How BA can close the strategy - execution gap

Business stakeholders want projects to deliver fast. They often come to the project team with a clear view of the solution, expecting a quick start and not leaving much room or time for challenging and proposing alternatives. However, this mindset carries with it an important risk: blindly building the proposed solution does not guarantee business value.

People in a BA role (like business analysts and architects, but also product managers, process owners, customer journey managers, and so on) often have the analytical skills and corporate overview to put the proposed solution in perspective and identify potential pitfalls hindering the proposed solution from delivering value. More importantly, they usually are well-positioned in the organisation to connect the dots between the stakeholder’s goals and the solution implementation.

In this session, Filip will present three key aspects of value creation by this BA role, effectively helping the BA make the shift from solution implementation to lean strategy execution:

Pin down goals: When will the project be considered successful?

Expose enablers: How will the proposed solution help achieve these goals?

Identify and validate hypotheses: Are we really sure the proposed solution is the right one?

Learning Objectives

1. How to link goals and solutions using benefit maps
2. How to get stakeholders to see the value of alternatives
3. I will be sharing practical tips & techniques attendees can use in their own work

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Filip is convinced established organisations can, and should, become corporate startups. To help them achieve this, he follows a structured yet pragmatic approach, by bridging business analysis, product management, design thinking, lean startup and innovation techniques.

His background of 10 years in business consulting and a prior 10 years in software engineering and research enable Filip to connect strategy and portfolio management with project execution and product development.

As co-founder of the BA & Beyond Conference and IIBA Brussels Chapter president, Filip helps support the BA profession and grow the BA community in and around Belgium.

Together with Ian Richards, Filip is author of Brainy Glue, a soon-to-be-released business novel on business analysis and change.

You can read Filip's blog at blog.altershape.consulting.

You can also connect with Filip on LinkedIn.