The BA Facilitator

Course #: BA120

Duration:    2 days

Overview:

Learn how to be an effective facilitator in structured Facilitated Meetings, with a focus on their use by the BA to brainstorm, elicit requirements (requirements workshops) and verify requirements artifacts (structured walkthroughs). This course provides guidelines, tips and practical experience facilitating these highly effective group sessions.

(This course is also offered with an additional second day during which trainees facilitate workshops on their own real-world case studies, using BA tools and techniques (use cases, business process modeling etc.)

The BA Professional is often called on to initiate, plan and facilitates requirements workshops.  This course provides the training and experience in the ‘soft skills’ needed to fulfill this role.

Description:

Trainees begin by learning rules, guidelines and tips for facilitating requirements workshops.  For the next and main part of the day, trainees are presented with the ACRA/Noble Path – a step-by-step guideline to requirements-gathering over the course of an IT project.   Participants are asked to bring a real-life case study to class or use one provided in the course material.  Working in small groups, in a learner-directed program, trainees decide on the case study (or studies) they wish to develop, the deliverables they will produce and the type of facilitated meeting (structured walkthrough, elicitation, etc.) they wish to focus on.  The instructor is available for guidance and mentoring as each trainee gains practical experience facilitating events in a BA context.

Topics:

• Definition and goals of a facilitated meeting
• Who initiates a facilitated meeting?
• Types of a facilitated meetings involving the BA
• Checklist for Justifying a Facilitated Meeting
• Roles, Responsibilities and Controls in the Meeting
• • Executive Sponsor
  • Facilitator
  • • Checklist: Key personality traits of a successful Facilitator
    • Tips: Basic facilitation skills and techniques
  • Scribe
  • • Checklist: Key abilities of a Scribe
  • Primary Participants
  • Advisory Participants
  • Analyst
  • Observers
  • Standards Liaison
• Tips: How to handle responsibility with  - and without – authority
• Types of questions to ask
• List: Examples of open-ended questions
• List: Examples of Affirmation Statements
• Tips on negotiating with people at various levels
• Preparing for the meeting: Expectation Check Lists
• • Checklist: Personal Expectations
  • Checklist: Meetings Expectations
  • Checklist: Approvals Expectations
• List of Open-Ended Questions to use with stakeholders
• Types of Questions: The 5 “P” Questions (with examples)
• • Probing
  • Personal
  • Political
  • Planning
  • Pointed
• Types of Participants and tips for dealing with them
• Group Dynamics: Pitfalls and how to prevent them
• Checklist: 10 top items to consider when planning and executing facilitated meetings
• Handout: “Cheat Sheet” – an overview of the BA process, focusing on the types of questions to ask and artifacts to produce as the project progresses
• Case study: At least ½ of the day devoted to practicing facilitation skills on a case study.  Trainees are encouraged to bring in a real-world case study.  For those not able to do so, the course also provides a sample case study with sample solution.

Audience: Senior BAs and other BAs and PMs tasked with facilitating requirements-gathering workshops

Prerequisites: None