Category: Communication

Of all the tools and techniques available to a business analyst, two tools and one technique are essential. One tool defines the question that drives analysis, one technique balances off the three forces that drive the selection of all the other tools, and the final tool ensures that the BA’s conclusions are communicated effectively.  Business […]

Yes, I know, if you go to a lot of meetings you are probably sick and tired of seeing yet another PowerPoint slide deck presentation! Boring! Boring! Boring! If people are sliding under the table when you are giving your PowerPoint presentation you need to liven them up a little bit and incorporating animation is […]

Connecting with an audience is a critical business skill. We all need it when we try to get a point across to someone else. We may be teaching a new idea or skill, explaining the importance of a new strategic initiative, or maybe trying to persuade a prospect to become a client. In my recent […]

Imagine you are the customer service representative working the live chat support the day of the company holiday party. It’s pretty quiet in the office, but you get an incoming chat that says HAPPY HOLIDAYS! You think “wow…so kind”, but then you notice no reply and eventually it ends. Immediately afterwards, you get another, and […]

One critical aspect of brainstorming and other idea-gathering processes is that one must not judge the ideas as they are presented. After that gathering phase, though, the ideas are useless if no patterns or relationships can be discovered. One good solution for that is the Affinity Diagram. The process was identified in the 1960s by […]