Laura Brandenburg
Laura Brandenburg
Member for
13 years 10 monthsLaura Brandenburg is a business analyst consultant, author, and mentor. She has eight years of experience across technology leadership, analysis, project management, and QA. She hosts "Bridging the Gap," a blog about business analyst practices. Laura is the author of How to Start a Business Analyst Career and the forthcoming eBook The Promotable Business Analyst. Visit her blog at www.bridging-the-gap.com.
All Articles by Laura Brandenburg
All Stories by Laura Brandenburg
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Three Ways to Talk When You Are Listening We know listening is important. Typically, it’s what our stakeholders have to share that we most need to hear when eliciting and validating scope or requirements. At the same time, as business analysts, we cannot be passive flies on the wall. |
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First Things First: Get the Business Analysis Basics in Place While we can debate about best and better practices for eliciting, analyzing, and documenting requirements, many organizations have yet to adopt a requirements practice at all. When they do so, they will have the opportunity to realize significant benefits. |
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The Three Essential Elements of Business AnalysisNo question is more ripe for debate than “What is a business analyst?” While I contend we’ve been doing business analysis since the very first human organizations were consciously formed, business analysis as a formal profession has emerged much more recently and has three essential elements. |
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Being a Warrior of Ideas and Improvement Takes CourageWe are warriors of ideas and warriors of improvement. If we demand greatness of ourselves, our teammates, and our organizations, we are warriors in the best sense—warriors who bring ideas to life and positive change to our organizations. Being a warrior takes courage to act and push through. |
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Making Process Changes in Days or Weeks, Not Months or YearsBusiness process improvement and the resulting change management are not for the faint of heart. Laura Brandenburg makes the case that BAs not only need to support organizations in changing more complex, decision-rich processes, but also in doing so faster—in days or weeks, not month or years. |
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Why Business Analysts Don't Elicit RequirementsBusiness analysts don’t gather requirements, but they don’t elicit requirements either. Business analysts have conversations with stakeholders to understand their needs and wants, and that information leads them in the direction of identifying the requirements. |
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Requirements Gathering vs. ElicitationWhile mature business analysis professionals and organizations have adopted “elicitation” as a preferred term, the business analyst job market has not gotten the memo. Laura Brandenburg explores the latest and greatest term "requirements gathering" and discusses if either of these terms is accurate. |
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What Is a Requirement?When considering the various definitions of the term "requirement" and the application of each, it is equally important to have a definition in mind that can be easily recalled and referenced. |
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Bug or New Requirement – Does It Matter?The terms "bugs" and "requirements" indicate who is responsible for the problem. No matter which term is used for the current state, the current state needs to change. Only then can the focus shift to fixing the problem. |
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It's the Relationships, StupidRelationships—working and personal—are vitally important to successful business analysis. If you don't have them, nothing else much matters. |
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Supporting Creativity for Real Business ResultsFor Aspenware, supporting creativity is not only tied to real business results; it is also an important employee benefit, aiming to create an entrepreneurial environment that attracts the best local talent. |