Plan, Manage, and Communicate Requirements

• Traditional Classroom: 2-day
• Virtual Instructor-led: Four 3-hour sessions

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Target Audience

Individuals who will benefit from this course include:

• Entry-level business analysts and their managers
• Self-taught business analysts requiring a course that fills in skills gaps
• Systems analysts and programmers interested in expanding their roles
• Quality assurance professionals
• Project managers

Prerequisites

BAV311: Core Competencies for the Business Analyst

Learning Objectives

• Describe the role of the business analyst in business analysis planning, management, monitoring, and communications.
• Describe stakeholder challenges typically encountered in business analysis and how to address them.
• Assess and present business analysis risks and determine risk responses.
• Describe what inputs are needed to plan business analysis activities.
• Determine and present business analysis deliverables and activities.
• Explain how business analysis activities are affected by enterprise and organizational structure, culture, and process assets.
• Describe how to manage requirements from the initial identification until the requirement is no longer needed.
• Explain how to use configuration management and change control systems to manage changes in requirements.
• Demonstrate how a business analyst can use communication skills to help manage change requests.
• Describe how to plan and manage the communication of requirements to diverse stakeholders.
• Participate in a review of a requirements package.

Course Outline

Module 1: The Business Analyst Role in Context

• Overview of the Business Analyst Role
  • Business Analysis Planning and Monitoring Knowledge Area
  • Requirements Life Cycle Management Knowledge Area
  • Business Analysis Planning
  • Business Analysis Communication
  • Exercise: Identify Requirements-Related Challenges
• The Business Analyst and the Role of Project Managers
  • Project Scope
  • Project Management Plan

Module 2: Stakeholders and Risk

• Stakeholder Identification and Analysis
  • Stakeholder Challenges
  • Sample Case: Premier Dental Group (PDG) Case Study and Project Charter
• Business Analysis and Requirements Risk
  • Requirements Risks
  • Risk Management Plan
  • Risk Log
  • Risk Assessment
  • Dealing with Positive and Negative Risk
  • Exercises: Analyze Risks and Develop Risk Response Strategies

Session Two

Module 3: Business Analysis Planning

• The Business Analysis Planning Process
  • Business Analysis Approach
  • Business Analysis Activities
  • RACI Matrix
  • Exercise: Prepare for Business Analysis Planning for the Ascension Air Online Flight Booking System
• Creating a WBS
  • Decomposition
  • Demonstration: Build a WBS
  • Exercise: Create a WBS to Identify Business Analysis Deliverables for the Ascension Air Online Flight Booking System

Module 4: Influences on Business Analysis Activities

• Business Analysis Activities and Life Cycle Impacts
  • Common Project Life Cycles
  • Predictive
  • Iterative
  • Adaptive
• Business Analysis Activities and Organizational Impacts
  • Organizational Structures
  • Functional
  • Projectized
  • Matrix

Session Three

Module 5: Requirements Life Cycle Management

• Business Analysis Plan
  • Key Activities
  • Purpose of Requirements Management
  • Instructor-Led Walkthrough: Ascension Air Business Analysis Plan
• Traceability and Metrics
  • What Is Requirements Traceability?
  • Forward and Backward Traceability
  • Parent-Child Relationships
  • Requirements Traceability Matrix
  • Exercise: Determine Traceability Approach for Ascension Air Online Flight Booking System
  • Requirements Attributes
  • Requirements Attribute Table
  • Requirements Metrics
  • Exercise: Select Requirements Metrics for the Ascension Air Online Flight Booking System
  • Requirements Management Tools

Session Four

Module 6: Change Control

• Configuration Management and Change Control
  • Version Control
  • Managing Configuration Items
  • Change Control in Predictive vs. Iterative Life Cycles
  • Change Management Tools
• The Change Control Process
  • Change Control Plan
  • Processing a Change Request (Change Control Activity Diagram)
  • Change Control Board
  • Use Interview Skills to Understand the Problem
  • Exercise: Understand and Write Change Requests for the Ascension Air Online Flight Booking System

Module 7: Business Analysis Communications

• Communication Planning
  • Communications Cycle
  • Identify Stakeholder Presentation Requirements and Preferences
  • Requirements Packages
  • Shared Document Repositories
  • Managing Requirements Conflicts
  • Communication Plan
  • Exercise: Prepare a Business Analysis Communication Plan for the Ascension Air Online Flight Booking System
• Requirements Reviews
  • Review Techniques
  • Review Roles
  • Requirements Review Log
  • Exercise: Participate in a Requirements Review for the Ascension Air Online Flight Booking System
  • Requirements Sign off
  • Exercise: Review Requirements-Related Challenges

BAV314 Course Code