20090219 IIBA Facilitation Skills For Business Analysis

Facilitation Skills for BusinessFacilitation Skills for BusinessFacilitation Skills for Business Facilitation Skills for Business AnalysisAnalysisIIBA Dallas ChapterFebruary 19, 2009

Presented by: Rick WaltersOrganizational Development and Program Management Consultant

Rick Walters © 2009

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Vision & Mission – IIBA International

IIBA Operational VisionIIBA Operational VisionppCreate and develop awarenessawareness and recognitionrecognition of the valuevalue and contribution of the role of the Business AnalystDefineDefine the Body of Knowledge

Provide a forum for knowledgeknowledge sharingsharing and contribution to the Body of KnowledgeIdentif the req iredreq ired skillsskills and competenciescompetencies of aIdentify the requiredrequired skillsskills and competenciescompetencies of a qualified Business Analyst

2Dallas

Chapter 5

IIBAIIBA Dallas Chapter 2009 Focus AreasDallas Chapter 2009 Focus AreasIIBA IIBA –– Dallas Chapter 2009 Focus AreasDallas Chapter 2009 Focus Areas

Competent

Building our BA C t dCatalyst

Helping others find their voices,

understand the our BA Community

Connected Catalyst understand the options, make

decisions.

Communicator


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F ili i f B i A l iFacilitation for Business Analysis

Facilitation is a key activity and skill area in business analysis

Facilitation is a key activity and skill area in business analysis

What is meantWhat are the

roles and What skill setsWhat is meant by facilitation, when is it used

roles and responsibilities

of the f

What skill sets are needed for the facilitator

facilitator


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Objective of Presentation Knowledge Levels

Mentor

Provide speaking Provide speaking knowledge level of knowledge level of

the range of the range of

Teach

L dfacilitation roles and facilitation roles and competencies for competencies for Business AnalysisBusiness Analysis

Lead

Doyy Do

Speak


Speak

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Business Engagement Planning

Business Business

Business Engagement Planning for Events through the Project Life-cycle

BusinessUsers

BusinessUser Involvement

Business RequirementsBusiness RequirementsProcess Definitionl

Application RequirementsApplication RequirementsEvaluation and Review Testing / Pilot Use

Meetings Workshops

DemosT i i

ProjectTeam

Application RequirementsApplication Requirements Evaluation and ReviewTraining

Analyze Design Build Test Deploy SupportTeam

Solution Development & Delivery Process

Analyze Design Build Test Deploy Support


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StagesOf

Adoption Contact Awareness Understanding Installation Adoption Institutionalization


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BABOK v1.68

BABOK 1 6 F ili i N dBABOK 1.6 – Facilitation Needs

Requirements Workshop

(pg 84)

Focus Group(pg 78)

Creative Thinking

(pg 28)

Risk Assessment

( 34)


(pg 34)

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F ilit t d S i E lFacilitated Sessions - ExamplesData Transformation and Mapping Planning Requirements Workshop

A crosscross--functionalfunctional effort facilitated by an analyst to gain agreementgain agreementbetween

The workshop is facilitated by a team member or ideally by anbetween

business process users, business process champions, data record business owners, data administrators,

team member or ideally, by an experienced, neutral facilitatorexperienced, neutral facilitator. A Scribe (also known as a Recorder) documents the business requirements elicited as well asdata administrators,

operations groups and the subject matter database experts

on the plan on the plan to accomplish the data i ti Th i t id tif

requirements elicited as well as any outstanding issues. A business analyst may be the Facilitator or the Scribe in these workshops. In situations where the businessmigration The purpose is to identify

data issues, business rules issues and a framework for moving data from a current system to the new business solution with minimal di ti t th ( 106)

situations where the business analyst is a subject matter expert on the topic, the business analyst may serve as participant in the workshop


disruption to the users. (pg 106) workshop.

10BABOK v1.6

Well-run workshops are considered one of the most

effective ways to deliver high quality requirements

quickly. They promote trust, mutual understanding, q y y p , g,

and strong communications among the project

stakeholders and project team and producestakeholders and project team and produce

deliverables that structure and guide future

analysis.


