Business Analytics Toolkit: Personal Experience

We have repeatedly told how the very first major customer nearly killed our entire business. Then one of the obvious holes, along with QA (Quality Assurance), was BA (Business Analysis). Before the appearance of truly large projects in our portfolio, there was no need for in-depth analysis of customer’s business requirements and development of system solutions to meet them. Now Redmadrobot has three business analysts who determine the points of development of mobilization projects, based on the clients' business objectives.
One of our BA - Semyon Zamorov - shared his Toolset, a set of programs that help him do his job even faster.

The International Institute for Business Analysis (IIBA) defines business analysis as
the practice of creating conditions for the implementation of organizational changes by identifying the needs and proposing solutions that imply a benefit to shareholders.

In Redmadrobot we try to keep a certain rhythm in order to carry out the tasks clearly. The Agile and Scrum methodology helps us in this. Timing is very valuable for analysts, no less than for PM. That is why we use sprint-pulse , which clearly regulates the period of performance of the set of works and correctly distributes the activity between the team members. In the course of the sprint, 20 people are pouring tons of information into the business analyst every day, because IA is the intermediary between the development team and the customer, and tasks and questions are flying from both sides. Systematization of information, organization of tasks and control of project implementation are very relevant topics, which I will discuss.
I will make a reservation - I use Mac and Android-smartphone, because of this there is some specificity of my toolkit.
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What it all consists of
My Toolset is divided into two zones - common with the project team and personal project. Common tasks include the current sprint, business functional, functional requirements, etc. (We carry out the tasks in JIRA, the requirements are stored in Confluence). And what to do with the other activities that relate to the project personal area?

How things work

• 1. Definition of scop works. Scope is formed in JIRA together with the customer. We try to take more tasks on the assessment, to be, from what to choose.
• 2. Business analysis and stage of preparation for the assessment. Skopu tasks, as a rule, is formulated in the form of epic stories. It is in the form of epic titles that I create a task set in the Wunderlist . Be sure to attach a link to the task, it is easier to search for and track it.

Wunderlist . The choice of the program is due to its relative simplicity, not at the expense of functionality. As a nice addition - it can be used on Mac and Android at the same time. With the help of Wunderlist, I control the timing of tasks not only small and everyday, but also tasks from JIRA. It is better to have one common source of information that will provide a complete picture of current activities. All tasks fall into the Inbox folder and may not have a clear description. At the end of the working day, I go through this list, clarify descriptions, set deadlines and put everything into folders in the Wunderlist and shortcuts in Evernote , which overlap in part (Beeline, Redmadrobot, Personal). Such an organization allows me to clearly monitor the work of the day and plan the next week.

Then begins the process of working with a specific task. Using a pen in my notebook, I write out the entire set of atomic user stories, which, in my opinion, should be performed by the user of the mobile application, as well as fixing special requirements for these stories in the form of a note. It turns out a draft that can be discussed and clarified with the customer. I take a draft and send it to Evernote . This helps if necessary to return to the sources if something is lost in the process.



Based on the discussion results, a list of clear and understandable user stories is obtained, which I record in Confluence . All important letters, meeting minutes are sent to Evernote .
So, fixing the business level at each step, I get the most complete picture, which is stored in my personal knowledge base.

Evernote. I use it to aggregate all the information received. An important letter? Sent to Evernote . Wrote something important in a notebook? I photograph - and upload to the same. This approach has repeatedly saved me. Junk - all unassembled information - merges into a shared notebook. There I keep records for a week. Then everything that did not pass the confirmation and did not become relevant, I delete. I update the updated records with the necessary tag and send it to the correct notebook with the name of the project. For convenient and quick search or search using tags.

• 3. The evaluation process. The usual, classic process of evaluating future tasks and deciding whether to take a task into work or reject and transfer part or all of it to another sprint. The set of tasks is fixed in JIRA, approved with the customer and the sprint starts.
• 4. System analysis and design. By this time I already have a full understanding of the task and a set of necessary artifacts for work. As a rule, if consultation with the customer is required, then it will be minimal and more likely to be synchronized. In this step, my set of actions is:

- Wunderlist . Tasks that are not included in the sprint, go out of sight in backlog. Tasks that are included in the sprint are supplied with new deadlines for their execution and reminders. In parallel, there is a set of tasks outside the sprint, with a long deadline for implementation (personally my work tasks).



- The calendar. In the calendar, I plan in advance the dates for the review of requirements with the project team (usually 1-2 weeks ahead). It helps me maintain my personal inner rhythm and try to fulfill everything on time.

- Mail. Standard Mac mail client. The most important thing is setting up filters. I use two mandatory: Today (messages for the current day only) and New (only new messages). Such a system helps to focus on the important and not to be sprayed on the tasks of the past day. In an extreme case, there is always a search. I try not to keep too much and look only at the Today filter. All that is needed for work, I will send to Evernote. Mail for correspondence, and not to store information. I keep the information with which I am currently working in my notebook SPRINT. In the same place I spend the system analysis on the basis of the user histories.

- Pomodoro. The Pomodoro - 11 Pomodoro timer for the working day helps to control the rhythm of personal project tasks.

• 5. Review the requirements with the project team. As soon as I consider that my work has been completed, the design requirements are sent to Confluence, and are also processed in accordance with accepted standards. Further, the requirements are checked by the project team for clarity, completeness, non-contradiction - in general, a quality check. Some double check.
• 6. According to the results of the review, the requirements are reapplied from the customer.

As a result, we get:

1. Personal knowledge base in Evernote , filled with many artifacts for a specific task.
2. Convenient tool for the aggregation of all work tasks based on Wunderlist .
3. A tool to maintain the rhythm of work - Calendar .
4. Communication tool with the project team and customer that does not disperse your attention - Mail and filters .
5. Convenient pace of work during the day - Pomodoro Timer .