skills. This to me is so sad because without the interpersonal skills you will not be as successful as you can be.  I'm speaking of things such as communication, relationship building, etc...

From an earlier blog post last year, one of the items I discussed is the five tenants of Karate. Those tenants are:

1.    Courtesy

2.    Integrity

3.    Perseverance

4.    Self-Control

5.    Indomitable Spirit

One of the tenants that have really resonated with me lately is self-control.  As I work with people either in business analysis, leadership and career development or event planning I have realized the importance of exercising this tenant without being taken advantage of. Understanding that if someone is hostile to you doesn't mean your reaction should be the same. Understanding yourself to know how to exercise is extremely important but you also need the balance to not be run over. In my dealings with people every day I have come up with the following tips on how to practice self-control in high pressure situations without compromising who you are or being run over:

1.   If someone is confrontational toward you exercise self-control by staying calm.  If they raise their voice then lower yours. It's hard to argue with someone if they aren't arguing back.

2.   If you feel yourself losing self-control walk away from the situation and address it when you are calm. Sometimes the best reaction is no reaction at all.  No need to add fuel to an already burning fire

3.   Understand your limitations. In order to interact with others you must know who you are. What makes you tick? How do you like to be approached?  Once you define who you are, you know your boundaries. This helps yourself control because you know when you are reaching your point of no return.

4.   Don't take everything personal. Sometimes we can take comments or words personally when if you really think about it, it was never intentioned that way. Your reaction to when things are taken personally can be EXTREMELY negative.

5.  Take accountability for your actions. Before you react, hold yourself accountable to think through the consequences of those actions.

No one can control you but YOU. Know that everything you do is a reflection on your character which defines who you are. People are watching you when you may not be aware. Don't do things that will compromise that character. No matter where you are be aware of your surroundings and actions at all times. Those actions can make you and break you.

Regards,

Paula Bell

www.paulaabell.com

The Approach

I have the privilege of mentoring and coaching many business analysts and I learn so much from each relationship I am a part of.  I had a very interesting mentoring session this week where my mentee and I talked about the steps she would take if all she received was the project scope, a list of 5 SMEs and was told to gather requirements to make changes to a web application.

I must first say she is relatively new to the business analysis discipline and currently reading through the BABOK.  As we ate lunch I thought it would be interesting to see what she would do in that situation, though she hasn’t experience it yet. 

She advised she would do the following:

1.    She would do some sort of document analysis to determine what documentation is already present that she can learn from.

2.    She would then have a brainstorming session with the SMEs provided to understand their requirements and capture their requirements.

For someone relatively new to the discipline this was a good start. I told her that she was going in the right direction and we started to take more about some things she could ask and some more things she could do.  I had to emphasize that the approach she chose to take is key to project success and as she continues to do business analysis work she will get more and more skilled based off of past experiences on how she should approach certain projects. Let me state I'm not saying that the approach cannot or will not change, but there needs to be some serious thought on what should be done prior to jumping into business analysis activities. Through more conversation with this scenario we came up with the following as some additional things to consider, again this is not the end all list but it is amazing just through some conversation her two bullet points 7.

1.    Before diving into anything we decided we needed to find out more information such as:

a.    What is the timeframe for this project?

b.    Who are the stakeholders and what are their roles? (stakeholder analysis)

                                          i.    Who has worked with these stakeholders in the past? (What are their likes or dislikes? How do they like to be approached?)

c.    Clearly understand the scope

                                          i.    How does this project relate to the overall company strategy, goals, objectives, etc…? (enterprise analysis)

                                        ii.    What is the desired goal of the project?

d.    Research what documentation already exists and learn as much as possible prior to any meetings.  Determine if information in previous documents can be leveraged in the project. (document analysis)

2.    Determine the methodology and documents to be completed and how those items are going to be monitored and tracked for success (business analysis planning and monitoring)

3.    Start Elicitation activities (determine meeting time, location, agenda, individuals to be included, obtain materials for the meeting such as flip charts, post it notes, etc...)

We stated to talk some of things that could occur in the meeting such as individuals that will not talk or the individuals that take the group off in tangents briefly. 

Based on this conversation she determined that there was a lot more to think about and consider before starting the actual work. This is an area that is a struggle for BA's new to the discipline and even those who have been doing business analysis for a while.  Getting started can be the challenge.

It's not about being quick to jump into the work but rather taking time to:

1.    Understand the problem to be solved, the timeline to solve it, the stakeholders and their roles, the overall goals and objectives of the enterprise. 

2.    Determine your approach to gathering the requirements such as methodology, documentation templates that add value, conduct documentation analysis to determine what already exists that you can leverage.

3.    Begin requirement activities (elicitation, prioritization, verification and validation, documentation creation, final approval)

There is clearly more to this than just what I mentioned above but at a high level this will get your going.

Regards.