BABOK v1.6 pg 8411

Focus Question 1: What are some workshops Q por training sessions that you have led or attended that you remember well, you felt they went very well

What are the indicators of a

During or afterwardsindicators of a

highly successful facilitated

▫ What do people say

▫ How do they feel session

▫ What do they do


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Roles and ResponsibilitiesRoles and ResponsibilitiesProcess / StructureGroup Dynamics

Cl if th t k h ld ’ d d th• Establish a professional and objective • Clarify the stakeholder’s needs, and the

purpose of the workshop

• Identify critical stakeholders who should participate in the workshop

p jtone for the meeting

• Enforce discipline, structure and ground rules for the meeting

• Introduce the goals and agenda for the• Define the workshop’s agenda

• Determine what means will be used to document the output of the workshop

S h d l th i ( )

Introduce the goals and agenda for the meeting

• Manage the meeting and keep the team on track

• Facilitate a process of decision making • Schedule the session(s)

• Arrange room logistics and equipment

• Send materials in advance to prepare the attendees and increase productivity at the

Facilitate a process of decision making and build consensus but avoid participating in the content of the discussion

• Ensure that all stakeholders participate attendees and increase productivity at the meeting

• Conduct pre-workshop interviews with attendees

Eli it l d d t

p pand have their input heard

• Ask the right questions, analyze the information being provided at the session by the stakeholders, and


• Elicit, analyze and document requirements

yfollow-up with probing questions, if necessary

13BABOK v1.6

Di i f F ili i C l iDimensions of Facilitation ComplexityGroup

Dynamics

CultureLarge Group

Dynamics

CommunitySmall Group

Work Group

Organization

Work Group

Interview / M ti Training orProcess / Structure

One-on-One


Interview /Focus Group Meeting Training or

Workshop

14Rick Walters © 2009


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I i l d fi i i f ili iIn its loosest definition, a facilitator is:

Any person who jumps up during aAny person who jumps up during a meeting and starts writing key points on a chalkboard as they are being discussed.

Or someone whoOr someone who puts up a hand and suggests that the

Or even a participant who suggests that they find suggests that the

participants focus on a single problem.

out a little about each other, or agree on how they're going to make


g p they re going to make decisions.

16Basic Facilitation Skills Primer, 2002http://www.iaf-world.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=3387

Focus Question 2: IntrospectionFocus Question 2: IntrospectionFocus Question 2: IntrospectionFocus Question 2: Introspection• Where do you see meetings or work sessions

getting in to trouble?

• What are reoccurring struggles?• What are reoccurring struggles?

• What areas to you want to improve in?


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NNotes


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Working definitionWorking definitionWorking definition . . .Working definition . . .

[Preparation and During]• A facilitator is someone who uses knowledge of

group processes to formulate and deliver the needed structure for meeting interactions to beneeded structure for meeting interactions to be effective.

[ ][During]• The facilitator focuses on effective processes

(meeting dynamics) allowing the participants to(meeting dynamics) allowing the participants to focus on the content or the substance of their work together.


19Basic Facilitation Skills Primer, 2002http://www.iaf-world.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=3387

Structured processes for group meetings.

BrainstormingBrainstorming BABOK P O tliBrainstormingBrainstorming

• Purpose

BABOK Process Outline

• Description

• Intended Audience

• Process• Process

• Usage

Considerations


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4.3 Brainstorming - .4 Process4.3 Brainstorming .4 Process1 Prepare for Brainstorming

2 Conduct Brainstorming session

3 Wrap-up the brainstorming

•Develop a clear and concise definition of the area of interest

•Determine a time limit

•Share new ideas without any discussion, criticism or evaluation

•Visibly record all ideas

•Once the time limit is reached, using the pre-determined evaluation criteria, discuss and

for the group to generate ideas, the larger the group, the more time required

y•Encourage participants

to be creative, share exaggerated ideas, and build on the ideas of

evaluate the ideasCreate a condensed list of ideas, combine ideas where appropriate, and q

•Decide who will be included in the session and their role —participant or facilitator.

build on the ideas of others

•Don’t limit the number of ideas as the goal is to elicit as many ideas

pp p ,eliminate duplicates

•Rate the ideas. There are many techniques that can be used toparticipant or facilitator.

•Aim for participants (ideally 6 to 8) topic

•Establish criteria for l ti d ti

to elicit as many ideas as possible within the time period

that can be used to prioritize the ideas, e.g., multi-voting

•Distribute the final list of ideas to appropriate


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evaluating and rating the ideas

of ideas to appropriate parties


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Certification ProgramsCertification ProgramsCertification ProgramsCertification Programs• Certified Professional Facilitator▫ IAF International Association of▫ IAF – International Association of

Facilitators▫ Example qualifications

7 sessions as lead facilitator over past 3 years6 competency categories, 18 sub-categoriesLive evaluated assessment session http://www.iaf-world.org

• Certified Master Facilitator▫ INIFAC - International Institute for

FacilitationE l lifi ti▫ Example qualifications

30 sessions (different organizations or departments) over past 3 years.5 Client recommendation lettersVid d i


Video taped session6 competency categories, 30 sub-competencies

http://www.inifac.org/index.htm

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Focus Questions & Event PlanFocus Questions & Event PlanFocus Questions & Event PlanFocus Questions & Event Plan• IAF A1. Develop consensus on tasks, deliverables,

roles & responsibilities

• B1 Facilitator asks the questions to assess a client• B1. Facilitator asks the questions to assess a client need and gains agreement with the client on the relevant scope and products.

• IAF A2. Create appropriate designs to achieve intended outcomesintended outcomes

• B2. Facilitator plans and prepares for the session ff i l d ll b i l


effectively and collaboratively.24

Business Engagement PlanningBusiness Engagement Planning for Events through the Project Life-cycle

Business BusinessBusinessUsers

BusinessUser Involvement

Business RequirementsBusiness RequirementsProcess Definitionl

Application RequirementsApplication RequirementsEvaluation and Review Testing / Pilot Use

Meetings Workshops

DemosT i i

ProjectTeam

Application RequirementsApplication Requirements Evaluation and ReviewTraining

Analyze Design Build Test Deploy SupportTeam

Solution Development & Delivery Process

Analyze Design Build Test Deploy Support


25

StagesOf

Adoption Contact Awareness Understanding Installation Adoption Institutionalization

Clarifying scope deliverables success factorsClarifying scope deliverables success factorsClarifying scope, deliverables, success factorsClarifying scope, deliverables, success factors


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Priorities Planning ProcessPriorities Planning ProcessBefore“Gather Inputs & Summarize”

During“Review, dialogue, decide”

After“Align, refine, deploy”

• Meet with teams– Needs and must do’s for 2007

• 2007 Landscape–Stakeholder inputs & Trends

• Teams– Flesh out priorities, projects and

metrics at team level

• Meet with key stakeholders– 2007 outlook & needs (same,

adjust, new)– How can we help

• 2010 Vision – How do we help the company double revenue?

• Leadership Team– Add metrics– Review against company

– Doing well, do better

• 2010 Homework (worksheets)

• 2006 Progress and Learning

• 2007 Themes / Priorities

objectives. (Nov, Dec)– Finalize for January roll-out

• Initiative Leader Summaries– Key accomplishments– Institutionalized /

O ti li d?

–On-track, Adjust, New

• 2007 Organizational Initiatives


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Operationalized?– Continue 2007?

Span time 2 monthsSpan time 1 months 2 Day Offsite

Knowing multiple techniquesKnowing multiple techniquesKnowing multiple techniquesKnowing multiple techniques• Methodologies

▫ IAF E2. Understand a variety of group methods and techniquesand techniques

▫ F2. Facilitator knows and uses multiple techniques and tools for problem solving and decision-making.


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Structured processes for group meetings.

BrainstormingBrainstorming BABOK Process Outline

• Purpose

• DescriptionDescription

• Intended Audience

• Process

• Usage

Considerations

11 Techniques in BABOK.


29

24 tools in the Memory Jogger II

M J T l S l ChMemory Jogger – Tool Selector Charts


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h llh llKnowing multiple Knowing multiple techniquestechniques

4.10.4.1.2 Ensure that all stakeholders participate and have their input heard

• Participatory Methods (Group Dynamics)

l f▫ IAF C1. Apply a variety of participatory processes

IAF C2 C li f▫ IAF C2. Create a climate of safety and trust

▫ D2. Facilitator creates and maintains a safe environment for people to speak openly without fear of retribution


speak openly without fear of retribution.