Paula Bell

www.paulaabell.com

Oh The Joys of Communication OR Lack Thereof

Communication is 90% or more of a business analyst job in my opinion, but great communication skills is not only the responsibility of just the the business analyst but also the project team as whole.  In order to have a cohesive and collaborative team communication has to be tight.  How the project team communicates with each other is key.  However, when the time comes for trainings, such as communication, is offered I consistently see these types of trainings or courses not heavily attended when up against topics like agile, business rules, or business architecture to name a few.  Don't get me wrong I'm not taking away from any of those courses because we need to keep up with what is going on in the industry and learn those things; however, we can never forget the fundamentals.  

One of the skills a business analyst needs to have (this is not optional) is great communication.  We communicate all day long to gather requirements and consult.  This is not a skill that can be lacking and not a skill that can be easily forgotten to sharpen as opportunities arise to do so.  It's an important skill that will either make you or break you as a business analyst as well as make or break your project. Whether you do face to face meetings or virtual meetings you have to be an effective communicator not only to articulate your needs but to also capture the needs of your stakeholders.

However, it's not only the business analyst who is responsible for strengthening these skills but all those on the project team.  This is a skill we all need.  As I've had the pleasure of being the project management field for over 15+ years wearing multiple hats there are some common communication pitfalls that should be avoided:

• When on a conference call or in person, let the person speaking finish their thoughts/statements before making a statement.  I have found that on conference calls people have a tendency to just cut other people off while they are speaking.  The message you are conveying to the person speaking is that what he/she saying is not important.  Though that may not be your intent that is how it can perceived.  It can also set a precedence with that person to not speak up if he/she cannot finish their thoughts.  That is not what you want because if the team is to be cohesive and collaborative everyone's opinion counts.
• Never start a sentence with, "You Need To...".  This automatically puts the other person on the defensive.  You can get your point across by maybe saying, "Maybe we should try" or even "I think we should take this approach because of "X"". 
• When in person and you are speaking to someone watch your body language.  Your body helps to convey your message so though your message may be positive your body language can turn that positive message to a negative really quickly.
• Be flexible in switching up your communication style (some types of communication styles are: aggressive, passive, assertive).  Not everyone can be approached the same way.  Get to learn your audience and determine their likes and dislikes and adjust your communication style.  This takes the skill of building relationships which is not something everyone is comfortable with but to be a successful business analyst you have to be comfortable with forming and building relationships.
• Get to know your communication style.  Know thyself.  It's important that you know who you are and how you communicate to fully understand how to communicate with others.

I interact with people all day long and one of the most frustrating things I have found is that people are not considerate of others and how their actions impact others. Take a minute and think about what you say before you say it and the consequences of what you say. Communication is key on any project team, and life in general. The majority of the misunderstandings come about because people don't think about the message they are conveying and how they are conveying it.


As business analysts do all you can do to effectively communicate.  It's important.  When courses are offered around communication or other soft skills take them because if you have learned one thing from that course it's worth it.  All of it will make you a stronger and well rounded BA.


Best Regards,
Paula Bell
www.paulaabell.com

The BLI Concept™ - The Well Rounded BA

I am pleased to announce a new concept I will be working on this year, the BLI Concept™.

I have been in many different industries during this wonderful work of business analysis and I have been part of very successful projects, not so successful projects, very successful business analysts and not so successful business analysts.  I am the type of person who likes to constantly learn.  With that I do a lot of observing and self-introspection.   I always try to learn from every meeting I conduct, every requirement walk through I’m a part, all requirement documents I have created, etc...

I have found that as a business analyst there are certain skills that are needed to be successful, as I’m sure many of you have found as well, it’s more than just knowing the concepts of business analysis.  To be successful as a business analyst you must understand the concepts but more importantly you have to understand where and how to apply those concepts.  In order to do that you have to understand how to leader with or without influence as well as how to interact with the individuals on our project team.  It sounds logical and simple but it truly is not that simple as I’ve seen many business analyst not be successful because at least one if not more of these skills were lacking.

The BLI Concept™ is a concept that will help business analyst bring the hard skills and soft skills together to become that more rounded and successful Business Analyst.  BLI stands for business analysis, leadership and interpersonal skills. I have found that when all of these items are present you can be very successful as a business analyst.  Whether you are new to business analysis, doing business analysis for a while or even a leader in business analysis it is important to ensure that there is a balance between the hard and soft skills because it is that balance and mixture that will make you a success business analyst.

Look for more information on this concept as I continue to write my blog over the weeks.  Some of the things that will be discussed as I begin to bring forth this concept are as follows:

·         Business Analysis

o   What is this thing called “Business Analysis?”

o   What are the hard skills of a business analyst?

o   When to utilize the fundamentals of business analysis

·         Leadership Skills

o   What is the definition of Leadership?

o   What are the characteristics of a Leader

o   What are the skills that a leader should possess

o   Why development should be a focus when in leadership positions?

o   How do Leadership and Business Analysis relate

§  Why is Leadership Important to Business Analysis?