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Ways to enable participationWays to enable participationWays to enable participationWays to enable participation

• Write own thoughts down firstWrite own thoughts down first

• Small group discussion

R l f b i i• Rules of brainstorming

• Go around table on objective

questions

• Call on

• Cards / post-its


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Carnac the MagnificentCarnac the MagnificentCarnac the MagnificentCarnac the Magnificent

• Pan Flutelu

• Flowers

• Swimmers


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Behind the Cards and PostBehind the Cards and Post itsitsBehind the Cards and PostBehind the Cards and Post--itsits• Capture input from

everyone

• Level the playing field• Level the playing field

• Stimulate objective dialogue and understanding

• Make patterns visible


• Provide flexibility34

Flower – Bringing focus to the root causeFlower Bringing focus to the root cause


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IAF B2 Prepare time and space to supportIAF B2 Prepare time and space to supportIAF B2. Prepare time and space to support IAF B2. Prepare time and space to support group processgroup process

• Arrange physical space to support the purpose of the meetingof the meeting

• Plan effective use of time

• Provide effective atmosphere and dramaatmosphere and drama for sessions


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IAF D1 Establish clear contextIAF D1 Establish clear contextIAF D1. Establish clear contextIAF D1. Establish clear context• Managing focus, time and energy - adapting▫ Agenda planning and timing

Sequence▫ Adjusting to emerging needs or tangentsAdjusting to emerging needs or tangents▫ Adjusting to content and time

• The right answer▫ Boundaries and context setting

Decision styles and processes: building consensusDecision styles and processes: building consensus Collaborative decision with single decider

▫ Trusting the process, honoring the group


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Rick’s KeyRick’s Key LearningsLearningsRick s Key Rick s Key LearningsLearningsHow many people, how much time, what

settingsetting

Clarify the before, during and after activities

Understand the boundaries and decision processes

Identify the fundamental focus question(s)

Prepare the context

It i b t th di l t tti th h


It is about the dialogue, not getting through the agenda

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Knowledge and Skill BuildersKnowledge and Skill Builders

•Basic team leader and member skills classes•Basic communications skills classes•Train-the-Trainer certifications•Facilitation methods and skills

l k ll l

Skills TrainingSkills Training

•Consulting Skills classes

•BPM and Reengineering•SLC methodologies (Object Engineering, Agile, DSDM, etc.)•Organization design, self-directed teams design, design for

empowerment•Participatory strategic planning frameworks and methods

Methodologies (Books and

Methodologies (Books and

•Participatory strategic planning frameworks and methods•Project management•Customer focus theories and methods•Organization change management theory, processes and tools

training)training)


40Observation of other instructors and workshop leaders

K l i i tKey learning points:Courses Key Learning Points

• Basic team leader and member skills

• Team and group dynamics▫ Charter, mission▫ Guidelines, values

• Basic communications skills

▫ Roles and responsibilities• Basic communications skills classes▫ Communication styles▫ Active listening

• Presentation skills• Train-the-Trainer

certifications

Active listening▫ Giving feedback

• Group processes ▫ Problem Solving

D i i M kicertifications• Facilitation

methods and skills

▫ Decision Making• Presentation skills▫ Public speaking▫ Video feedback


skills• Consulting Skills

▫ Presentation aids: flip chart, overhead• Collaborative processes

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Leadership StrategiesLeadership Strategies The Effective FacilitatorThe Effective FacilitatorLeadership Strategies Leadership Strategies –– The Effective FacilitatorThe Effective Facilitator


42http://www.leadstrat.com/training-facil-effective-facilitator.html

The Consciously Competent FacilitatorThe Consciously Competent FacilitatorThe Consciously Competent FacilitatorThe Consciously Competent Facilitator


43http://www.consciouslycompetent.com/

B kBooks• Work Teams That Work: Skills for

Managing Across the Organization• Business Process Improvement:

The Breakthrough Strategy forManaging Across the Organization - Anthony R. Montebello

• Winning Through Participation:

The Breakthrough Strategy for Total Quality, Productivity, and Competitiveness –H. James Harrington

Meeting the Challenge of Corporate Change With the Technology of Participation –Laura J. Spencer

• Developing Object-Oriented Software: An Experience-Based Approach – IBM

• Memory Joggers▫ The Memory Jogger II: A

Desktop Guide of Tools for

• Applied Strategic Planning: How to Develop a Plan That Really Works –Leonard Goodstein (Author), Timothy Desktop Guide of Tools for

Continuous Improvement and Effective Planning (Paperback)

▫ The Team Memory Jogger

Nolan (Author), J. William Pfeiffer

• Flawless Consulting: A Guide to Getting Your Expertise Used –


g pPeter Block

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45Rick Walters, Dallas, TX (972) 416-6147 http://www.linkedin.com/in/rgwalters

Facilitation Skills for Business AnalysisP NP R E S E N T A T I O N N O T E S

Key points, tips, insights for effective facilitation


46Rick Walters, Dallas, TX (972) 416-6147 http://www.linkedin.com/in/rgwalters