·         Interpersonal Skills

o   What are Interpersonal Skills?

o   What are the Types of Interpersonal Skills?

o   How do Interpersonal Skills and Business Analysis relate?

§  Why are they important to business analysis?

I’m very excited to develop this concept and I welcome your feedback and thoughts as I begin to develop this.

Paula Bell

First Post of 2012 - Great 2012 To Come!

I'm excited about what 2012 is going to bring. Last year was a great foundational year for Paula A Bell Consulting, LLC. I consider 2012 a continuation of building a strong foundation. I have some new ideas and some real specific goals I want to achieve throughout the year. This year I'm excited as this company is multi-faceted and all my services will be tapped into. I have a couple of weddings to direct, quite a few people to mentor, speaking engagements, articles to write as well as a concept that I would like to bring forth through blogging and potentially a book. One of my main goals is to consistently blog.

I took some time at the end of 2011 to reflect on all the things that occurred in 2011. 2011 was a year of a lot of changes, life altering events and to be totally honest chaos. I was EXTREMELY stressed and just not happy overall. I couldn't pinpoint exactly what was causing the stress but it was impacting my health, emotions, physical and spiritual well being. The last 1 week and a alf I took off from work and I found that I wasn't happy because I wasn't happy with me. Meaning, I just wasn't feeling good in where I was at because I felt like my life was out of control with so many changes. I did self introspection and got my life organized, even down to my earrings. The family and i started working out again and have lost 4 lbs in the last two weeks, as well as eating healthier. I listed out 12 priorities for this year and will only focus on those 12 priorities. My motto this year is to eliminate people and things that are causing unnecessary stress. I had a lot of that in 2011 that seeped in that I didn't even realize.

So look for great things in 2012. As I'm feeling good and very focused this year.

Great things to come in 2012 for everyone!

Paula Bell

Paula A. Bell Selected As a “Top-Idea Maven” by The Woman’s Advantage

For Immediate Release                    Contact: Paula A. Bell/paula@paulaabell.com

Paula A. Bell Selected As a “Top-Idea Maven” by The Woman’s Advantage

Entrepreneur’s Advice Featured in 2012 Woman’s Advantage Calendar

Des Moines, IA – Paula A. Bell, CEO/President of Paula A. Bell Consulting, LLC (a subsidiary of WinningEdge 360) was selected from over 5,000 submissions to be featured in The 2012 Woman’s Advantage Shared Wisdom Calendar. The calendar provides advice for women business owners from influential women leaders across the US and Canada.

Mary Cantando, Growth Expert of The Woman’s Advantage, today announced that Paula’s advice has been included in the calendar which will be released on October 27.

“Paula’s quote was selected because it was powerful yet easy to understand. Her idea is relevant to almost every woman in business today.” says Cantando. “Women business owners and those who dream of starting a business will learn so much from the advice provided by Paula and the other successful women quoted in the calendar.”

The Woman’s Advantage 2012 Calendar provides sound bites of advice on key business issues including: organization, promotion, sales, and human resources.  The calendar can be purchase at: Woman's Advantage 2012 Calendar

About Paula A Bell:

Paula Bell is an experienced Business Analyst, mentor, coach and author, known for consistently producing exceptional work, providing guidance to aspiring business analysts (including those that just want to sharpen their skills), as well as, providing creative and strategic ways to build relationships for successful projects. With 15+ years in project roles to include business analyst, requirements manager, technical writer, project manager, developer, test lead and implementation lead), Paula has experience in a variety of industries to include media, courts, carpet manufacturing, banking and mortgage.

About Paula A Bell, Consulting, LLC:

Paula A Bell Consulting, LLC (a subsidiary of WinningEdge 360 owned by James E. Bell) provides services to business analysts to build a stronger business analysis community through speaking, mentoring, coaching and writing of business analysis topics to increase awareness about the value and importance of the business analysts and the discipline as a whole to produce exceptional solutions for all businesses.  For more information, email paula@paulaabell.com or visit http://www.paulaabell.com.

About Mary Cantando:

Mary Cantando is a nationally-recognized expert on women business owners. She is the developer of the successful Woman’s Advantage line of products, geared specifically to women entrepreneurs. A member of the National Speakers’ Association, Cantando provides keynotes and workshops for women who want to grow their businesses.

About The Woman’s Advantage:

The Woman’s Advantage is a line of information products, including books, workbooks, audio CDs, and calendars designed exclusively for successful women business owners. For more information, call 919-841-0401 or visit http://www.WomansAdvantage.biz

News Facts:

• Paula Bell was selected as a “Top-Idea Maven” by The Woman’s Advantage. Her quote appears in the 2012 Woman’s Advantage Calendar.

• The Woman’s Advantage Calendar provides daily advice on key business issues including: organization, promotion, sales, and human resources.

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